How to check if a YouTube channel is live with an API

export TOOLZERHUB_API_KEY=your_key
curl -H "x-api-key: $TOOLZERHUB_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.toolzerhub.com/v2/youtube/channel/live-streams?channel_username=@LofiGirl"

{
  "meta": {
    "channelId": "UCSJ4gkVC6NrvII8umztf0Ow",
    "title": "Lofi Girl",
    "channelHandle": "@LofiGirl",
    "subscriberCount": 15800000,
    "isChannelLive": true
  },
  "data": [
    {
      "type": "video",
      "videoId": "rFZHOHl-L8A",
      "title": "lofi hip hop radio 📚 beats to relax/study to",
      "viewCountText": "16K watching",
      "viewCount": 16000,
      "isLive": true,
      "lengthText": "LIVE"
    }
  ]
}

import csv
import os
import re
import sys
import time
from datetime import datetime, timezone

import requests

API = "https://api.toolzerhub.com/v2/youtube/channel/live-streams"
HEADERS = {"x-api-key": os.environ.get("TOOLZERHUB_API_KEY", "")}
FIELDS = ["checked_at", "channel", "handle", "subscribers", "channel_live", "video_id", "title", "watching", "url"]


def get(params, tries=3):
    # Retry rate limits, server errors and dropped connections.
    for attempt in range(tries):
        last = attempt == tries - 1
        try:
            r = requests.get(API, headers=HEADERS, params=params, timeout=120)
        except requests.RequestException:
            if last:
                raise
            time.sleep(5 * (attempt + 1))
            continue
        if r.status_code in (429, 500, 502, 503, 504) and not last:
            time.sleep(5 * (attempt + 1))
            continue
        r.raise_for_status()
        return r.json()["data"]


def channel_params(ref):
    # Accept a channel link, an @handle or a UC... channel ID.
    ref = ref.strip().split("?")[0].rstrip("/")
    m = re.search(r"(UC[\w-]{22})", ref)
    if m:
        return {"channel_id": m.group(1)}
    # In a link such as youtube.com/@LofiGirl/streams the handle is the part that starts with @.
    parts = [p for p in ref.split("/") if p]
    handle = next((p for p in reversed(parts) if p.startswith("@")), parts[-1])
    return {"channel_username": "@" + handle.lstrip("@")}


def main(channels, max_pages="5", out="youtube_live.csv"):
    live_channels = 0
    with open(out, "w", newline="", encoding="utf-8") as f:
        writer = csv.DictWriter(f, fieldnames=FIELDS)
        writer.writeheader()
        refs = [c for c in channels.split(",") if c.strip()]
        for ref in refs:
            params, streams = channel_params(ref), []
            try:
                data = get(params)
                meta = data.get("meta") or {}
                # Live streams come first, so read further pages only while a whole page is live.
                for number in range(1, int(max_pages) + 1):
                    page = [v for v in data.get("data") or [] if v.get("type") == "video"]
                    streams += [v for v in page if v.get("isLive")]
                    whole_page_live = page and all(v.get("isLive") for v in page)
                    if number == int(max_pages) or not whole_page_live or not data.get("page_cursor"):
                        break
                    data = get({**params, "page_cursor": data["page_cursor"]})
            except requests.HTTPError as e:
                # A handle that doesn't exist fails upstream; skip it, but stop on key or credit errors.
                if e.response.status_code < 500:
                    raise
                print(f"{ref.strip()}: could not be read, check the handle")
                continue
            live_channels += bool(meta.get("isChannelLive"))
            base = {"checked_at": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(timespec="seconds"), "channel": meta.get("title"),
                    "handle": meta.get("channelHandle"), "subscribers": meta.get("subscriberCount"),
                    "channel_live": meta.get("isChannelLive")}
            # One row per live stream, or a single row for a channel that is not live.
            for v in streams or [{}]:
                writer.writerow({**base, "video_id": v.get("videoId"), "title": v.get("title"),
                                 "watching": v.get("viewCount"),
                                 "url": f"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={v['videoId']}" if v else None})
            print(f"{meta.get('title')}: {'live' if meta.get('isChannelLive') else 'not live'}, "
                  f"{len(streams)} live streams, {sum(v.get('viewCount') or 0 for v in streams):,} watching")
    print(f"{live_channels} of {len(refs)} channels live")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) < 2:
        sys.exit('usage: python youtube_live_check.py "@LofiGirl,@NASA" [max_pages] [out.csv]')
    if not HEADERS["x-api-key"]:
        sys.exit("set TOOLZERHUB_API_KEY first")
    main(*sys.argv[1:])