yt-dlp-ejs
External JavaScript solver library for yt-dlp supporting multiple runtimes including Deno, Bun, and Node.js
What is yt-dlp-ejs?
yt-dlp-ejs is a specialized library that provides external JavaScript execution capabilities for yt-dlp, the popular video downloader. It solves YouTube’s signature and n-parameter challenges by preprocessing and executing JavaScript code in a sandboxed environment. The library is designed to work seamlessly across multiple JavaScript runtimes, making it flexible and reliable for different deployment scenarios.Key Features
Multi-Runtime Support
Works with Deno, Bun, and Node.js, giving you flexibility in your runtime choice
YouTube Solver
Solves signature and n-parameter challenges for YouTube video extraction
AST Manipulation
Uses meriyah and astring for JavaScript AST parsing and code generation
Bundled Variants
Provides both core and lib solver bundles for different use cases
How It Works
yt-dlp-ejs preprocesses YouTube player JavaScript code to extract signature and n-parameter solving functions. These functions are then made available through a clean Python API that yt-dlp can use to decode video URLs. The library uses:- meriyah for parsing JavaScript into an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST)
- astring for generating JavaScript code from the AST
- rollup for bundling the solver code with dependencies
Use Cases
yt-dlp Integration
Primarily used as a dependency for yt-dlp to handle YouTube’s JavaScript challenges
Custom Video Extractors
Can be integrated into custom video extraction tools that need to solve YouTube challenges
Research & Development
Useful for studying YouTube’s protection mechanisms and developing new solving strategies
Next Steps
Installation
Install yt-dlp-ejs in your environment
Quickstart
Get started with basic usage examples
Architecture
Learn how the solver works internally
API Reference
Explore the complete API documentation