how do I get youtube shorts from youtube api data v3 - youtube-api

Question

I want a way to get YouTube shorts for a specific channel from YouTube API. I looked every where and I couldn't find anything.
Currently I can get a playlist ID for all channel videos with this endpoint:
request = youtube.channels().list(
part="contentDetails",
id=id
)
I also tried these parameters:
request = youtube.channels().list(
part="snippet,contentDetails,statistics,brandingSettings",
id=id
)
So is there a way to get YouTube shorts from a specific channel from YouTube API or any other source if it's available.

Answer 1

One way of detecting if a YouTube video ID is a Short without even using the API is to try a HEAD HTTP request to the /shorts/ version of the URL and see if it redirects you.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hKwrn5-7FjQ is a Short and if you visit that URL, you'll get an HTTP status code of 200 and the URL won't change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-s71n0dHUk is not a Short, and if you visit https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B-s71n0dHUk, you get a 303 redirect back to the original URL.
Keep in mind, that this behavior might change down the line, but it works as of May 2022.

Answer 2

It seems that once again YouTube Data API v3 doesn't provide a basic feature.
For checking if a given video is a short:
I would recommend you to use my open-source YouTube operational API. Indeed by requesting the JSON document https://yt.lemnoslife.com/videos?part=short&id=VIDEO_ID containing item["short"]["available"] boolean, your problem is solved.
Example of short id: ydPkyvWtmg4
For listing shorts of a channel:
I would recommend you to use my open-source YouTube operational API. Indeed by requesting the JSON document https://yt.lemnoslife.com/channels?part=shorts&id=CHANNEL_ID. The entry item["shorts"] contains the data you are looking for. Note that the pagination works as the one of YouTube Data API v3.
Example of result for channel UC5O114-PQNYkurlTg6hekZw:
{
"kind": "youtube#channelListResponse",
"etag": "NotImplemented",
"items": [
{
"kind": "youtube#channel",
"etag": "NotImplemented",
"id": "UC5O114-PQNYkurlTg6hekZw",
"shorts": [
{
"videoId": "fP8nKVauFwc",
"title": "India: United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee Watch LIVE #shorts",
"thumbnails": [
{
"url": "https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/fP8nKVauFwc\/hq720_2.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEYCNAFENAFSFryq4qpAwoIARUAAIhC0AEB&rs=AOn4CLCgJEYgv_msT5pkfWeEEN3VBt4wjg",
"width": 720,
"height": 720
}
],
"viewCount": 3700
},
...
],
"nextPageToken": "4qmFsgLlARIYVUM1TzExNC1QUU5Za3VybFRnNmhla1p3GsgBOGdhU0FScVBBVktNQVFxSEFRcGZRME00VVVGU2IyWnZaMWxqUTJob1ZsRjZWbEJOVkVVd1RGWkNVbFJzYkhKa1dFcHpWa2RqTW1GSFZuSlhibU5SUVZOSlVrTm5PSGhQYWtVeVRtcGplVTE2VlRST2FrVXdUbXBCY1VSUmIweFhWRUl5VGtab1dGSllSbGRNVmtVU0pEWXpOakJoTkRVNUxUQXdNREF0TWpKaE15MDRObUV6TFdRMFpqVTBOMlZqWVRSbFl4Z0I=,CgtuNjFmZlJlR0QxcyiVgICbBg=="
}
]
}

Answer 3

Below is a sample python code to send the HEAD HTTP request.
import requests
def is_short(vid):
url = 'https://www.youtube.com/shorts/' + vid
ret = requests.head(url)
if ret.status_code == 200:
return True
else: # whether 303 or other values, it's not short
return False

Answer 4

I don't know why but I don't get status code 303 whether it's a short or not with axios. So this is another way of checking if it's a short or not.
const isShort = async (videoId) => {
const url = "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/" + videoId
const res = await axios.head(url)
console.log(res.request.res.responseUrl)
// if it's a short it ends with "/shorts/videoId"
// if it's NOT a short it ends "/watch?=videoId"
}
Maybe axios automatically redirects?

Answer 5

You can use the new dimension called 'creatorContentType' from Youtube Analytics and Reports API.
// You can get IDs from PlaylistItems or Search API
const IDs = ["videoID1", "videoID2", "videoID3"];
// Get the analytics data of selected videos based on their IDs
const { data: analyticsData } = await youtubeAnalytics.reports.query({
ids: "channel==MINE",
startDate: "2019-01-01",
// Today's date
endDate: new Date().toISOString().split("T")[0],
metrics: "views",
dimensions: "video,creatorContentType",
filters: `video==${IDs.join(",")}`,
access_token,
});
It basically returns values listed below:
Value
Description
LIVE_STREAM
The viewed content was a YouTube live stream.
SHORTS
The viewed content was a YouTube Short.
STORY
The viewed content was a YouTube Story.
VIDEO_ON_DEMAND
The viewed content was a YouTube video that does not fall under one of the other dimension values.
UNSPECIFIED
The content type of the viewed content is unknown.
Notes:
Don't forget it returns values just for the videos uploaded after 01.01.2019.
Don't forget to add analytics scopes and enable Analytics and Reports API.