# Channel

The `youtube_channel` source gathers all key channel data, including subscriber, video, and view counts, general metadata, and a list of its videos by providing the YouTube `channel_handle`.

### Request samples

The following example demonstrates how to retrieve channel information and a list of videos from a channel.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="cURL" %}

```shell
curl 'https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries' \
--user 'USERNAME:PASSWORD' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
        "source": "youtube_channel",
        "channel_handle": "@Oxylabs",
        "parse": true,
        "limit": 10
    }'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Python" %}

```python
import requests
from pprint import pprint

# Structure payload.
payload = {
    'source': 'youtube_channel',
    'channel_handle': '@Oxylabs',
    'parse': True,
    'limit': 10
}

# Get response.
response = requests.request(
    'POST',
    'https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries',
    auth=('user', 'pass'),
    json=payload,
)

# Print the JSON response with the result.
pprint(response.json())
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Node.js" %}

```javascript
const https = require("https");

const username = "USERNAME";
const password = "PASSWORD";
const body = {
    source: "youtube_channel",
    channel_handle: "@Oxylabs",
    parse: true,
    limit: 10
};

const options = {
    hostname: "realtime.oxylabs.io",
    path: "/v1/queries",
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        Authorization:
            "Basic " + Buffer.from(`${username}:${password}`).toString("base64"),
    },
};

const request = https.request(options, (response) => {
    let data = "";

    response.on("data", (chunk) => {
        data += chunk;
    });

    response.on("end", () => {
        const responseData = JSON.parse(data);
        console.log(JSON.stringify(responseData, null, 2));
    });
});

request.on("error", (error) => {
    console.error("Error:", error);
});

request.write(JSON.stringify(body));
request.end();
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="HTTP" %}

```http
# The whole string you submit has to be URL-encoded.
https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries?source=youtube_channel&channel_handle=%40Oxylabs&parse=true&limit=10&access_token=12345abcde
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="PHP" %}

```php
<?php

$params = array(
    'source' => 'youtube_channel',
    'channel_handle' => '@Oxylabs',
    'parse' => true,
    'limit' => 10
);

$ch = curl_init();

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($params));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, "USERNAME" . ":" . "PASSWORD");

$headers = array();
$headers[] = "Content-Type: application/json";
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);

$result = curl_exec($ch);
echo $result;

if (curl_errno($ch)) {
    echo 'Error:' . curl_error($ch);
}

curl_close($ch);
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Golang" %}

```go
package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"io/ioutil"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	const Username = "USERNAME"
	const Password = "PASSWORD"

	// Define the payload
	payload := map[string]interface{}{
		"source":         "youtube_channel",
		"channel_handle": "@Oxylabs",
		"parse":          true,
		"limit":          10,
	}

	jsonValue, err := json.Marshal(payload)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Error marshalling JSON:", err)
		return
	}

	client := &http.Client{}
	request, err := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries", bytes.NewBuffer(jsonValue))
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Error creating request:", err)
		return
	}

	request.SetBasicAuth(Username, Password)
	request.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

	response, err := client.Do(request)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Error making request:", err)
		return
	}
	defer response.Body.Close()

	responseText, err := ioutil.ReadAll(response.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Error reading response:", err)
		return
	}

	fmt.Println(string(responseText))
}
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="C#" %}

```csharp
using System;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace OxyApi
{
    class Program
    {
        static async Task Main()
        {
            const string Username = "USERNAME";
            const string Password = "PASSWORD";

            var parameters = new
            {
                source = "youtube_channel",
                channel_handle = "@Oxylabs",
                parse = true,
                limit = 10
            };

            var client = new HttpClient();

            Uri baseUri = new Uri("https://realtime.oxylabs.io");
            client.BaseAddress = baseUri;

            var requestMessage = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Post, "/v1/queries");
            requestMessage.Content = JsonContent.Create(parameters);

            var authenticationString = $"{Username}:{Password}";
            var base64EncodedAuthenticationString = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(authenticationString));
            requestMessage.Headers.Add("Authorization", "Basic " + base64EncodedAuthenticationString);

            try
            {
                var response = await client.SendAsync(requestMessage);
                response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();

                var contents = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
                Console.WriteLine(contents);
            }
            catch (HttpRequestException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"Request error: {e.Message}");
            }
        }
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Java" %}

```java
package org.example;

import okhttp3.*;
import org.json.JSONObject;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class Main implements Runnable {
    private static final String AUTHORIZATION_HEADER = "Authorization";
    public static final String USERNAME = "USERNAME";
    public static final String PASSWORD = "PASSWORD";

    public void run() {
        // Construct JSON payload
        JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject();
        jsonObject.put("source", "youtube_channel");
        jsonObject.put("channel_handle", "@Oxylabs");
        jsonObject.put("parse", true);
        jsonObject.put("limit", 10);

        Authenticator authenticator = (route, response) -> {
            String credential = Credentials.basic(USERNAME, PASSWORD);
            return response
                    .request()
                    .newBuilder()
                    .header(AUTHORIZATION_HEADER, credential)
                    .build();
        };

        var client = new OkHttpClient.Builder()
                .authenticator(authenticator)
                .readTimeout(180, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
                .build();

        var mediaType = MediaType.parse("application/json; charset=utf-8");
        var body = RequestBody.create(jsonObject.toString(), mediaType);
        var request = new Request.Builder()
                .url("https://realtime.oxylabs.io/v1/queries")
                .post(body)
                .build();

        try (var response = client.newCall(request).execute()) {
            if (response.body() != null) {
                try (var responseBody = response.body()) {
                    System.out.println(responseBody.string());
                }
            }
        } catch (Exception exception) {
            System.out.println("Error: " + exception.getMessage());
        }

        System.exit(0);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new Thread(new Main()).start();
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JSON" %}

```json
{
    "source": "youtube_channel",
    "channel_handle": "@Oxylabs",
    "parse": true,
    "limit": 10
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

Our examples use synchronous [Realtime](https://developers.oxylabs.io/scraping-solutions/web-scraper-api/integration-methods/realtime) integration method. If you would like to use [Proxy Endpoint](https://developers.oxylabs.io/scraping-solutions/web-scraper-api/integration-methods/proxy-endpoint), or asynchronous [Push-Pull](https://developers.oxylabs.io/scraping-solutions/web-scraper-api/integration-methods/push-pull) integration, refer to the [Integration Methods](https://developers.oxylabs.io/scraping-solutions/web-scraper-api/integration-methods) section.

{% file src="<https://63892162-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FzrXw45naRpCZ0Ku9AjY1%2Fuploads%2FhztLSqYxMGB1HE5TdRNN%2FYT_channel_output.json?alt=media&token=efbaa44f-bad2-458e-bb56-9ea42c89fa57>" %}

### Request parameter values

<table><thead><tr><th width="227">Parameter</th><th width="289.3333333333333">Description</th><th>Default Value</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><mark style="background-color:green;"><strong><code>source</code></strong></mark></td><td>Sets the scraper.</td><td><code>youtube_channel</code></td></tr><tr><td><mark style="background-color:green;"><strong><code>channel_handle</code></strong></mark></td><td>YouTube channel handle (@example)</td><td>–</td></tr><tr><td><code>parse</code></td><td>Specifies whether to parse the scraped data into a structured JSON format.</td><td><code>true</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>limit</code> </td><td>Limits the number of videos returned in the <code>videos</code> array.</td><td><code>20</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>callback_url</code></td><td>URL to your callback endpoint. <a href="../../../integration-methods/push-pull#callback"><strong>More info</strong></a>.</td><td>–</td></tr></tbody></table>

&#x20;    – mandatory parameter


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://developers.oxylabs.io/scraping-solutions/web-scraper-api/targets/youtube/youtube-channel.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.