yank ⬇️

yank the web. Paste a URL, pick a format, download. No flags to remember.

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         yank the web

    Paste a video URL · or multiple URLs (one per line) for batch

  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ https://…                                                      │
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

  ┌──────────────┐  ┌────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐
  │   Continue   │  │   Batch mode   │  │    Clear     │
  └──────────────┘  └────────────────┘  └──────────────┘

  Queue [F2]    History [F3]    Settings [F4]

Features

• URL input — paste one or multiple URLs, auto-detects platform (YouTube, TikTok, Twitter/X, Instagram, Vimeo, etc.)
• Format browser — interactive table of available formats with resolution, codec, filesize
• Download manager — real-time progress bars with speed, ETA, per-download controls
• Queue system — batch multiple downloads, reorder, pause, cancel
• History — every download logged with title, URL, format, and status
• Settings — default download directory, format preferences, concurrent downloads, audio extraction
• yt-dlp management — auto-installs and updates yt-dlp, no manual setup
• Beautiful dark theme — purple/cyan accent palette with tasteful terminal styling
• Keyboard + mouse — navigate with arrow keys or click

Installation

Quick install (recommended)

pipx install yank-tui

Or from source:

git clone https://github.com/wanazhar/yank.git
cd yank
uv venv
uv sync

Usage

yank

Or from source:

cd yank && .venv/bin/python -m yank

Workflow

1. Paste a URL — the app opens to a clean input screen. Paste a video URL (YouTube, TikTok, etc.)
2. Choose format — browse available formats in a sortable table. Best quality is pre-selected
3. Configure options — set output directory, filename template, subtitles, thumbnail
4. Download — watch real-time progress with speed and ETA
5. Done — file saved, logged to history

Keyboard shortcuts

Configuration

Config stored at ~/.config/yank/config.toml:

download_dir = "/home/user/Downloads"
format_preference = "best"
max_concurrent = 2
filename_template = "%(title)s.%(ext)s"
subtitle_lang = "en"

How it works

yank wraps yt-dlp as a Python library (not subprocess). All format extraction, downloading, and metadata handling goes through yt_dlp.YoutubeDL with progress hooks. The TUI is built with Textual — a modern Python terminal UI framework.

The app is fully local. No cloud, no accounts, no telemetry. Your downloads and history never leave your machine.

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• A terminal that supports 24-bit color (most modern terminals do)
• ffmpeg (optional — needed for some format merges and audio extraction)

License

MIT