Thomas's Portfolio

YouTube Member Video Downloader Script

September 12, 2025 (2mo ago)

🎬 YouTube Member Video Downloader Script

This project is a simple but powerful shell script to download YouTube videos—especially those restricted by membership or age restrictions—using yt-dlp. The script supports reading a list of video URLs, using browser-exported cookies for authentication, and merges best video + audio into MP4 format.

🔍 Project Overview

Many YouTube videos are restricted—either age-restricted or limited to YouTube members/subscribers only. This script leverages the open-source tool yt-dlp to:

  • Process a list of video URLs from a text file.
  • Use a cookies file exported from your browser to authenticate and bypass restrictions.
  • Download the best video + audio streams available, then merge them into a single MP4 file.

It’s lightweight, easy to configure, and runs on any Unix-like environment with shell support.

🛠️ How It Works & Setup

🔧 Files in the Repo

  • script.sh — the main shell script. It calls yt-dlp with the right options.
  • danhsach.txt — a simple list (one URL per line) of YouTube video links to download.
  • cookies.txt — exported cookies from your browser session; needed for membership / age-restricted video access.

⚙️ Usage Steps

  1. Install yt-dlp You can install via pip install -U yt-dlp, or download the binary.

  2. Prepare your files

    • Add video URLs to danhsach.txt.
    • Export your YouTube cookies to cookies.txt (using a browser plugin or other means).

  3. Configure script (optional) You might need to change paths in script.sh. Key options used:

    --cookies /path/to/cookies.txt \
-a /path/to/danhsach.txt \
-P /path/to/output/directory \
-f "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]" \
--merge-output-format mp4

    These flags specify where to get cookies, which list of URLs to process, output folder, video+audio format, and final merging into MP4.

▶️ Run the script

Make it executable and run:

chmod +x script.sh
./script.sh

⚠️ Important Notes & Limitations

  • The cookies.txt file must be kept up-to-date. If your session expires, or your login changes, downloads might fail.
  • Some videos may have DRM or other protection that yt-dlp cannot bypass.
  • Use this responsibly and in compliance with YouTube’s Terms of Service. This script is intended for personal use / videos you have right to download.

🔮 Possible Improvements

Here are some ideas to make it even better:

  • Add a progress bar or logging to monitor downloads and outcomes.
  • Wrap this in a simple UI (web UI or desktop GUI) for non-technical users.
  • Add scheduling (cron job) to check for new URLs to download automatically.
  • Support output formats beyond MP4, or allow choosing quality/resolution more flexibly.
  • Provide checksums or integrity verification after download + merge.

🪪 License & Contribution This tool is open-source. You’re welcome to fork, modify, or improve it. Check the LICENSE (if present in the repo) for usage rights. And if you make enhancements, feel free to open a PR on GitHub so others can benefit.

Made with 💻 by hoatepdev If you find this project useful, please consider ⭐ the repo, share with others, and contribute if you can!