Each /videos batch was 3 InnerTube pages + 0.4s sleeps (>1s → tripped the
slow-request WARNING) and carried the ~2KB continuation token in the URL, so
every batch dumped a giant warning line — a dozen per channel open. Now it's a
POST (token in the body, never the URL) fetching ONE page per call with no
server sleep, so each request is fast (<1s, no warning) and the frontend's 120ms
pacing keeps it polite. 17 youtube API tests green.
Channel pages re-fetched everything every open (re-stream + ~3s yt-dlp metadata).
Now we remember what we learn about a channel and serve it cache-first:
- schema: youtube_channel_videos (list) + youtube_channel_meta (avatar/subs/tags/
banner); dates stay in youtube_video_dates, merged on read. DB: cache_/get_
channel_videos + cache_/get_channel_meta (upserts COALESCE so refreshes never
drop fields).
- enricher: _enrich now REMEMBERS a channel — caches the full InnerTube catalog
(list, via new innertube_channel_catalog) + metadata + dates, not just dates.
Since it already sweeps followed channels, watchlisted channels get pre-warmed
in the background → opening them is instant.
- channel endpoint: cache-first. A remembered channel renders from cache with NO
network (returns from_cache:true); a miss resolves live (yt-dlp) and remembers
it. The /videos batch endpoint caches every page it streams.
- frontend: cache hit renders the full catalog instantly, then re-streams to
refresh QUIETLY (new uploads/date fixes); only the first (miss) load shows the
'loading full history' banner.
Live-validated (MrBeast catalog: 90/3 pages, all titled+dated). 190 tests green.
The channel page was capped at the recent 90 (yt-dlp flat, hard min(90,limit)),
so prolific channels (Ninja Kidz etc.) showed only ~90 of hundreds. Now it loads
everything via YouTube's InnerTube API, paginated by continuation token — each
page fetched once (O(n), light on rate limits), unlike yt-dlp offset batches
which re-scan from the start every time.
- core: innertube_parse_video_items (keeps title+thumbnail, not just dates) +
innertube_channel_videos_page(channel_id, continuation) → {videos, continuation}.
- api: GET /youtube/channel/<id>/videos?continuation=<tok> returns ~a batch of
videos (approx dates, refined from the date cache) + the next token.
- frontend: ytLoadAllVideos streams batches after the fast initial 90 render,
folding each into the year-seasons live — backfills dates on the videos already
shown AND appends older ones, re-rendering per batch (episode grid only when the
viewed season changed). Replaces the old date-only re-poll (this dates AND
expands). Safety ceiling 2000; a 'Loading full history… N so far' indicator.
Validated live (MrBeast: 30/page, clean continuation, all dated). 101 tests green.
Bug from the logs: opening MrBeast showed only '2026: 3, Earlier: 87' because
the InnerTube date enrichment only fired for FOLLOWED channels — MrBeast was
opened, not followed, so it never ran and the page had only RSS dates (and RSS
includes Shorts that don't match the Videos tab → ~3 real matches). Now opening
any channel page enqueues enrichment, so its full catalog gets dated in the
background and the years populate via the existing re-poll. (24h gate still
prevents re-sweeping; the enqueue still no-ops under tests.)
Two gaps from real use:
- When all proxy instances are down (common), the fallback only dated WISHED
videos, leaving most as 'Earlier videos'. Now on proxy failure it flat-resolves
the channel's recent uploads and dates THOSE via yt-dlp (throttled, cached) —
so years populate fully even with no working proxy.
- A channel followed before the enricher existed was never queued ('nothing to
process'). /youtube/channels now sweeps: any followed channel not enriched
recently gets enqueued — so viewing the Channels tab (or the wishlist badge
refresh) picks up existing follows.
The detail page still reads cache+RSS (fast); the enricher fills the cache. 51
tests green.
- The standalone enricher now reports orb telemetry: stats()/pause()/resume();
/enrichment/youtube/status (+pause/resume) special-cased in the route. Added
the 4th header worker button (red ▶), WORKER_DEFS entry, and SERVICES wiring —
it's not on the socket so video-enrichment.js polls it every 3s. It animates
(idle → active orb + inbound pulses) while a followed channel's dates are being
fetched, like the TMDB/TVDB/OMDb orbs.
- Channel detail now uses the SAME standard watchlist button as shows/movies
(library-artist-watchlist-btn, ✓/＋ icon, 'In Watchlist'/'Watchlist') instead
of a bespoke 'Follow' — consistency. Still wired to the channel follow action.
176 backend tests green; JS balanced; music untouched.
Follow a channel → a background job fetches its FULL upload-date catalog so the
channel page's year-seasons populate fully, cached permanently (one-time per
channel, instant after).
- core/video/youtube.py: proxy_channel_dates() — no-key BULK dates via Piped/
Invidious instances (tries several, paginates); parse_proxy_dates handles both
shapes. The clean path the user wanted.
- core/video/youtube_enrichment.py: YoutubeDateEnricher daemon — enqueue(channel)
→ proxy bulk → cache; per-video yt-dlp only as a throttled fallback (cap 60,
0.4s) for wished videos when every proxy is down. Skips channels enriched in
the last 24h.
- db: youtube_channel_enrichment table + mark/check + wishlisted_video_ids_for_
channel. Enqueued from /youtube/follow and on opening a followed channel.
Scoped to FOLLOWED channels only (per request). 174 tests green; enricher imports
nothing from music.
Flat listing has no upload dates, so channels showed one 'All Videos' season.
Now real year-seasons, filled from cheap sources and cached so they grow:
- core: parse_rss_dates / channel_recent_dates — one public RSS GET dates the
~15 most-recent uploads (no yt-dlp, no bot risk).
- db: youtube_video_dates cache table + cache_video_dates / get_video_dates.
- /youtube/channel merges cached + RSS dates onto the flat videos (year-seasons)
and caches what it learns; /youtube/video caches each fetched date too — so
expanding/wishing videos progressively fills the catalog's years, instant on
repeat. Dateless tail groups as 'Earlier videos'. Missing-only toggle hidden
for channels. 84 db + 84 youtube/api tests green.
Full day-one coverage still needs the YouTube Data API's publishedAt (optional,
yt-dlp can't match it cheaply) — RSS + cache is the no-key best.
A text search now also surfaces matching YouTube channels (not just the paste-a-
link path). search_channels() extracts the channels-filtered YouTube results
page (flat); API GET /youtube/search hydrates a 'following' flag. The search
page fires it in parallel with the TMDB search and appends a 'YouTube channels'
group when it returns (best-effort; never blocks/breaks TMDB results). Cards open
the in-app channel page. 82 youtube+api tests green; balanced; music untouched.
Flat channel listing doesn't always surface the avatar, so it could be stored
null → the orb fell back to plain initials (looked like a missing poster). Two
fixes:
- Orb falls back to the channel's newest video thumbnail when the avatar is
absent, so it's never blank.
- Opening the channel page (which resolves the real avatar) now backfills it
onto every wished row via set_wishlist_channel_poster — so the actual channel
avatar appears on the wishlist orb thereafter. 6 tests green.
Flat channel listing can't return descriptions, so selecting a video showed 'No
description'. Now we do a non-flat single-video extract on demand — the way the
TV nebula lazy-loads guest stars:
- core: video_detail(id) / shape_video() — description, views, likes, duration,
tags, channel, webpage_url (full extract, yt-dlp injectable for tests).
- API: GET /youtube/video/<id> — returns it AND backfills the description onto
the wishlist row (set_wishlist_video_overview), so re-opening is instant.
- Wishlist info bar (youtube): on select, lazy-fetch → real description +
eyebrow (date · duration · views) + a 'Watch on YouTube' link; cached on the
episode object. 'Loading details…' while in flight.
Mirrors the episode lazy-load + art-backfill patterns. 73 youtube+api tests
green; brace/CSS balanced; music untouched.
- Resolver: capture banner_url + separate avatar (by thumbnail id), keeping
per-video duration/views for the detail hero.
- query_youtube_wishlist reshaped to the EXACT TV-nebula shape: channel = show,
upload YEAR = season (newest first), video = episode (newest=ep1 within a
year), carrying source='youtube' + youtube_id + per-video source_id. Surrogate
int returned as tmdb_id so the nebula's int keying just works.
- New API: GET /youtube/channel/<id> (full channel detail — meta + deeper
uploads + following + per-video wished flags) and POST /youtube/wishlist/add
(per-video wish). DB: youtube_video_wish_state, remove_one_video_from_wishlist.
- Tests updated for the nebula shape + banner + detail endpoints. 82 DB + 69
api/youtube tests green.
api/video/youtube.py wired into the blueprint:
- GET /youtube/resolve — preview a pasted channel (meta + recent uploads) +
a 'following' hydration flag; no writes.
- POST /youtube/follow — {url} or pre-resolved {channel} → follow + wish its
recent uploads (capped 30). Returns channel + counts.
- POST /youtube/unfollow — {youtube_id} → un-follow (keeps wished videos).
- GET /youtube/channels — followed channels for the watchlist page.
- GET /youtube/wishlist — wished videos grouped by channel.
- POST /youtube/wishlist/remove — scope channel|video.
yt-dlp call lives behind resolve (injectable/mockable). 38 API tests green.
