nexmoe/VidBee
VidBee
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.
Features
- Media Downloaders - Downloads videos and audio from over 1000 websites using yt-dlp with queue management and RSS monitoring.
- yt-dlp Engine Wrappers - Wraps yt-dlp as a managed subprocess to handle site extraction, format selection, and download execution.
- Media Download Clients - Provides a desktop interface for yt-dlp with queue management, format selection, and cookie-based authentication for downloading media.
- Cookie-Based Session Authentication for Downloads - Uses imported browser cookies to authenticate downloads of restricted or member-only content.
- Video Downloaders - Downloads videos from over 1000 websites using the yt-dlp engine with queue management.
- Browser Session Authentication - Reuses browser signed-in sessions via cookies to access login-gated, age-restricted, or subscriber-only content.
- Cookie-Based Authentication Bridges - Provides a cookie bridge that reuses browser sessions to access login-gated content for downloads.
- Cookie Synchronization - Imports browser cookies to access login-gated or age-restricted content for authenticated downloads.
- Download Managers - Manages a persistent download queue with pause, resume, retry, and real-time progress tracking.
- Automated Feed Downloaders - Periodically polls RSS/Atom feeds and automatically queues new media items based on keyword filters.
- Media Feed Downloaders - Monitors RSS and Atom feeds to automatically queue new media items for download with keyword filters.
- Container Format Selection - Allows users to select output container formats like MP4, MKV, or WebM for downloads.
- Custom URI Scheme Handlers - Registers a custom vidbee:// URI scheme to intercept browser clicks and launch downloads.
- Media Container Format Selection - Enables selection of container formats like MP4, MKV, or WebM for downloaded media.
- Self-Hosted Download Web Services - Runs as a Fastify web service with a browser interface for remote download management.
- Download Management Web Services - Provides a self-hosted Fastify web service for remote download management via browser or Docker.
- Fastify-Based Web Services - Ships a Fastify-based REST API and embedded web client for remote download management.
- One-Click Download Format Presets - Provides persistent default container format settings for one-click and RSS downloads.
- Format and Container Selection - Allows selection of output format and container for each download, including defaults.
- Multi-Format Video Export - Supports selecting between MP4, MKV, WebM, or original container formats for video exports.
- Audio Track Extraction - Extracts audio tracks from video pages for download as standalone audio files.
- Audio-Only Downloads - Downloads audio-only in formats like M4A, MP3, or Opus without video container selection.
- Filename Templates - Supports yt-dlp style filename templates for customizing downloaded file names.
