Crawler / Search / Videos
Use Video Search to shortlist demos, talks, tutorials, and walkthroughs by topic without indexing videos yourself. Send channel=videos to get video links, titles, source context, and duration when available. This channel discovers videos; it does not download or transcribe them.
Direct answer
AnyCrawler turns a text query into video candidates with titles, links, source metadata, and durations when available. Use the results for review queues or to find surrounding crawlable page text.
Integration fit
Video results are strongest as review candidates. When downstream systems need text, follow the source page with fetch or render and keep the video URL as provenance.
Search before crawl
Search keeps agents from crawling blindly. Start from a query, pick the right channel, and return normalized result collections that can become crawl targets, review queues, or research inputs. Use the search hub to compare channels before choosing a specific vertical.
curl
Run video search
curl -X POST "https://api.anycrawler.com/v1/search" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYCRAWLER_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"channel": "videos",
"query": "browser automation tutorial",
"country": "us",
"page": 1,
"results_per_page": 10
}'Use the unified /v1/search endpoint and select the search type with the channel field.
Use cases
Video results are strongest as review candidates. When downstream systems need text, follow the source page with fetch or render and keep the video URL as provenance.
Surface demos and tutorials when a product workflow is easier to understand from video-first sources.
Collect talks, interviews, launches, or technical sessions for analyst queues and topic monitoring.
Use linked source pages or descriptions as crawl targets when the video itself needs supporting text context.
How it works
The gateway handles request validation, account checks, search provider routing, response normalization, and credit settlement.
Send a POST request with query, channel=videos, and optional localization or pagination fields.
The gateway validates your API key, checks credits, and sends the request to the selected search collection.
Upstream results are returned in a predictable response envelope with channel, query, nested search parameters, status, and credits.
Use result links as crawl targets, visual review candidates, research inputs, or source lists for a larger agent workflow.
Response
Normalized video results
{
"ok": true,
"query": "browser automation tutorial",
"credits_used": 2,
"status_code": 200,
"results": {
"search_parameters": {
"channel": "videos",
"country": "us",
"page": 1,
"query": "browser automation tutorial",
"results_per_page": 10
},
"videos": [
{
"title": "Browser automation tutorial",
"link": "https://example.com/videos/browser-automation",
"source": "Example Video",
"duration": "12:34",
"snippet": "A video-first result for demos, tutorials, or review workflows."
}
]
}
}Result collections vary by channel, but the public response envelope stays consistent.
What you get
The video search response is built for routing. Use snippets for triage, links for follow-up crawl requests, and status and credit fields for production observability.
Request fields
The stable public contract focuses on the fields below. Undocumented passthrough fields are not part of new integrations.
| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
channel | "page", "images", "news", "videos", or "scholar" | Yes | Selects the search vertical on the unified public search endpoint. |
query | string | Yes | A non-empty search query, up to 512 characters. |
country | string or null | No | Optional localization hint for the upstream provider, not a strict country filter; up to 128 characters. |
page | integer | No | Logical result page from 1 to 100. Defaults to 1 and combines with results_per_page. |
results_per_page | integer | No | Maximum results from 1 to 100. Defaults to 10; consecutive 10-result provider pages stop early on a short page. |
Response fields
AnyCrawler keeps the search envelope consistent while the result collection reflects the selected channel.
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
ok | Whether the gateway completed the search successfully. |
query | The query submitted in the request. |
credits_used | Credits settled at 2 per primary result actually returned. |
status_code | The upstream search provider status code returned through the gateway. |
results.search_parameters.channel | The search vertical used for the request. |
results.search_parameters.country | The country hint used for localized search results. |
results.search_parameters.query | The query mirrored inside the normalized search parameters. |
results.search_parameters.page | The search result page returned. |
results.search_parameters.results_per_page | The requested maximum number of primary results. |
results.videos | Video result candidates with source links for review and research routing. |
results.knowledge_graph / answer_box / people_also_ask / related_searches | Optional normalized provider collections when they are available for the query. |
error_code / error_message / retryable | Failure details returned when ok is false; retryable indicates whether retrying can help. |
JavaScript
Use the unified endpoint
const response = await fetch("https://api.anycrawler.com/v1/search", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.ANYCRAWLER_API_KEY}`,
"content-type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
channel: "videos",
query: "browser automation tutorial",
country: "us",
page: 1,
results_per_page: 10,
}),
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.results);Change channel to switch between page, images, news, videos, and scholar search.
Search vs crawl
Video results are strongest as review candidates. When downstream systems need text, follow the source page with fetch or render and keep the video URL as provenance. Where a result links to an accessible web page, fetch or render can extract that page's Markdown and metadata. Screenshot is a separate request for visual evidence; page crawling does not download media or bypass source access restrictions.
| API | Best for | Returns |
|---|---|---|
search | Finding candidate pages, sources, media, news, videos, or papers | Search result collections |
fetch | Fast, low-cost extraction when useful content is already in HTML | Markdown and page fields |
render | JavaScript-loaded pages that need browser execution | Rendered Markdown and page fields |
screenshot | A separate visual record of a selected public page | Stored image fields |
Errors
Use response status plus error_code and request headers to route retries, credit issues, authentication problems, and upstream provider failures.
Billing
Search reserves for the requested maximum, then settles only the primary results actually returned and refunds unused reserved credits.
Pricing
Search settles at 2 credits per primary result actually returned. A request for 10 results costs 20 credits if all 10 return; a short result list costs less. Fetching or rendering a selected page is billed separately.
See included credits and request limits on thefull pricing page.
FAQ
Short answers for teams using search to choose better crawl targets.
Yes. POST to /v1/search and change the channel field to page, images, news, videos, or scholar. Each channel also has this dedicated theme page for integration planning.
Use search to find candidate URLs, then call fetch or render on accessible web pages for Markdown, metadata, or links. Screenshot is a separate request when visual evidence is needed.
No. The search channel discovers video-first sources and returns result metadata. Downloading, transcription, or media processing is outside the current search contract.
Rank the returned candidates for relevance, retain the video URL as provenance, and crawl linked pages or descriptions when the downstream task needs text context.