YT-DLP Scripting

YTchan

A script for downloading entire channels...

(assumes your base for downloading YouTube videos is at /mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/ and creates a subfolder using the channel name(s) )

For the potentially required cookie file, see Exporting YouTube cookies

#!/bin/bash

echo -e "~~~~~~~ " $0 $@ "~~~~~~~ "\\n

if [ $# -eq 0 ] || [ $1 = "-u" ] || [ $1 = "-?" ]; then
  echo -e USAGE: YTchan \[...option\(s\)...\] ChannelName ChannelName ...
  echo
  echo -e OPTIONS:
  echo -e \\t -BOB = Grant Style Folder Structure
  echo
  echo -e \\t -s = simulate this run
  echo -e \\t -c = use a cookie file exported from your browser to identify yourself.
  echo -e \\t -r RATE = Limit bandwidth
  echo -e \\t\\t Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
  echo -e \\t\\t\\t e.g. 50K or 4.2M
  echo -e \\t -p MIN MAX = Sleep interval \(pause\) between downloads \(in seconds\)
  echo -e \\t\\t \(will result in a random pause between MIN \& MAX seconds long\)
  echo -e \\t -e DATE = Earliest video upload date to grab.
  echo -e \\t\\t see https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?tab=readme-ov-file#video-selection for format info
  echo -e \\t\\t \(Simplest is YYYYMMDD but fancier options exist\)
  echo -e \\t ChannelName = The name of the channel \(as defined by YouTube\)
  echo -e \\t\\t You can specify multiple channels
  echo
  echo -e The following \"ERROR\"s will also appear in 00000000-ERRORS
  echo -e \(Unfortunately, without indications of which files caused them...\)
  echo
  echo -e  \"ERROR: \[youtube:tab\] \@ChannelName: This channel does not have a videos tab\"
  echo -e  \"ERROR: \[youtube:tab\] \@ChannelName: This channel does not have a shorts tab\"
  echo -e  \"ERROR: \[youtube:tab\] \@ChannelName: This channel does not have a streams tab\"
  echo -e \\t Is simply indicating that the channel doesn\'t have that type of content.
  echo -e \\t \(All 3 means the channel doesn\'t actually have any content... :P \)
  echo
  echo -e \"ERROR: unable to download video data: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden\"
  echo -e \\t Means you may need to supply cookies.
  echo -e \\t Often caused by things like age restrictions.
  echo -e \\t May also be caused by YouTube noticing you\'ve been downloading a bunch...
  echo

  exit
fi

#TYPES="videos"
TYPES="videos shorts streams"
COOKIEfile=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/www.youtube.com_cookies.txt

  SIMULATE=""
  WITHcookies=""
  LIMITrate=""
  PAUSEbetween=""
  TIMEspan=""
  BOBstyle=""

while (( "$#" ));
do
  if [ ${1} = "-c" ]; then
    echo Using Cookies: $COOKIEfile
    WITHcookies="--cookies "$COOKIEfile
    shift
  elif [ ${1} = "-s" ]; then
    echo Simulating
    SIMULATE="-s"
    shift
  elif [ ${1} = "-r" ]; then
    shift
    LIMITrate="-r $1"
    shift
    echo Rate Limiting $LIMITrate
  elif [ ${1} = "-p" ]; then
    shift
    Pmin=$1
    shift
    Pmax=$1
    PAUSEbetween="--sleep-interval $Pmin --max-sleep-interval $Pmax"
    shift
    echo Time Span $TIMEspan to current
  elif [ ${1} = "-e" ]; then
    shift
    TIMEspan="--dateafter $1"
    shift
    echo Time Span $TIMEspan to current
  elif [ ${1} = "-BOB" ]; then
    echo Grant Style Folder Structure
    BOBstyle="True"
    shift
  else
    CHANNEL=$1
    shift
    echo
    echo Working on channel: $CHANNEL
    echo ========================================

URL=https://www.youtube.com/\@$CHANNEL

    if wget --spider --quiet $URL > /dev/null 2>&1; then

      DEST=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/$CHANNEL

      ERRfile=$DEST/00000000-ERRORS
      ARCHfile=$DEST/11111111-ARCHIVE

      if [ -d $DEST ]; then
        echo $DEST exists
      else
        echo no $DEST... Building it...
        mkdir $DEST
        if [ -z $BOBstyle ]; then
        for ACK in $TYPES
          do
            mkdir $DEST/$ACK
          done
        fi
      fi

      OPTIONS="$SIMULATE $LIMITrate $TIMEspan $WITHcookies $PAUSEbetween"
      OPTIONS+=" --no-overwrites --write-description -t mp4"

      cd $DEST
      echo -e \(storing in $DEST\)
      echo

        for ACK in $TYPES
          do
            echo ">>>>>>>> " $URL/$ACK
            if [ -z $BOBstyle ]; then
              cd $ACK
            fi
            /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp $OPTIONS --download-archive $ARCHfile -o "%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" $URL/$ACK 2> >(/usr/bin/tee -a $ERRfile)

            # Clear out .part files
            rm -f *.part

            if [ -z $BOBstyle ]; then
              cd ..
            fi
          done

    else
      echo YouTube says this channel does not exist.
    fi   
  fi
done

YTvid

A script for downloading separate videos...

(assumes your base for downloading YouTube videos is at /mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/ and creates a subfolder named _Individual_)

For the potentially required cookie file, see Exporting YouTube cookies

#!/bin/bash

echo -e "~~~~~~~ " $0 $@ "~~~~~~~ "\\n

if [ $# -eq 0 ] || [ $1 = "-u" ] || [ $1 = "-?" ]; then
  echo -e USAGE: YTvid \[...option\(s\)...\] VideoHash VideoHash ...
  echo
  echo -e OPTIONS:
  echo -e \\t -BOB = Grant Style Folder Structure
  echo
  echo -e \\t -s = simulate this run
  echo -e \\t -c = use a cookie file exported from your browser to identify yourself.
  echo -e \\t -r RATE = Limit bandwidth
  echo -e \\t\\t Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
  echo -e \\t\\t\\t e.g. 50K or 4.2M
  echo -e \\t -p MIN MAX = Sleep interval \(pause\) between downloads \(in seconds\)
  echo -e \\t\\t \(will result in a random pause between MIN \& MAX seconds long\)
  echo -e \\t -e DATE = Earliest video upload date to grab.
  echo -e \\t\\t see https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?tab=readme-ov-file#video-selection for format info
  echo -e \\t\\t \(Simplest is YYYYMMDD but fancier options exist\)
  echo -e \\t VideoHash = The name YouTube has given to the individual video
  echo -e \\t\\t \(This is gonna take some work to explain...\)
  echo -e \\t\\t You can specify multiple videos
  echo
  echo -e The following \"ERROR\"s will also appear in 00000000-ERRORS
  echo -e \(Unfortunately, without indications of which files caused them...\)
  echo
  echo -e \"ERROR: unable to download video data: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden\"
  echo -e \\t Means you may need to supply cookies.
  echo -e \\t Often caused by things like age restrictions.
  echo -e \\t May also be caused by YouTube noticing you\'ve been downloading a bunch...
  echo
  echo -e \"ERROR: \[youtube\] oizvS01ovH0: Video unavailable\"
  echo -e \\t Most likely caused by a typo in the VideoHash
  echo

  exit
fi

COOKIEfile=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/www.youtube.com_cookies.txt

  SIMULATE=""
  WITHcookies=""
  LIMITrate=""
  PAUSEbetween=""
  TIMEspan=""
  BOBstyle=""

while (( "$#" ));
do
  if [ ${1} = "-c" ]; then
    echo Using Cookies: $COOKIEfile
    WITHcookies="--cookies "$COOKIEfile
    shift
  elif [ ${1} = "-s" ]; then
    echo Simulating
    SIMULATE="-s"
    shift
  elif [ ${1} = "-r" ]; then
    shift
    LIMITrate="-r $1"
    shift
    echo Rate Limiting $LIMITrate
  elif [ ${1} = "-p" ]; then
    shift
    Pmin=$1
    shift
    Pmax=$1
    PAUSEbetween="--sleep-interval $Pmin --max-sleep-interval $Pmax"
    shift
    echo Time Span $TIMEspan to current
  elif [ ${1} = "-e" ]; then
    shift
    TIMEspan="--dateafter $1"
    shift
    echo Time Span $TIMEspan to current
  elif [ ${1} = "-BOB" ]; then
    echo Grant Style Folder Structure
    BOBstyle="True"
    shift
  else
    vidID=$1
    shift
    echo
    echo Working on video: $vidID
    echo ========================================

URL=https://www.youtube.com/watch\?v=$vidID

    if wget --spider --quiet $URL > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    # Weirdly, YouTube says the URL is valid even if it doesn't exist when asking about videos...
    # Then it gives an error while attempting the download.
    # Not fatal, just annoying...

      DEST=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/_Individual_/

      if [ -d $DEST ]; then
        echo $DEST exists
      else
        echo no $DEST... Building it...
        mkdir $DEST
      fi

      ERRfile=$DEST/00000000-ERRORS
      ARCHfile=$DEST/11111111-ARCHIVE

      OPTIONS="$SIMULATE $LIMITrate $TIMEspan $WITHcookies $PAUSEbetween"
      OPTIONS+=" --no-overwrites --write-description -t mp4"

      cd $DEST
      echo -e \(storing in $DEST\)
      echo

      /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp $OPTIONS --download-archive $ARCHfile -o "%(uploader_id)s - %(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" $URL/$ACK 2> >(/usr/bin/tee -a $ERRfile)

    else
      echo YouTube says this video does not exist.
    fi   
  fi
done

# Clear out .part files
    rm -f *.part

Gettin' Fancy... One script with multiple personalities

WIP

Yup...

Looks even more complicated. In fact, it might even be considered kinda silly.

Save this script as YTall

Then make symbolic links to it.

• ln -s YTall YTc
• ln -s YTall YTv
• ln -s YTall YTv

Call it as YTc for doing whole channels, YTv for individual videos, & YTl for playlists.

#!/bin/bash

BASENAME=$(basename "$0")

echo -e "~~~~~~~ $BASENAME $@ ~~~~~~~ "\\n

case $BASENAME in
  "YTv")
    TYPE="VideoHash"
    DESC="$TYPE = The name YouTube has given to the individual video"
    DESC+="\n\\t\\t (This is gonna take some work to explain...)"
    DESC+="\n\\t\\t You can specify multiple videos"
  ;;
  "YTc")
    TYPE="ChannelName"
    DESC="$TYPE = The name of the channel \(as defined by YouTube\)"
    DESC+="\n\\t\\t You can specify multiple channels"
  ;;
  "YTl")
# Playlists
    TYPE="ListHash"
    DESC="$TYPE = The name YouTube has given to the playlist"
    DESC+="\n\\t\\t (This is gonna take some work to explain...)"
#    DESC+="\n\\t\\t You can specify multiple lists"
  ;;
  *)
    TYPE="poop"
    DESC="$TYPE = Some crap"
  ;;
esac

if [ $# -eq 0 ] || [ $1 = "-u" ] || [ $1 = "-?" ]; then
  echo -e USAGE: $(basename "$0") \[...option\(s\)...\] $TYPE $TYPE ...
  echo
  echo -e OPTIONS:
  echo -e \\t -BOB = Grant Style Folder Structure
  echo
  echo -e \\t -s = simulate this run
  echo -e \\t -c = use a cookie file exported from your browser to identify yourself.
  echo -e \\t -r RATE = Limit bandwidth
  echo -e \\t\\t Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
  echo -e \\t\\t\\t e.g. 50K or 4.2M
  echo -e \\t -p MIN MAX = Sleep interval \(pause\) between downloads \(in seconds\)
  echo -e \\t\\t \(will result in a random pause between MIN \& MAX seconds long\)
  echo -e \\t -e DATE = Earliest video upload date to grab.
  echo -e \\t\\t see https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?tab=readme-ov-file#video-selection for format info
  echo -e \\t\\t \(Simplest is YYYYMMDD but fancier options exist\)
  echo -e \\t $DESC
  echo
  echo -e The following \"ERROR\"s will also appear in 00000000-ERRORS
  echo -e \(Unfortunately, without indications of which files caused them...\)
  echo
  echo -e \"ERROR: unable to download video data: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden\"
  echo -e \\t Means you may need to supply cookies.
  echo -e \\t Often caused by things like age restrictions.
  echo -e \\t May also be caused by YouTube noticing you\'ve been downloading a bunch...
case $BASENAME in
  "YTc")
    echo
    echo -e \"ERROR: \[youtube\] oizvS01ovH0: Video unavailable\"
    echo -e \\t Most likely caused by a typo in the VideoHash
  ;;
  "YTv")
    echo
    echo -e  \"ERROR: \[youtube:tab\] \@ChannelName: This channel does not have a videos tab\"
    echo -e  \"ERROR: \[youtube:tab\] \@ChannelName: This channel does not have a shorts tab\"
    echo -e  \"ERROR: \[youtube:tab\] \@ChannelName: This channel does not have a streams tab\"
    echo -e \\t Is simply indicating that the channel doesn\'t have that type of content.
    echo -e \\t \(All 3 means the channel doesn\'t actually have any content... :P \)
  ;;
  "YTl")
# Possible playlist errors
  ;;
esac
echo

  exit
fi

  COOKIEfile=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/www.youtube.com_cookies.txt

  SIMULATE=""
  WITHcookies=""
  LIMITrate=""
  PAUSEbetween=""
  TIMEspan=""
  BOBstyle=""

while (( "$#" ));
do
  case $1 in
    "-c")
      echo Using Cookies: $COOKIEfile
      WITHcookies="--cookies "$COOKIEfile
      shift
    ;;

    "-s")
      echo Simulating
      SIMULATE="-s"
      shift
    ;;

    "-r")
      LIMITrate="-r $2"
      echo Rate Limiting $2
      shift 2
    ;;

    "-p")
      PAUSEbetween="--sleep-interval $2 --max-sleep-interval $3"
      echo Random pause between $2 \& $3 seconds
      shift 3
    ;;

    "-e")
      TIMEspan="--dateafter $2"
      echo Time Span $2 to current
      shift 2
    ;;

    "-BOB")
      BOBstyle="True"
      echo Using Grant Style Folder Structure
      shift
    ;;

    *)
      case $BASENAME in
        "YTv") # Video
          echo Working on video: $1
          echo ========================================
          WeirdID=$1
          URL=https://www.youtube.com/watch\?v=$1
          TYPES=""
          DEST=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/_Individual_/
          FORMAT="%(uploader_id)s - %(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"
        ;;

        "YTc") # Channel
          echo Working on Channel: $1
          echo ========================================
          WeirdID=$1
          URL=https://www.youtube.com/\@$1
          TYPES="videos shorts streams"
#          TYPES="videos shorts streams playlists"
          DEST=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/$1
          FORMAT="%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"
        ;;

        "YTl") # Playlist
          echo Working on playlist: $1
          echo ========================================
          WeirdID=$1
          URL=https://www.youtube.com/playlist\?list=$1
          TYPES=""
          DEST=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/_Playlists_/
          FORMAT="%(playlist_index)s_%(playlist_count)s %(uploader_id)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"
        ;;
      esac

      ERRfile=$DEST/00000000-ERRORS
      ARCHfile=$DEST/11111111-ARCHIVE

      OPTIONS="$SIMULATE $LIMITrate $TIMEspan $WITHcookies $PAUSEbetween"
      OPTIONS+=" --no-overwrites --write-description -t mp4"

echo $URL

      if wget --spider --quiet $URL > /dev/null 2>&1; then
        # Weirdly, for individual videos, YouTube says the URL is valid even if it doesn't exist when asking about videos...
        # Then it gives an error while attempting the download.
        # Not fatal, just annoying...

        echo -en "(storing in $DEST"

        case $BASENAME in
          "YTv")
            echo ")"
cd $DEST
            /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp $OPTIONS --download-archive $ARCHfile -o "$FORMAT" $URL 2> >(/usr/bin/tee -a $ERRfile)
            rm -f *.part
          ;;
          "YTl")
            echo "$WeirdID)"
cd $DEST
pwd
            if [ -d $DEST/$WeirdID ]; then
              echo $DEST exists
            else
              echo no $DEST$WeirdID... Building it...
              mkdir $DEST$WeirdID
            fi
cd $WeirdID
pwd
            /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp $OPTIONS --download-archive $ARCHfile -o "$FORMAT" $URL 2> >(/usr/bin/tee -a $ERRfile)
            rm -f *.part
NAME=`ls 0*`

Listname=`echo ${NAME::-12} | cut -d'@' -f 2`

echo "---$Listname---"

if [ -d ../"$Listname" ]; then
  echo already exists
else
  mkdir ../"$Listname"
fi
mv * ../"$Listname"
cd ..
rmdir $WeirdID
          ;;
          "YTc")
            echo ")"
            if [ -d $DEST ]; then
              echo $DEST exists
            else
              echo no $DEST... Building it...
              mkdir $DEST
              if [ -z $BOBstyle ]; then
                for ACK in $TYPES
                  do
                    mkdir $DEST/$ACK
                  done
              fi
            fi

cd $DEST

            if [ -z $BOBstyle ]; then
              echo -e "(using subfolders...)"
            else
              echo -e "(using Grant format...)"
            fi
            echo

            for ACK in $TYPES
              do
                echo ">>>>>>>> " $URL/$ACK
                if [ -z $BOBstyle ]; then
                  cd $ACK
                fi

echo
echo -n "-=> "
pwd
                /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp $OPTIONS --download-archive $ARCHfile -o "$FORMAT" $URL/$ACK 2> >(/usr/bin/tee -a $ERRfile)

                # Clear out .part files
                rm -f *.part

                if [ -z $BOBstyle ]; then
                  cd ..
                fi
              done
          ;;
        esac
      else
        echo YouTube says this channel does not exist.
      fi   
      shift
    ;;

  esac
done

Even more options?

WIP

Looking into anything special needed for downloading playlists...