Video Content

Theses APIs allows you to retrieve comprehensive information about YouTube videos and shorts, including comments, detailed video information, shorts details, transcripts, subtitles, and revenue data. Access video metadata, engagement metrics, caption data, and monetization insights in your n8n workflows.

Overview

Use this API to fetch detailed information about YouTube videos and shorts. This resource provides nine main operations: Get video details (long-form video metadata), Get Shorts Details (short-form video metadata), Download Thumbnail (high-quality thumbnail extraction), Get Comments (video engagement), Get Transcript (video captions/subtitles), Get Bulk Transcript (batch transcript retrieval), Get Subtitle (subtitle metadata and URLs), Get Bulk Subtitle (batch subtitle metadata retrieval), and Get RPM (revenue per mille data for monetization analysis).

Quick Start

Get started in 3 simple steps:

1. Install NexLev: Add the NexLev node to your n8n instance (Installation Guide)
2. Get API Key: Create your API key at API Key
3. Make Your First Request:
   • Add NexLev node → Select "Videos and Short" → Choose "Get video details"
   • Enter a Video ID (e.g., dQw4w9WgXcQ)
   • Execute to get video information

Example Result: You'll receive video metadata including title, description, view count, likes, and channel information.

Endpoint Details

• Resource: Videos and Short
• Operations: Get video details | Get Shorts Details | Download Thumbnail | Get Comments | Get Transcript | Get Bulk Transcript | Get Subtitle | Get Bulk Subtitle | Get RPM | Custom API Call
• Authentication: Required (API Key)
• Quota Cost: 🥞 1 quota per request · 🥞 5 quota per request (Get Bulk Transcript, Get Bulk Subtitle)

API Reference

Operations Quick Reference

Configuration

Parameters

Setup Steps

Step 1: Add NexLev Node

• Add the NexLev node to your workflow
• See Quickstart Guide for installation instructions

Step 2: Configure Resource

• Under Resource, select Videos and Short

Step 3: Select Operation

Choose one of the following operations:

Step 4: Authentication

• Under Credential to connect with, select your NexLev account
• If not configured, create one using your API Key

Step 5: Enter Video ID(s) ✅ Required

• For single operations: Enter one YouTube video ID (e.g., dQw4w9WgXcQ)
• For bulk operations: Enter comma-separated video IDs (e.g., dQw4w9WgXcQ, Z4hVGCWH1Kc)
• Video IDs are typically 11 characters long

Step 6: Configure Optional Parameters

For Get Comments:

• Continuation Token (optional) - Token from previous response for pagination
• Leave empty for the first request

For Bulk Operations (Get Bulk Transcript, Get Bulk Subtitle):

• Maximum: 10 video IDs per request
• ⚠️ Separate video IDs with commas
• ✅ Recommended: Process in batches for large lists

Execution

Click Execute step to retrieve the video data.

Available Operations

The Videos and Short resource provides nine different operations to retrieve various types of video data:

Error Responses

Use Cases

Leverage video data in your workflows for:

• Comment Analysis: Analyze video comments for sentiment, feedback, and engagement patterns
• Video Research: Gather detailed information about videos in your niche including performance metrics
• Content Strategy: Study successful videos' titles, descriptions, and engagement rates
• Competitor Intelligence: Monitor competitor video performance and audience engagement
• Transcript Processing: Extract video transcripts for summarization, translation, or content repurposing
• Engagement Tracking: Track likes, comments, and views over time for performance analysis
• SEO Optimization: Analyze video metadata including tags, titles, and descriptions
• Shorts Analysis: Track short-form content performance separately from long-form videos
• Accessibility: Use transcripts to create captions or make content accessible
• Content Repurposing: Extract transcripts to create blog posts, social media content, or summaries
• Revenue Analysis: Analyze RPM data to identify profitable niches and optimize content strategy
• Monetization Research: Compare RPM across different content categories to guide creation decisions

Workflow Examples

These examples show how to implement common use cases in n8n. Each workflow builds on the previous concepts, starting with simple queries and progressing to advanced implementations.

Example 1: Basic Video Information Workflow

Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 5 minutes | Use Case: Video research

1. Add a Manual Trigger or Schedule Trigger node
2. Add the NexLev node and configure it for Get video details operation
3. Add a Code or Set node to extract specific fields (e.g., view count, likes)
4. Add an output node (e.g., Google Sheets, Airtable, Webhook)

Next Steps: Once you have video information, try analyzing comments or extracting transcripts.

Example 2: Comment Analysis Workflow

Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 10 minutes | Use Case: Engagement analysis

1. Add a Manual Trigger node with a video ID
2. Add the NexLev node:
   • Resource: Videos and Short
   • Operation: Get Comments
3. Add a Code node to analyze comment sentiment or extract insights
4. Add a Filter node to select comments meeting specific criteria (e.g., like count > 10)
5. Export results to Google Sheets or send via Email

Next Steps: Learn pagination to fetch complete comment datasets.

Example 3: Transcript Extraction Workflow

Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 15 minutes | Use Case: Content analysis

1. Add a Schedule Trigger node (e.g., daily)
2. Add a Google Sheets node to read a list of video IDs
3. Add a Loop node to process each video
4. Add the NexLev node inside the loop:
   • Resource: Videos and Short
   • Operation: Get Transcript
5. Add a Code node to combine transcript segments into full text
6. Add an output node (e.g., Notion, Google Docs) to save transcripts

Next Steps: Apply the same pattern to bulk transcript extraction for efficiency.

Example 4: Shorts Performance Tracking

Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 10 minutes | Use Case: Shorts analysis

1. Add a Schedule Trigger node
2. Add a Google Sheets node to read shorts video IDs
3. Add the NexLev node:
   • Resource: Videos and Short
   • Operation: Get Shorts Details
4. Add a Code node to calculate engagement metrics
5. Add a Google Sheets node to log performance data over time

Example 5: RPM Analysis for Niche Research

Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 20 minutes | Use Case: Monetization research

1. Add a Manual Trigger node
2. Add a Google Sheets node to read a list of video IDs from different niches
3. Add a Loop node to process each video
4. Add the NexLev node inside the loop:
   • Resource: Videos and Short
   • Operation: Get RPM
5. Add a Code node to calculate average RPM by niche and identify high-performing categories
6. Add a Google Sheets node to create a comparative RPM analysis report

Next Steps: Combine multiple operations to build comprehensive video analysis workflows.

Example 6: Advanced - Complete Video Analysis

Difficulty: Advanced | Time: 30 minutes | Use Case: Comprehensive video research

This workflow combines multiple operations to create a complete video analysis:

1. Get Video Details: Use Get video details to fetch video metadata
2. Get Comments: Use Get Comments to analyze audience engagement
3. Get Transcript: Use Get Transcript to extract content for analysis
4. Get RPM: Use Get RPM to understand monetization potential
5. Aggregate Data: Use Code node to combine all data into a comprehensive report
6. Export: Send to Google Sheets, Notion, or your database

Benefits: Complete video profile with performance, engagement, content, and monetization insights in one workflow execution.

Best Practices

Performance Optimization

• Use bulk operations wisely: For processing multiple videos, use Get Bulk Transcript or Get Bulk Subtitle (up to 10 videos per request)
• Cache video metadata: Video details change infrequently, consider caching for 24-48 hours
• Batch comment retrieval: Use pagination efficiently to avoid unnecessary API calls
• Monitor quota usage: Most operations cost 🥞 1 quota per request; Get Bulk Transcript and Get Bulk Subtitle cost 🥞 5 quota each — batch wisely and cache results to stay within your plan

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Don't: Make individual API calls for each video when processing lists ✅ Do: Use bulk operations (Get Bulk Transcript, Get Bulk Subtitle) for batch processing

❌ Don't: Fetch all comments when you only need recent ones ✅ Do: Use pagination and stop when you have enough data

❌ Don't: Download transcripts repeatedly for the same video ✅ Do: Cache transcripts and reuse them within your workflow

❌ Don't: Ignore pagination tokens for comments ✅ Do: Implement proper pagination loops to get complete comment data

Rate Limiting

• The API enforces rate limits to ensure fair usage
• If you receive a 429 Too Many Requests error, wait for the time specified in retryAfter
• Consider implementing exponential backoff for production workflows
• Distribute large batch operations over time to avoid rate limits

Troubleshooting

Video not found (404 error)

Problem: API returns "Video not found" error.

Solutions:

1. Verify the Video ID is correct (should be 11 characters)
2. Check if the video still exists on YouTube
3. Ensure the video is not private or removed
4. Try accessing the video directly on YouTube to confirm availability

Transcripts not available

Problem: Get Transcript returns empty or error.

Solutions:

1. Verify the video has captions/subtitles enabled
2. Check if captions are auto-generated or manual
3. Try Get Subtitle to see available caption languages
4. Some videos may not have transcripts available

Comments disabled

Problem: Get Comments returns no data or error.

Solutions:

1. Check if comments are disabled on the video
2. Verify the video allows public comments
3. Some videos may have comments turned off by the creator
4. Age-restricted videos may have limited comment access

Bulk operation partial failures

Problem: Some videos in bulk request fail while others succeed.

Solutions:

1. Check the success field for each video in the results
2. Review the error message for failed videos
3. Retry failed videos individually or in smaller batches
4. Verify all video IDs are valid before making bulk requests

Invalid API key (401 error)

Problem: Authentication fails with "Unauthorized" error.

Solutions:

1. Verify your API key is correct and active
2. Check if your API key has the necessary permissions
3. Ensure you've properly configured the NexLev credential in n8n
4. Generate a new API key if the current one is expired

Subtitle URLs expired

Problem: Subtitle download URLs return errors.

Solutions:

1. Subtitle URLs are time-limited and expire after a few hours
2. Fetch fresh subtitle metadata if URLs have expired
3. Download subtitles immediately after retrieving URLs
4. Store subtitle content, not just URLs, for long-term use

Related Resources

• Quickstart Guide - Learn how to set up NexLev with n8n
• Channel Content - Retrieve channel information and video lists
• Similar Videos - Find videos similar to a target video
• Similar Thumbnails - Find videos with similar thumbnails
• Channel Analytics - Get detailed analytics data for channels

Support

If you encounter issues or have questions about the Videos and Shorts API, please contact our support team at contact@nexlev.io or refer to our troubleshooting guide.