YouTube Search API

Zero-cost YouTube video search service powered by web scraping

Features

• ✅ No YouTube API key required - completely free

• ✅ RESTful API design with Swagger documentation

• ✅ MCP (Model Context Protocol) support - integrate with AI assistants

• ✅ Redis caching optimization (1 hour TTL)

• ✅ Complete video metadata extraction

• ✅ Sorting and filtering capabilities

• ✅ Docker containerization support

Related MCP server: YouTube MCP Server

Quick Start

Install Dependencies

uv sync

Start the Service

python main.py

The service will start at http://localhost:8000.

API Documentation

Visit http://localhost:8000/docs for interactive API documentation.

API Usage Examples

Basic Search

curl "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/search?keyword=Python tutorial"

Specify Result Count

curl "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/search?keyword=Python&limit=5"

Sort by Date

curl "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/search?keyword=Python&sort_by=date&limit=3"

Audio Download Feature

Download YouTube videos as MP3 audio files with automatic caching and cleanup.

Download Features

• ✅ Download YouTube videos as 128kbps MP3 files

• ✅ Support for single and batch downloads

• ✅ Redis-based caching to avoid duplicate downloads

• ✅ Automatic cleanup of expired files (24-hour TTL)

• ✅ Rate limiting: 20 downloads per IP per hour

• ✅ Video duration limit: maximum 10 minutes

• ✅ Direct streaming or download link format

Download API Examples

Single Video Download (Link Format)

# Get download link
curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/download/audio?video_id=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=link"

# Response
{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
  "duration": 212,
  "download_url": "http://localhost:8000/downloads/dQw4w9WgXcQ_Rick_Astley.mp3",
  "cached": false,
  "file_size": 3400000
}

Single Video Download (Stream Format)

# Direct MP3 stream - returns binary audio data
curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/download/audio?video_id=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=stream" -o output.mp3

Batch Download

# Download multiple videos at once (max 20)
curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/download/batch" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "video_ids": ["dQw4w9WgXcQ", "jNQXAC9IVRw"]
  }'

# Response
{
  "total": 2,
  "successful": 1,
  "failed": 1,
  "items": [
    {
      "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "status": "success",
      "download_url": "http://localhost:8000/downloads/...",
      "duration": 212,
      "cached": false
    },
    {
      "video_id": "jNQXAC9IVRw",
      "status": "failed",
      "error_message": "Video duration exceeds limit"
    }
  ]
}

Configuration

Set these environment variables to customize download behavior:

# Download storage directory
DOWNLOAD_DIR=/tmp/youtube_audio

# Base URL for serving downloads (used in download links)
DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000/downloads

# Download timeout in seconds
DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT=300

# Maximum video duration in seconds (default: 600 = 10 minutes)
MAX_VIDEO_DURATION=600

# Audio bitrate in kbps
AUDIO_BITRATE=128

# Cache TTL in hours
CACHE_TTL_HOURS=24

# Rate limit: downloads per IP per hour
RATE_LIMIT_DOWNLOAD_PER_HOUR=20

# Enable rate limiting
RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED=true

Error Handling

The API returns appropriate HTTP status codes:

• 400 - Invalid video ID or parameters

• 403 - Video too long, live stream, or access restricted

• 404 - Video not found or deleted

• 503 - Download failed or YouTube unavailable

• 507 - Server storage full

Cleanup

Expired audio files are automatically deleted after 24 hours. Manual cleanup can be triggered:

# Manual cleanup script
python scripts/cleanup_cron.py

# Schedule with cron (daily at 2 AM)
0 2 * * * /usr/bin/python /path/to/scripts/cleanup_cron.py >> /path/to/logs/cleanup.log 2>&1

MCP Integration (Model Context Protocol)

This service provides MCP server functionality, allowing AI assistants (such as Claude Desktop) to directly invoke YouTube search tools via the MCP protocol.

MCP Service Types

• HTTP Service: Provided via StreamableHTTPSessionManager, integrated with existing FastAPI application

• Supported Transport Modes: HTTP (MVP)

• Future Iterations: Consider supporting stdio and SSE modes

REST API and MCP Coexistence

• REST API Preservation: Existing REST API endpoints (/api/v1/search, etc.) remain fully functional

• Flexible Deployment: Choose between integrated (same FastAPI app) or separate (independent process) deployment

• Backward Compatibility: MCP additions do not modify any existing REST API signatures or behaviors

MCP Configuration

Claude Desktop Setup

Add the following to Claude Desktop's configuration file (~/.config/claude/settings.json or %APPDATA%\Claude\settings.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "youtube-search-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "python", "mcp_stdio.py"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_SEARCH_TIMEOUT": "15",
        "MCP_SEARCH_RETRIES": "3",
        "PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

• MCP_SEARCH_TIMEOUT (default: 15 seconds): Search operation timeout

• MCP_SEARCH_RETRIES (default: 3 times): Retry attempts on search failure

• REDIS_HOST, REDIS_PORT, REDIS_DB: Redis cache configuration (optional)

Starting the MCP Server

# Start MCP server (stdio mode)
python mcp_stdio.py

# Or using uv
uv run python mcp_stdio.py

MCP Tool: youtube_search

Tool Name: youtube_search

Description: Search YouTube videos and return complete metadata

Parameters:

Response Format:

{
  "videos": [
    {
      "video_id": "mIF-nn_y2_8",
      "title": "Jackie Cheung - Farewell Kiss",
      "channel": "Music Without Boundaries",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIF-nn_y2_8",
      "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@channel_name",
      "publish_date": "2020-01-15",
      "view_count": "1500000",
      "description": "Classic Cantonese song..."
    }
  ],
  "message": "Successfully returned 1 result"
}

Error Handling:

• Empty keyword: Returns {"error": "INVALID_KEYWORD", "message": "Search keyword cannot be empty..."}

• Invalid limit: Returns {"error": "INVALID_LIMIT", "message": "limit must be between 1-100..."}

• YouTube service unavailable: Returns {"error": "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE", "message": "YouTube service is temporarily unavailable..."}

• Cache service failure: Gracefully degrades to direct search and returns normal results

Environment Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env and modify as needed:

cp .env.example .env

Docker Deployment

docker-compose up -d

Testing

pytest tests/

Project Structure

src/youtube_search/
├── models/          # Pydantic data models
├── services/        # Business logic layer
├── api/             # API routes
└── utils/           # Utility functions

License

MIT License