youtube-short-search-package 0.1.0
A Python library for searching YouTube shorts and retrieving metadata
Requires Python: >=3.7
Keywords: youtube, shorts, search, video, api

# YouTube Short Search

A Python library for searching YouTube shorts and retrieving metadata including title, views, and URL.

## Features

- Search for YouTube shorts using query strings
- Retrieve video metadata (title, views, URL, channel, etc.)
- Support for both YouTube Data API v3 and web scraping fallback
- Type hints and comprehensive error handling
- Easy to use and integrate

## Installation

```bash
pip install youtube-short-search
```

## Quick Start

### Basic Usage

```python
from youtube_short_search import YouTubeShortSearcher

# Initialize searcher (with API key - recommended)
searcher = YouTubeShortSearcher(api_key="YOUR_YOUTUBE_API_KEY")

# Search for shorts
results = searcher.search_shorts("funny cats", max_results=5)

for video in results:
    print(f"Title: {video['title']}")
    print(f"Views: {video['views']}")
    print(f"URL: {video['url']}")
    print(f"Channel: {video['channel']}")
    print("-" * 50)
```

### Without API Key (Web Scraping)

```python
from youtube_short_search import YouTubeShortSearcher

# Initialize searcher without API key (less reliable)
searcher = YouTubeShortSearcher()

try:
    results = searcher.search_shorts("cooking tips", max_results=3)
    for video in results:
        print(f"{video['title']} - {video['views']}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error: {e}")
```

### Get Video Details

```python
from youtube_short_search import YouTubeShortSearcher

searcher = YouTubeShortSearcher(api_key="YOUR_YOUTUBE_API_KEY")

# Get details for a specific video
video_url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"
details = searcher.get_video_details(video_url)

print(f"Title: {details['title']}")
print(f"Views: {details['views']}")
print(f"Likes: {details['likes']}")
```

## API Key Setup

To use the YouTube Data API v3 (recommended for reliability):

1. Go to the [Google Cloud Console](https://console.cloud.google.com/)
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Enable the YouTube Data API v3
4. Create credentials (API Key)
5. Use the API key in your code

```python
searcher = YouTubeShortSearcher(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY_HERE")
```

## Response Format

Each video result contains the following information:

```python
{
    'title': 'Video Title',
    'views': '1.2M views',
    'url': 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID',
    'channel': 'Channel Name',
    'published': '2023-01-01T00:00:00Z',
    'description': 'Video description...'
}
```

## Error Handling

The library provides custom exceptions for different error cases:

```python
from youtube_short_search import (
    YouTubeShortSearcher,
    YouTubeSearchError,
    InvalidSearchQueryError,
    APIKeyError,
    NetworkError,
    NoResultsFoundError
)

searcher = YouTubeShortSearcher(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

try:
    results = searcher.search_shorts("python tutorials")
except InvalidSearchQueryError:
    print("Search query is invalid")
except APIKeyError:
    print("API key is invalid or missing")
except NetworkError:
    print("Network connection error")
except NoResultsFoundError:
    print("No shorts found for this query")
except YouTubeSearchError as e:
    print(f"General error: {e}")
```

## Requirements

- Python 3.7+
- requests library

## Development

### Setting up for development

```bash
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/youtube-short-search.git
cd youtube-short-search

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .[dev]

# Run tests
pytest

# Format code
black .

# Type checking
mypy youtube_short_search/
```

### Running Tests

```bash
# Run all tests
pytest

# Run with coverage
pytest --cov=youtube_short_search
```

## Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (`git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature`)
3. Commit your changes (`git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature'`)
4. Push to the branch (`git push origin feature/amazing-feature`)
5. Open a Pull Request

## License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.

## Disclaimer

This library is for educational and research purposes. Please respect YouTube's Terms of Service and rate limits when using this library. The web scraping functionality is provided as a fallback but using the official YouTube Data API is strongly recommended.

## Changelog

### 0.1.0 (2024-01-01)
- Initial release
- Support for YouTube shorts search
- API and web scraping methods
- Comprehensive error handling
- Type hints support