boosty-dl 2.0.0

Download videos from Boosty channels

Boosty Downloader

Python tool to download videos from Boosty channels. Designed to be used as a scheduled job to download new videos and make them available in Plex or Jellyfin.

Features

• Download videos from Boosty channels
• Automatic access token refresh
• Plex and Jellyfin library integration
• Quality selection
• Season/episode naming (s2025e0101 format)
• Video metadata embedding
• Interface binding (Boosty bans some VPNs)

Installation

Prerequisites

• curl - downloads videos and makes Boosty API requests
• exiftool - embeds metadata into video files
• sendmail - email notifications (optional)

apt install curl exiftool sendmail # debian/ubuntu
brew install curl exiftool # macos

From PyPI (recommended)

apt install pipx # debian/ubuntu
brew install pipx # macos
pipx install boosty-dl

From source

git clone https://github.com/sormy/boosty-downloader.git
cd boosty-downloader

# install boosty-dl
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -e .
ln -sf $(realpath .venv/bin/boosty-dl) /usr/local/bin/boosty-dl

# install backward compatible script (if needed)
ln -sf $(realpath bin/boosty-downloader) /usr/local/bin/boosty-downloader

Cookies file

Export your Boosty cookies to boosty.cookies.txt using a browser extension:

• Chrome: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/get-cookiestxt-locally
• Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookies-txt

The tool uses cookies to authenticate and automatically refreshes the access token. Without cookies, only free content is available.

Usage

Basic usage

# Download from a single channel
boosty-dl -c boosty.cookies.txt -o ./videos channelname
boosty-dl -c boosty.cookies.txt -o ./videos https://boosty.to/channel

# Download from multiple channels
boosty-dl -c boosty.cookies.txt -o ./videos channel1 channel2 channel3

# Download from a specific post
boosty-dl -c boosty.cookies.txt -o ./videos https://boosty.to/channel/posts/post-id

Options

-c, --cookies FILE          Path to cookies file (optional, for paid content)
-o, --output DIR            Output directory (default: current directory)
-q, --max-quality QUALITY   Max quality: tiny, lowest, low, medium, high, full_hd, quad_hd, ultra_hd
--days-back DAYS            Download only posts from last N days (useful for scheduled jobs)
--no-season-dir             Don't create season subdirectories
--no-channel-dir            Don't create channel subdirectories
--update-metadata           Update metadata for existing videos without re-downloading
--lock-file PATH            Lock file to prevent parallel downloads
--plex-url URL              Plex server URL (default: http://localhost:32400)
--plex-token TOKEN          Plex access token (or set PLEX_TOKEN env var)
--plex-section NAME/KEY     Plex library section name or key to refresh
--plex-timeout SEC          Plex timeout in seconds (default: 30)
--jellyfin-url URL          Jellyfin server URL (default: http://localhost:8096)
--jellyfin-token TOKEN      Jellyfin API key (or set JELLYFIN_TOKEN env var)
--jellyfin-item NAME/ID     Jellyfin library item name or ID to refresh
--jellyfin-timeout SEC      Jellyfin timeout in seconds (default: 30)
--email-to EMAIL            Email address for download notifications

Network interface binding: Some VPNs or regions may be blocked by Boosty. Use CURL_OPTS="--interface eth0" to bind to a specific network interface that has proper access.

Lock file: When running as a scheduled job, use --lock-file to prevent overlapping downloads if a previous run takes too long.

Plex/Jellyfin: Automatically finds library sections/items by name - no need to look up IDs/keys manually.

Backward compatibility with v1.x

For users upgrading from v1.x, a backward-compatible shell script wrapper is available in bin/boosty-downloader:

Usage with environment variables (v1.x style):

export COOKIES_FILE="/srv/boosty.cookies.txt"
export TARGET_PATH="/media/MediaFiles/Boosty"
export CHANNELS="blog1 blog2 blog3"
export NOTIFY_EMAIL="[e-mail]"
boosty-downloader

The wrapper translates v1.x environment variables to v2.x command-line arguments.

Environment Variables

The tool supports the following environment variables:

Authentication & Security:

• PLEX_TOKEN - Plex authentication token (alternative to --plex-token)
• JELLYFIN_TOKEN - Jellyfin API key (alternative to --jellyfin-token)

Binary Paths:

• CURL_BIN - Path to curl binary (default: curl)
• EXIFTOOL_BIN - Path to exiftool binary (default: exiftool)
• SENDMAIL_BIN - Path to sendmail binary (default: /usr/sbin/sendmail)

Advanced Options:

• CURL_OPTS - Additional curl options (e.g., --interface eth0)
• CURL_DEBUG - Enable curl debug output (set to 1)

v1.x Compatibility (for boosty-downloader wrapper):

• COOKIES_FILE - Path to cookies file (maps to -c)
• TARGET_PATH - Output directory (maps to -o)
• CHANNELS - Space-separated channel list
• NOTIFY_EMAIL - Email for notifications (maps to --email-to)

Scheduled Downloads with Systemd

Set up a systemd timer for automated periodic downloads.

Create service unit /etc/systemd/system/boosty-dl.service:

[Unit]
Description=Boosty Downloader
Wants=boosty-dl.timer
Requires=media-MediaFiles.mount
After=media-MediaFiles.mount

[Service]
Type=oneshot
User=root
Environment="PLEX_TOKEN=YOUR_PLEX_TOKEN"
Environment="JELLYFIN_TOKEN=YOUR_JELLYFIN_TOKEN"
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/boosty-dl \
    -c /srv/boosty.cookies.txt \
    -o /media/MediaFiles/Boosty \
    --days-back 7 \
    --lock-file /var/run/boosty-dl.lock \
    --plex-url http://localhost:32400 \
    --plex-section "Boosty" \
    --jellyfin-url http://localhost:8096 \
    --jellyfin-item "Boosty" \
    --email-to [e-mail] \
    channel1 channel2 channel3


[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Create timer unit /etc/systemd/system/boosty-dl.timer:

[Unit]
Description=Boosty Downloader Timer
Requires=boosty-dl.service

[Timer]
OnCalendar=hourly
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

Enable and start:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now boosty-dl.timer
systemctl status boosty-dl.timer
journalctl -u boosty-dl -f

Key options for scheduled downloads:

• --days-back 7 - Check only recent posts (reduces API calls)
• --lock-file - Prevent overlapping runs
• --plex-section or --jellyfin-item - Auto-refresh media library
• --email-to - Email notifications for new downloads

Plex Integration

Automatically refreshes your Plex library after downloading. Library sections are found by name.

Recommended: Environment variable (prevents token exposure in process listings):

export PLEX_TOKEN="YOUR_TOKEN"
boosty-dl -c cookies.txt -o ./videos \
    --plex-url http://localhost:32400 \
    --plex-section "Boosty" \
    channelname

Alternative: Command-line argument:

boosty-dl -c cookies.txt -o ./videos \
    --plex-url http://localhost:32400 \
    --plex-token YOUR_TOKEN \
    --plex-section "Boosty" \
    channelname

Note: If token starts with -, use --plex-token=-YOUR_TOKEN format.

Getting your Plex token:

1. Open Plex Web
2. Press F12 → Console tab
3. Type: localStorage.getItem('myPlexAccessToken')
4. Copy the token (without quotes)

Jellyfin Integration

Automatically refreshes your Jellyfin library after downloading. Library items are found by name.

Recommended: Environment variable (prevents token exposure in process listings):

export JELLYFIN_TOKEN="YOUR_API_KEY"
boosty-dl -c cookies.txt -o ./videos \
    --jellyfin-url http://localhost:8096 \
    --jellyfin-item "Boosty" \
    channelname

Alternative: Command-line argument:

boosty-dl -c cookies.txt -o ./videos \
    --jellyfin-url http://localhost:8096 \
    --jellyfin-token YOUR_API_KEY \
    --jellyfin-item "Boosty" \
    channelname

Getting your API key:

1. Jellyfin Dashboard → API Keys
2. Click "+" to create new key
3. Name it (e.g., "boosty-dl")
4. Copy the generated key

Development

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/sormy/boosty-downloader.git
cd boosty-downloader

# Install in development mode with dev dependencies
make dev

# Run tests
make test

# Format code
make format

# Run linters
make lint

# Build package
make build

# Publish to PyPI
make publish

License

MIT