YouTube Video, Playlist & Channel Downloader with Metadata: MCP config, n8n workflow and API

{
  "mode": "metadata",
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "videoQuality": "360p",
  "container": "auto",
  "audioOnly": false,
  "audioFormat": "m4a",
  "downloadSubtitles": false,
  "subtitleLanguages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "subtitleFormat": "vtt",
  "includeTranscript": false,
  "maxVideos": 1,
  "maxMinutes": 30,
  "maxMB": 100,
  "allow4K": false,
  "storage": "ephemeral_kvs",
  "storageRetentionDays": 7,
  "s3Prefix": "youtube-downloader",
  "s3Region": "auto",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}

---
name: youtube-video-playlist-and-channel-downloader
description: "YouTube video metadata, media files, captions, transcripts, and honest failure rows. Runs the Apify Actor nimbryxo-studio/youtube-video-playlist-and-channel-downloader. Use when the user needs YouTube data with fields such as video_url, title, uploader, duration_seconds, download_status, failure_code 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: "nimbryxo-studio/youtube-video-playlist-and-channel-downloader"
  store-url: "https://apify.com/nimbryxo-studio/youtube-video-playlist-and-channel-downloader"
---

# YouTube Video, Playlist & Channel Downloader with Metadata

Use this skill to fetch YouTube data with the Apify Actor `nimbryxo-studio/youtube-video-playlist-and-channel-downloader` 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `mode` | one of `metadata`, `download`, `subtitles`, required | What to return: metadata only, media files, or caption files without media. |
| `videoUrls` | array | Direct YouTube video, Shorts, live-replay, or youtu.be URLs, or 11-character video IDs. |
| `playlistUrls` | array | YouTube playlist URLs. Videos are expanded up to maxVideos in total. |
| `channelUrls` | array | YouTube channel URLs, @handles, or UC channel IDs. The Videos tab is used. |
| `searchQueries` | array | YouTube search phrases. Each query resolves public results up to maxVideos in total. |
| `videoQuality` | one of `360p`, `480p`, `720p`, `1080p`, `1440p`, `2160p`, `best` | SDR target quality. 360p-1080p prefer H.264/AAC MP4. 1440p and 2160p require allow4K and are delivered with their real codec and container. |
| `container` | one of `auto`, `mp4`, `webm`, `mkv` | Auto uses MP4 H.264/AAC when available and MKV for VP9/AV1. Explicit MP4 never relabels AV1/Opus content as MP4; if no compatible stream exists the video gets a failure row. |
| `audioOnly` | boolean | Download the source audio track without video and without re-encoding. |
| `audioFormat` | one of `m4a`, `opus` | Source audio passthrough format used when audioOnly is enabled. |
| `downloadSubtitles` | boolean | Fetch available manual or automatic captions for the requested languages. |
| `subtitleLanguages` | array | Caption language codes to request. Only tracks that already exist on the video are used; translations are not promised. |
| `subtitleFormat` | one of `vtt`, `srt` | File format for downloaded captions. |
| `includeTranscript` | boolean | Add a plain-text transcript from the first requested caption track. |
| `maxVideos` | integer | Total videos processed across all inputs. |

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

```json
{
  "mode": "metadata",
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "videoQuality": "360p",
  "container": "auto",
  "audioOnly": false,
  "audioFormat": "m4a",
  "downloadSubtitles": false,
  "subtitleLanguages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "subtitleFormat": "vtt",
  "includeTranscript": false,
  "maxVideos": 1,
  "maxMinutes": 30,
  "maxMB": 100,
  "allow4K": false,
  "storage": "ephemeral_kvs",
  "storageRetentionDays": 7,
  "s3Prefix": "youtube-downloader",
  "s3Region": "auto",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

## Run

```bash
curl -sS -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/nimbryxo-studio~youtube-video-playlist-and-channel-downloader/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/nimbryxo-studio~youtube-video-playlist-and-channel-downloader/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: `video_url`, `title`, `uploader`, `duration_seconds`, `download_status`, `failure_code`, `requested_quality`, `delivered_quality`, `resolution`, `filesize_bytes`, `download_url`, `storage_mode`, `downloaded_at`, `video_id`, `description`, `upload_date`, `view_count`, `like_count`, `comment_count`, `thumbnail`.

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