YT-DLP GUI

A clean, modern desktop application for downloading videos and audio from YouTube and other platforms. Built with Tauri and React, powered by yt-dlp.

Features

• 🎥 Video & Audio Downloads - Download videos or extract audio-only files
• 🎯 Quality Selection - Choose from available quality options or get the best quality automatically
• 🎨 Clean Interface - Modern UI built with shadcn/ui components
• 🌓 Light/Dark Mode - Automatic theme switching with system preferences
• ⚡ Fast & Lightweight - Native performance with Tauri's Rust backend
• 📊 Progress Tracking - Real-time download progress with speed and ETA
• ⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts - Quick actions with CMD+N (reset) and Enter (fetch)
• 🔄 Auto-Updates - Built-in yt-dlp binary download and updates
• 🖥️ Cross-Platform - Available for macOS, Linux, and Windows

Installation

Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page:

• macOS: Download the .dmg file (Apple Silicon or Intel)
• Linux: Download .AppImage, .deb, or .rpm package
• Windows: Download the .msi or .exe installer

macOS Installation Notes

Important: The releases are currently unsigned. macOS will show a warning that the app is "damaged" or from an "unidentified developer."

To bypass this security warning, use one of these methods:

Method 1: Remove Quarantine Attribute (Recommended)

# After mounting the DMG
xattr -cr /Volumes/ytdlp-gui/ytdlp-gui.app

# Or after copying to Applications
xattr -cr /Applications/ytdlp-gui.app

Method 2: System Settings

1. Try to open the app (it will be blocked)
2. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security
3. Scroll down to find "ytdlp-gui was blocked"
4. Click "Open Anyway"

Method 3: Build Locally

git clone https://github.com/bogdankharchenko/ytdlp-gui.git
cd ytdlp-gui
npm install
npm run tauri build

The locally built app in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/ will work without any security warnings.

Note: Proper code signing will be added in a future release. This requires an Apple Developer account.

Usage

1. Paste a URL - Enter a YouTube or supported video URL
2. Press Enter or click Fetch - The app will retrieve video information
3. Choose Format - Select Video or Audio, then pick your preferred quality
4. Download - Click the download button and choose where to save

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Enter - Fetch video information
• CMD+N (or CTRL+N) - Reset and start a new download

Supported Platforms

YT-DLP GUI supports downloading from any platform that yt-dlp supports, including:

• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Twitter/X
• TikTok
• Reddit
• Facebook
• Instagram
• And 1000+ more sites

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js (LTS version)
• Rust
• Tauri prerequisites for your platform

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bogdankharchenko/ytdlp-gui.git
cd ytdlp-gui

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run tauri dev

Build

# Build for production
npm run tauri build

The built application will be in src-tauri/target/release/.

Technology Stack

• Frontend: React 18, Vite
• UI Components: shadcn/ui, Tailwind CSS, Lucide icons
• Backend: Tauri 2.x (Rust)
• Downloader: yt-dlp (automatically downloaded during build)
• Icons: Lucide React

How It Works

1. Binary Management: The app automatically downloads the appropriate yt-dlp binary for your platform during build time
2. Video Information: Uses yt-dlp's JSON output to fetch video metadata and available formats
3. Download Process: Spawns yt-dlp as a subprocess and parses progress output in real-time
4. Format Selection: Filters and sorts available formats by quality and codec

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details

Credits

• yt-dlp - The amazing command-line downloader
• Tauri - Build smaller, faster desktop applications
• shadcn/ui - Beautiful UI components

Disclaimer

This tool is for personal use only. Please respect content creators and platform terms of service. Only download content you have permission to download.