ytptube/API.md

19 KiB
Raw Blame History

HTTP API Documentation

This document describes the available endpoints and their usage. All endpoints return JSON responses (unless otherwise specified) and may require certain parameters (query, body, or path). Some endpoints serve static or streaming content (e.g., .ts, .m3u8, .vtt files).

Note

: If Basic Authentication is configured (via auth_username and auth_password in your configuration), you must include an Authorization: Basic <urlsafe-base64-encoded-credentials> header or use ?apikey=<urlsafe-base64-encoded-credentials> query parameter (fallback) in every request.

  • All responses use standard HTTP status codes to indicate success or error conditions.
  • Endpoints support an OPTIONS request for CORS.

Table of Contents


Authentication

If YTP_AUTH_USERNAME and YTP_AUTH_PASSWORD are set, all API requests must include a valid credential using one of the following:

  1. HTTP Basic Auth header:

    Authorization: Basic base64("<username>:<password>")
    
  2. Query Parameter fallback:

    ?apikey=<base64_urlsafe("<username>:<password>")>
    

If you fail to provide valid credentials, a 401 Unauthorized response is returned.


Global Notes

  • Content-Type

    • Requests expecting a JSON body should include Content-Type: application/json.
    • Responses typically include Content-Type: application/json, unless returning a file or streaming resource.
  • Status Codes

    • 200 OK on success.
    • 4xx on client errors (e.g., missing parameters).
    • 5xx on server errors (e.g., unexpected failures).
  • Error Responses
    When an error occurs, responses follow a structure similar to:

    {
      "error": "Description of the error",
    }
    

    with an appropriate HTTP status code.


Endpoints

GET /api/ping

Purpose: Health-check endpoint.
Response:

{
  "status": "pong"
}

POST /api/yt-dlp/convert

Purpose: Convert a string of yt-dlp options into a JSON-friendly structure.

Body:

{
  "args": "<string>"
}

Example:

{
  "args": "--write-sub --embed-subs"
}

Response:

{
    "opts": { ... },
    "output_template": "...",
    "download_path": "...",
    "removed_options": ["option1", "option2"]  // optional, only if options were removed
}

or an error:

{
  "error": "Failed to parse command options for yt-dlp. '<reason>'."
}

GET /api/yt-dlp/url/info

Purpose: Retrieves metadata (info) for a provided URL without adding it to the download queue.

Query Parameters:

  • url=<video-url> (required)
  • preset=<preset-name> (optional) - The preset to use for extracting info.
  • force=true (optional) - Force fetch new info instead of using cache.
  • args=<yt-dlp-command-opts> (optional) - The yt-dlp command options to apply to the info extraction.

Response (example):

{
  "title": "...",
  "duration": 123.4,
  "extractor": "youtube",
  "_cached": {
    "status": "miss|hit",
    "preset": "<preset-name>",
    "cli_args": "<yt-dlp-command-opts>",
    "key": "<hash>",
    "ttl": 300,
    "ttl_left": 299.82,
    "expires": 1690430096.429
  },
  ...
}

or an error:

{
  "error": "text"
}
  • If the URL is invalid or missing, returns 400 Bad Request.
  • If the preset is specified and not found, returns 404 Not Found.

GET /api/history/add

Purpose: (Quick Add) Add a single URL to the download queue via GET.

Query Parameters:

  • url=<video-url>
  • preset=<preset-name>

Response:

{
  "status": true|false, # true if added to the queue. false otherwise.
  "message": "..." # the response message.
}
  • If url is missing, returns 400 Bad Request.
  • If preset is set and not found, returns 404 Not Found.

Note

This endpoint is a quick way to add a single item to the queue without needing to format a full JSON body. It is primarily for convenience and may not support all options available in the full POST /api/history endpoint. Also note, that the endpoint uses different error format compared to the other endpoints, returning a simple JSON object with status and message fields. This is to make easier to script bookmarklets or simple API requests.


POST /api/history

Purpose: Add one or multiple items (URLs) to the download queue via JSON body.

Body:

// Single item
{
  "url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=...", // -- required. The video URL to download.
  "preset": "default", // -- optional. The preset to use for this item.
  "folder": "my_channel/foo", // -- optional. The folder to save the item in, relative to the `download_path`.
  "cookies": "...", // -- optional. If provided, it MUST BE in Netscape HTTP Cookie format.
  "template": "%(title)s.%(ext)s", // -- optional. The filename template to use for this item.
  "cli": "--write-subs --embed-subs", // -- optional. Additional command options for yt-dlp to apply to this item.
  "auto_start": true // -- optional. Whether to auto-start the download after adding it. Defaults to true.
}

// Or multiple items (array of objects)
[
  {
    "url": "...",
    "preset": "default",
    ...
  },
  {
    "url": "...",
    ...
  }
]

Response:

[
  {
    "status": "queued",
  },
  ...
]
  • If any item is invalid (e.g., missing url), returns 400 Bad Request.

DELETE /api/history

Purpose: Delete items from either the "queue" or the "done" history.

Body:

{
  "ids": ["<id1>", "<id2>"],
  "where": "queue" | "done",
  "remove_file": true | false   // optional, defaults to True, whether to delete the file from disk if enabled.
}

Response:

{
  "<id1>": "status",
  "<id2>": "status",
  ...
}

A list or object indicating which items were removed.


POST /api/history/{id}

Purpose: Update an item in the completed history.

Path Parameter:

  • id = Unique item ID.

Body (example):

{
  "title": "My Custom Title",
  "someOtherField": "new-value"
}

Response:

{
  "title": "My Custom Title",
  ....
}

or an error:

{
  "error": "text"
}
  • 200 OK with updated item if successful.
  • 304 Not Modified if nothing changed.
  • 404 Not Found if the item doesnt exist.
  • 400 Bad Request if id is missing or the body is empty.

GET /api/history/{id}

Purpose: View details of a specific item in the database.

Path Parameter:

  • id = Unique item ID.

Response:

{
  "_id": "<uuid>",
  "title": "Video Title",
  "url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=...",
  ....
}

or an error:

{
  "error": "text"
}
  • 200 OK If the item exists and is returned.
  • 404 Not Found if the item doesnt exist.
  • 400 Bad Request if id is missing.

GET /api/history

Purpose: Returns the download queue and the download history.

Response:

{
  "queue": [
    { ... },
    ...
  ],
  "history": [
    { ... },
    ...
  ]
}

GET /api/tasks

Purpose: Retrieves the scheduled tasks from the internal Tasks manager.

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "<uuid>",
    "name": "...",
    "url": "...",
    "folder": "...",
    "preset": "...",
    "timer": "<cron-expression>",
    "template": "...",
    "cookies": "...",
    "config": { ... },
  },
  ...
]

PUT /api/tasks

Purpose: Overwrites the entire scheduled tasks list (Cron tasks).

Body: An array of task objects. Example:

[
  {
    "id": "a2ae3f18-4428-4e32-9d4c-0cc45af8bb48",
    "name": "My Task",
    "url": "https://youtube.com/...",
    "timer": "5 */2 * * *",
    "cookies": "",
    "config": {},
    "template": "...",
    "folder": "..."
  },
  {
    "url": "https://youtube.com/...",
    "timer": "*/15 * * * *"
  }
]

If id or other fields are missing, they may be auto-generated or defaulted (e.g., a random ID, a default cron, etc.).

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "<uuid>",
    "name": "...",
    "url": "...",
    "timer": "...",
    "cookies": "...",
    "config": { ... },
    "template": "...",
    "folder": "..."
  }
  ...
]

or on error

{
  "error": "text"
}

GET /api/player/playlist/{file:.*}.m3u8

Purpose: Generate a playlist for a given local media file.

Path Parameter:

  • file = Relative path of the media file within the download_path.

Response:
An .m3u8 playlist.


GET /api/player/m3u8/{mode}/{file:.*}.m3u8

Purpose: Dynamically generate an M3U8 playlist for video or subtitles.

Path Parameters:

  • mode: either video or subtitle.
  • file: relative path of the file.

Query Parameters (when mode=subtitle):

  • duration: The total duration of the subtitle track

Response:

  • Content-Type: application/x-mpegURL containing the .m3u8 text.

GET /api/player/segments/{segment}/{file:.*}.ts

Purpose: Streams a single TS segment for adaptive HLS playback.

Path Parameters:

  • segment = Numeric segment index.
  • file = Relative file path.

Query Parameters:

  • sd = The segment duration (float).
  • vc = 1 or 0 (whether to convert video).
  • ac = 1 or 0 (whether to convert audio).

Response:
Binary TS data (Content-Type: video/mpegts).


GET /api/player/subtitle/{file:.*}.vtt

Purpose: Provides a .vtt (WebVTT) subtitle file for playback.

Path Parameter:

  • file = Relative path of the subtitle file.

Response:
Content-Type: text/vtt; charset=UTF-8.


GET /api/thumbnail

Purpose: Proxy/fetch a remote thumbnail image.

Query Parameter:

  • ?url=<remote-thumbnail-url>

Response:
Binary image data with the appropriate Content-Type.


GET /api/file/ffprobe/{file:.*}

Purpose: Return the ffprobe data for a local file.

Path Parameter:

  • file = Relative path to the file inside download_path.

Response:

{
  "streams": [...],
  "format": { ... },
  ...
}

GET /api/file/info/{file:.*}

Purpose: Get comprehensive file information including ffprobe data, MIME type, and sidecar files.

Path Parameter:

  • file = Relative path to the file inside download_path.

Response:

{
  "title": "filename",
  "ffprobe": {
    "streams": [...],
    "format": { ... },
    ...
  },
  "mimetype": "video/mp4",
  "sidecar": {
    "subtitles": [
      {
        "file": "filename.xxx.vtt",
        "lang": "xxx",
        "name": "VTT 0 - XXX|end",
      },
      ...
      }
    ],
    "video": [],
    "audio": [],
    "image": [],
    "text": [],
    "metadata": [],
    ...
  }
}

GET /api/file/browser/{path:.*}

Purpose: Browse files and directories within the download path (if browser is enabled).

Path Parameter:

  • path = Relative path within the download directory (URL-encoded).

Response:

{
  "path": "/some/path",
  "contents": [
    {
      "type": "file",
      "content_type": "video|subtitle|audio|image|text|metadata|dir|download",
      "name": "filename.mp4",
      "path": "/filename.mp4",
      "size": 123456789,
      "mimetype": "mime/type",
      "mtime": "2023-01-01T12:00:00Z",
      "ctime": "2023-01-01T12:00:00Z",
      "is_dir": true|false,
      "is_file": true|false,
      ...
    },
    {
      "type": "dir",
      "content_type": "dir",
      "name": "Season 2025",
      "path": "/Season 2025",
      ...
    }
  ]
}
  • Returns 403 Forbidden if file browser is disabled.
  • Returns 404 Not Found if the path doesn't exist.

GET /api/yt-dlp/archive/recheck

Purpose: Recheck manual archive entries to see if become available or not.

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "youtube_video_id",
    "url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=...",
    "status": "available|unavailable|error",
    "info": { ... }  // video info if available
  },
  ...
]
  • Returns 404 Not Found if manual archive is not enabled or file doesn't exist.

GET /api/random/background

Purpose: Get a random background image from configured backends.

Query Parameters:

  • force=true (optional) - Force fetch a new image instead of using cache.

Response: Binary image data with appropriate Content-Type header.


GET /api/presets

Purpose: Retrieve all available download presets.

Query Parameters:

  • filter=<field1,field2> (optional) - Comma-separated list of fields to include in response.

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "<uuid>",
    "name": "preset_name",
    "description": "...",
    "folder": "my_channel/foo",
    "template": "%(title)s.%(ext)s",
    "cookies": "...",
    "cli": "--write-subs --embed-subs",
    "default": true|false, // optional, indicates if this is the default preset.
    ...
  },
  ...
]

PUT /api/presets

Purpose: Save/update download presets.

Body: An array of preset objects:

[
  {
    "name": "My Preset", // required, unique name for the preset
    "id": "<uuid>",  // optional, will be generated if not provided
    "description": "...", // optional, description of the preset
    "folder": "my_channel/foo", // optional, relative to download_path
    "template": "%(title)s.%(ext)s", // optional, filename template
    "cookies": "...", // optional, Netscape HTTP Cookie format
    "cli": "--write-subs --embed-subs", // optional, additional command options for yt-dlp
  },
  ...
]

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "<uuid>",
    "name": "My Preset",
    "description": "...",
  },
  ...
]

GET /api/conditions

Purpose: Retrieve all configured download conditions.

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "<uuid>",
    "name": "condition_name",
    "filter": "...",
    "cli": "...",
    ...
  },
  ...
]

PUT /api/conditions

Purpose: Save/update download conditions.

Body: An array of condition objects:

[
  {
    "id": "<uuid>",  // optional, will be generated if not provided
    "name": "Use proxy for region locked content",
    "filter": "availability = 'needs_auth' & channel_id = 'channel_id'",
    "cli": "--proxy http://myproxy.com:8080",
  },
  ...
]

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "<uuid>",
    "name": "Use proxy for region locked content",
    "filter": "availability = 'needs_auth' & channel_id = 'channel_id'",
    "cli": "--proxy http://myproxy.com:8080",
  },
  ...
]

GET /api/logs

Purpose: Retrieve recent application logs (if file logging is enabled).

Query Parameters:

  • offset=<number> (optional, default: 0) - Number of log entries to skip.
  • limit=<number> (optional, default: 100, max: 150) - Number of log entries to return.

Response:

{
  "logs": [
    {
      "timestamp": "2023-01-01T12:00:00Z",
      "level": "INFO",
      "message": "...",
      ...
    },
    ...
  ],
  "offset": 0,
  "limit": 100,
  "next_offset": 100,
  "end_is_reached": false
}
  • Returns 404 Not Found if file logging is not enabled.

GET /api/notifications

Purpose: Retrieve the configured notification targets and which event types are allowed.

Response (example):

{
  "notifications": [
    {
      "id": "uuid",
      "name":"...",
      "on": ["completed", "error",...], // empty array means all events.
      "request":{
        "type":"json|form",
        "method":"POST|PUT",
        "url":"https://...",
        "headers":[
          {"key":"...", "value":"..."},
          ...
        ]
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "allowedTypes": ["added", "completed", "error", "cancelled", "cleared", "log_info", "log_success", "log_warning", "log_error", "test"]
}

PUT /api/notifications

Purpose: Overwrites the entire list of notification targets.

Body: An array of notification target configurations. Example:

[
  {
    "id": "uuid",
    "name": "My Webhook",
    "on": ["completed", "error"],
    "request": {
      "type": "json",
      "method": "POST",
      "url": "https://...",
      "headers": [
        { "key": "Authorization", "value": "Bearer ..." }
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "name": "Another Webhook",
    "on": ["completed"],
    "request": {
      "type": "form",
      "method": "PUT",
      "url": "https://...",
      "headers": []
    }
  }
  ...
]
  • If id is not provided or is not a valid UUIDv4, it will be auto-generated.
  • If the payload list is empty, all existing notifications are removed.

Response:

{
  "notifications": [
    {
      "id": "uuid",
      "name": "...",
      "on": ["completed", "error", ...],
      "request": { ... }
    },
    ...
  ],
  "allowedTypes": ["added", "completed", "error", "cancelled", "cleared", "log_info", "log_success", ...]
}

POST /api/notifications/test

Purpose: Triggers a test notification event to all configured targets.

Response:

{
  "type": "test",
  "message": "This is a test notification."
}

Error Responses

Most endpoints return standard error codes (400, 403, 404, 500, etc.) and a JSON body on failure. For example:

{
  "error": "url param is required."
}

with 400 Bad Request, or:

{
  "error": "Item not found."
}

with 404 Not Found.