YouTube Search Suggestions Scraper: one-request API, MCP and n8n

{
  "queries": [
    "web scraping"
  ],
  "mode": "exact",
  "source": "youtube",
  "language": "en",
  "market": "US",
  "maxItems": 3,
  "maxSuggestionsPerSeed": 3,
  "maxQueriesPerSeed": 300,
  "expansionDepth": 0,
  "dedupeAcrossSeeds": false,
  "minWordCount": 0,
  "onlyQuestions": false,
  "mustContainSeed": false,
  "includeEntityCards": true,
  "includeSearchUrl": true
}

---
name: youtube-search-suggestions-scraper
description: "Autocomplete suggestion rows with seed, expansion type, rank, locale, source, search URL and channel/topic metadata when available. Runs the Apify Actor dataspryva/youtube-search-suggestions-scraper. Use when the user needs YouTube data with fields such as suggestion, seed, type, rank, locale, source and an Apify token is available."
compatibility: "Needs network access, curl, and an APIFY_TOKEN environment variable. Runs are billed to the token owner's Apify account."
metadata:
  actor: "dataspryva/youtube-search-suggestions-scraper"
  store-url: "https://apify.com/dataspryva/youtube-search-suggestions-scraper"
---

# YouTube Search Suggestions Scraper

Use this skill to fetch YouTube data with the Apify Actor `dataspryva/youtube-search-suggestions-scraper` and work with the returned rows.

## Before running

1. Check that `APIFY_TOKEN` is set in the environment. Never print it or write it to a file.
2. Build `input.json` from the user's request using the fields below. Keep limits small for a first run.
3. Confirm the search terms or URLs with the user if the request is ambiguous.

## Input fields

| Field | Type | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `queries` | array, required | Keywords or phrases to expand with YouTube autocomplete. Short 1-3 word seeds work best. |
| `mode` | one of `all`, `exact`, `alphabet`, `questions`, `modifiers`, `prepositions`, `comparisons`, `related` | How far to expand each seed. Exact is one request; All runs every working expansion axis. |
| `source` | one of `youtube`, `youtubeMusic`, `both` | YouTube search, YouTube Music, or both. YouTube Music is a separate music-biased source. |
| `language` | string | Language used to localize suggestions. |
| `market` | string | Country or region used to localize suggestions. |
| `maxItems` | integer | Global cap on suggestion rows across all seeds and sources. |
| `maxSuggestionsPerSeed` | integer | Cap on rows kept for each seed after the expansion plan runs. |
| `maxQueriesPerSeed` | integer | Cap on autocomplete requests per seed and source. Exact stays one request. |
| `expansionDepth` | integer | 0 = selected mode only. 1-2 re-query the best suggestions for deeper long-tail coverage. |
| `dedupeAcrossSeeds` | boolean | Keep one row when the same suggestion appears for more than one seed. Per-seed duplicates are always removed. |
| `excludeTerms` | array | Drop suggestions containing any of these terms. |
| `minWordCount` | integer | Drop suggestions with fewer words than this. |
| `onlyQuestions` | boolean | Keep only suggestions that look like questions. |
| `mustContainSeed` | boolean | Keep only suggestions that contain the seed keyword. |

Example `input.json` (the Actor's published prefill):

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "web scraping"
  ],
  "mode": "exact",
  "source": "youtube",
  "language": "en",
  "market": "US",
  "maxItems": 3,
  "maxSuggestionsPerSeed": 3,
  "maxQueriesPerSeed": 300,
  "expansionDepth": 0,
  "dedupeAcrossSeeds": false,
  "minWordCount": 0,
  "onlyQuestions": false,
  "mustContainSeed": false,
  "includeEntityCards": true,
  "includeSearchUrl": true
}
```

## Run

```bash
curl -sS -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/dataspryva~youtube-search-suggestions-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @input.json > results.json
```

The call waits for the run to finish and returns the dataset items as a JSON array. If the run needs more than 300 seconds the API answers with HTTP 408; then start the run with `POST /v2/acts/dataspryva~youtube-search-suggestions-scraper/runs`, poll `GET /v2/actor-runs/{runId}` until `SUCCEEDED`, and read `GET /v2/datasets/{defaultDatasetId}/items`.

## Output

Each item is one record. Published fields include: `suggestion`, `seed`, `type`, `rank`, `locale`, `source`, `suggestionType`, `searchUrl`.

Summarise what was found, cite the record URLs when present, and say how many items came back. Do not invent values for empty fields.