Deep-dive lookup

Video outlier check

Find out whether a video is a real outlier, meaning it beat its creator's usual views, or only looks big because the creator is big.

At a glance

What it does: Tells you if one TikTok, YouTube or Instagram video is a real breakout for its creator.
You send: The video's link and its platform.
You get back: A job ID right away, then the video's stats, the creator's profile, an outlier score and a verdict such as viral.
Cost: $0.50 per check, charged at the start, even if the check fails. Status checks and saved results are free.
How long: Usually 15 to 60 seconds, a few minutes at busy times.

It's one of Virlo's deep-dive lookups, under /v1/satellite/.

POST/v1/satellite/video-outlier

Start a video outlier check

Returns a job_id in about a second. Virlo then compares the video with up to 100 of the creator's recent videos.

Cost per request:$0.50

Each request is billed, even for a link you already checked. Creator, sound and hashtag lookups repeat free within 6 hours; this one doesn't.

Body parameters

Send only these two fields. Anything missing or extra returns a 400.

Name
url
Type
string
Required
*
Description
The full link, including https://. It must match platform: Virlo won't catch a mismatch, and still charges.
Name
platform
Type
string
Required
*
Description
tiktok, youtube or instagram, lowercase.

Limits: 5 starts a minute, 100 an hour, 1,000 a day. Status checks don't count.

Details for developers

Limits reset on the clock: each minute, each hour and at midnight UTC.
Requests rejected with a 400 still count.
X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining and X-RateLimit-Reset describe the window closest to running out. A 429 adds Retry-After (seconds). See Rate limits.

Request

POST

/v1/satellite/video-outlier

curl -X POST https://api.virlo.ai/v1/satellite/video-outlier \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reels/DVMBt9pE4ob/",
    "platform": "instagram"
  }'

Response

{
  "data": {
    "job_id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
    "status": "processing"
  }
}

GET/v1/satellite/video-outlier/status/:job_id

Check the status

Free. Returns processing while the check runs, then completed with the result or failed with a reason in error. After 24 hours the job ID expires (404); the saved run keeps the result.

Path parameters

Name
job_id
Type
string
Required
*
Description
The job_id from the start call.

How to read the result

The result (data.result) has three parts: video, creator and analysis. In analysis, start with:

outlier_score: views divided by the creator's median views (half their recent videos got more, half fewer). 6.56 means about 6.6 times their usual.
performance_label: the verdict.

`performance_label`	`outlier_score`
`mega_viral`	10 or more
`viral`	3 to under 10
`above_average`	1.5 to under 3
`average`	Under 1.5, including flops

percentile is a good second check: 89 means it beat 89% of the creator's recent videos. New videos score low at first; judge them after a few days.

Full field reference

data: result and run_id (equal to your job_id) only when completed; error only when failed.

result.video: url, title, views, likes, comments and publish_date (UTC, or null). Ignore publishDate, an old duplicate due for removal.

result.creator: username, platform and profile (null if it couldn't load). profile holds followers, following, avatar_url, url, description, is_verified, total_videos, total_likes, total_views, total_posts and category, plus:

bio_link on TikTok and Instagram, or attribution on YouTube (the channel header's link text, such as X, not a URL).
country, a two-letter code, on TikTok only.
On YouTube, is_verified is always null and following always 0.
Numbers a platform doesn't share come back null or 0. Instagram often shows 0 for total_videos and total_posts.

result.analysis:

videos_analyzed: up to 100, fewer if the creator has fewer videos or the platform returns fewer. At 0 there's no baseline: ignore the scores and label.
median_views, avg_views: the creator's median and mean views.
weighted_score: ln(outlier_score) × ln(median_views), 0 if the video didn't beat the median. It rewards beating a bigger baseline, so use it to rank videos. Not the same as the Virality Score weighted_score elsewhere, which uses followers.
percentile: 0 to 100, can have decimals.
std_deviation: how much the creator's views swing around the mean.
z_score: how unusual these views are, given that swing (0 is the mean, negative is below). It stays low for creators with a few huge hits, even when outlier_score is high.

Request

GET

/v1/satellite/video-outlier/status/:job_id

curl https://api.virlo.ai/v1/satellite/video-outlier/status/a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response

{
  "data": {
    "status": "completed",
    "result": {
      "video": {
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reels/DVMBt9pE4ob/",
        "title": "Japan is turning footsteps into electricity! Using piezoelectric tiles, every step you take generates a small amount of energy...",
        "views": 247862,
        "likes": 27368,
        "comments": 185,
        "publish_date": "2026-02-25T16:40:48.000Z",
        "publishDate": "2026-02-25T16:40:48.000Z"
      },
      "creator": {
        "username": "notivion.ig",
        "platform": "instagram",
        "profile": {
          "followers": 178543,
          "following": 12,
          "avatar_url": "https://instagram.fsac1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.82787-19/770751058_n.jpg",
          "url": "https://www.instagram.com/notivion.ig/",
          "description": "Small artist and animator",
          "is_verified": false,
          "total_videos": 0,
          "total_likes": null,
          "total_views": null,
          "total_posts": 0,
          "category": null,
          "bio_link": null
        }
      },
      "analysis": {
        "videos_analyzed": 100,
        "median_views": 37779,
        "avg_views": 131447,
        "outlier_score": 6.56,
        "weighted_score": 19.83,
        "percentile": 89,
        "std_deviation": 319747,
        "z_score": 0.36,
        "performance_label": "viral"
      }
    },
    "run_id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
  }
}

Wait for the result

Check the status every 10 to 15 seconds, as below. Still processing after 10 minutes (rare, such as after a server restart)? Start a new check, at another $0.50.

Or have Virlo notify your server when a check finishes or fails: use the satellite.lookup.completed webhook (data.type is video_outlier).

Start and wait

const API = 'https://api.virlo.ai/v1';
const headers = {
  'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
  'Content-Type': 'application/json'
};

async function analyzeVideo(url, platform) {
  // 1. Start the check ($0.50)
  const start = await fetch(`${API}/satellite/video-outlier`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers,
    body: JSON.stringify({ url, platform })
  });
  if (!start.ok) throw new Error(`Start failed: ${start.status}`);
  const jobId = (await start.json()).data.job_id;

  // 2. Check every 10 seconds until it finishes. Give up after 10 minutes.
  const deadline = Date.now() + 10 * 60 * 1000;
  while (Date.now() < deadline) {
    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 10_000));

    const res = await fetch(`${API}/satellite/video-outlier/status/${jobId}`, { headers });
    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Status check failed: ${res.status}`);
    const job = (await res.json()).data;

    if (job.status === 'completed') return job.result;
    if (job.status === 'failed') throw new Error(job.error ?? 'Check failed');
  }
  throw new Error(`Still processing after 10 minutes (job ${jobId})`);
}

Re-read past runs

Every check, failed ones too, is saved as a run that is free to read and never expires. Its ID is your job_id.

GET /v1/satellite/runs?type=video_outlier: your checks, newest first.
GET /v1/satellite/runs/:run_id: one check, with the verdict at data.result.analysis. Its top-level analysis is always null here.

The creator's comparison videos aren't saved, so /runs/:run_id/videos returns an empty list. See all run fields.

Errors

Error responses aren't wrapped in data and are never charged. Check the top-level code, not the message. See Errors.

A failed check is different: it started, so it's charged. For example, the video is deleted or private, or its creator can't be found. Open the link in a logged-out browser first.

Name
400 Bad Request
Description
Bad url or platform, or an extra field. message is usually a list, sometimes a string. If it isn't about your input (like Failed to analyze video), the problem is on Virlo's side: retry shortly.
Name
401 Unauthorized
Description
No API key (missing_api_key), or a wrong or inactive one (invalid_api_key).
Name
402 Payment Required
Description
Balance under $0.50 (50 credits, at $0.01 each). Add funds.
Name
404 Not Found
Description
The job ID is unknown, another account's, or over 24 hours old. Read the saved run.
Name
429 Too Many Requests
Description
Wait retry_after seconds, then retry.