How to Scrape YouTube Videos with Ruby

Extract video data from YouTube

💎 Using Ruby

Overview

Learn how to scrape YouTube videos using Ruby. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the entire process, from setup to implementation.

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

What You'll Get

• Access to videos 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.

2. Development Environment

Make sure you have the following installed:

• Ruby and its dependencies
• A code editor (VS Code, Sublime, etc.)
• Basic understanding of API requests
• Command line interface access

Step 1: Install HTTP Client

HTTParty is a Ruby library that makes HTTP requests easy

gem

gem install httparty

Step 2: API Implementation

Now let's make a request to the YouTube API using Ruby. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key.

Ruby

require 'httparty'
require 'json'

API_KEY = 'YOUR_API_KEY'

def scrape
  response = HTTParty.get(
    "https://api.scrapecreators.com/v1/youtube/video",
    headers: {
      'x-api-key' => API_KEY,
      'Content-Type' => 'application/json'
    },
    query: {
        'url' => 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Ah_DFr8cw'
    }
  )

  puts 'Response:'
  puts JSON.pretty_generate(response.parsed_response)
  response.parsed_response
rescue => e
  puts "Error: #{e.message}"
  nil
end

# Usage
result = scrape

Step 3: Testing Your Code

API Parameters

This endpoint accepts the following parameters:

urlRequired(string)

YouTube video or short URL

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Ah_DFr8cw

Run Your Code

Execute your script to test the API connection. You should see a JSON response with YouTube videos 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,
  "credits_remaining": 33851527,
  "id": "Y2Ah_DFr8cw",
  "thumbnail": "https://img.youtube.com/vi/Y2Ah_DFr8cw/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Ah_DFr8cw",
  "publishDate": "2019-02-22T03:19:54-08:00",
  "type": "video",
  "title": "Inside the NBA: Chuck Trolls Jussie Smollett \"Do not commit crimes with checks, use cash!\"",
  "description": null,
  "commentCountText": "358",
  "commentCountInt": 358,
  "likeCountText": "4043",
  "likeCountInt": 4043,
  "viewCountText": "372,864",
  "viewCountInt": 372864,
  "publishDateText": "Feb 22, 2019",
  "collaborators": [],
  "channel": {
    "id": "UCWH3hing1Qb4LnkRfQdxsxQ",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@afroballer8906",
    "handle": "afroballer8906",
    "title": "Afroballer"
  },
  "chapters": [],
  "watchNextVideos": [
    {
      "id": "lzDTK5kEdkM",
      "title": "Charles Barkley and Shaq FUNNIEST MOMENTS",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lzDTK5kEdkM/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDGQgBFQAAiEIYAdgBAeIBCggYEAIYBjgBQAE=&rs=AOn4CLAq_osvQnsGV3A7uz4L1CPTaLqppg",
      "channel": {
        "title": "SkyHooked",
        "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@SkyHooked",
        "handle": "SkyHooked",
        "id": "UCrX8GD5f_O-Cu5Y2vQuSSvw"
      },
      "publishedTimeText": "11 months ago",
      "publishedTime": "2025-02-16T19:25:39.493Z",
      "publishDateText": "11 months ago",
      "publishDate": "2025-02-16T19:25:39.493Z",
      "viewCountText": "1.8M views",
      "viewCountInt": 1800000,
      "lengthText": "18:01",
      "lengthInSeconds": 1081,
      "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzDTK5kEdkM"
    },
    {
      "id": "B8m_XUPtF9o",
      "title": "15 NBA Legends Put An End To The GOAT Debate",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/B8m_XUPtF9o/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDGQgBFQAAiEIYAdgBAeIBCggYEAIYBjgBQAE=&rs=AOn4CLCrPDrAu52ZX2dclLkaEvMwuZtacw",
      "channel": {
        "title": "YounGala",
        "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@YounGala",
        "handle": "YounGala",
        "id": "UCNPl2SnE4FqafSjA7zmkN5w"
      },
      "publishedTimeText": "2 months ago",
      "publishedTime": "2025-11-16T19:25:39.493Z",
      "publishDateText": "2 months ago",
      "publishDate": "2025-11-16T19:25:39.493Z",
      "viewCountText": "807K views",
      "viewCountInt": 807000,
      "lengthText": "21:21",
      "lengthInSeconds": 1281,
      "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8m_XUPtF9o"
    }
  ],
  "keywords": [],
  "genre": "People & Blogs",
  "durationMs": 348000,
  "durationFormatted": "00:05:48",
  "captionTracks": [
    {
      "baseUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/api/timedtext?v=Y2Ah_DFr8cw&ei=s5Bqab0gu8yS5w_pvOLIDw&caps=asr&opi=112496729&xoaf=5&xowf=1&hl=en&ip=0.0.0.0&ipbits=0&expire=1768616739&sparams=ip,ipbits,expire,v,ei,caps,opi,xoaf&signature=306A57ADE14FECC84B0DB13190761BCCC922AC9B.5C321C4FE7086F7AF851CA8463326E1869EE5255&key=yt8&kind=asr&lang=en",
      "name": {
        "simpleText": "English (auto-generated)"
      },
      "vssId": "a.en",
      "languageCode": "en",
      "kind": "asr",
      "isTranslatable": true,
      "trackName": ""
    }
  ],
  "transcript": null,
  "transcript_only_text": null
}

Verify Response Structure

Check that your response includes the expected fields:

✓success(boolean)
✓credits_remaining(number)
✓id(string)
✓thumbnail(string)
✓url(string)
... and 22 more fields

Best Practices

Error Handling

Implement comprehensive error handling and retry logic for failed requests. Log errors properly for debugging.

Caching

Cache responses when possible to reduce API calls and improve performance. Consider data freshness requirements.

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 videos, consider batching requests to maximize throughput while staying within rate limits.

Async Processing

Use asynchronous processing in Ruby to handle multiple requests concurrently and improve overall performance.

Common Use Cases

Market Research

Analyze YouTube videos to understand market trends, competitor analysis, and audience insights.

Content Analytics

Track performance metrics, engagement rates, and content trends across YouTube videos.

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?

Documentation More Tutorials

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to scrape YouTube videos?

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 videos?

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 Ruby frameworks?

Yes! This tutorial focuses on core Ruby HTTP concepts that work with any framework. The API calls remain the same regardless of your specific Ruby 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.

Ready to Start Scraping?

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