ytdl-sub

Automate downloading and metadata generation with YoutubeDL.

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.

YouTube Channels as TV Shows

Plex

Jellyfin

Music Videos and Concerts

Kodi

Jellyfin

SoundCloud Discography

Writes proper music-tags via beets API

Bandcamp Discography

How it Works

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/ytdl-sub-configs/cookie.txt"

###################################################################
# TV Show Presets. Can replace Plex with Plex/Jellyfin/Emby/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.

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. Can replace Plex with Plex/Jellyfin/Kodi
"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.

Output

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

Custom Configs

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.

Installation

ytdl-sub can be installed on the following platforms.

• Docker Compose
  • Web-GUI
  • Headless
  • CPU / GPU Passthrough
• Docker CLI
• Windows
• Unraid
• Linux
• Linux ARM
• PIP
• Local Install
• Local Docker Build

Docker Installation

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.

Contributing

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.

Support

We are pretty active in our Discord channel if you have any questions. Also see our FAQ for commonly asked questions.