ytdl-sub is a command-line tool that downloads media via
yt-dlp
and prepares it for your favorite media player, including
Kodi,
Jellyfin,
Plex,
Emby,
and modern music players. No additional plugins or external scrapers are needed.
We recognize that everyone stores their media differently. Our approach for file and metadata formatting is to provide maximum flexibility while maintaining simplicity.
ytdl-sub uses YAML files to define subscriptions. Each subscription imports presets that
define how to handle and output media files. ytdl-sub comes packaged with many prebuilt presets
that do the work of config-building, so you can start downloading immediately.
# subscriptions.yaml:
# Everything in here can be downloaded using the command:
# ytdl-sub sub subscriptions.yaml
# __preset__ is a place to define global overrides for all subscriptions
__preset__:
overrides:
# Root folder of all ytdl-sub TV Shows
tv_show_directory: "/tv_shows"
# Root folder of all ytdl-sub Music
music_directory: "/music"
# Root folder of all ytdl-sub Music Videos
music_video_directory: "/music_videos"
# For 'Only Recent' preset, only keep vids within this range and limit
only_recent_date_range: "2months"
only_recent_max_files: 30
# Pass any arg directly to yt-dlp's Python API
ytdl_options:
cookiefile: "/config/cookie.txt"
###################################################################
# TV Show Presets. Can replace Plex with Plex/Jellyfin/Kodi
Plex TV Show by Date:
# Sets genre tag to "Documentaries"
= Documentaries:
"NOVA PBS": "https://www.youtube.com/@novapbs"
"National Geographic": "https://www.youtube.com/@NatGeo"
"Cosmos - What If": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJno6oFF9nLGuwXNGYHmE8U"
# Sets genre tag to "Kids", "TV-Y" for content rating
= Kids | = TV-Y:
"Jake Trains": "https://www.youtube.com/@JakeTrains"
"Kids Toys Play": "https://www.youtube.com/@KidsToysPlayChannel"
= Music:
# TV show subscriptions can support multiple urls and store in the same TV Show
"Rick Beato":
- "https://www.youtube.com/@RickBeato"
- "https://www.youtube.com/@rickbeato240"
# Set genre tag to "News", use `Only Recent` preset to only store videos uploaded recently
= News | Only Recent:
"BBC News": "https://www.youtube.com/@BBCNews"
Plex TV Show Collection:
= Music:
# Prefix with ~ to set specific override variables
"~Beyond the Guitar":
s01_name: "Videos"
s01_url: "https://www.youtube.com/c/BeyondTheGuitar"
s02_name: "Covers"
s02_url: "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE62gWlWZk5NWVAVuf0Lm9jdv_-_KXs0W"
###################################################################
# Music Presets. Can replace Plex with Plex/Jellyfin/Kodi
YouTube Releases:
= Jazz: # Sets genre tag to "Jazz"
"Thelonious Monk": "https://www.youtube.com/@theloniousmonk3870/releases"
YouTube Full Albums:
= Lofi:
"Game Chops": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBsm_SagFMmdWnCnrNtLjA9kzfrRkto4i"
SoundCloud Discography:
= Chill Hop:
"UKNOWY": "https://soundcloud.com/uknowymunich"
= Synthwave:
"Lazerdiscs Records": "https://soundcloud.com/lazerdiscsrecords"
"Earmake": "https://soundcloud.com/earmake"
Bandcamp:
= Lofi:
"Emily Hopkins": "https://emilyharpist.bandcamp.com/"
###################################################################
# Music Video Presets
"Plex Music Videos":
= Pop: # Sets genre tag to "Pop"
"Rick Astley": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlaN88a7y2_plecYoJxvRFTLHVbIVAOoc"
"Michael Jackson": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mnY03zP6abNWH929q2XhGzWD_2uKJ_n8E"
All of this can be downloaded and ready to import to your favorite player using the command
ytdl-sub sub subscriptions.yaml
See our example subscriptions for more detailed examples and use-cases.
After ytdl-sub runs, the end result will download and format the files into something ready
to be consumed by your favorite media player/server.
tv_shows/
Jake Trains/
Season 2021/
s2021.e031701 - Pattys Day Video-thumb.jpg
s2021.e031701 - Pattys Day Video.mp4
s2021.e031701 - Pattys Day Video.nfo
s2021.e031702 - Second Pattys Day Video-thumb.jpg
s2021.e031702 - Second Pattys Day Video.mp4
s2021.e031702 - Second Pattys Day Video.nfo
Season 2022/
s2022.e122501 - Merry Christmas-thumb.jpg
s2022.e122501 - Merry Christmas.mp4
s2022.e122501 - Merry Christmas.nfo
poster.jpg
fanart.jpg
tvshow.nfo
music/
Artist/
[2022] Some Single/
01 - Some Single.mp3
folder.jpg
[2023] Latest Album/
01 - Track Title.mp3
02 - Another Track.mp3
folder.jpg
music_videos/
Elton John/
Elton John - Rocketman.jpg
Elton John - Rocketman.mp4
Any part of this process is modifiable by using custom configs. See our walk-through guide on how to build your first config from scratch. Ready-to-use example configurations can be found here alongside our readthedocs for detailed information on all config fields.
ytdl-sub can be installed on the following platforms.
Docker installs can be either headless or use the Web-GUI image, which comprises
LSIO's
code-server
Docker image with ytdl-sub preinstalled. This is the recommended way to use ytdl-sub.
There are many ways to contribute, even without coding. Please take a look in our GitHub Issues to submit a feature request, or pick up a bug.
We are pretty active in our Discord channel if you have any questions. Also see our FAQ for commonly asked questions.
FAQs
Automate downloading metadata generation with YoutubeDL
We found that ytdl-sub demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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