vget Now Supports YouTube Video Downloads

YouTube Support Is Finally Here

Starting from v0.8, vget officially supports YouTube video downloads. This has been one of the most requested features from the community, and we've finally delivered it.

Why Docker?

YouTube's anti-bot mechanisms are incredibly complex. Building a stable downloader from scratch is nearly impossible. We chose a more pragmatic approach: integrating yt-dlp via Docker.

The benefits:

1. Stable and Reliable - yt-dlp is the most actively maintained YouTube download tool, with continuous updates to handle YouTube's changes
2. Full-Featured - Automatically selects the best quality and merges video/audio streams
3. Easy Deployment - One command to start, no complex configuration needed

Quick Start

1. Pull the Image

docker pull ghcr.io/guiyumin/vget:latest

2. Start the Service

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 \
  -v ~/Downloads:/home/vget/downloads \
  -v ~/.config/vget:/home/vget/.config/vget \
  --name vget \
  ghcr.io/guiyumin/vget:latest

3. Download Videos

Open your browser and visit http://localhost:8080, paste a YouTube link and start downloading.

Or use the command line:

docker exec vget vget https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Technical Details

vget's YouTube support is built on the following stack:

• yt-dlp - Primary download tool, supports the latest YouTube protocols
• youtube-dl - Fallback option, automatically switches when yt-dlp fails
• ffmpeg - Merges separate video and audio streams
• Node.js - Solves YouTube's N parameter JS challenge

When downloading, vget automatically:

1. Selects the best video quality + best audio quality
2. Merges into MP4 format
3. Uses the video title as the filename

Supported URL Formats

vget supports various YouTube URL formats:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
• https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

More Than Just YouTube

vget supports video downloads from multiple platforms:

Multi-Architecture Support

The Docker image supports both linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 architectures. Whether you're using an x86 server or an ARM device (like Raspberry Pi or Apple Silicon Mac), it just works.

What's Next

• Support for YouTube playlist downloads
• Video quality selection
• Subtitle downloads

Feel free to submit Issues and PRs on GitHub!