YouTube Channel Search API reference

Public YouTube channels matching a keyword, with a continuation cursor. Takes a keyword, returns a cursor page, 1 credit a call.

This named API keeps YouTube fields in YouTube's own vocabulary. For a higher-level product page, see YouTube Channel Search API.

Endpoint

GET /v1/youtube/creators/search
Authorization: Bearer sv_live_...

`POST` is also accepted with the same parameters in the request body. Send the key in the `Authorization` header, never in the query string.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Notes
`q`	string	yes	Search term or hashtag, up to 100 characters. Trimmed and lowercased before the lookup.
`cursor`	string	no	Cursor returned by the previous page.
`limit`	integer	no	Maximum items to return, up to 50.

Sample Request

This is a copyable request shape. Replace the sample values with the public YouTube target or parameters your workflow uses.

curl -G 'https://api.sourcevine.io/v1/youtube/creators/search' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer sv_live_...' \
  --data-urlencode 'q=coffee creator' \
  --data-urlencode 'limit=20'

Sample Response

A response this API returned, against the target above. Your values depend on the resource you ask about and when you ask.

{
  "data": {
    "items": [
      {
        "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@CoffeeTheCreator",
        "cached": false,
        "handle": "CoffeeTheCreator",
        "verified": false,
        "avatarUrl": null,
        "channelId": "UC5LjU7GKfAgKft0zY0nPHTA",
        "fetchedAt": "2026-09-02T07:05:35Z",
        "viewCount": null,
        "videoCount": null,
        "channelName": "CoffeeTheCreator",
        "cacheAgeSeconds": null,
        "sourceTimestamp": null,
        "subscriberCount": null
      }
    ],
    "cached": false,
    "fetchedAt": null,
    "nextCursor": null,
    "cacheAgeSeconds": null
  },
  "success": true,
  "available": true
}

Fields

Field	Type	Notes
`items`	array	Public YouTube profiles or channels matching the keyword.
`items[].url`	string	Canonical public profile or channel URL.
`items[].username`	string	Platform handle or channel handle.
`items[].subscriberCount`	integer \| null	Public audience count when available.
`items[].cached`	boolean	Matches the page provenance on cached reads.
`nextCursor`	string \| null	Pass as cursor to request the next page.
`fetchedAt`	ISO datetime	When Sourcevine read the public page.
`sourceTimestamp`	ISO datetime \| null	The platform timestamp when it is available.
`cached`	boolean	True when this answer repeats an identical request made moments earlier.
`cacheAgeSeconds`	integer	Seconds since the reading was taken.

Availability States

Status	Charged	Client behavior
`available`	yes for live reads	Use data.
`not_found`	yes	Store the state and stop polling.
`private`	yes	Store the state and stop polling.
`unsupported`	no	Fix the URL or call the matching API.
`upstream_unavailable`	no	Retry later with backoff.

Unavailable resources return `success: true`, `available: false`, `availability`, and `data: null`. API or authentication failures return `success: false` with an `error` object.

Billing

A call costs 1 credit. A deleted, private or empty resource is charged like any lookup and says so. An unsupported URL or a read we could not complete is not charged. The `X-Credits-Charged` response header is the source of truth for what happened on that request.

Successful responses include `fetchedAt`, the time we read the platform.

What This API Does Not Return

No contact or bio fields: Bios, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses and messenger handles are outside the response contract.
No private data: Private accounts, restricted content and unavailable resources return typed availability instead of guessed data.
No contact enrichment: Creator search returns public profile identity and metrics, not email discovery, bio scraping or audience demographics.

Last updated 1 September 2026