What You'll Learn
- • Setting up your development environment
- • Installing the required HTTP client
- • Authenticating with the ScrapeCreators API
- • Making requests to YouTube
- • Handling responses and errors
- • Best practices for production use
How to Scrape YouTube Trendings with R
Extract trending data from YouTube
📊 Using R
Overview
Learn how to scrape YouTube trendings using R. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the entire process, from setup to implementation.
What You'll Get
- • Access to trendings data
- • JSON formatted responses
- • Real-time data access
- • Scalable solution
- • Error handling patterns
- • Performance optimization tips
Prerequisites
1. API Key
First, you'll need a ScrapeCreators API key to authenticate your requests.
Sign up at app.scrapecreators.com to get your free API key with 100 requests.
2. Development Environment
Make sure you have the following installed:
- • R and its dependencies
- • A code editor (VS Code, Sublime, etc.)
- • Basic understanding of API requests
- • Command line interface access
Step 1: Install HTTP Client
httr is a user-friendly HTTP client for R
R
install.packages("httr")Step 2: API Implementation
Now let's make a request to the YouTube API using R. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key.
R
library(httr)
library(jsonlite)
API_KEY <- "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL <- "https://api.scrapecreators.com"
ENDPOINT_PATH <- "/v1/youtube/shorts/trending"
scrape <- function() {
# Build query parameters
params <- list(
)
tryCatch({
response <- GET(
url = paste0(BASE_URL, ENDPOINT_PATH),
add_headers(
"x-api-key" = API_KEY,
"Content-Type" = "application/json"
),
query = params
)
if (status_code(response) == 200) {
data <- fromJSON(rawToChar(response$content))
cat("Response:
")
print(data)
return(data)
} else {
stop(paste("HTTP", status_code(response), ":", rawToChar(response$content)))
}
}, error = function(e) {
cat("Error:", e$message, "
")
return(NULL)
})
}
# Usage
result <- scrape()Step 3: Testing Your Code
API Parameters
This endpoint accepts the following parameters:
Run Your Code
Execute your script to test the API connection. You should see a JSON response with YouTube trendings data.
✅ Success: You should receive a structured JSON response containing the requested data.
Expected Response
Here's an example of the JSON response you'll receive:
Sample Response
{
"success": true,
"shorts": [
{
"id": "ou0nl5ET0HA",
"thumbnail": "https://img.youtube.com/vi/ou0nl5ET0HA/maxresdefault.jpg",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou0nl5ET0HA",
"title": "That hooper who says their just shoes",
"description": null,
"commentCountText": "168",
"commentCountInt": 168,
"likeCountText": "151957",
"likeCountInt": 151957,
"viewCountText": "13,798,774",
"viewCountInt": 13798774,
"publishDateText": "Aug 7, 2025",
"publishDate": "2025-08-07T13:00:22-07:00",
"channel": {
"id": "UC3iObCgKLKr9xquQw7fCang",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@dameuniverse",
"handle": "dameuniverse",
"title": "Dame Universe"
},
"chapters": [],
"keywords": [
"Kobe",
"Sneaker heads",
"Kobe Bryant",
"House of highlights",
"Funny memes",
"Epic basketball",
"High school hoops",
"Relatable memes",
"Basketball entertainment",
"Basketball shoes"
],
"durationMs": 19000,
"durationFormatted": "00:00:19"
},
{
"id": "RHjn1eyPLgI",
"thumbnail": "https://img.youtube.com/vi/RHjn1eyPLgI/maxresdefault.jpg",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHjn1eyPLgI",
"title": "Save of the Century 🫡 Real Hero 💪 #discipline#success #mindset#ego#shorts#fyp#edit#motivation",
"description": "Save of the Century 🫡 Real Hero 💪 #discipline#success #mindset#ego#shorts#fyp#edit#motivation\n\nWork Smart 🧠#discipline#success #mindset#ego#shorts#fyp#edit#mentality#motivation\n\nThey won't appreciate you until you leave. Keep carrying them, and they'll think it's easy. Stop - and watch their world fall apart. Stay dangerous. Stay valuable.\nStay irreplaceable.\n\n#motivation #mindset #knowyourworth #staydangerous #selfrespect #discipline #successmindset #alphaenergy #viralshorts #motivationalshorts #valueyourself\n\nEgo is the part of us that shapes our self-identity and confidence, but it can also lead to pride or defensiveness.\nThis simple look at ego explores what it is, how it affects our thoughts and actions, and why balancing it matters in daily life.\nA quick guide to understanding yourself-and others-better.\n\nRelated:-Space, Universe, Space Edit, Astronomy, Cosmos,\nThose who know,\nScience, Ocean,\n#space #universe\nTags:\n#space #universe #stars #galaxy #blackhole #nasa #trendingshorts #solarsystem #nature #ocean #cosmos #science #planets #earth #moon #mars #jupiter #saturn #venus #mercury #uranus #neptune #pluto #astronomy #astrophysics #spacex #satellite #milkyway #comet #rocket #orbit #spacecraft #shorts #fyp #youtube #viralvideo #trending #reels #shortsvideo #viralshorts #astronomyfacts #spacescience #telescope #gravity #meteors #asteroid #nebula #supernova #exoplanet #bigbang #cosmology #spaceexploration #eclipse #hubble #jameswebb #aliens #extraterrestrial #life #multiverse #iss #facts #youtubeshort #knowledge #sciencefacts #trend #viralshort #spacefacts #sun #astronomy #scienceeducation #trendingshorts",
"commentCountText": "1.5K",
"commentCountInt": 1500,
"likeCountInt": null,
"viewCountText": "9,550,557",
"viewCountInt": 9550557,
"publishDateText": "Jul 18, 2025",
"publishDate": "2025-07-18T09:42:58-07:00",
"channel": {
"id": "UCj7yUpOuWpLhiiPjf2w15zg",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@MYVISIONshorts",
"handle": "MYVISIONshorts",
"title": "MY VISION"
},
"chapters": [],
"keywords": [
"motivation",
"know your worth",
"mindset shift",
"stay dangerous",
"alpha male energy",
"success mindset",
"viral shorts",
"motivational shorts",
"never settle",
"grind mindset",
"never give up",
"ego boost",
"viral motivation video",
"life lessons",
"viral tiktok",
"shorts feed inspiration",
"discipline over motivation",
"stay valuable",
"self worth motivation",
"emotional motivation",
"power",
"value yourself",
"dangerous",
"Kids",
"Near death experience",
"Adrenaline",
"Discipline",
"Avengers",
"Bike accident",
"Help",
"Hero",
"Superhero"
],
"durationMs": 8000,
"durationFormatted": "00:00:08"
},
{
"id": "urisfWQu5bc",
"thumbnail": "https://img.youtube.com/vi/urisfWQu5bc/maxresdefault.jpg",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urisfWQu5bc",
"title": "The Laser Grab Illusion Explained",
"description": null,
"commentCountText": "48",
"commentCountInt": 48,
"likeCountText": "65072",
"likeCountInt": 65072,
"viewCountText": "1,719,730",
"viewCountInt": 1719730,
"publishDateText": "Jul 25, 2025",
"publishDate": "2025-07-25T17:29:48-07:00",
"channel": {
"id": "UCoGcvX8WSTOpK52Y81OfVFg",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@FactasticFeed",
"handle": "FactasticFeed",
"title": "FactasticFeed"
},
"chapters": [],
"keywords": [
"shorts",
"short"
],
"durationMs": 20000,
"durationFormatted": "00:00:20"
}
]
}Verify Response Structure
Check that your response includes the expected fields:
- ✓
success(boolean) - ✓
shorts(object)
Best Practices
1
Error Handling
Implement comprehensive error handling and retry logic for failed requests. Log errors properly for debugging.
2
Caching
Cache responses when possible to reduce API calls and improve performance. Consider data freshness requirements.
3
Security
Never expose your API key in client-side code. Use environment variables and secure key management practices.
Performance Tips
Batch Requests
When scraping multiple trendings, consider batching requests to maximize throughput while staying within rate limits.
Async Processing
Use asynchronous processing in R to handle multiple requests concurrently and improve overall performance.
Common Use Cases
Market Research
Analyze YouTube trendings to understand market trends, competitor analysis, and audience insights.
Content Analytics
Track performance metrics, engagement rates, and content trends across YouTube trendings.
Lead Generation
Identify potential customers and business opportunities throughYouTube data analysis.
Troubleshooting
Common Errors
401 Unauthorized
Check your API key is correct and properly formatted in the x-api-key header.
402 Payment Required
You ran out of credits and need to buy more.
404 Not Found
The resource might not exist or be private.
500 Server Error
Temporary server issue. Implement retry logic with exponential backoff.
Need Help?
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to scrape YouTube trendings?
ScrapeCreators offers 100 free API calls to get started. After that, pricing starts at $10 for 5k requests with volume discounts available.
Is it legal to scrape YouTube data?
Scraping publicly available data is fair game, and we only collect public data. So anything that you can see in an incognito browser is what we collect.
How fast can I scrape YouTube trendings?
There is no rate limit! So you can scrape as fast as you want!
What data format does the API return?
All API responses are returned in JSON format, making it easy to integrate with any programming language or application.
Can I use this with other R frameworks?
Yes! This tutorial focuses on core R HTTP concepts that work with any framework. The API calls remain the same regardless of your specific R setup.
How do I handle large datasets?
For large datasets, implement pagination, use streaming responses where available, and consider storing data in a database for efficient querying.
Related Tutorials
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