YTPTube

YTPTube is a web-based GUI for yt-dlp, designed to make downloading videos from YouTube and other video platforms easier and more user-friendly. It supports downloading playlists, channels, and live streams, and includes features like scheduling downloads, sending notifications, and a built-in video player.

YTPTube Features.

• Multi-downloads support.
• Random beautiful background. can be disabled or source changed.
• Can handle live streams.
• Scheduler to queue channels or playlists to be downloaded automatically at a specified time.
• Send notification to targets based on selected events.
• Support per link cli options & cookies.
• Queue multiple URLs separated by comma.
• Presets system to re-use frequently used yt-dlp options.
• Simple file browser. Disabled by default.
• A built in video player with support for sidecar external subtitles.
• New POST /api/history endpoint that allow one or multiple links to be sent at the same time.
• New GET /api/history/add?url=http://.. endpoint that allow to add single item via GET request.
• Modern frontend UI.
• SQLite as database backend.
• Basic authentication support.
• Support for curl_cffi, see yt-dlp documentation
• Support basic mode for WebUI for non-technical users, which hides most of the normal features from view.
• Bundled tools in container: curl-cffi, ffmpeg, ffprobe, aria2, rtmpdump, mkvtoolsnix, mp4box.
• Automatic upcoming live stream re-queue.
• Apply yt-dlp options per custom defined conditions.
• Custom browser extensions, bookmarklets and iOS shortcuts to send links to YTPTube instance.

Side project

We have a side project related to YTPTube, which takes YTPTube source code and build an executable for Windows, macOS and Linux. The project is in early stages, and might not even work yet. However keep an eye at This build action for builds, simply select last successful build and download the executable for your platform. Help us test out the platforms and report any issues you might find. We only have windows/linux machines to test on, so we need your help to test it out on macOS.

Installation

Run using docker command

mkdir -p ./{config,downloads} && docker run -d --rm --user "$UID:${GID-$UID}" --name ytptube \
-p 8081:8081 -v ./config:/config:rw -v ./downloads:/downloads:rw \
ghcr.io/arabcoders/ytptube:latest

Then you can access the WebUI at http://localhost:8081.

Note

If you are using podman instead of docker, you can use the same command, but you need to change the user to 0:0 it will appears to be running as root, but it will run as the user who started the container.

Using compose file

The following is an example of a compose.yaml file that can be used to run YTPTube.

services:
  ytptube:
    user: "${UID:-1000}:${UID:-1000}" # change this to your user id and group id, for example: "1000:1000"
    image: ghcr.io/arabcoders/ytptube:latest
    container_name: ytptube
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8081:8081"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config:rw
      - ./downloads:/downloads:rw
    tmpfs:
      - /tmp

Important

Make sure to change the user line to match your user id and group id

$ mkdir -p ./{config,downloads} && docker compose -f compose.yaml up -d

Then you can access the WebUI at http://localhost:8081.

Note

you can use podman-compose instead of docker-compose, as it supports the same syntax. However, you should change the user to 0:0 it will appears to be running as root, but it will run as the user who started the container.

Unraid

For Unraid users You can install the Community Applications plugin, and search for ytptube it comes pre-configured.

Browser extensions & bookmarklets

Simple bookmarklet

javascript:(() => { const url = "https://ytptube.example.org"; const preset = "default"; const mUrl = new URL(url); mUrl.pathname = "/api/history"; fetch(mUrl, { method: "POST", headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" }, body: JSON.stringify({ url: document.location.href, preset: preset }) }).then(res => alert(res.ok ? "URL sent!" : "Failed to send URL.")); })()

Change the the variable url and preset variables to match your YTPTube instance and preset name.

Browser stores

• For Firefox via Firefox Store
• For Chrome/Chromium Browsers via Chrome Store

iOS Shortcuts

You can download Add To YTPTube shortcut and use it to send links to your YTPTube instance. You have to edit the shortcut and replace the following:

• https://ytp.example.org with your YTPTube instance.
• username:password replace this with your own username & password or leave it empty if you don't have authentication enabled.

This shortcut is powerful, as it's allow you to select your preset on the fly pulled directly from your instance. Combined with the new and powerful presets system, you could add presets for specific websites that need cookies, and use that preset to download directly from your iOS device.

Advanced iOS Shortcut

This shortcut YTPTube To Media is more advanced, as it's parses the yt-dlp output and attempt to download the media directly to your iOS device. It doesn't always work, but it's a good starting point for those who want to download media directly to their iOS device. We provide no support for this use case other than the shortcut itself. this shortcut missing support for parsing the http_headers, it's only parse the cookies.

Run behind reverse proxy.

It's advisable to run YTPTube behind a reverse proxy, if better authentication and/or HTTPS support are required.

Caddy http server

The following example Caddyfile gets a reverse proxy going behind caddy.

# If you are using sub-domain.
# make sure to change "ytptube:8081" to the actual name of your YTPTube container/port.
ytp.example.org {
  reverse_proxy ytptube:8081
}

# If you are using sub-folder, for example: https://example.org/ytptube/
# Also make sure to set the `YTP_BASE_PATH` environment variable to `/ytptube/`
# make sure to change "ytptube:8081" to the actual name of your YTPTube container/port.
example.org {
  redir /ytptube /ytptube/
  route /ytptube/* {
    reverse_proxy ytptube:8081
  }
}

Updating yt-dlp

The engine which powers the actual video downloads in YTPTube is yt-dlp. Since video sites regularly updated, frequent updates of yt-dlp are required to keep up.

We have added the YTP_YTDLP_AUTO_UPDATE environment variable, which is enabled by default. This feature allows the container to automatically update yt-dlp to the latest version whenever the container starts. If a new version is available, it will be downloaded and applied automatically. To disable this automatic update, set the YTP_YTDLP_AUTO_UPDATE environment variable to false.

We will no longer release new versions of YTPTube for every new version of yt-dlp.

Troubleshooting and submitting issues

Before asking a question or submitting an issue for YTPTube, please remember that YTPTube is only a thin wrapper for yt-dlp. Any issues you might be experiencing with authentication to video websites, postprocessing, permissions, other yt-dlp options configurations which seem not to work, or anything else that concerns the workings of the underlying yt-dlp library, need not be opened on the YTPTube project.

In order to debug and troubleshoot them, it's advised to try using the yt-dlp binary directly first, bypassing the UI, and once that is working, importing the options that worked for you into a new preset or ytdlp.cli file.

Via HTTP

If you have enabled the web terminal via YTP_CONSOLE_ENABLED environment variable, simply go to Other > Terminal use the yt-dlp command, the interface is jailed to the yt-dlp binary you can't access anything else.

Via CLI

Assuming your YTPTube container is called ytptube, run the following on your docker host to get a shell inside the container:

docker exec -ti ytptube bash
cd /downloads
yt-dlp ....

Once there, you can use the yt-dlp command freely.

ytdlp.cli file

The config/ytdlp.cli, is a command line options file for yt-dlp it will be globally applied to all downloads.

We strongly recommend not use this file for options that aren't truly global, everything that can be done via the file can also be done via the presets which is dynamic can be altered per download. Example of good global options are to be used for all downloads are:

--continue --windows-filenames --live-from-start

Everything else can be done via the presets, and it's more flexible and easier to manage.

Authentication

To enable basic authentication, set the YTP_AUTH_USERNAME and YTP_AUTH_PASSWORD environment variables. And restart the container. This will prompt the user to enter the username and password before accessing the web interface/API. As this is a simple basic authentication, if your browser doesn't show the prompt, you can use the following URL

http://username:password@your_ytptube_url:port

Basic mode

What does the basic mode do? it hides the the following features from the WebUI.

Header

It disables everything except the settings button and reload button.

Add form

• Disable Everything except the URL and Add.
• The form will always be visible and un-collapsible.
• The preset will be the default preset, which can be specified via YTP_DEFAULT_PRESET environment variable.
• The output template will be the default template which can be specified via YTP_OUTPUT_TEMPLATE environment variable.
• The download path will be the default download path which can be specified via YTP_DOWNLOAD_PATH environment variable.

Queue & History

Disables the Information button.

API Documentation

For simple API documentation, you can refer to the API documentation.

How to autoload yt-dlp plugins?

Loading yt-dlp plugins in YTPTube is quite simple, we already have everything setup for you. simply, create a folder inside the /config directory named yt-dlp so, the path will be /config/yt-dlp. then follow yt-dlp plugins docs to know how to install the plugins.

Once you have installed the plugins, restart the container and the plugins will be auto-loaded on demand.

How to load random backgrounds from WatchState or any other source?

YTPTube can be configured to pull random background images from different sources, including WatchState which is another project of mine, simply change the YTP_PICTURES_BACKENDS environment variable to the following url

YTP_PICTURES_BACKENDS=https://watchstate.ip/v1/api/system/images/background?apikey=[api_key]

Where [api_key] is the api key you get from your WatchState instance.

The origin of the project.

The project first started as a fork meTube, since then it has been completely rewritten and redesigned. The original project was a great starting point, but it didn't align with my vision for the project and what i wanted to achieve with it.

Disclaimer

This project is not affiliated with YouTube, yt-dlp, or any other service. It's a personal project that was created to make downloading videos from the internet easier. It's not intended to be used for piracy or any other illegal activities.

Social contact

If you have short or quick questions, you are free to join my discord server and ask the question. keep in mind it's solo project, as such it might take me a bit of time to reply.

Donation

If you feel like donating and appreciate my work, you can do so by donating to children charity. For example Make-A-Wish.

Environment variables

Certain configuration values can be set via environment variables, using the -e parameter on the docker command line, or the environment: section in compose.yaml file.

Environment Variable	Description	Default
YTP_OUTPUT_TEMPLATE	The template for the filenames of the downloaded videos	%(title)s.%(ext)s
YTP_DEFAULT_PRESET	The default preset to use for the download	default
YTP_INSTANCE_TITLE	The title of the instance	empty string
YTP_FILE_LOGGING	Whether to log to file	false
YTP_DOWNLOAD_PATH	Path to where the downloads will be saved	/downloads
YTP_MAX_WORKERS	How many works to use for downloads	1
YTP_AUTH_USERNAME	Username for basic authentication	empty string
YTP_AUTH_PASSWORD	Password for basic authentication	empty string
YTP_CONSOLE_ENABLED	Whether to enable the console	false
YTP_REMOVE_FILES	Remove the actual file when clicking the remove button	false
YTP_CONFIG_PATH	Path to where the config files will be stored.	/config
YTP_TEMP_PATH	Path to where tmp files are stored.	/tmp
YTP_TEMP_KEEP	Whether to keep the Individual video temp directory or remove it	false
YTP_KEEP_ARCHIVE	Keep history of downloaded videos	true
YTP_YTDL_DEBUG	Whether to turn debug logging for the internal yt-dlp package	false
YTP_HOST	Which IP address to bind to	0.0.0.0
YTP_PORT	Which port to bind to	8081
YTP_LOG_LEVEL	Log level	info
YTP_STREAMER_VCODEC	The video codec to use for in-browser streaming	libx264
YTP_STREAMER_ACODEC	The audio codec to use for in-browser streaming	aac
YTP_ACCESS_LOG	Whether to log access to the web server	true
YTP_DEBUG	Whether to turn on debug mode	false
YTP_DEBUGPY_PORT	The port to use for the debugpy debugger	5678
YTP_SOCKET_TIMEOUT	The timeout for the yt-dlp socket connection variable	30
YTP_EXTRACT_INFO_TIMEOUT	The timeout for extracting video information	70
YTP_DB_FILE	The path to the SQLite database file	{config_path}/ytptube.db
YTP_MANUAL_ARCHIVE	The path to the manual archive file	{config_path}/manual_archive.log
YTP_UI_UPDATE_TITLE	Whether to update the title of the page with the current stats	true
YTP_PIP_PACKAGES	A space separated list of pip packages to install	empty string
YTP_PIP_IGNORE_UPDATES	Do not update the custom pip packages	false
YTP_BASIC_MODE	Whether to run WebUI in basic mode	false
YTP_PICTURES_BACKENDS	A comma separated list of pictures urls to use	empty string
YTP_BROWSER_ENABLED	Whether to enable the file browser	false
YTP_BROWSER_CONTROL_ENABLED	Whether to enable the file browser actions	false
YTP_YTDLP_AUTO_UPDATE	Whether to enable the auto update for yt-dlp	true
YTP_BASE_PATH	Set this if you are serving YTPTube from sub-folder	/
YTP_PREVENT_LIVE_PREMIERE	Prevents the initial youtube premiere stream from being downloaded	false
YTP_TASKS_HANDLER_TIMER	The cron expression for the tasks handler timer	15 */1 * * *
YTP_PLAYLIST_ITEMS_CONCURRENCY	The number of playlist items be to processed at same time	1
YTP_TEMP_DISABLED	Disable temp files handling.	false