tubelab

name	tubelab
description	YouTube analytics and research API. Search channels, find video outliers, get video details/transcripts/comments, and run scans. Use for YouTube niche research, competitor analysis, and channel analytics.

TubeLab API

YouTube analytics and research API. Discover profitable niches, find viral outlier videos, analyze channels, get transcripts and comments, and run automated scans - all through REST endpoints returning JSON.

• Base URL: https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1
• Auth: API key in header
• Rate limit: 10 requests/minute per API key
• Format: JSON request/response
• Docs: https://tubelab.net/docs/api/introduction

Authentication

Every request requires an Authorization header with your API key:

Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY

Get your API key at https://tubelab.net/developers - requires an active subscription.

Rate Limits & Credits

Rate limited to 10 requests per minute per API key. Exceeding this returns 429 Too Many Requests.

Most endpoints cost credits. Cached responses (same request within a short window) are free.

Endpoint	Cost
GET /search/channels	10 credits
GET /search/channels/related	10 credits
GET /search/outliers	5 credits
GET /search/outliers/related	5 credits
GET /channel/videos/{id}	free
GET /channel/shorts/{id}	free
GET /video/{id}	free
GET /video/transcript/{id}	free
GET /video/comments/{id}	free
POST /scan	50–100 credits
GET /scan/{id}	free

Scan cost depends on mode: Fast = 50 credits, Standard = 100 credits.

Search Endpoints

Search for YouTube channels and viral videos (outliers). All search endpoints support pagination, sorting, and 30+ filters.

GET /search/channels

Channels Search for channels directly from the YouTube Niche Finder with AI enhanced data and 30+ filters. Cost: 10 credits per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/channels?query=minecraft%20adventures" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Query parameters:

Name	Type	Required	Description
query	string[]	no	Search queries
seed	string | number | null	no	Randomize search results by passing a random seed
filterBy	"video" | "short"	no	Filter by statistics of each content kind
contentKind	"video" | "short" | "long-form" | "short-form"	no	Filter by type of content created by channel: - video - channel has videos; - short - channel has shorts; - long-form - channel has more...
publishedAtFrom	string	no	Filter by a channel's last parsed video upload date (from a sample of 100 videos) - Expects an ISO date time string.
publishedAtTo	string	no
averageViewsFrom	integer	no
averageViewsTo	integer	no
medianViewsFrom	integer	no
medianViewsTo	integer	no
language	string[]	no	ISO 639-1 language codes
avgViewsToSubscribersRatioFrom	number	no	Filter by the outlier score of a channel
avgViewsToSubscribersRatioTo	number	no
subscribersFrom	integer	no
subscribersTo	integer	no
videosCountFrom	integer	no
videosCountTo	integer

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "pagination": { "total": 100, "from": 0, "size": 20 },
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": "UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w",
      "snippet": { "handle": "@tubelabhq", "title": "TubeLab", "contentKind": ["video","long-form"] },
      "statistics": { "subscribers": 15000, "averageViews": 5000, "avgViewsToSubscribersRatio": 0.33 
          
          
            
    
  

GET /search/channels/related

Similar Channels Search for YouTube channels with related content to another channel. Cost: 10 credits per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/channels/related?relatedChannelId=UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Query parameters:

Name	Type	Required	Description
relatedChannelId	string[]	yes
filterBy	"video" | "short"	no	Filter by statistics of each content kind
contentKind	"video" | "short" | "long-form" | "short-form"	no	Filter by type of content created by channel: - video - channel has videos; - short - channel has shorts; - long-form - channel has more...
publishedAtFrom	string	no	Filter by a channel's last parsed video upload date (from a sample of 100 videos) - Expects an ISO date time string.
publishedAtTo	string	no
averageViewsFrom	integer	no
averageViewsTo	integer	no
medianViewsFrom	integer	no
medianViewsTo	integer	no
language	string[]	no	ISO 639-1 language codes
avgViewsToSubscribersRatioFrom	number	no	Filter by the outlier score of a channel
avgViewsToSubscribersRatioTo	number	no
subscribersFrom	integer	no
subscribersTo	integer	no
videosCountFrom	integer	no
videosCountTo	integer	no
viewVariationCoefficientFrom	number	no

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "pagination": { "total": 50, "from": 0, "size": 20 },
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA",
      "snippet": { "handle": "@example", "title": "Example Channel", "contentKind": ["video"] },
      "statistics": { "subscribers": 25000, "averageViews": 8000 },
      "language": { "code"  
    
  

GET /search/outliers

Outliers Search for videos directly from the YouTube Outliers Finder library with AI enhanced data and 30+ filters. Cost: 5 credits per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?query=minecraft%20adventures&type=video" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Query parameters:

Name	Type	Required	Description
query	string[]	no	Search queries
seed	string | number | null	no	Randomize search results by passing a random seed
sortBy	"views" | "zScore" | "averageViewsRatio" | "publishedAt" | "revenue" | "rpm"	no	Sort results by a specific metric: Beaware when using semantic search (applying a query with the by parameter set to semantic) the sorting...
sortOrder	"asc" | "desc"	no	Sorting order of results, where asc is ascending and desc is descending
type	"video" | "short"	no
averageViewsRatioFrom	number	no
averageViewsRatioTo	number	no
zScoreFrom	number	no
zScoreTo	number	no
viewCountFrom	integer	no
viewCountTo	integer	no
language	string[]	no	ISO 639-1 language codes
durationFrom	integer	no
durationTo	integer	no
publishedAtFrom	string | string	no
publishedAtTo	string	no
subscribersCountFrom	integer	no
subscribersCountTo	integer	no

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "pagination": { "total": 100, "from": 0, "size": 20 },
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": "SVeXR66hcIg",
      "kind": "video",
      "snippet": { "channelId": "UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w", "title": "Video Title", "channelTitle": "Channel Name", "publishedAt": "2025-01-15T00:00:00Z" },
      "statistics": { "viewCount": 500000, "zScore": 4.2       
            
    
  

GET /search/outliers/related

Similar Outliers Search for YouTube outliers with related content to another outlier(s). Cost: 5 credits per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers/related?title=minecraft%20survival%20tutorial&type=video&by=semantic" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Query parameters:

Name	Type	Required	Description
title	string[]	no
videoId	string[]	no
thumbnailVideoId	string	no	A unique YouTube video identifier
relatedChannelId	string[]	no
type	"video" | "short"	no
averageViewsRatioFrom	number	no
averageViewsRatioTo	number	no
zScoreFrom	number	no
zScoreTo	number	no
viewCountFrom	integer	no
viewCountTo	integer	no
language	string[]	no	ISO 639-1 language codes
durationFrom	integer	no
durationTo	integer	no
publishedAtFrom	string | string	no
publishedAtTo	string	no
subscribersCountFrom	integer	no
subscribersCountTo	integer	no
channelAvgViewsFrom	number	no
channelAvgViewsTo	number	no
channelVideoCountFrom	integer

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "pagination": { "total": 50, "from": 0, "size": 20 },
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "kind": "video",
      "snippet": { "channelId": "UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w", "title": "Similar Video", "publishedAt": "2025-02-01T00:00:00Z" },
      "statistics": { "viewCount": 120000, "zScore": 3.1, "averageViewsRatio": 5.2 
    
  

Channel & Video Endpoints

Get detailed information about specific channels and videos.

GET /channel/videos/{id}

Channel Videos Get videos from a YouTube channel with sampled metrics. Cost: free per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/channel/videos/UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Path parameters:

Name	Type	Description
id	string	A unique YouTube channel identifier

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "id": "UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w",
  "time": "2025-06-15T12:00:00Z",
  "item": {
    "id": "UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w",
    "kind": "channel",
    "snippet": { "title": "TubeLab", "handle": "@tubelabhq" },
    "videos": [{ "id": "SVeXR66hcIg", "title": "Video Title", "viewCount": 50000, "publishedAt": "2025-01-15T00:00:00Z" }],
    "statistics": { "subscribers"      
  

GET /channel/shorts/{id}

Channel Shorts Get shorts from a YouTube channel with sampled metrics. Cost: free per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/channel/shorts/UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Path parameters:

Name	Type	Description
id	string	A unique YouTube channel identifier

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "id": "UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w",
  "time": "2025-06-15T12:00:00Z",
  "item": {
    "id": "UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w",
    "kind": "channel",
    "snippet": { "title": "TubeLab", "handle": "@tubelabhq" },
    "shorts": [{ "id": "abc123", "title": "Short Title", "viewCount": 100000, "publishedAt": "2025-03-01T00:00:00Z" }],
    "statistics": { "subscribers"    
  

GET /video/{id}

Video Details Get details of a YouTube video. Cost: free per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/video/SVeXR66hcIg" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Path parameters:

Name	Type	Description
id	string	A unique YouTube video identifier

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "ids": ["SVeXR66hcIg"],
  "time": "2025-06-15T12:00:00Z",
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "SVeXR66hcIg",
      "kind": "video",
      "snippet": { "channelId": "UChn5jutPQB_bRjnG80pzl5w", "title": "Video Title", "publishedAt": "2025-01-15T00:00:00Z" },
      "statistics": { "viewCount": 50000, "likeCount": 2000, "commentCount": 300 }
    }
  ]
}

GET /video/transcript/{id}

Video Transcript Get the transcript of a YouTube video. Cost: free per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/video/transcript/SVeXR66hcIg" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Path parameters:

Name	Type	Description
id	string	A unique YouTube video identifier

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "ids": ["SVeXR66hcIg"],
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "SVeXR66hcIg",
      "events": [{ "startMs": 0, "durationMs": 5000, "endMs": 5000, "text": "Hello and welcome..." }],
      "transcript": "Hello and welcome to this video..."
    }
  ]
}

GET /video/comments/{id}

Video Comments Get the last 100 comments of a YouTube video. Cost: free per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/video/comments/SVeXR66hcIg" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Path parameters:

Name	Type	Description
id	string	A unique YouTube video identifier

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "ids": ["SVeXR66hcIg"],
  "time": "2025-06-15T12:00:00Z",
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "SVeXR66hcIg",
      "comments": [{ "authorText": "User", "text": "Great video!", "likesCount": 42, "replyCount": 3, "publishedAt": "2025-01-16T00:00:00Z" }],
      "statistics": { "count": 300 }
    }
  ]
}

Scanning Endpoints

Start YouTube scans to discover channels and outlier videos in any niche. Scans run asynchronously - start one, then poll for status.

POST /scan

Scan Start a YouTube scan to search for outliers and channels on any given topic. Cost: 50–100 credits per request.

curl -s -X POST "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/scan" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"findBy":"query","query":["UCUyeluBRhGPCW4rPe_UvBZQ","UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA"],"mode":"standard"}'

Body parameters:

Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
findBy	"channels" | "query"	no	query	Start the scan from queries (search results) or channels
query	string[]	yes		Search queries or YouTube channel ids
mode	"fast" | "standard"	no	fast	- Fast: 1000 outliers or 100 channels - Standard: 2500 outliers or 250 channels

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "id": "2a5e56f5-75f3-4f01-ac85-6e796f5cde87",
  "name": "minecraft, gaming",
  "status": "Queued",
  "input": { "query": ["minecraft", "gaming"], "threshold": 1000 },
  "endedAt": null,
  "createdAt": "2025-06-15T12:00:00Z",
  "updatedAt": "2025-06-15T12:00:00Z"
}

GET /scan/{id}

Scan Get a scan by id. Cost: free per request.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/scan/2a5e56f5-75f3-4f01-ac85-6e796f5cde87" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Path parameters:

Name	Type	Description
id	string	Scan id

Response shape (abbreviated):

{
  "id": "2a5e56f5-75f3-4f01-ac85-6e796f5cde87",
  "name": "minecraft, gaming",
  "status": "Completed",
  "input": { "query": ["minecraft", "gaming"], "threshold": 1000 },
  "endedAt": "2025-06-15T13:30:00Z",
  "createdAt": "2025-06-15T12:00:00Z",
  "updatedAt": "2025-06-15T13:30:00Z"
}

Scan Workflow

Scans run asynchronously. Here's the typical flow:

1. Start a scan with POST /scan - returns a scan ID and status Queued
2. Poll for status with GET /scan/{id} - status progresses: Queued → Running → Completed
3. Search results with GET /search/outliers?referenceId={scanId} - returns discovered outlier videos

# 1. Start scan
SCAN_ID=$(curl -s -X POST "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/scan" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":["minecraft","gaming"],"mode":"fast"}' | jq -r '.id')

# 2. Poll until complete
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/scan/$SCAN_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY" | jq '.status'

# 3. Search results once completed
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?referenceId=$SCAN_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Mode	Outliers Limit	Channels Limit	Cost	Est. Time
Fast	1,000	100	50 credits	30 min – 2 hrs
Standard	2,500	250	100 credits	2 – 4 hrs

Common Patterns

Pagination

Search endpoints return pagination.total, pagination.from, and pagination.size. Use from and size query params to paginate:

# Page 1 (items 0-19)
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?query=minecraft%20adventures&type=video&from=0&size=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

# Page 2 (items 20-39)
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?query=minecraft%20adventures&type=video&from=20&size=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Range Filters

Many numeric fields support From/To suffixes for range filtering:

# Channels with 10k-100k subscribers and avg views > 5000
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/channels?query=cooking%20healthy%20recipes&subscribersFrom=10000&subscribersTo=100000&averageViewsFrom=5000" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Sorting

Use sortBy and sortOrder params. Available sort fields vary by endpoint.

Important: When using query, omit sortBy to get the default relevance-based ranking. Adding a sort like sortBy=views overrides relevance and returns results ordered by that field, which usually produces worse matches. Only add sortBy when you don't use query (e.g. filter-only searches).

# Filter-only search (no query) — sorting makes sense here
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?type=video&classificationQuality=positive&sortBy=views&sortOrder=desc" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Array Parameters

Array params use repeated keys:

# Multiple search queries
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/channels?query=minecraft%20adventures&query=gaming%20tutorials" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Search Recipes

Ready-to-use filter combinations for common research tasks. Date filters use ISO 8601 format - compute relative dates with date or substitute directly.

Tip - queries: Search is semantic — longer, descriptive queries return much better results than single keywords. Use query=minecraft adventures or query=cooking healthy recipes instead of just query=minecraft or query=cooking. Think 2-4 words that describe the niche.

Tip - sorting: When using query, do NOT add sortBy — the default sort is by relevance and gives the best matches. Only use sortBy for filter-only searches (no query), e.g. sorting by foundAt or views.

Tip - averageViewsRatio: When searching outliers, prefer averageViewsRatioFrom=1 to find videos that outperformed the channel's average. A ratio of 2 means the video got 2x the channel's usual views. Values above 5 are very rare and indicate extreme virality - only use higher thresholds when you want to narrow results significantly.

Tip - content type: When searching outliers, prefer type=video to focus on long-form videos. Shorts tend to have inflated view counts and skew results. Only use type=short when specifically researching short-form content.

Profitable channels (recently found)

Monetized channels found in the last year with estimated monthly revenue above $1,000 and at least 1,000 subscribers. Sorted by discovery date.

ONE_YEAR_AGO=$(date -u -d "1 year ago" +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z 2>/dev/null || date -u -v-1y +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z)
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/channels?monetizationAdsense=true&revenueMonthlyEstimationFrom=1000&subscribersFrom=1000&publishedAtFrom=$ONE_YEAR_AGO&language=en&language=de&language=fr&excludeNiche=music&excludeNiche=song&excludeNiche=lofi&excludeNiche=movies&excludeNiche=kids&excludeNiche=news&excludeNiche=politic&sortBy=foundAt&size=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Trending channels

Channels with high engagement (avg views/subscribers ratio above 1) and at least 10,000 average views, found in the last 6 months. Good for spotting rising creators.

SIX_MONTHS_AGO=$(date -u -d "6 months ago" +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z 2>/dev/null || date -u -v-6m +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z)
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/channels?avgViewsToSubscribersRatioFrom=1&averageViewsFrom=10000&subscribersFrom=100&publishedAtFrom=$SIX_MONTHS_AGO&language=en&language=de&language=fr&excludeNiche=music&excludeNiche=song&excludeNiche=lofi&excludeNiche=movies&sortBy=foundAt&size=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Faceless viral videos

AI-classified faceless videos with positive quality published in the last month. Useful for finding faceless niche ideas.

ONE_MONTH_AGO=$(date -u -d "1 month ago" +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z 2>/dev/null || date -u -v-1m +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z)
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?type=video&classificationIsFaceless=true&classificationQuality=positive&publishedAtFrom=$ONE_MONTH_AGO&size=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

High authenticity videos

Videos classified as positive quality by AI. Filters out low-effort and spammy content.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?type=video&classificationQuality=positive&size=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Monetized channel videos

Outlier videos from channels with AdSense enabled. Useful for researching niches that generate ad revenue.

curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?type=video&channelMonetizationAdsense=true&size=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY"

Error Handling

All errors return JSON with an error object:

Status	Meaning	Response
400	Validation error	{ "error": { "errors": [{ "code": "...", "message": "...", "path": ["param"] }] } }
401	Invalid/missing API key	{ "error": { "message": "Unauthorized" }, "status": "error" }
402	Insufficient credits	{ "error": { "message": "Insufficient credits" }, "status": "error" }
429	Rate limited	{ "error": { "message": "Rate limit exceeded", "rateLimit": { "limit": 10, "current": 11, "remaining": 0 } } }

jq Recipes

# Profitable channels: extract name, subs, revenue, and views
ONE_YEAR_AGO=$(date -u -d "1 year ago" +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z 2>/dev/null || date -u -v-1y +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z)
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/channels?monetizationAdsense=true&revenueMonthlyEstimationFrom=1000&subscribersFrom=1000&publishedAtFrom=$ONE_YEAR_AGO&sortBy=foundAt&size=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY" | jq '[.hits[] | {title: .snippet.title, handle: .snippet.handle, subs: .statistics.subscribers, avgViews: .statistics.averageViews}]'

# Trending channels: list titles with engagement ratio
SIX_MONTHS_AGO=$(date -u -d "6 months ago" +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z 2>/dev/null || date -u -v-6m +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z)
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/channels?avgViewsToSubscribersRatioFrom=1&averageViewsFrom=10000&subscribersFrom=100&publishedAtFrom=$SIX_MONTHS_AGO&sortBy=foundAt&size=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY" | jq '[.hits[] | {title: .snippet.title, subs: .statistics.subscribers, ratio: .statistics.avgViewsToSubscribersRatio}]'

# Faceless viral videos: extract title, views, and z-score
ONE_MONTH_AGO=$(date -u -d "1 month ago" +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z 2>/dev/null || date -u -v-1m +%Y-%m-%dT00:00:00Z)
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?type=video&classificationIsFaceless=true&classificationQuality=positive&publishedAtFrom=$ONE_MONTH_AGO&size=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key $TUBELAB_API_KEY" | jq '[.hits[] | {title: .snippet.title, views: .statistics.viewCount, zScore: .statistics.zScore, channel: .snippet.channelTitle}]'

# High-quality outliers: get top videos by views
curl -s "https://public-api.tubelab.net/v1/search/outliers?type=video&classificationQuality=positive&sortBy=views&sortOrder=desc&size=10" \
  -H  | jq 


curl -s  \
  -H  | jq -r 


curl -s  \
  -H  | jq