How to scrape YouTube Search Hashtag with C#

Videos under a YouTube hashtag, with views and length. This tutorial gets it with a short C# program and the YouTube Search Hashtag API. Each successful call costs 1 credit; errors and not-found answers are free.

1. Get an API key

Sign in to get a key and 100 free credits, no card. Then put the key in an environment variable so it stays out of your code:

export SCRAPEIO_API_KEY="your_key_here"

2. Set up C#

dotnet new console -o scrape && cd scrape

3. Write the code

Save this as Program.cs.

using System.Text.Json;

var http = new HttpClient();
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SCRAPEIO_API_KEY"));
var query = new Dictionary<string, string> { ["hashtag"] = "travel" };
string Url() => "https://scrapeio.com/v1/youtube/search/hashtag" + "?" + string.Join("&", query.Select(p => $"{p.Key}={Uri.EscapeDataString(p.Value)}"));

var items = new List<JsonElement>();
while (true)
{
    var json = await http.GetStringAsync(Url());
    var data = JsonDocument.Parse(json).RootElement.GetProperty("data");
    if (data.TryGetProperty("items", out var rows)) items.AddRange(rows.EnumerateArray().Select(r => r.Clone()));
    var more = data.TryGetProperty("has_more", out var hm) && hm.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.True;
    var cursor = data.TryGetProperty("cursor", out var c) && c.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.String ? c.GetString() : null;
    if (!more || string.IsNullOrEmpty(cursor) || items.Count >= 100) break;
    query["cursor"] = cursor;
}
Console.WriteLine($"{items.Count} items");
Console.WriteLine(JsonSerializer.Serialize(items.Take(3), new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true }));

The loop follows data.cursor until data.has_more is false, and stops at 100 items. Each page is one call, so it costs 1 credit.

4. Run it

dotnet run

The response has the same envelope on every endpoint: success, cached, credits_used, credits_remaining and data. Shared fields such as handle, followers, plays, likes and created_at have the same names on every platform.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`hashtag` (required)	string	Hashtag, with or without #.
`cursor`	string	Cursor from the previous page's data.cursor.
`continuationToken`	string	Same as cursor, under ScrapeCreators' name.

Errors and what you pay

Status	Meaning	Charged
`200`	Success	Yes, unless cached
`400`	A parameter is missing or wrong	No
`401`	The key is missing or invalid	No
`402`	Not enough credits	No
`403`	The account or post is private	No
`404`	Not found on the platform	No
`429`	More than 300 requests a minute	No
`502`	Every source is down; retry shortly	No

Same endpoint in other languages

Python · Node.js · JavaScript · TypeScript · Go · Rust · Java · PHP · Ruby · Kotlin · Swift · R

Prefer no code?

Connect the MCP server to Claude Code, Cursor or Codex and ask in plain English. The agent uses the youtube_search_hashtag tool for you.

100 free credits, no card. Credits never expire.

Get API key