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ytb

v0.4.1

Native media downloads work again for current YouTube streams, including audio extraction to mp3 with ffmpeg.

This patch release restores the pure-Go download path for current YouTube player responses. ytb download can again fetch media without --use-yt-dlp for the common anonymous streams, and audio-only conversion works through the existing ffmpeg integration.

Native downloads fixed

YouTube now binds its direct media URLs more tightly to the session and client that requested them. ytb now preserves watch-page cookies, carries the visitor session into InnerTube player requests, and downloads each stream with the same client User-Agent that produced its URL.

ytb download dQw4w9WgXcQ
ytb download dQw4w9WgXcQ -x --audio-format mp3

The --use-yt-dlp escape hatch remains available for videos or networks where YouTube requires additional authentication, cookies, or proof tokens.

Install

go install github.com/tamnd/ytb-cli/cmd/ytb@latest

Prebuilt archives for Linux, macOS, and Windows, plus Linux packages (deb, rpm, apk) and checksums, are on the release page. The container image is on GHCR:

docker run --rm ghcr.io/tamnd/ytb:0.4.1 download dQw4w9WgXcQ