Command Line YouTube Video Downloaders

This project is a cross-platform desktop application that serves as a graphical wrapper for the youtube-dl command line tool. It functions as a web media extractor and batch video downloader, allowing users to save video files, audio tracks, subtitles, and metadata from supported online platforms. The application provides a visual interface to manage download quality, output formats, and file naming. It supports the retrieval of restricted or private content through browser cookie files, basic authentication, or video passwords. The software includes capabilities for bulk playlist archiving and parallel download execution via an automated queuing system. Users can configure destination directories and output filename patterns through custom templates. The system is built using Tauri and Rust.

ytdlp-interface is a self-hosted media downloader that provides a web-based graphical user interface for retrieving and saving internet videos to a local server or device. It functions as a visual wrapper for the yt-dlp command line engine, allowing users to fetch online video and audio content without using a terminal. The project enables online video archiving and web content extraction by allowing users to enter URLs into a simplified interface to save media from supported platforms. The system manages these downloads through a structured communication layer that separates the frontend from the backend logic, utilizing asynchronous process execution and event-driven progress tracking to maintain interface responsiveness during file transfers.

Pytube is a Python library and command line interface for downloading videos, playlists, and captions from YouTube. It functions as both a programmatic tool for metadata extraction and a standalone media downloader. The project is designed using only the Python standard library to avoid external package dependencies. It utilizes regular expression-based HTML parsing to extract stream URLs and asset details directly from the platform. The library supports retrieving video metadata and thumbnails, as well as extracting caption tracks. It provides capabilities for downloading entire playlists and reconstructing DASH streams when progressive downloads are unavailable.

VidBee is a self-hosted media download manager that wraps the yt-dlp engine to download videos and audio from over 1000 websites. It functions as both a desktop client and a Fastify-based web service, managing downloads through a persistent queue with pause, resume, retry, and real-time progress tracking. The application uses cookie-based authentication to access login-gated, age-restricted, or subscriber-only content by importing browser cookies or Netscape-format cookie files. The application distinguishes itself through automated download workflows, including RSS and Atom feed monitoring that periodically checks subscribed feeds and queues new items based on keyword filters. It supports downloading entire playlists and can limit RSS feeds to only the latest unseen video. A custom protocol handler registers a vidbee:// URI scheme with the operating system, enabling one-click downloads directly from a browser by intercepting custom protocol links. VidBee provides configurable output formats and containers, allowing users to select between MP4, MKV, WebM, or the original container for merged downloads, and supports audio-only extraction. Filename customization is available through yt-dlp-compatible templates. The application can be deployed locally or in Docker, exposing a REST API and embedded web client for remote download management.

Annie is a command-line video downloader and web video extraction library written in Go. It functions as a concurrent media downloader designed to fetch video files and playlists from websites via URLs. The tool distinguishes itself through a proxy-aware network layer that supports SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies to bypass regional content restrictions. It also incorporates session cookie integration and referrer spoofing to facilitate the download of authenticated or age-gated content. The project provides capabilities for bulk media acquisition, including batch downloading from text files and extracting resources from playlists. It manages data transfer via multi-threaded acceleration and supports interrupted transfer resumption using byte-range headers. Additionally, it can export resource metadata in JSON format and allows for customization of local output file paths.

This project is a command-line video downloader and web media extractor written in Python. It is designed to retrieve video and audio streams from various hosting platforms for local storage or real-time streaming via standard output. The system utilizes a framework of custom extractor classes to handle different websites and allows for the development of new extractors to extend compatibility. It supports accessing restricted, private, or region-locked content through the use of session cookies, user-agent headers, and proxy server routing. Capabilities include media format selection based on quality and resolution, as well as automated scraping using date-based filters and archive logs to track download history. The tool provides flexible output management through dynamic filename templates and supports persistent configuration via local settings files. The logic can be embedded into other software applications to automate media capture and execution logging.

Tartube is a desktop video manager and web video downloader designed for capturing and storing video content from a wide variety of hosting sites for offline viewing. It serves as a graphical interface for the yt-dlp engine to download and organize videos from platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. The application enables web video archiving to prevent data loss from deletions or platform changes. It provides a dedicated interface for categorizing and managing large collections of downloaded web videos within an organized library. The system handles multi-platform video downloading and offline media consumption through a unified application.

Lux is a command line video downloader written in Go designed for extracting and saving video and audio from various websites. It functions as a concurrent media downloader that increases transfer speeds by splitting files into fragments and downloading them using multiple threads. The tool serves as a playlist download manager capable of retrieving entire video collections or specific ranges of items. It also operates as a proxy-enabled media client, supporting HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies and session cookies to access region-locked, private, or age-gated content. Additional capabilities include multi-platform video extraction for online archiving, the ability to resume interrupted downloads, and the extraction of video metadata exported to JSON. The system also supports subtitle embedding and configurable output file patterns.

YoutubeDownloader is a desktop application designed to retrieve and archive video and audio content from online platforms. It enables users to download media files directly to local storage, providing options to select specific quality levels and file formats to suit local playback requirements. The application distinguishes itself through its ability to access restricted or private content by utilizing personal account credentials. By managing session authentication, it allows for the retrieval of media that is not accessible to the general public. Furthermore, it incorporates automated workflows to enhance downloaded files, including the integration of subtitles, alternative audio tracks, and descriptive metadata to assist in maintaining organized media libraries. The system handles the complexities of media acquisition by parsing remote manifests and orchestrating external command-line utilities to perform format conversion and stream extraction. It manages the entire lifecycle of a download, from initial request and authentication to the final injection of metadata into the saved media container.

ytDownloader is a video downloader and media extraction tool that uses the yt-dlp engine to retrieve video and audio files from various social media and video sharing platforms. It functions as a utility for capturing full media files, specific segments or ranges of tracks, and entire video playlists. The project includes a hardware-accelerated video compressor to reduce file sizes while maintaining visual quality. It also features a subtitle downloader capable of retrieving both text captions and embedded subtitle tracks for accessibility and translation. The system handles broad media tasks including social media extraction, automated playlist downloading, and video compression.

BiliTools is a modular download tool for Bilibili, supporting authentication, media extraction, metadata management, and user content backup. It provides a configurable download pipeline with QR-based session authentication, automatic captcha and device verification, and stream muxing that merges separate audio and video segments into a single file. A plugin-based media extractor handles multiple content types and streaming endpoints, while a metadata scraping and tagging pipeline writes structured tags into files for media organizers. Subtitle and caption synchronization converts comment overlays to standard formats with accurate timing alignment. The tool also offers audio extraction for lossless and spatial audio formats, user content backup for uploaded videos, playlists, watch-later lists, and favorites, and configurable application settings for UI theme, proxy, CDN filtering, audio conversion, file naming, and download history. Platform authentication supports QR, password, or SMS login with signature and fingerprint handling.

This project is a command-line utility designed to fetch video, audio, and image content from a wide range of web platforms. It functions by parsing page metadata and utilizing modular, site-specific scripts to extract direct media stream URLs from complex web structures, enabling the local archiving of digital media for offline use. The tool distinguishes itself through its ability to handle authenticated content, allowing users to inject browser-stored session cookies to access restricted or private media. It also supports real-time media streaming by piping remote content directly into external playback software, bypassing the need for local disk storage. For complex media tasks, the utility orchestrates external command-line tools to manage file merging, format conversion, and stream playback. Beyond basic acquisition, the software provides comprehensive management features, including automated directory organization for batch processing and the ability to resume interrupted downloads using temporary state files. It also integrates network proxy configurations to route traffic through external servers, facilitating access to content subject to regional restrictions or firewall limitations. Users can further automate workflows by programmatically extracting resource metadata or submitting search queries directly through the terminal.

mps-youtube is a YouTube terminal client and command-line media player. It allows users to search for, stream, and play YouTube videos and audio directly within a terminal emulator without requiring an API key. The project functions as a media downloader and search tool, providing capabilities to save video and audio content to the local file system in various formats and resolutions. It includes specialized discovery tools for finding music albums and matching individual tracks based on metadata. The software covers a broad range of media management capabilities, including headless media conversion, local playlist creation, and the retrieval of user comments. It integrates search results with stream-based playback and offers custom sorting criteria for remote content discovery.

This is a tool for downloading videos, images, and audio from the Douyin social media platform using shareable URLs or profile links. It can download individual posts, entire user profiles including all posts and liked content, collections, and music tracks, with options for watermark-free and high-quality output. The tool also supports live stream recording, comment collection, and keyword-based content search with JSONL export. The project distinguishes itself through an integrated REST API server that accepts download and transcription requests, tracks job status, and exposes health check endpoints. It includes browser-based authentication for accessing restricted content, a SQLite deduplication database to avoid re-downloading across sessions, and a webhook notification system that sends completion alerts to messaging platforms. An exponential backoff retry mechanism improves download reliability, while YAML configuration controls concurrency, rate limits, and download behavior. Additional capabilities include audio extraction from downloaded videos using a bundled ffmpeg binary, with optional transcription via the Whisper speech recognition model or an OpenAI-compatible API. The tool can handle CAPTCHA challenges through a browser fallback and supports incremental downloads that skip already-fetched content. Configuration and authentication are managed through YAML files and browser cookies.

This project is a command-line media downloader designed for the systematic retrieval and organization of digital content from diverse online platforms. It functions as an extensible extraction engine that utilizes a declarative format-selection pipeline to automate the identification, merging, and downloading of specific audio and video streams based on user-defined criteria. The system distinguishes itself through a modular architecture that supports custom plugins and site-specific scripts, allowing for the bypass of platform restrictions and the handling of complex authentication challenges. It features a robust media processing orchestrator that manages external dependencies to perform automated transcoding, remuxing, and metadata manipulation. By simulating legitimate client behavior through request impersonation and multi-threaded fragment transfers, the tool ensures reliable data retrieval even in restrictive network environments. Beyond its core downloading capabilities, the project provides a comprehensive suite of tools for media archiving and programmatic integration. It includes support for advanced metadata extraction, template-based filesystem organization, and post-processing hooks that allow for custom workflows such as segment filtering or automated file tagging. The software can be embedded directly into other applications via a native programming interface, offering a flexible foundation for custom media management pipelines. The tool is available as a standalone binary or via standard package managers, with support for configuration through environment variables, external scripts, and secure credential management.

Seal is a mobile application designed to retrieve video and audio content from various online platforms. It functions as a graphical interface that manages background transfer processes, allowing users to download and archive media files directly to their local device storage for offline access. The application distinguishes itself by acting as a bridge to powerful command-line utilities, orchestrating these external binaries to handle complex media extraction and file conversion tasks. Users can customize their experience through a declarative template system that defines specific execution parameters, while a centralized task manager enables concurrent batch processing of multiple media files. Beyond basic downloading, the project provides a comprehensive management interface that tracks transfer history, maintains download queues, and stores metadata using a local relational database. The application supports a variety of languages and is built to provide a consistent experience across different mobile screen sizes.

NewPipe is a privacy-focused media client that aggregates content from multiple streaming platforms into a single, unified interface. By utilizing a specialized parsing engine, the application extracts structured metadata directly from raw web content, allowing users to browse and play media without requiring individual service accounts or proprietary tracking. The application distinguishes itself through a decoupled playback engine that separates core streaming logic from the user interface, enabling persistent background audio and floating window playback. To ensure consistent access, the software employs resilient data extraction techniques and client-identity spoofing, which allow it to maintain connectivity even when official programming interfaces are restricted. Users can manage their content through a locally stored library that tracks subscriptions, history, and preferences entirely on the device. The platform also supports offline media archiving, providing the ability to download video and audio files in various formats and resolutions for independent, disconnected consumption.

ytdlnis is a mobile application that serves as a graphical client for the yt-dlp engine on Android. It functions as a media downloader and manager, providing a user interface to retrieve video and audio from websites. The project distinguishes itself by integrating directly with the Android system share menu and intents to trigger background downloads from external apps. It includes a dedicated authentication cookie manager to import and sync browser session data, enabling the retrieval of private, age-restricted, or premium content. The application covers broad capability areas including automated media downloading via playlist monitoring and batch URL processing, as well as video post-processing for trimming segments and removing sponsored content. It further provides metadata management for embedding subtitles and chapters, along with a built-in terminal for executing custom command-line arguments. Users can manage download queues, configure network usage restrictions, and utilize incognito session modes to prevent activity from appearing in the download history.