diff --git a/lib/pinchflat/downloading/media_download_worker.ex b/lib/pinchflat/downloading/media_download_worker.ex
index 42c5ca4..c7ea232 100644
--- a/lib/pinchflat/downloading/media_download_worker.ex
+++ b/lib/pinchflat/downloading/media_download_worker.ex
@@ -39,17 +39,14 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaDownloadWorker do
     - `quality_upgrade?`: re-downloads media, including the video. Does not force download
       if the source is set to not download media
 
-  Returns :ok | {:ok, %MediaItem{}} | {:error, any, ...any}
+  Returns :ok | {:error, any, ...any}
   """
   @impl Oban.Worker
   def perform(%Oban.Job{args: %{"id" => media_item_id} = args}) do
     should_force = Map.get(args, "force", false)
     is_quality_upgrade = Map.get(args, "quality_upgrade?", false)
 
-    media_item =
-      media_item_id
-      |> Media.get_media_item!()
-      |> Repo.preload(:source)
+    media_item = fetch_and_run_prevent_download_user_script(media_item_id)
 
     # If the source or media item is set to not download media, perform a no-op unless forced
     if (media_item.source.download_media && !media_item.prevent_download) || should_force do
@@ -62,6 +59,20 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaDownloadWorker do
     Ecto.StaleEntryError -> Logger.info("#{__MODULE__} discarded: media item #{media_item_id} stale")
   end
 
+  # If a user script exists and, when run, returns a non-zero exit code, prevent this and all future downloads
+  # of the media item.
+  defp fetch_and_run_prevent_download_user_script(media_item_id) do
+    media_item = Media.get_media_item!(media_item_id)
+
+    {:ok, media_item} =
+      case run_user_script(:media_pre_download, media_item) do
+        {:ok, _, exit_code} when exit_code != 0 -> Media.update_media_item(media_item, %{prevent_download: true})
+        _ -> {:ok, media_item}
+      end
+
+    Repo.preload(media_item, :source)
+  end
+
   defp download_media_and_schedule_jobs(media_item, is_quality_upgrade, should_force) do
     overwrite_behaviour = if should_force || is_quality_upgrade, do: :force_overwrites, else: :no_force_overwrites
     override_opts = [overwrite_behaviour: overwrite_behaviour]
@@ -74,9 +85,9 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaDownloadWorker do
             media_redownloaded_at: get_redownloaded_at(is_quality_upgrade)
           })
 
-        :ok = run_user_script(updated_media_item)
+        run_user_script(:media_downloaded, updated_media_item)
 
-        {:ok, updated_media_item}
+        :ok
 
       {:recovered, _} ->
         {:error, :retry}
@@ -112,9 +123,9 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaDownloadWorker do
 
   # NOTE: I like this pattern of using the default value so that I don't have to
   # define it in config.exs (and friends). Consider using this elsewhere.
-  defp run_user_script(media_item) do
+  defp run_user_script(event, media_item) do
     runner = Application.get_env(:pinchflat, :user_script_runner, UserScriptRunner)
 
-    runner.run(:media_downloaded, media_item)
+    runner.run(event, media_item)
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/pinchflat/lifecycle/user_scripts/command_runner.ex b/lib/pinchflat/lifecycle/user_scripts/command_runner.ex
index 8436c05..54aa38c 100644
--- a/lib/pinchflat/lifecycle/user_scripts/command_runner.ex
+++ b/lib/pinchflat/lifecycle/user_scripts/command_runner.ex
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Lifecycle.UserScripts.CommandRunner do
   @behaviour UserScriptCommandRunner
 
   @event_types [
+    :media_pre_download,
     :media_downloaded,
     :media_deleted
   ]
@@ -22,24 +23,25 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Lifecycle.UserScripts.CommandRunner do
 
   This function will succeed in almost all cases, even if the user script command
   failed - this is because I don't want bad scripts to stop the whole process.
-  If something fails, it'll be logged.
+  If something fails, it'll be logged and returned BUT the tuple will always
+  start with {:ok, ...}.
 
   The only things that can cause a true failure are passing in an invalid event
   type or if the passed data cannot be encoded into JSON - both indicative of
   failures in the development process.
 
-  Returns :ok
+  Returns {:ok, :no_executable} | {:ok, output, exit_code}
   """
   @impl UserScriptCommandRunner
   def run(event_type, encodable_data) when event_type in @event_types do
     case backend_executable() do
       {:ok, :no_executable} ->
-        :ok
+        {:ok, :no_executable}
 
       {:ok, executable_path} ->
         {:ok, encoded_data} = Phoenix.json_library().encode(encodable_data)
 
-        {_output, _exit_code} =
+        {output, exit_code} =
           CliUtils.wrap_cmd(
             executable_path,
             [to_string(event_type), encoded_data],
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Lifecycle.UserScripts.CommandRunner do
             logging_arg_override: "[suppressed]"
           )
 
-        :ok
+        {:ok, output, exit_code}
     end
   end
 
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Lifecycle.UserScripts.CommandRunner do
     if FilesystemUtils.exists_and_nonempty?(filepath) do
       {:ok, filepath}
     else
-      Logger.warning("User scripts lifecyle file either not present or is empty. Skipping.")
+      Logger.info("User scripts lifecyle file either not present or is empty. Skipping.")
 
       {:ok, :no_executable}
     end
diff --git a/lib/pinchflat/media/media.ex b/lib/pinchflat/media/media.ex
index ba46e7c..013bf09 100644
--- a/lib/pinchflat/media/media.ex
+++ b/lib/pinchflat/media/media.ex
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Media do
 
     if delete_files do
       {:ok, _} = do_delete_media_files(media_item)
-      :ok = run_user_script(:media_deleted, media_item)
+      run_user_script(:media_deleted, media_item)
     end
 
     # Should delete these no matter what
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Media do
 
     Tasks.delete_tasks_for(media_item)
     {:ok, _} = do_delete_media_files(media_item)
-    :ok = run_user_script(:media_deleted, media_item)
+    run_user_script(:media_deleted, media_item)
 
     update_media_item(media_item, Map.merge(filepath_attrs, addl_attrs))
   end
diff --git a/test/pinchflat/downloading/media_download_worker_test.exs b/test/pinchflat/downloading/media_download_worker_test.exs
index 754f838..35eabeb 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat/downloading/media_download_worker_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat/downloading/media_download_worker_test.exs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaDownloadWorkerTest do
 
   setup do
     stub(YtDlpRunnerMock, :run, fn _url, _opts, _ot -> {:ok, ""} end)
-    stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+    stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
     stub(HTTPClientMock, :get, fn _url, _headers, _opts -> {:ok, ""} end)
 
     media_item =
@@ -162,20 +162,6 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaDownloadWorkerTest do
       assert media_item.media_redownloaded_at == nil
     end
 
-    test "calls the user script runner", %{media_item: media_item} do
-      expect(YtDlpRunnerMock, :run, fn _url, _opts, _ot, _addl ->
-        {:ok, render_metadata(:media_metadata)}
-      end)
-
-      expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_downloaded, data ->
-        assert data.id == media_item.id
-
-        :ok
-      end)
-
-      perform_job(MediaDownloadWorker, %{id: media_item.id})
-    end
-
     test "does not blow up if the record doesn't exist" do
       assert :ok = perform_job(MediaDownloadWorker, %{id: 0})
     end
@@ -237,4 +223,59 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaDownloadWorkerTest do
       perform_job(MediaDownloadWorker, %{id: media_item.id, force: true})
     end
   end
+
+  describe "perform/1 when testing user script callbacks" do
+    setup do
+      stub(YtDlpRunnerMock, :run, fn _url, _opts, _ot, _addl ->
+        {:ok, render_metadata(:media_metadata)}
+      end)
+
+      :ok
+    end
+
+    test "calls the media_pre_download user script runner", %{media_item: media_item} do
+      expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_pre_download, data ->
+        assert data.id == media_item.id
+
+        {:ok, "", 0}
+      end)
+
+      expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_downloaded, _ -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
+
+      perform_job(MediaDownloadWorker, %{id: media_item.id})
+    end
+
+    test "does not download the media if the pre-download script returns an error", %{media_item: media_item} do
+      expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_pre_download, _ -> {:ok, "", 1} end)
+
+      assert :ok = perform_job(MediaDownloadWorker, %{id: media_item.id})
+      media_item = Repo.reload!(media_item)
+
+      refute media_item.media_filepath
+      assert media_item.prevent_download
+    end
+
+    test "downloads media if the pre-download script is not present", %{media_item: media_item} do
+      expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_pre_download, _ -> {:ok, :no_executable} end)
+      expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_downloaded, _ -> {:ok, :no_executable} end)
+
+      assert :ok = perform_job(MediaDownloadWorker, %{id: media_item.id})
+      media_item = Repo.reload!(media_item)
+
+      assert media_item.media_filepath
+      refute media_item.prevent_download
+    end
+
+    test "calls the media_downloaded user script runner", %{media_item: media_item} do
+      expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_pre_download, _ -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
+
+      expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_downloaded, data ->
+        assert data.id == media_item.id
+
+        {:ok, "", 0}
+      end)
+
+      perform_job(MediaDownloadWorker, %{id: media_item.id})
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/test/pinchflat/downloading/media_retention_worker_test.exs b/test/pinchflat/downloading/media_retention_worker_test.exs
index e49bb39..f0a59ce 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat/downloading/media_retention_worker_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat/downloading/media_retention_worker_test.exs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaRetentionWorkerTest do
   alias Pinchflat.Downloading.MediaRetentionWorker
 
   setup do
-    stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+    stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
 
     :ok
   end
diff --git a/test/pinchflat/lifecycle/user_scripts/command_runner_test.exs b/test/pinchflat/lifecycle/user_scripts/command_runner_test.exs
index 351f4c4..5a35faf 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat/lifecycle/user_scripts/command_runner_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat/lifecycle/user_scripts/command_runner_test.exs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Lifecycle.UserScripts.CommandRunnerTest do
       File.write(filepath(), "#!/bin/bash\ntouch #{filename}\n")
 
       refute File.exists?(filename)
-      assert :ok = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
+      assert {:ok, _, _} = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
       assert File.exists?(filename)
     end
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Lifecycle.UserScripts.CommandRunnerTest do
       tmp_dir = Application.get_env(:pinchflat, :tmpfile_directory)
       File.write(filepath(), "#!/bin/bash\necho $1 > #{tmp_dir}/event_name\n")
 
-      assert :ok = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
+      assert {:ok, _, _} = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
       assert File.read!("#{tmp_dir}/event_name") == "media_downloaded\n"
     end
 
@@ -35,26 +35,32 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.Lifecycle.UserScripts.CommandRunnerTest do
       tmp_dir = Application.get_env(:pinchflat, :tmpfile_directory)
       File.write(filepath(), "#!/bin/bash\necho $2 > #{tmp_dir}/encoded_data\n")
 
-      assert :ok = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{foo: "bar"})
+      assert {:ok, _, _} = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{foo: "bar"})
       assert File.read!("#{tmp_dir}/encoded_data") == "{\"foo\":\"bar\"}\n"
     end
 
     test "does nothing if the lifecycle file is not present" do
       :ok = File.rm(filepath())
 
-      assert :ok = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
+      assert {:ok, :no_executable} = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
     end
 
     test "does nothing if the lifecycle file is empty" do
       File.write(filepath(), "")
 
-      assert :ok = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
+      assert {:ok, :no_executable} = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
     end
 
     test "returns :ok if the command exits with a non-zero status" do
       File.write(filepath(), "#!/bin/bash\nexit 1\n")
 
-      assert :ok = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
+      assert {:ok, _, 1} = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
+    end
+
+    test "returns the output of the command" do
+      File.write(filepath(), "#!/bin/bash\necho 'hello'\n")
+
+      assert {:ok, "hello\n", 0} = Runner.run(:media_downloaded, %{})
     end
 
     test "gets upset if you pass an invalid event type" do
diff --git a/test/pinchflat/media_test.exs b/test/pinchflat/media_test.exs
index 5f1efb5..597309f 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat/media_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat/media_test.exs
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.MediaTest do
 
   describe "delete_media_item/2 when testing file deletion" do
     setup do
-      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
 
       :ok
     end
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.MediaTest do
       expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_deleted, data ->
         assert data.id == media_item.id
 
-        :ok
+        {:ok, "", 0}
       end)
 
       assert {:ok, _} = Media.delete_media_item(media_item, delete_files: true)
@@ -754,7 +754,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.MediaTest do
 
   describe "delete_media_files/2" do
     setup do
-      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
 
       :ok
     end
@@ -817,7 +817,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.MediaTest do
       expect(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn :media_deleted, data ->
         assert data.id == media_item.id
 
-        :ok
+        {:ok, "", 0}
       end)
 
       assert {:ok, _} = Media.delete_media_files(media_item)
diff --git a/test/pinchflat/profiles_test.exs b/test/pinchflat/profiles_test.exs
index 4cf6437..6f78e7f 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat/profiles_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat/profiles_test.exs
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.ProfilesTest do
 
   describe "delete_media_profile/2 when deleting files" do
     setup do
-      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
 
       :ok
     end
diff --git a/test/pinchflat/sources_test.exs b/test/pinchflat/sources_test.exs
index 65f48e0..59e004b 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat/sources_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat/sources_test.exs
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ defmodule Pinchflat.SourcesTest do
 
   describe "delete_source/2 when deleting files" do
     setup do
-      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
 
       :ok
     end
diff --git a/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/media_item_controller_test.exs b/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/media_item_controller_test.exs
index 4070938..34457d5 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/media_item_controller_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/media_item_controller_test.exs
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ defmodule PinchflatWeb.MediaItemControllerTest do
   describe "delete media" do
     setup do
       media_item = media_item_with_attachments()
-      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
 
       %{media_item: media_item}
     end
diff --git a/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/media_profile_controller_test.exs b/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/media_profile_controller_test.exs
index af174ca..03e9a8f 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/media_profile_controller_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/media_profile_controller_test.exs
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ defmodule PinchflatWeb.MediaProfileControllerTest do
     setup [:create_media_profile]
 
     setup do
-      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
 
       :ok
     end
diff --git a/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/source_controller_test.exs b/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/source_controller_test.exs
index a4d18dc..011b5eb 100644
--- a/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/source_controller_test.exs
+++ b/test/pinchflat_web/controllers/source_controller_test.exs
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ defmodule PinchflatWeb.SourceControllerTest do
     setup [:create_source]
 
     setup do
-      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> :ok end)
+      stub(UserScriptRunnerMock, :run, fn _event_type, _data -> {:ok, "", 0} end)
 
       :ok
     end