diff --git a/src/youtube/stream_extractor.rs b/src/youtube/stream_extractor.rs
index 27303d1..73ab2e8 100644
--- a/src/youtube/stream_extractor.rs
+++ b/src/youtube/stream_extractor.rs
@@ -198,6 +198,68 @@ pub fn stream_info_with(
     Ok(info)
 }
 
+/// Metadata-only fetch — the Android `/player` `videoDetails` and nothing
+/// else. Returns a `StreamInfo` populated with title / uploader / view
+/// count / duration / thumbnails but EMPTY stream lists.
+///
+/// This is the cheap tail of `stream_info_with`: it shares the exact same
+/// Android fetch + playability + decoy checks, then runs only
+/// `populate_video_details`. It deliberately skips the heavy work the full
+/// path does after that: the JS signature/nsig eval (`signature_timestamp`
+/// plus the per-format throttling deobfuscation), the extra WEB `/player`
+/// metadata round-trip (`fetch_web_metadata`), the iOS client fetch, and
+/// the stream / manifest / caption extraction.
+///
+/// `view_count` and `duration_seconds` are read from the SAME
+/// `videoDetails` the full path uses, and `populate_microformat` (the only
+/// later step that could touch them) never writes either field — so for
+/// those two values this returns exactly what `stream_info` would, just
+/// without the ~500ms JS/stream tail and the redundant WEB round-trip.
+/// Built for the subscription-feed view-count/duration backfill.
+pub fn stream_metadata(video_id: &str) -> Result<StreamInfo, ExtractionError> {
+    let localization = NewPipe::preferred_localization();
+    let content_country = NewPipe::preferred_content_country();
+
+    // Same anonymous-or-provider token resolution as the full path so the
+    // playability + decoy checks behave identically. With no PoTokenProvider
+    // registered (the default) this resolves to None → anonymous reel.
+    let provider = po_token_provider();
+    let android_token: Option<PoTokenResult> = options_or_provider(None, None, None, || {
+        provider
+            .as_ref()
+            .and_then(|p| p.get_android_client_po_token(video_id).ok().flatten())
+    });
+
+    let android_cpn = generate_content_playback_nonce();
+    let player_response = fetch_android(
+        video_id,
+        &localization,
+        &content_country,
+        &android_cpn,
+        android_token
+            .as_ref()
+            .map(|t| t.player_request_po_token.as_str()),
+        android_token.as_ref().map(|t| t.visitor_data.as_str()),
+    )?;
+
+    check_playability_status(&player_response)?;
+    if is_player_response_not_valid(&player_response, video_id) {
+        return Err(ExtractionError::Other(
+            "ANDROID player response is not valid (decoy detected)".into(),
+        ));
+    }
+
+    let mut info = StreamInfo {
+        service_id: 0,
+        url: format!("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={video_id}"),
+        video_id: video_id.to_string(),
+        stream_type: Some(StreamType::VideoStream),
+        ..StreamInfo::default()
+    };
+    populate_video_details(&mut info, &player_response);
+    Ok(info)
+}
+
 fn options_or_provider(
     opt_player_token: Option<&str>,
     opt_streaming_token: Option<&str>,