YouTube Has a Hidden API That Needs No API Key — Here Is How to Use It

YouTube's official Data API has strict quota limits (10,000 units/day). But there's another way. The Innertube API YouTube.com itself loads all data through an internal API called Innertube . When you scroll down to load comments, it calls: POST https://www.youtube.com/youtubei/v1/next With a JSON body containing the video ID and a continuation token. How Comments Are Structured (2025+ Format) YouTube recently changed their comment data format. Comments are now stored in: frameworkUpdates.entityBatchUpdate.mutations [] .payload.commentEntityPayload Each mutation with type commentEntityPayload contains: properties.content.content — comment text properties.authorButtonA11y — author name toolbar.likeCountNotliked — like count properties.publishedTime — relative time toolbar.replyCount — number of replies Getting the Continuation Token Fetch the video page, extract ytInitialData from the HTML, then navigate: contents.twoColumnWatchNextResults.results.results.contents → itemSectionRenderer.