yt.py

A Python script to play media from YouTube without needing API keys

Sections

Click to navigate.

• Dependencies
• Installation
• Usage
  • Examples
• Credits
• Extras

Dependencies

• Python 3 (tested on PyPy 3.7.9 and CPython 3.9.1)
• mpv
• yt-dlp
• ffmpeg

Installation

• Download the file from the Releases page: yt.py
• Place it in your $PATH and make it executable.
• Enjoy!

Usage

usage: yt.py [-h] [-u] [-v] [-d] [-n NUM] [-o DIR] [SEARCH_STRING ...]

Play YouTube media without API

positional arguments:
  SEARCH_STRING         media to play

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -u, --url             display URL instead of playing
  -v, --video           play video instead of music
  -d, --download        download media instead of playing
  -n NUM, --num NUM     nth result to play or download
  -o DIR, --output DIR  folder to save downloaded media

List of mpv hotkeys: https://defkey.com/mpv-media-player-shortcuts

Examples

• Stream audio:

  yt.py gurenge band cover

• Download audio:

  yt.py -d astronomia

• Watch a video:

  yt.py -v rickroll

• Download a video:

  yt.py -dv penguin flock

• Play the audio of the second search result:

  yt.py -n 2 plastic love daft punk

• Download a video to a directory other than $HOME/Videos (default location):

  yt.py -do "$HOME/Music/" darude sandstorm

PS: Here’s a list of mpv keyboard shortcuts for your convenience.

Credits

• pystardust’s ytfzf
• This article I found during my quest to implement a simplified version of ytfzf in Python3

Extras

About the .pyx file

I’m currently not updating it anymore. Please consider using the .py file instead

Cython is supposed to be faster but I don’t really know Cython so I couldn’t optimize it as well. If you can do so, feel free to make a fork, and maybe even a pull request so the script can be improved. It’ll be a learning experience for me as well.

As for the performance… It may be slightly faster but the program is still network-bound. Which means, faster internet = faster query = media is played sooner.

Compile an executable file using this shell script if you want.