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 Ruby and the Scavio API. By the end, you will have a working Ruby script that fetches real-time YouTube Shorts data and parses the results.
Prerequisites
- Ruby installed on your machine
- A Scavio API key (free tier includes 50 credits on signup -- no credit card required)
Step 1: Install Dependencies
Install net/http to make HTTP requests:
# net/http and json are in Ruby's standard libraryStep 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.
require "net/http"
require "json"
api_key = "sk_live_your_key"
search = "ai coding agent shorts"
uri = URI("https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/youtube/shorts")
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true
request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
request["Authorization"] = "Bearer #{api_key}"
request["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
request.body = { search: search }.to_json
response = http.request(request)
data = JSON.parse(response.body)
puts JSON.pretty_generate(data)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 Ruby code can access any field directly.
Step 4: Full Working Example
Here is a complete, runnable Ruby script that searches YouTube Shorts and prints the results:
require "net/http"
require "json"
# Search YouTube Shorts data with the Scavio API.
# POST /api/v1/youtube/shorts - rows come back under data.results.
# 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.
API_URL = "https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/youtube/shorts"
def search_youtube_shorts(search)
api_key = ENV.fetch("SCAVIO_API_KEY")
uri = URI(API_URL)
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true
request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
request["Authorization"] = "Bearer #{api_key}"
request["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
request.body = { search: search }.to_json
response = http.request(request)
raise "Scavio API error: #{response.code}" unless response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
JSON.parse(response.body)
end
data = search_youtube_shorts("ai coding agent shorts")
puts JSON.pretty_generate(data)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.