feat: replace YouTube.js with yt-dlp for audio downloads #3915

digitalnomad91 · 2025-09-19T05:45:44Z

Complete rewrite of downloader plugin to use yt-dlp external tool
Improved error handling and user feedback with enhanced logging
Better progress tracking during downloads and conversions
Added file existence checking with skipExisting option
Enhanced metadata embedding (thumbnail, ID3 tags, artist/title)
Streamlined playlist download functionality
Added configurable yt-dlp path in advanced settings
Higher quality audio downloads (320K bitrate)
More robust download process with better error reporting

- Complete rewrite of downloader plugin to use yt-dlp external tool - Improved error handling and user feedback with enhanced logging - Better progress tracking during downloads and conversions - Added file existence checking with skipExisting option - Enhanced metadata embedding (thumbnail, ID3 tags, artist/title) - Streamlined playlist download functionality - Added configurable yt-dlp path in advanced settings - Higher quality audio downloads (320K bitrate) - More robust download process with better error reporting

- Add new feedback messages for yt-dlp download process - Include file existence check messages - Update error handling text for better user experience

- Add chalk dependency for colored terminal output in yt-dlp downloader - Include TypeScript types for chalk - Update pnpm-lock.yaml with new dependencies

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:41Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+  const formattedMessage = args.length > 0
+    ? `${message} ${args.join(' ')}`
+    : message;


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Replace ·args.length·>·0⏎····?·${message}·${args.join('·')}⏎··· with ⏎····args.length·>·0·?·${message}·${args.join('·')}``

Suggested change

const formattedMessage = args.length > 0

? `${message} ${args.join(' ')}`

: message;

const formattedMessage =

args.length > 0 ? `${message} ${args.join(' ')}` : message;

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:41Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+  // Also log to frontend for production debugging
+  try {
+    win?.webContents?.executeJavaScript(
+      `console.${level}('[Downloader] ${formattedMessage.replace(/'/g, "\\'")}');`


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Insert ,

Suggested change

`console.${level}('[Downloader] ${formattedMessage.replace(/'/g, "\\'")}');`

`console.${level}('[Downloader] ${formattedMessage.replace(/'/g, "\\'")}');`,

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:41Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+    const macCandidates = [
+      '/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp',
+      '/opt/homebrew/bin/yt-dlp',
+    ];


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Replace ⏎······'/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp',⏎······'/opt/homebrew/bin/yt-dlp',⏎···· with '/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp',·'/opt/homebrew/bin/yt-dlp'

Suggested change

const macCandidates = [

'/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp',

'/opt/homebrew/bin/yt-dlp',

];

const macCandidates = ['/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp', '/opt/homebrew/bin/yt-dlp'];

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:41Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

-    }
-
-    info = bypassedResult;
+  const dir = playlistFolder || config.downloadFolder || app.getPath('downloads');


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Insert ⏎···

Suggested change

const dir = playlistFolder || config.downloadFolder || app.getPath('downloads');

const dir =

playlistFolder || config.downloadFolder || app.getPath('downloads');

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:41Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

-    increasePlaylistProgress,
-  );
+      if (infoExitCode === 0) {
+        const expectedFilename = infoOutput.trim().replace('.webm', '.mp3').replace('.m4a', '.mp3');


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Replace .trim().replace('.webm',·'.mp3') with ⏎··········.trim()⏎··········.replace('.webm',·'.mp3')⏎··········

Suggested change

const expectedFilename = infoOutput.trim().replace('.webm', '.mp3').replace('.m4a', '.mp3');

const expectedFilename = infoOutput

.trim()

.replace('.webm', '.mp3')

.replace('.m4a', '.mp3');

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:43Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+      if (chunk.includes('[ExtractAudio] Destination:')) {
+        const filename = chunk.match(/\[ExtractAudio\] Destination: (.+)/);
+        if (filename) {
+          logToFrontend('info', '✅ Track completed:', path.basename(filename[1]));


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Replace 'info',·'✅·Track·completed:',·path.basename(filename[1]) with ⏎············'info',⏎············'✅·Track·completed:',⏎············path.basename(filename[1]),⏎··········

Suggested change

logToFrontend('info', '✅ Track completed:', path.basename(filename[1]));

logToFrontend(

'info',

'✅ Track completed:',

path.basename(filename[1]),

);

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:44Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+    ytDlpProcess.stderr?.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
+      const errorChunk = data.toString();
+      errorOutput += errorChunk;
+      logToFrontend('warn', '⚠️ yt-dlp stderr:', errorChunk.trim().substring(0, 200));


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Replace 'warn',·'⚠️·yt-dlp·stderr:',·errorChunk.trim().substring(0,·200) with ⏎········'warn',⏎········'⚠️·yt-dlp·stderr:',⏎········errorChunk.trim().substring(0,·200),⏎······

Suggested change

logToFrontend('warn', '⚠️ yt-dlp stderr:', errorChunk.trim().substring(0, 200));

logToFrontend(

'warn',

'⚠️ yt-dlp stderr:',

errorChunk.trim().substring(0, 200),

);

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:44Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+      logToFrontend('error', '📄 Error output:', errorOutput);
+      throw new Error(
+        `yt-dlp failed with exit code ${exitCode}: ${errorOutput}` +
+        `\nCommand: ${ytDlpPath} ${args.join(' ')}`


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Replace \nCommand:·${ytDlpPath}·${args.join('·')} with ··\nCommand:·${ytDlpPath}·${args.join('·')},

Suggested change

`\nCommand: ${ytDlpPath} ${args.join(' ')}`

`\nCommand: ${ytDlpPath} ${args.join(' ')}`,

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:44Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+
+    logToFrontend('info', '🎉 Playlist download completed successfully!');
+    sendFeedback('Download complete!', -1);
+    sendOsNotification('Download complete!', `Saved to: ${dir}`).catch(() => {});


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Replace ()·=>·{} with ⏎······()·=>·{},⏎····

Suggested change

sendOsNotification('Download complete!', `Saved to: ${dir}`).catch(() => {});

sendOsNotification('Download complete!', `Saved to: ${dir}`).catch(

() => {},

);

github-actions · 2025-09-19T05:46:44Z

src/plugins/downloader/menu.ts

+    {
+      label: t('plugins.downloader.menu.yt-dlp-location-nice'),
+      click: async () => {
+        const ytDlpPathValue = typeof config.advanced?.ytDlpPath === 'string' ? config.advanced.ytDlpPath : '';


🚫 [eslint] <prettier/prettier> _{reported by reviewdog 🐶}
Replace ·typeof·config.advanced?.ytDlpPath·===·'string'·?·config.advanced.ytDlpPath with ⏎··········typeof·config.advanced?.ytDlpPath·===·'string'⏎············?·config.advanced.ytDlpPath⏎···········

Suggested change

const ytDlpPathValue = typeof config.advanced?.ytDlpPath === 'string' ? config.advanced.ytDlpPath : '';

const ytDlpPathValue =

typeof config.advanced?.ytDlpPath === 'string'

? config.advanced.ytDlpPath

: '';

JellyBrick · 2025-09-24T13:07:08Z

Did you use AI tools something like Claude Code or Gemini Cli, Cursor, etc?

path is hardcoded.
there's a lot of unnecessary code.

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T14:30:47Z

Did you use AI tools something like Claude Code or Gemini Cli, Cursor, etc?
1. path is hardcoded.

2. there's a lot of unnecessary code.

i'd say the emoji spam and comments are a clear sign of AI tools being used

also looks like most translation strings don't actually exist

the chalk package was also committed after everything else and seems to be unused?

digitalnomad91 · 2025-09-25T15:22:52Z

Yep, just wanted to get something working and I didn't spend a ton of time on this beyond that.

If there's enough interest perhaps I'll take some time to clean things up (and get rid of the emoji debugging stuff lol).

It's set up where you can set your own path in the GUI itself btw (in the plugin downloader menu).

Did you use AI tools something like Claude Code or Gemini Cli, Cursor, etc?
1. path is hardcoded.

2. there's a lot of unnecessary code.
i'd say the emoji spam and comments are a clear sign of AI tools being used

also looks like most translation strings don't actually exist

the chalk package was also committed after everything else and seems to be unused?

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T15:12:26Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+  const args = [
+    '-x',
+    '--audio-format',
+    'mp3',
+    '--audio-quality',
+    '320K', // Higher bitrate
+    '--embed-thumbnail', // Embed album art into the MP3
+    '--embed-metadata', // Embed ID3 tags
+    '--add-metadata', // Additional metadata
+    '--convert-thumbnails',
+    'jpg', // Convert to standard format (for embedded only, no separate files)
+
+    '-o',
+    outTemplate,
+    url,
+  ];


this completesly ignores the preset configuration

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T15:19:13Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+    const allPaths = [
+      config.advanced?.ytDlpPath
+        ? `[custom] ${config.advanced.ytDlpPath}`
+        : null,
+      ...(is.windows()
+        ? [
+            'C:/yt-dlp.exe',
+            path.join(homedir(), 'Downloads', 'yt-dlp.exe'),
+            'C:/utils/yt-dlp.exe',
+          ]
+        : is.linux()
+          ? ['/usr/bin/yt-dlp']
+          : is.macOS()
+            ? ['/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp', '/opt/homebrew/bin/yt-dlp']
+            : []),
+    ].filter(Boolean);


probably better for getYtDlpPath to return the path checked instead of reconstructing it

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T15:20:08Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+    const candidates = [
+      'C:/yt-dlp.exe',
+      path.join(homedir(), 'Downloads', 'yt-dlp.exe'),
+      'C:/utils/yt-dlp.exe',
+    ];


pretty sure on windows directories are seperated by a backslash

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T15:33:46Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

-    ),
-  });
+    logToFrontend('info', '🚀 Starting yt-dlp process...');
+    win.setProgressBar(0.1); // Start with indefinite bar


Suggested change

win.setProgressBar(0.1); // Start with indefinite bar

win.setProgressBar(2); // Start with indefinite bar

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T15:52:28Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+        if (!isNaN(progress) && progress > 0 && progress !== lastProgressUpdate) {
+          lastProgressUpdate = progress;
+          logToFrontend('info', `📊 Playlist progress: ${Math.floor(progress * 100)}%`);
+          sendFeedback(`Downloading... ${Math.floor(progress * 100)}%`, progress);


we shouldn't update the window progress bar since this is the progress of the current song not the whole playlist
use the old increaseProgress function instead

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T15:55:04Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+      if (chunk.includes('[youtube]') || chunk.includes('[download]')) {
+        if (chunk.includes('Downloading webpage')) {
+          logToFrontend('info', '🌐 Fetching track info...');
+        }
+      }
+    });


should probably also send feedback here (sendFeedback('fetching track info')) (replace with translation key ofc)

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T16:01:37Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

+      if (chunk.includes('[youtube]') || chunk.includes('[download]')) {
+        if (chunk.includes('Downloading webpage')) {
+          logToFrontend('info', '🌐 Fetching track info...');
+        }
+      }
+    });


also use the [download] logs to update the overall progressbar

you can get the full playlist length from [youtube:tab] log

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-25T16:05:59Z

src/plugins/downloader/main/index.ts

-  const increaseProgress = (itemPercentage: number) => {
-    const currentProgress = (counter - 1) / (items.length ?? 1);
-    const newProgress = currentProgress + progressStep * itemPercentage;
-    win.setProgressBar(newProgress);
-  };


you could reimplement this back if you want the current song download progress to have an effect on the window progress bar

scratchusernamemrtbts · 2025-09-26T03:57:54Z

yea i've tried building it on all platforms and it works fine if you set up the path correctly
need some tweaks before merging tho

Technetium1 · 2025-09-26T04:16:29Z

I think there should be a hard block on this until the next announcement related to yt-dlp/yt-dlp#14404 especially regarding the fact that available qualities may be changed, and PO tokens could be required.

Why is it forcefully set to 320k, when that may not (and often won't) be available? This is too wrong... I agree with the above review.

oceanxxsounds · 2025-10-01T01:27:30Z

Yep, just wanted to get something working and I didn't spend a ton of time on this beyond that.

If there's enough interest perhaps I'll take some time to clean things up (and get rid of the emoji debugging stuff lol).

It's set up where you can set your own path in the GUI itself btw (in the plugin downloader menu).

Yes PLEASE someone get this to work somehow for yt-dlp because that's literally the one and only feature that I've been waiting for with this app because I have to manually run a .BAT file for yt-dlp locally on my Windows 10 PC outside of the app just to download songs & playlists to WAV format in it's highest quality at 44K 320Kbps so we need this feature in the download section badly!!!

ArjixWasTaken · 2025-10-10T09:40:59Z

If there's enough interest

Personally, the only way I would agree to having this merged, is if it only functions as a fallback for the current download method.

yt-dlp takes a youtube music link and converts it to a normal youtube link, making it impossible to download some songs that are not available in normal youtube

oceanxxsounds · 2025-10-11T02:29:43Z

If there's enough interest

Personally, the only way I would agree to having this merged, is if it only functions as a fallback for the current download method.

yt-dlp takes a youtube music link and converts it to a normal youtube link, making it impossible to download some songs that are not available in normal youtube

If you could just please do it as the option that you said then that would be amazing for us Music Production folks! I highly doubt that it would gather interest because the normal consumer doesn't need WAV files because you can't add Metadata Info to them even though they're higher quality than MP3 files. This would just speed things up tremendously for our workflows.

digitalnomad91 added 3 commits September 19, 2025 00:42

feat: add translation strings for yt-dlp downloader

64a039a

- Add new feedback messages for yt-dlp download process - Include file existence check messages - Update error handling text for better user experience

deps: add chalk for enhanced console logging

186836d

- Add chalk dependency for colored terminal output in yt-dlp downloader - Include TypeScript types for chalk - Update pnpm-lock.yaml with new dependencies

github-actions bot reviewed Sep 19, 2025

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digitalnomad91 mentioned this pull request Sep 19, 2025

[Bug]: Downloader not downloading #3876

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scratchusernamemrtbts reviewed Sep 25, 2025

View reviewed changes

	`console.${level}('[Downloader] ${formattedMessage.replace(/'/g, "\\'")}');`
	`console.${level}('[Downloader] ${formattedMessage.replace(/'/g, "\\'")}');`,

	const dir = playlistFolder \|\| config.downloadFolder \|\| app.getPath('downloads');
	const dir =
	playlistFolder \|\| config.downloadFolder \|\| app.getPath('downloads');

	`\nCommand: ${ytDlpPath} ${args.join(' ')}`
	`\nCommand: ${ytDlpPath} ${args.join(' ')}`,

	win.setProgressBar(0.1); // Start with indefinite bar
	win.setProgressBar(2); // Start with indefinite bar

feat: replace YouTube.js with yt-dlp for audio downloads #3915

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feat: replace YouTube.js with yt-dlp for audio downloads #3915

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JellyBrick commented Sep 24, 2025

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scratchusernamemrtbts commented Sep 26, 2025

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Technetium1 commented Sep 26, 2025

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oceanxxsounds commented Oct 1, 2025

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ArjixWasTaken commented Oct 10, 2025

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oceanxxsounds commented Oct 11, 2025

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