I’m working on a project where users can submit YouTube video IDs through a URL. Before I send these IDs to the YouTube API, I want to make sure they’re valid. The problem is, I’m not sure what characters are allowed in these IDs.
I’ve seen some folks online saying it’s probably just letters and numbers, but I can’t find any official info from YouTube about this. Does anyone know if there’s an official spec for YouTube video IDs? Or maybe you’ve figured out a reliable way to validate them?
I’m trying to avoid unnecessary API calls and keep things running smoothly. Any tips or tricks would be super helpful!
In my work with YouTube integrations, I’ve found that while there’s no official documentation on video ID format, a pragmatic approach works well. Video IDs are typically 11 characters long, consisting of alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores.
For initial validation, I use a regex pattern like [1]{11}$. This catches most invalid inputs without additional API calls. However, it’s not infallible; some valid IDs might not match this pattern.
For critical applications, I recommend a two-step validation: a quick regex check followed by a lightweight API call for definitive confirmation. This approach balances efficiency and accuracy while being mindful of API quotas in high-traffic scenarios. Always ensure proper sanitization of user inputs to prevent security issues.
yo, I’ve messed with youtube stuff before. here’s wat i found: IDs are usually 11 chars, mix of letters, numbers, and some symbols. i use this regex: [1]{11}$ to check. it ain’t perfect but catches most bad ones. if u wanna be 100% sure, hit the API, but that’s slow. hope this helps!
I’ve dealt with this issue before in a project. From my experience, YouTube video IDs are typically 11 characters long and consist of alphanumeric characters, underscores, and hyphens. While there’s no official documentation from YouTube on this, I’ve found that using a regular expression like [1]{11}$ works reliably for validation.
However, be aware that this method isn’t foolproof. Some valid IDs might not match this pattern, and some invalid ones might pass. For absolute certainty, you’d still need to query the YouTube API. But for most cases, this regex check can significantly reduce unnecessary API calls and improve your application’s performance.
Remember to also handle edge cases, like extracting the ID from full YouTube URLs if users paste those instead of just the ID. It’s a bit more work upfront, but it’ll save you headaches down the line.
As someone who’s implemented YouTube integration in several projects, I can share a bit of insight on this. While there’s no official spec from YouTube, I’ve found that video IDs are indeed 11 characters long, consisting of letters (both cases), numbers, underscores, and hyphens.
In my experience, a simple regex like [1]{11}$ works well for initial validation. It’s quick and catches most invalid inputs without hitting the API. However, it’s not foolproof - I’ve occasionally encountered valid IDs that don’t fit this pattern.
For more robust validation, I usually combine this regex check with a lightweight API call to the YouTube Data API’s videos().list endpoint. This approach balances efficiency and accuracy nicely. Just remember to handle API quotas carefully if you’re dealing with high traffic.
Lastly, don’t forget to sanitize and validate any user input before processing it. You’d be surprised how creative users can get with their submissions!