YT-DLP Scripting
Revision as of 23:58, 3 October 2025 by Tinker (talk | contribs) (→Gettin' Fancy... One script for both channels & individual videos)
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 $ERRfile)
else
echo YouTube says this video does not exist.
fi
fi
done
# Clear out .part files
rm -f *.part
Gettin' Fancy... One script for both channels & individual videos
WIP
Yup...
Looks even more complicated.
Save this script as YTall
Then make symbolic links to it.
ln -s YTall YTcln -s YTall YTv
Call it as YTc for doing whole channels & YTv for individual videos
#!/bin/bash
BASENAME=$(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"
;;
*)
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 \(All 3 means the channel doesn\'t actually have any content... :P \)
;;
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 ========================================
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 ========================================
URL=https://www.youtube.com/\@$1
TYPES="videos shorts streams"
# TYPES="videos shorts streams playlists"
DEST=/mnt/Download_Space/YTDL/$1
FORMAT="%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"
;;
esac
ERRfile=$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...
if [ -d $DEST ]; then
echo $DEST exists
else
echo no $DEST... Building it...
mkdir $DEST
if [[ $BASENAME = "YTc" && -z $BOBstyle ]]; then
for ACK in $TYPES
do
mkdir $DEST/$ACK
done
fi
fi
cd $DEST
echo -en "(storing in $DEST "
case $BASENAME in
"YTv")
echo ")"
/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp $OPTIONS --download-archive $ARCHfile -o "$FORMAT" $URL 2> >(/usr/bin/tee -a $ERRfile)
rm -f *.part
;;
"YTc")
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
/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...