YouTube Connector for Python Read / write YouTube data inside your app, perform many Youtube operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for YouTube In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate YouTube data in Python. We will use high-performance YouTube Connector to easily connect to YouTube and then access the data inside Python. Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that! Download Documentation YouTube Connector for Python is based on ZappySys API Driver which is part of ODBC PowerPack. It is a collection of high-performance ODBC drivers that enable you to integrate data in SQL Server, SSIS, a programming language, or any other ODBC-compatible application. ODBC PowerPack supports various file formats, sources and destinations, including REST/SOAP API, SFTP/FTP, storage services, and plain files, to mention a few.

Connect to YouTube in other apps Connect to YouTube in SSIS Connect to YouTube in SQL Server Connect to YouTube in Power BI Connect to YouTube in SSRS Connect to YouTube in Informatica Connect to YouTube in MS Access Connect to YouTube in MS Excel Connect to YouTube in SSAS Connect to YouTube in C# Connect to YouTube in JAVA Connect to YouTube in Tableau Connect to YouTube in SAP Crystal Reports Connect to YouTube in Azure Data Factory (Pipeline) Connect to YouTube in Azure Data Factory (SSIS) Connect to YouTube in Talend Studio Connect to YouTube in UiPath Connect to YouTube in PowerShell Connect to YouTube in ODBC

Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from YouTube using Python we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from YouTube. We will later be able to read data using Python. Perform these steps:

1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack.

2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

   

3. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ZappySys API Driver

   ZappySys API Driver

   
   • Create and use User DSN if the client application is run under a User Account. This is an ideal option in design-time, when developing a solution, e.g. in Visual Studio 2019. Use it for both type of applications - 64-bit and 32-bit.
   • Create and use System DSN if the client application is launched under a System Account, e.g. as a Windows Service. Usually, this is an ideal option to use in a production environment. Use ODBC Data Source Administrator (32-bit), instead of 64-bit version, if Windows Service is a 32-bit application.

4. When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "YouTube" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "YouTube" is not present in the list, then click "Search Online" and download it. Then set the path to the location where you downloaded it. Finally, click Continue >> to proceed with configuring the DSN:

   YoutubeDSN

   YouTube

   

5. Now it's time to configure the Connection Manager. Select Authentication Type, e.g. Token Authentication. Then select API Base URL (in most cases, the default one is the right one). More info is available in the Authentication section.

    API Key [Http]

   Steps how to get and use YouTube credentials
   This walkthrough will help you create an API Key which you will be able to use in all requests and authenticate accordingly.

   1. Go to Google API Console
   2. From the Project Dropdown (usually found at the top bar) click Select Project
   3. On Project Popup click CREATE PROJECT
   4. Once project is created you can click Select Project to switch the context (You can click on Notification link or Choose from Top Dropdown)
   5. Click ENABLE APIs AND SERVICES
   6. Now we need to Enable three APIs one by one (YouTube Data API, YouTube Analytics API, YouTube Reporting API).
   7. Search YouTube Data API. Select and click ENABLE
   8. Search YouTube Analytics API. Select and click ENABLE
   9. Search YouTube Reporting API. Select and click ENABLE
   10. Go to back to main screen of Google API Console
   11. Click OAuth Consent Screen Tab. Enter necessary details and Save.
   12. Click Credentials Tab
   13. Click CREATE CREDENTIALS (some where in topbar) and select API key option.
   14. In the popup, copy API Key from the field "Your API key", close this window, and use it in the UI configuration, "key" field

   Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

   YoutubeDSN

   YouTube

   API Key [Http]

   https://youtube.googleapis.com/youtube/v3

   Required Parameters
   key	Fill-in the parameter...
   Optional Parameters
   RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
   RetryStatusCodeList	403|429
   RetryCountMax	5
   RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True

   

    User Account [OAuth]

   Steps how to get and use YouTube credentials
   To register a custom app, perform the following steps (detailed steps found in the help link at the end)

   1. Go to Google API Console
   2. From the Project Dropdown (usually found at the top bar) click Select Project
   3. On Project Popup click CREATE PROJECT
   4. Once project is created you can click Select Project to switch the context (You can click on Notification link or Choose from Top Dropdown)
   5. Click ENABLE APIs AND SERVICES
   6. Now we need to Enable three APIs one by one (YouTube Data API, YouTube Analytics API, YouTube Reporting API).
   7. Search YouTube Data API. Select and click ENABLE
   8. Search YouTube Analytics API. Select and click ENABLE
   9. Search YouTube Reporting API. Select and click ENABLE
   10. Go to back to main screen of Google API Console
   11. Click OAuth Consent Screen Tab. Enter necessary details and Save.
   12. Click Credentials Tab
   13. Click CREATE CREDENTIALS (some where in topbar) and select OAuth Client ID option.
   14. When prompted Select Application Type as Desktop App and click Create to receive your ClientID and Secret. Later on you can use this information now to configure Connection.
   15. Go to OAuth Consent Screen tab. Under Publishing Status click PUBLISH APP to ensure your refresh token doesnt expire often. If you planning to use App for Private use then do not have to worry about Verification Status after Publish.

   Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

   YoutubeDSN

   YouTube

   User Account [OAuth]

   https://youtube.googleapis.com/youtube/v3

   Optional Parameters
   ClientId
   ClientSecret
   Scope	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.force-ssl https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.upload https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner-channel-audit https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics-monetary.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly
   RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
   RetryStatusCodeList	403|429
   RetryCountMax	5
   RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True
   Redirect URL (Only for Web App)

   

    Service Account (Using Private Key File) [OAuth]

   Steps how to get and use YouTube credentials
   Use these steps to authenticate as service account rather than Google / GSuite User. Learn more about service account here

   Basically to call Google API as Service account we need to perform following steps listed in 3 sections (Detailed steps found in the help link at the end)

   Create Project

   First thing is create a Project so we can call Google API. Skip this section if you already have Project (Go to next section)

   1. Go to Google API Console
   2. From the Project Dropdown (usually found at the top bar) click Select Project
   3. On Project Popup click CREATE PROJECT
   4. Once project is created you can click Select Project to switch the context (You can click on Notification link or Choose from Top Dropdown)
   5. Click ENABLE APIs AND SERVICES
   6. Now we need to Enable three APIs one by one (YouTube Data API, YouTube Analytics API, YouTube Reporting API)
   7. Search YouTube Data API. Select and click ENABLE
   8. Search YouTube Analytics API. Select and click ENABLE
   9. Search YouTube Reporting API. Select and click ENABLE

   Create Service Account

   Once Project is created and APIs are enabled we can now create a service account under that project. Service account has its ID which looks like some email ID (not to confuse with Google /Gmail email ID)

   1. Go to Create Service Account
   2. From the Project Dropdown (usually found at the top bar) click Select Project
   3. Enter Service account name and Service account description
   4. For Role, do not select anything for now and Click Continue and then click Done. Next we will create Key.

   Create Key

   Once service account is created we need to create key file (i.e. credentials).

   1. In the Cloud Console, click the email address for the service account that you created.
   2. Click Keys.
   3. Click Add key, then click Create new key.
   4. Click Create and select P12 format. A P12 key file is downloaded to your computer. We will use this file in our API connection.
   5. Click Close.
   6. Now you may use downloaded *.p12 key file as secret file and Service Account Email as Client ID (e.g. some-service-account-name@your-project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com ).

   Add Permission

   Now last thing is give read/write permission to Service Account. Basically you can create or open Google Sheet and add the Service Account as an editor to it as below.

   1. Copy the email address of your service account we created in previous step (its usually like this some-service-account-name@your-project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com).
   2. Create or select an existing Google Sheet.
   3. Navigate to Sheet for which you like to give read/write access to Service Account.
   4. Click on the Share button in the top right, and add the email address of the service account as an editor. Here is how to share file(s) with specific people. Juse share with Service Account (use Service Account Email found on previous section)

   Fill in all required parameters and set optional parameters if needed:

   YoutubeDSN

   YouTube

   Service Account (Using Private Key File) [OAuth]

   https://youtube.googleapis.com/youtube/v3

   Required Parameters
   Service Account Email	Fill-in the parameter...
   Service Account Private Key Path (i.e. *.p12)	Fill-in the parameter...
   Optional Parameters
   Scope	https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.force-ssl https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.upload https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner-channel-audit https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics-monetary.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly
   RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
   RetryStatusCodeList	403|429
   RetryCountMax	5
   RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True

   

6. Once the data source connection has been configured, it's time to configure the SQL query. Select the Preview tab and then click Query Builder button to configure the SQL query:

   

   ZappySys API Driver - YouTube

   Read / write YouTube data inside your app, perform many Youtube operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for YouTube

   YoutubeDSN

   

7. Start by selecting the Table or Endpoint you are interested in and then configure the parameters. This will generate a query that we will use in Python to retrieve data from YouTube. Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.

   SELECT * FROM MyVideos

   
   Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the YouTube API, e.g. filtering parameters. It means that filtering will be done on the server side (instead of the client side), enabling you to get only the meaningful data much faster.

8. Now hit Preview Data button to preview the data using the generated SQL query. If you are satisfied with the result, use this query in Python:

   

   ZappySys API Driver - YouTube

   Read / write YouTube data inside your app, perform many Youtube operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for YouTube

   YoutubeDSN

   SELECT * FROM MyVideos

   
   You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.
   A WHERE clause, LIMIT keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that the whole result set will be retrieved from the YouTube API first, and only then the filtering will be applied to the data. If possible, it is recommended to use parameters in Query Builder to filter the data on the server side (in YouTube servers).

9. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Read data in Python

Using ODBC DSN

1. Python code to get the data:
   

   YoutubeDSN')

   

2. When you run the code it will make the API call and read the data:
   

3. Here is Python program's code in text format:

   
       import pyodbc
       conn = pyodbc.connect('DSN=YoutubeDSN')
   
       cursor = conn.cursor()
   
       #execute query to fetch data from API service
       cursor.execute("SELECT id,title FROM products")
   
       row = cursor.fetchone()
       while row:
           print(row)
           row = cursor.fetchone()
   
       ##For loop example
       #for row in cursor:
       #    print(row)
   

Using a full ODBC connection string

If you want to avoid being dependent on a DSN and creating multiple DSNs for each platform (x86, x64), then you can use a fully qualified connection string. Simply go to your DSN and copy the Connection String:

1. Open ODBC data source configuration and click Copy settings:
   

   ZappySys API Driver - YouTube

   Read / write YouTube data inside your app, perform many Youtube operations without coding using easy to use high performance API Connector for YouTube

   YoutubeDSN

   
2. The window opens, telling us the connection string was successfully copied to the clipboard:

3. Then in your Python code use Connection String when initializing OdbcConnection object, for example:

   conn = pyodbc.connect('DRIVER={ZappySys API Driver};ServiceUrl=https://yourservices.provider.com/api/xxxx....;AuthName=Http;')

How to install `pyodbc` in the Python?

Advanced topics

Create Custom Stored Procedure in ZappySys Driver

You can create procedures to encapsulate custom logic and then only pass handful parameters rather than long SQL to execute your API call.

Steps to create Custom Stored Procedure in ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here

1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
   

2. Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
   

3. Select the created Stored Procedure and write the your desired stored procedure and Save it and it will create the custom stored procedure in the ZappySys Driver:
   Here is an example stored procedure for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here
   

   CREATE PROCEDURE [usp_get_orders]
       @fromdate = '<<yyyy-MM-dd,FUN_TODAY>>'
    AS
       SELECT * FROM Orders where OrderDate >= '<@fromdate>';
   

   
   

4. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your Stored Procedure using Exec Command. In this example it will extract the orders from the date 1996-01-01:
   

   Exec usp_get_orders '1996-01-01';

   
   

5. Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using stored procedure. Go to Code Generator Tab, select language as SQL Server and click on Generate button the generate the code.
   As we already created the linked server for this Data Source, in that you just need to copy the Select Query and need to use the linked server name which we have apply on the place of [MY_API_SERVICE] placeholder.
   

   SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([LS_TO_YOUTUBE_IN_GATEWAY], 'EXEC usp_get_orders @fromdate=''1996-07-30''')

   
   

6. Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using stored procedure and provide you the response.
   

Create Custom Virtual Table in ZappySys Driver

ZappySys API Drivers support flexible Query language so you can override Default Properties you configured on Data Source such as URL, Body. This way you don't have to create multiple Data Sources if you like to read data from multiple EndPoints. However not every application support supplying custom SQL to driver so you can only select Table from list returned from driver.

If you're dealing with Microsoft Access and need to import data from an SQL query, it's important to note that Access doesn't allow direct import of SQL queries. Instead, you can create custom objects (Virtual Tables) to handle the import process.

Many applications like MS Access, Informatica Designer wont give you option to specify custom SQL when you import Objects. In such case Virtual Table is very useful. You can create many Virtual Tables on the same Data Source (e.g. If you have 50 URLs with slight variations you can create virtual tables with just URL as Parameter setting.

1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
   

2. Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
   

3. And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.

4. Select the created table, Select Text Type AS SQL and write the your desired SQL Query and Save it and it will create the custom table in the ZappySys Driver:
   Here is an example SQL query for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders also. Read more about placeholders here
   

   SELECT
     "ShipCountry",
     "OrderID",
     "CustomerID",
     "EmployeeID",
     "OrderDate",
     "RequiredDate",
     "ShippedDate",
     "ShipVia",
     "Freight",
     "ShipName",
     "ShipAddress",
     "ShipCity",
     "ShipRegion",
     "ShipPostalCode"
   FROM "Orders"
   Where "ShipCountry"='USA'

   
   

5. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your custom virtual table query. In this example it will extract the orders for the USA Shipping Country only:
   

   SELECT * FROM "vt__usa_orders_only"

   
   

6. Let's generate the SQL Server Query Code to make the API call using stored procedure. Go to Code Generator Tab, select language as SQL Server and click on Generate button the generate the code.
   As we already created the linked server for this Data Source, in that you just need to copy the Select Query and need to use the linked server name which we have apply on the place of [MY_API_SERVICE] placeholder.
   

   SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([LS_TO_YOUTUBE_IN_GATEWAY], 'EXEC [usp_get_orders] ''1996-01-01''')

   
   

7. Now go to SQL served and execute that query and it will make the API call using stored procedure and provide you the response.
   

Actions supported by YouTube Connector

YouTube Connector Examples for Python Connection

This page offers a collection of SQL examples designed for seamless integration with the ZappySys API ODBC Driver under ODBC Data Source (36/64) or ZappySys Data Gateway, enhancing your ability to connect and interact with Prebuilt Connectors effectively.

SELECT * FROM MyVideos

SELECT * FROM MyChannels

SELECT * FROM MyPlaylists

SELECT * FROM get_comments WITH (videoId='INPUT_YOUR_VIDEO_ID')

SELECT * FROM get_comments WITH (channelId='INPUT_YOUR_CHANNEL_ID')

SELECT * FROM MyPlaylists

SELECT * FROM get_playlists WITH (channelId='UCVGOyzms_XJNk_DHqrffXCw')

SELECT * FROM search WITH (q='ZappySys Tutorials', maxResults='50')

SELECT * FROM search WITH (q='GPU', maxResults='50', channelId='UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw')

SELECT *
FROM get_channels
WITH(
	  id='UC2d5diIOoCEa47p4PjpIHya,AC2d5diIOoCEa47p4PjpIHyQ,TC2d5diIOoCEa47p4PjpIHyI'
)

SELECT *
FROM get_report
WITH(
	  ids='channel==ENTER_CHANNEL_ID'
	, metrics='likes~shares~views'
	, startDate='2022-08-01'
	, endDate='2022-08-30'
)

SELECT *
FROM get_report
WITH(
      ids='channel==MINE'
    , metrics='likes~shares~views'
    , startDate='yearstart' --OR put date like '2022-08-01'
    , endDate='today' --OR put date like '2022-08-01'
    , dimensions='country'
)

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to YouTube in Python and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort. It's worth noting that ZappySys API Driver allows you to connect not only to YouTube, but to any Java application that supports JDBC (just use a different JDBC driver and configure it appropriately).

We encourage you to download YouTube Connector for Python and see how easy it is to use it for yourself or your team.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact ZappySys support team. You can also open a live chat immediately by clicking on the chat icon below.

Download YouTube Connector for Python Documentation

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