simple youtube search API and CLI
npm install yt-search # local module usageconst yts = require( 'yt-search' )
const r = await yts( 'superman theme' )
const videos = r.videos.slice( 0, 3 )
videos.forEach( function ( v ) {
const views = String( v.views ).padStart( 10, ' ' )
console.log( `${ views } | ${ v.title } (${ v.timestamp }) | ${ v.author.name }` )
} ) 38878009 | Superman Theme (4:13) | Super Man
8861479 | Superman • Main Theme • John Williams (4:26) | HD Film Tributes
7802473 | Superman - Main Theme (BBC Proms) (4:46) | brassbone playerhttps://runkit.com/talmobi/runkit-npm-yt-search-basic
const video = await yts( { videoId: '_4Vt0UGwmgQ' } )
console.log( video.title ` (${ video.duration.timestamp })` )Philip Glass. - Koyaanisqatsi (original version) (3:29)https://runkit.com/talmobi/runkit-npm-yt-search-video
const list = await yts( { listId: 'PL7k0JFoxwvTbKL8kjGI_CaV31QxCGf1vJ' } )
console.log( 'playlist title: ' list.title )
list.videos.forEach( function ( video ) {
console.log( video.title )
} )playlist title: Superman Themes
The Max Fleischer Cartoon (From "Superman")
[Deleted video]
Superman Theme
[Private video]
Superman The Animated Series Full Theme
Smallville theme song
Reprise / Fly Away
Superman Doomsday Soundtrack- Main Title
Hans Zimmer - Man of Steel Theme
Supergirl CW Soundtrack - Superman Theme Extendedhttps://runkit.com/talmobi/runkit-npm-yt-search-playlist
yt-search superman themeIf you have mpv installed, yt-search can directly play yt videos (or audio only)
yt-search-video Dank Memes Videos
yt-search-audio WagnerIf you don't have mpv installed, you can alternatively try installing yt-play-cli
npm install -g yt-play-clisee: https://github.com/talmobi/yt-play
Simple function to get youtube search results.
Not sure..
Using HTTP requests and parsing the results with cheerio.
CLI interactive mode with node-fzf
var opts = { query: 'superman theme' }
yts( opts, function ( err, r ) {
if ( err ) throw err
console.log( r.videos ) // video results
console.log( r.playlists ) // playlist results
console.log( r.channels ) // channel results
console.log( r.live ) // live stream results
} )
var opts = { videoId: 'e9vrfEoc8_g' }
yts( opts, function ( err, video ) {
if ( err ) throw err
console.log( video ) // single video metadata
} )
var opts = { listId: 'PL7k0JFoxwvTbKL8kjGI_CaV31QxCGf1vJ' }
yts( opts, function ( err, playlist ) {
if ( err ) throw err
console.log( playlist ) // single playlist metadata
console.log( playlist.videos ) // playlist videos
} )npm test
Modify debug.js by adding another mXX function and calling it at the top.
Run with the debug flag ex: DEBUG=1 node debug.js
The HTML response received by yt-search is written to dasu.response.
Prettify dasu.response for easier debugging ex: prettier --parser html
-- save it as a temporary file so it's not overwritten when you call the
debug fn again if necessary ex: pewdiepie.channel or superman.results
Most/all relevant data for parsing is found in the results inside the
ytInitialData object.
We're using jsonpath-plus for resilient parsing of the ytInitialData
object that is subject to continuous modifications by YouTube.