---
title: Video details
label: Videos
description: Read stable video metadata from an ID or URL, understand optional values, and choose between full and basic mode.
group: Features
order: 2
---

Use `video()` when you already know which video you want and need more detail
than a search result provides.

## IDs and URLs both work

```ts
const byId = await yt.video('jNQXAC9IVRw');
const byUrl = await yt.video(
  'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw',
);

byId.id; // 'jNQXAC9IVRw' — same video either way
```

Common `watch`, `youtu.be`, `shorts`, `embed`, and `live` URL forms are
accepted. Internally, the SDK extracts the video ID before requesting metadata.

## Read the result

```ts
const video = await yt.video('jNQXAC9IVRw');

video.title; // 'Me at the zoo'
video.channel.name; // 'jawed'
video.durationSeconds; // 19
video.viewCount; // 403522943
video.publishedAt; // '2005-04-23T20:31:52-07:00'
video.captions; // [{ languageCode: 'en', name: 'English', isAutoGenerated: false, … }, …]
```

Optional values are `undefined` when YouTube did not supply them. The SDK does
not turn a missing like count into zero. Dates remain strings so their original
meaning is preserved.

## Choose full or basic mode

By default, the SDK enriches player metadata with another request. This can add
likes, comments, channel subscribers, and the channel avatar.

When those values do not matter, basic mode skips the enrichment request:

```ts
const video = await yt.video('jNQXAC9IVRw', { basic: true });
```

Basic mode is useful for a quick lookup or a large job that only needs core
fields. It trades completeness for less work; it does not change the object
type.

Full mode can also add optional `heatmap` and `chapters` timeline data. See
[frame-level data](/docs/frame-data) for mapping those signals and transcript
timestamps to storyboard preview frames.

## Read several videos

```ts
const results = await yt.videos(videoIds, { concurrency: 2 });

results[0].value.title; // 'Me at the zoo'
results[1].value.title; // 'Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)'
```

Use the plural method when each target should succeed or fail independently.
See [concurrency](/docs/concurrency) before increasing the limit, and
[handling errors](/docs/guides) for reading each result.