# YouTube Outlier Finder (`vanity_arias/youtube-outlier-finder`) Actor

Find a channel's outlier videos — recent uploads scored against the channel's own median views. See instantly which videos overperformed (2x, 10x, 50x baseline) for content research, title & thumbnail studies, and trend hunting. No API key, no quota.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/vanity\_arias/youtube-outlier-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [Nvikelo Nyathi](https://apify.com/vanity_arias) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Marketing, Videos
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
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- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## YouTube Outlier Finder

Point it at any YouTube channel, get back the channel's recent videos **scored against its own median views** — so you can see at a glance which videos overperformed (2x, 10x, 50x the channel's normal) and which flopped.

Outliers are the single strongest signal in content research: a video that does 10x its channel's baseline earned that reach through **packaging** (idea + title + thumbnail), not subscriber count. That's the thing worth studying and adapting.

### Use cases

- **Content research** — find what's actually working in your niche right now, normalized for channel size.
- **Title & thumbnail studies** — build swipe files from proven overperformers, not lucky big channels.
- **Competitor analysis** — see which of a competitor's bets paid off and which flopped.
- **Small-channel scouting** — a 5k-sub channel with a 40x outlier is a trend alarm no view-sorted list will show you.

### Input

```json
{
  "channel": "@MrBeast",
  "maxVideos": 30,
  "minMultiplier": 0
}
```

| Field | Type | Notes |
|-------|------|-------|
| `channel` | string (required) | Handle (`@MrBeast`), channel ID (`UC…`), or any channel URL. |
| `maxVideos` | integer | Recent videos to analyze, up to ~30 (one page of the Videos tab). Default 30. |
| `minMultiplier` | integer | Only return videos at/above this multiplier. `0` (default) returns every analyzed video with its score. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Preconfigured — residential proxy is used automatically. |

### Output

Dataset items sorted by multiplier, highest first:

```json
{
  "videoId": "iYlODtkyw_I",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYlODtkyw_I",
  "title": "Survive 30 Days Chained To A Stranger, Win $250,000",
  "views": 50000000,
  "publishedText": "4 days ago",
  "channelBaseline": 142000000,
  "multiplier": 0.35
}
```

- `channelBaseline` — the channel's median views across the analyzed videos.
- `multiplier` — this video's views ÷ baseline. **≥2 is an outlier; ≥10 is a monster.**

### How it works

Fetches the channel's **Videos** tab through Apify residential proxy and parses the embedded page data — no browser, no YouTube API key, no quota. View counts are YouTube's compact numbers ("1.2M"), which is plenty of precision for multiplier math.

### Limitations (honest ones)

- Analyzes the **~30 most recent longform uploads** (one page, no scroll). Shorts live on a separate tab and are not included.
- Baseline is the median of those same recent videos — for channels that recently blew up, the baseline reflects the new normal, not their history.
- One run = one channel. Loop over channels to scan a niche.

### FAQ

**What is a YouTube outlier video?** A video that dramatically overperforms its channel's normal reach — 2x, 10x, even 50x the channel's median views. Outliers earned that reach through packaging (idea + title + thumbnail), not subscriber count, which makes them the highest-signal videos to study.

**Does it need a YouTube API key?** No. It parses the channel's public Videos tab through residential proxy — no API key, no quota, no browser.

**Does it analyze Shorts?** Not currently — Shorts live on a separate tab. The actor scores the ~30 most recent longform uploads.

### Related actors

- [YouTube Channel ID Finder](https://apify.com/vanity_arias/youtube-channel-id-finder) — resolve handles/URLs to canonical channel IDs
- [YouTube Transcript Scraper — Batch + SRT/VTT](https://apify.com/vanity_arias/youtube-transcript-scraper-batch) — bulk transcripts, subtitles, LLM-ready text
- [YouTube Featured Channels Scraper](https://apify.com/vanity_arias/iris-channel-discovery) — expand a seed channel into its featured channels

# Actor input Schema

## `channel` (type: `string`):

YouTube channel — handle (`@MrBeast`), channel ID (`UC…`), or any channel URL.

## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`):

How many recent videos to analyze (up to ~30 — one page of the Videos tab).

## `minMultiplier` (type: `integer`):

Only return videos at or above this views-vs-baseline multiplier. 0 = return every analyzed video with its score.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy — residential is used automatically (YouTube blocks datacenter IPs). You normally don't need to touch this.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channel": "@MrBeast",
  "maxVideos": 30,
  "minMultiplier": 0,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "channel": "@MrBeast"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vanity_arias/youtube-outlier-finder").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "channel": "@MrBeast" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vanity_arias/youtube-outlier-finder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "channel": "@MrBeast"
}' |
apify call vanity_arias/youtube-outlier-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=vanity_arias/youtube-outlier-finder",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fr1YUiNF6eUKMcKyj/builds/PQmeVoegzySefujST/openapi.json