yt-grabber 0.1.3

A CLI tool for downloading videos from YT playlists and channels

YouTube Grabber

A Python CLI tool for managing and downloading YouTube videos from playlists and channels with automatic progress tracking and synchronization.

Features

• Extract videos from YouTube playlists and channels
• Sync playlists with their source to track new and removed videos
• Download videos at configurable quality (720p or 1080p)
• Automatic progress tracking - marks downloaded, added, and removed videos
• Smart resume - skips already downloaded videos
• Playlist headers - stores metadata about source, title, and extraction time
• Random delays between downloads to avoid rate limiting
• Colorized logging with detailed progress information

Installation

# Clone or navigate to the project directory
cd yt-grabber

# Install dependencies using uv
uv sync

Commands

Extract Playlist

Extract video URLs from a YouTube playlist:

uv run yt-grabber extract-playlist <playlist_url> <output_file>

Examples:

# Using full URL
uv run yt-grabber extract-playlist "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTj8zGbtGsjHQWtKYupS1CdZzrbbYKkoz" my_playlist.txt

# Using playlist ID only
uv run yt-grabber extract-playlist PLTj8zGbtGsjHQWtKYupS1CdZzrbbYKkoz my_playlist.txt

Extract Channel

Extract video URLs from a YouTube channel (regular videos only, oldest first):

uv run yt-grabber extract-channel <channel_url> <output_file>

Examples:

# Using channel handle
uv run yt-grabber extract-channel @ChannelName channel_videos.txt

# Using full URL
uv run yt-grabber extract-channel "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName" channel_videos.txt

# Using channel ID
uv run yt-grabber extract-channel UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx channel_videos.txt

Sync Playlist

Synchronize a playlist file with its source to detect new and removed videos:

uv run yt-grabber sync <playlist_file>

Example:

uv run yt-grabber sync my_playlist.txt

What it does:

• Fetches current videos from the source URL (stored in the playlist header)
• Compares with the existing playlist
• Marks new videos with A (added)
• Marks removed videos with D (deleted)
• Updates playlist header metadata (timestamp, count, title)
• Shows a diff summary of what changed

Download

Download videos from a playlist file:

uv run yt-grabber download <playlist_file>

Example:

uv run yt-grabber download my_playlist.txt

What it does:

• Reads undownloaded and non-removed videos from the playlist
• Downloads each video at configured quality
• Marks successful downloads with #
• Creates a metadata CSV file with download information
• Stops on any error

Configuration

Create a .env file in the project root:

cp .env.example .env

Available settings:

Variable	Description	Default
VIDEO_QUALITY	Video quality: 720 or 1080	1080
MIN_DELAY	Minimum delay between downloads (seconds)	1
MAX_DELAY	Maximum delay between downloads (seconds)	5
INDEX_VIDEOS	Add numeric prefix to filenames	false
RETRY_ATTEMPTS	Number of retry attempts per video	1
RETRY_DELAY	Delay before retry (seconds)	300

Playlist File Format

Header Section (Optional)

Playlists extracted with extract-playlist or extract-channel contain a header:

: Source URL: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxxxxx
: Extraction Timestamp: 2026-01-18T14:00:00.000000
: Total Videos: 50
: Source Type: playlist
: Title: My Awesome Playlist
: Extractor Version: 0.1.0
:

Video URLs with Markers

Videos can have status markers (space-separated):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_1
A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_2
D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_3
# https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_4
A # https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_5
D # https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_6

Markers:

• # - Downloaded
• A - Added (new video detected during sync)
• D - Deleted (removed from source during sync)
• A # - Added and downloaded
• D # - Deleted but was previously downloaded

Behavior:

• Lines starting with : are header metadata (skipped during download)
• Videos with D marker are skipped during download
• Videos with # marker are skipped during download
• Only unmarked or A-only videos will be downloaded

Typical Workflow

1. Extract a Playlist

uv run yt-grabber extract-playlist PLxxxxxxxxxx my_music.txt

Creates my_music.txt with header and all video URLs.

2. Download Videos

uv run yt-grabber download my_music.txt

Downloads all videos and marks them with #.

3. Sync to Check for Updates

uv run yt-grabber sync my_music.txt

Checks the source playlist and:

• Marks new videos with A
• Marks removed videos with D
• Shows a summary of changes

4. Download New Videos

uv run yt-grabber download my_music.txt

Downloads only the newly added videos (marked with A).

Output

Download Location

Videos are saved to: download/{playlist_filename}/

For example, if playlist file is my_music.txt, videos go to: download/my_music/

Metadata

A metadata.csv file is created in the download directory with:

url,filename,timestamp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxx,01 Video Title.mp4,2026-01-18T14:30:00

Requirements

• Python 3.12+
• uv package manager
• Dependencies:
  • yt-dlp (video extraction and download)
  • typer (CLI framework)
  • pydantic-settings (configuration)
  • loguru (logging)

Error Handling

The program stops immediately if:

• A video fails to download
• The playlist file is not found
• Playlist has no header (for sync command)
• Source URL cannot be accessed
• Any unexpected error occurs

This ensures data integrity and prevents partial operations.

Tips

• Use extract-channel for channels to get oldest videos first
• Run sync periodically to track playlist changes
• Videos marked with D are kept in the file for history
• The # marker is preserved across syncs
• Once a video is downloaded (#), the A marker is cleared