YouTube Shorts contains valuable data -- short video results, video ids, view counts, published time, and more. Scraping this data directly means dealing with anti-bot detection, CAPTCHAs, IP rotation, and constantly breaking selectors. The Scavio API handles all of that and returns clean, structured JSON from a single POST request.
This tutorial shows you how to scrape YouTube Shorts using C# and the Scavio API. By the end, you will have a working C# script that fetches real-time YouTube Shorts data and parses the results.
Prerequisites
- C# installed on your machine
- A Scavio API key (free tier includes 50 credits on signup -- no credit card required)
Step 1: Install Dependencies
Install HttpClient to make HTTP requests:
dotnet new consoleStep 2: Make Your First YouTube Shorts Search
Send a POST request to the Scavio YouTube Shorts API endpoint with your query. The API returns structured JSON with short video results, video ids, view counts, and more.
// Shorts search takes search (not query). channel.name is often empty on Shorts rows -
// resolve it with POST /api/v1/youtube/video when you need it.
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text.Json;
var apiKey = "sk_live_your_key";
var search = "ai coding agent shorts";
var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer " + apiKey);
var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync(
"https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/youtube/shorts",
new { search }
);
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
var json = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
var data = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<JsonElement>(json);
Console.WriteLine(JsonSerializer.Serialize(data, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true }));Step 3: Example Response
The API returns structured JSON. Here is an example response for a YouTube Shorts search:
{
"data": {
"results": [
{
"video_id": "_P63NrBN49U",
"title": "My go to Full Body Workout. No equipment. Anywhere",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_P63NrBN49U",
"duration_text": null,
"view_count": 64000000,
"published_time": "1 year ago",
"channel": { "id": null, "name": "", "url": null }
}
],
"next_cursor": "GhkKF...",
"has_more": true
},
"response_time": 2290,
"credits_used": 2,
"credits_remaining": 4809
}Every field is structured and typed -- no HTML parsing, no CSS selectors, no regex extraction. Your C# code can access any field directly.
Step 4: Full Working Example
Here is a complete, runnable C# script that searches YouTube Shorts and prints the results:
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text.Json;
// Search YouTube Shorts data with the Scavio API.
// POST /api/v1/youtube/shorts - rows come back under data.results. Run with: dotnet run
// Shorts search takes search (not query). channel.name is often empty on Shorts rows -
// resolve it with POST /api/v1/youtube/video when you need it.
var apiUrl = "https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/youtube/shorts";
var apiKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SCAVIO_API_KEY");
var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer " + apiKey);
async Task<JsonElement> SearchYouTubeShorts(string search)
{
var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync(apiUrl, new { search });
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
var json = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
return JsonSerializer.Deserialize<JsonElement>(json);
}
var data = await SearchYouTubeShorts("ai coding agent shorts");
Console.WriteLine(JsonSerializer.Serialize(data, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true }));Why Use Scavio Instead of Scraping YouTube Shorts Directly?
- No proxy management. Direct scraping requires rotating proxies to avoid IP bans. Scavio handles all of this server-side.
- No CAPTCHA solving. YouTube Shorts aggressively blocks automated requests. Scavio returns clean data every time.
- Structured JSON output. No HTML parsing or CSS selector maintenance. Get typed, consistent data from every request.
- Multi-platform in one API. Search Google, Amazon, YouTube, and Walmart from the same API key with the same authentication pattern.
- Free tier included. 50 credits on signup with no credit card required. Each search costs 1 credit.