YouTube Data API: Auto-Sync Shorts to Your Website

The Core Challenge: YouTube Has No isShort Flag

The YouTube Data API v3 does not expose a dedicated field to identify Shorts. There is no `video.isShort = true`. This surprises every developer who tries to build a Shorts sync system.

The practical workaround: filter by duration ≤ 60 seconds. Duration is available for any video via `contentDetails.duration`. For videos you own, `fileDetails` adds aspect ratio — but that requires OAuth as the channel owner.

The Sync Architecture

For **public channels**:

channelId
  → channels.list(part=contentDetails) → uploadsPlaylistId
  → playlistItems.list(part=snippet) → [videoId, ...]
  → videos.list(part=contentDetails, id=id1,id2,...) → filter duration ≤ 60s
  → store metadata in database

For **authenticated channels** (owner connects via OAuth):

Same flow, plus `videos.list(part=fileDetails)` → filter `fileDetails.videoStreams[0].aspectRatio < 1` (portrait = < 1.0) for perfect accuracy.

Quota Management

YouTube API v3 gives you 10,000 units/day free. A channel with 100 Shorts costs ~4 units per full sync — enough for thousands of workspaces before needing a quota increase.

**Don't poll.** Polling burns quota and introduces delay. Use webhooks instead.

PubSubHubbub: Real-Time Detection

YouTube implements WebSub (PubSubHubbub). Subscribe and receive a POST within seconds of any new video being published.

Subscribe:

POST https://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/subscribe

hub.callback=https://yourapp.com/api/youtube/webhook
hub.topic=https://www.youtube.com/xml/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=CHANNEL_ID
hub.mode=subscribe
hub.lease_seconds=864000

Verify (YouTube sends a GET with hub.challenge):

export async function GET(req: Request) {
  const { searchParams } = new URL(req.url)
  const challenge = searchParams.get("hub.challenge")
  if (challenge) return new Response(challenge, { status: 200 })
  return new Response("Bad Request", { status: 400 })
}

Handle new video pings (POST with Atom XML):

export async function POST(req: Request) {
  const body = await req.text()
  const videoId = extractVideoId(body)
  // Enqueue job: fetch details, check if Short, add to feed
  await enqueueSync({ videoId })
  return new Response("OK", { status: 200 })
}

Subscriptions expire every 10 days. Re-subscribe with a daily cron:

SELECT cron.schedule('resubscribe-webhooks', '0 6 * * *',
  $$SELECT resubscribe_expiring_channels()$$);

Result

A Short published on YouTube appears in your embed widget within ~30 seconds — no polling, ~2 API units consumed, well within the free quota even at hundreds of connected channels. This is exactly how EmbedShorts works.