whatisgithub

What is api-samples?

youtube/api-samples — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-26

5,977JavaAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · moderate

In one sentence

Official YouTube code samples for the Data, Analytics, and Live Streaming APIs, organized by programming language, short focused examples to copy and adapt, not full apps.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((youtube api samples))
    APIs covered
      Data API
      Analytics API
      Live Streaming API
    Tasks
      Search videos
      Upload content
      Pull statistics
      Manage broadcasts
    Languages
      Java
      Python
      Multiple folders
    Notes
      Short examples
      No setup guide
      Needs API docs
Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Search YouTube for videos, retrieve channel details, or upload a video by adapting the official Data API samples in your preferred language.

USE CASE 2

Build a dashboard that pulls a channel's view counts and watch hours using the Analytics API samples as a starting point.

USE CASE 3

Start, stop, and monitor a live YouTube broadcast programmatically by adapting the Live Streaming API samples.

What is it built with?

JavaPython

How does it compare?

youtube/api-samplesikarus23/mifareclassictoolpbh-btn/peerbanhelper
Stars5,9775,9785,974
LanguageJavaJavaJava
Setup difficultymoderateeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

No setup instructions included, you must obtain YouTube API credentials separately and consult the YouTube API documentation.

License not mentioned in the explanation, check the repository for terms.

So what is it?

This repository contains official code samples provided by YouTube for working with its developer APIs. The samples cover three distinct YouTube APIs: the Data API, the Analytics API, and the Live Streaming API. The Data API lets developers interact with YouTube's core features programmatically. This includes searching for videos, retrieving details about channels and playlists, uploading videos, and managing subscriptions. The Analytics API provides access to performance statistics and reporting data, so a developer could build a tool that shows a channel owner how many views or watch hours their videos received over a given period. The Live Streaming API handles the creation and management of live broadcasts, letting developers start, stop, and monitor live video streams through code rather than the YouTube website. The repository organizes its samples by programming language. Each language has its own directory, so a developer working in Python would find Python files there, while a developer working in Java would use the Java directory. The samples cover a wide range of tasks, but they are short, focused examples rather than full applications. The README is intentionally brief. It names the three APIs and explains the folder structure, but nothing more. There are no setup instructions, no explanation of how to obtain API credentials, and no guidance on rate limits or usage quotas. Someone using these samples would need to refer to the separate YouTube API documentation for those details. This repository functions as a code reference alongside that documentation, not as a self-contained tutorial.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Using the YouTube Data API Python sample as a base, write code that searches for the top 10 most viewed videos for a given keyword uploaded in the last 30 days.
Prompt 2
Show me how to adapt the YouTube Analytics API sample to pull weekly view counts for a specific channel ID and print them as a table.
Prompt 3
Using the YouTube Live Streaming API sample, write code that creates a new live broadcast with a given title and scheduled start time, and returns the stream key.
Prompt 4
I want to list all videos in a specific YouTube playlist using the Data API, which sample file do I start from, and what OAuth credentials do I need?
Prompt 5
How do I use the YouTube Data API upload sample to upload a local MP4 file to a channel, set its title and description, and mark it as public?

Frequently asked questions

What is api-samples?

Official YouTube code samples for the Data, Analytics, and Live Streaming APIs, organized by programming language, short focused examples to copy and adapt, not full apps.

What language is api-samples written in?

Mainly Java. The stack also includes Java, Python.

What license does api-samples use?

License not mentioned in the explanation, check the repository for terms.

How hard is api-samples to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is api-samples for?

Mainly developer.

Open on GitHub → Ask about another repo

This repo across BitVibe Labs

Verify against the repo before relying on details.