python3 -c " import json, xml.etree.ElementTree as ET data = json.load(open('top_videos.json')) root = ET.Element('videos') for item in data['items']: video = ET.SubElement(root, 'video') ET.SubElement(video, 'id').text = item['id'] ET.SubElement(video, 'title').text = item['snippet']['title'] ET.SubElement(video, 'views').text = item['statistics']['viewCount'] ET.ElementTree(root).write('top_videos.xml') "
Or use alt=xml (limited support):
# Not recommended for complex queries
curl "https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/videos?part=snippet&chart=mostPopular&alt=xml&key=$API_KEY"
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<youtube_top_videos generated="2026-04-12T12:00:00">
<video>
<id>dQw4w9WgXcQ</id>
<title>Top Trending Video</title>
<channel>ExampleChannel</channel>
<views>10456789</views>
<likes>890123</likes>
</video>
</youtube_top_videos>
import requests
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
from xml.dom import minidom
API_KEY = "YOUR_KEY"
url = f"https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/videos?part=snippet,statistics&chart=mostPopular&maxResults=10&key=API_KEY"
response = requests.get(url)
data = response.json() youtube api keyxml download top
Technically, no. The modern v3 API defaults to JSON. However, you can convert JSON to XML programmatically, or use the older v2 API (deprecated but still functional in limited capacity) or a proxy converter.
The Hack: Append &alt=media or use a Content-Type header. But for true XML, we use a middleware approach.
| Operation | Cost (units) | Daily quota (default) |
|-----------|--------------|------------------------|
| videos.list (mostPopular) | 1 | 10,000 |
| search.list | 100 | 10,000 | python3 -c "
import json, xml
Best practice: Cache results and paginate using pageToken.
Historically, developers looked for "XML downloads" of video feeds. With API v3, you request data via a URL, and Google returns a structured format (usually JSON, which has replaced XML as the standard, though XML can still be parsed).
To get a list of the "Top" videos (for example, the most popular videos in a specific category), you construct a URL using your new key. Or use alt=xml (limited support): # Not recommended
The Request URL format:
https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/videos?part=snippet,contentDetails,statistics&chart=mostPopular®ionCode=US&key=[YOUR_API_KEY_HERE]
Breaking down the parameters: