In this guide

Search YouTube

Videos, channels or playlists matching some words.

Action referenceRead

What this action does #

First, connect YouTube in Services. Then open Actions → + → YouTube and choose Search YouTube.

More about this action

Uses one of the key's 100 searches a day — every page counts as one. Results carry a title, channel, date and thumbnail, but no views or length: hand the video IDs to Get Video Details for those.

For a channel's newest videos, Get Playlist Videos on the channel's uploads costs no searches at all.

Inputs to fill in #

Open an input to choose its value. Keep a fixed value with Text, receive it from Shortcuts, ask when the action runs, or use an Earlier Step. Read how input sources work.

Search For

OptionalText

Words to match. -word leaves a word out; a|b matches either.

Example value (replace with your own):

lofi hip hop

Find

OptionalChoice

What kind of result.

Choices: video, channel, playlist

Default: video

Sort By

OptionalChoice

relevance when empty. videoCount is for channels.

Choices: relevance, date, viewCount, rating, title, videoCount

Only From Channel

OptionalText

A channel ID or /channel/ link. At most 500 videos come back this way.

This input offers a picker for channel from your connected account. You can also supply its value directly.

Uploaded After

OptionalText

A date and time with its zone, like 2026-09-01T00:00:00Z.

Uploaded Before

OptionalText

A date and time with its zone, like 2026-09-30T00:00:00Z.

Length

OptionalChoice

Videos only. short is under 4 minutes, medium 4–20, long over 20.

Choices: any, short, medium, long

Live

OptionalChoice

Videos only: broadcasts that are live now, coming up, or over.

Choices: live, upcoming, completed

Region

OptionalText

Results that can be watched in this country.

This input offers a picker for region from your connected account. You can also supply its value directly.

Example value (replace with your own):

US

Language

OptionalText

Prefer results in this language. Others can still appear.

This input offers a picker for language from your connected account. You can also supply its value directly.

Example value (replace with your own):

en

Safe Search

OptionalChoice

moderate when empty.

Choices: moderate, strict, none

How Many

OptionalWhole number

1–50 a page. YouTube sends 5 when it's left empty.

Example value (replace with your own):

Page Token

OptionalText

Where the previous page left off — its nextPageToken.

What comes back #

In the action editor, open Output → Returned Value to choose fields for your shortcut. These are the response fields described by the app; a service may omit an optional field or return an empty list. JSON File contains the full response.

Returned field	Type	Meaning
`items`	array	A list of values.
`items[].id`	object	A group of named values.
`items[].id.kind`	string	youtube#video, youtube#channel or youtube#playlist.
`items[].id.videoId`	string	Text value.
`items[].id.channelId`	string	Text value.
`items[].id.playlistId`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet`	object	A group of named values.
`items[].snippet.title`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet.description`	string	Cut short.
`items[].snippet.channelId`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet.channelTitle`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet.publishedAt`	string	ISO 8601.
`items[].snippet.liveBroadcastContent`	string	live, upcoming or none.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails`	object	Sizes default, medium, high, standard and maxres — not every video has every size.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.default`	object	A group of named values.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.default.url`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.default.width`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.default.height`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.medium`	object	A group of named values.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.medium.url`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.medium.width`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.medium.height`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.high`	object	A group of named values.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.high.url`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.high.width`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.high.height`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.standard`	object	A group of named values.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.standard.url`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.standard.width`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.standard.height`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.maxres`	object	A group of named values.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.maxres.url`	string	Text value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.maxres.width`	integer	Whole-number value.
`items[].snippet.thumbnails.maxres.height`	integer	Whole-number value.
`nextPageToken`	string	Text value.

Run it from Shortcuts #

Give the action a recognizable name and tap Save.
In Apple Shortcuts, add Shortcutify’s Execute Action and select the saved action.
Supply any Param or File slots you bound in the inputs, then run the shortcut.

If the result is unexpected, open Logs in Shortcutify, select the run, and inspect this step’s inputs and response.

This action supports multiple pages of results. Open its Fetch setting to retrieve more pages when one page is not enough. Each page adds a service request.

Advanced reference #

Request, permissions, and identifiers

Request: GET https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/search

Action identifier: youtube.search.list.v1

No additional per-action permissions are declared in the app’s catalog. The integration’s connection and account access rules still apply.

Input	Request key	Location
Search For	`q`	query
Find	`type`	query
Sort By	`order`	query
Only From Channel	`channelId`	query
Uploaded After	`publishedAfter`	query
Uploaded Before	`publishedBefore`	query
Length	`videoDuration`	query
Live	`eventType`	query
Region	`regionCode`	query
Language	`relevanceLanguage`	query
Safe Search	`safeSearch`	query
How Many	`maxResults`	query
Page Token	`pageToken`	query

YouTube API reference