itsalics/youdl-bot

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

★ 14PythonAudience · generalComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((YouDL Bot))
    What it does
      Download YouTube video
      Download Instagram content
      Trim and subtitle video
    Tech stack
      Python
      yt-dlp
      FFmpeg
      Telethon
    Use cases
      Personal download bot
      Channel gated access
      Large file splitting
    Audience
      Telegram bot operators
      General users
    Setup
      Install script provided
      Edit config in downloader.py
      Cookie files required

mindmap root((YouDL Bot)) What it does Download YouTube video Download Instagram content Trim and subtitle video Tech stack Python yt-dlp FFmpeg Telethon Use cases Personal download bot Channel gated access Large file splitting Audience Telegram bot operators General users Setup Install script provided Edit config in downloader.py Cookie files required

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Run a self-hosted Telegram bot that lets users download YouTube or Instagram content by sending a link.

USE CASE 2

Let users pick specific video quality, subtitle language, and a time range to trim before downloading.

USE CASE 3

Require users to join a sponsor channel before they can use the bot's download features.

USE CASE 4

Handle large downloads by auto-splitting them into compressed archive parts.

What is it built with?

Pythonyt-dlpFFmpegTelethoninstaloader

How does it compare?

	itsalics/youdl-bot	0c33/agentic-ai	adennng/stock_strategy_lab
Stars	14	14	14
Language	Python	Python	Python
Setup difficulty	moderate	hard	hard
Complexity	3/5	4/5	4/5
Audience	general	developer	researcher

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 1h+

Requires a Telegram bot token and API credentials, several system dependencies like FFmpeg and Deno, and manually placed cookie files for full functionality.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

YouDL-Bot is a Telegram bot, written in Persian in its README, for downloading video, audio, subtitles, and Instagram stories from YouTube and Instagram. A user can send it a link directly for a quick download at a good default quality, or use an advanced mode with the /download command to manually pick video and audio quality, choose subtitles in one of over fifteen languages and burn them into the video, or trim the video or audio to a specific time range. The bot shows a live progress bar with download percentage, speed, size, and remaining time, and lets a user cancel a download at any point, cleaning up temporary files automatically. It handles large files by using Telegram's higher upload limits where available, up to two gigabytes, and automatically compresses and splits anything larger into RAR archive parts. It can also require users to join a specific Telegram channel before using the bot, and supports importing browser cookies to get around YouTube and Instagram restrictions such as age-restricted or private content. Running it requires Python 3.8 or newer, FFmpeg, Deno, and several Python libraries including yt-dlp, gallery-dl, instaloader, telethon, and python-telegram-bot, all of which an included install.sh script can set up automatically. Before running the bot, the operator must edit configuration values directly in the downloader.py file, including a Telegram bot token, API ID and hash from Telegram, and channel IDs, then place YouTube and Instagram cookie files, exported from a browser extension, next to that file with specific required filenames. The project is described as MIT licensed based on a badge in the README, and the author recommends running the bot inside screen or tmux so it stays running in the background.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Walk me through running install.sh to set up all of YouDL-Bot's dependencies on a fresh server.

Prompt 2

Help me fill in the TOKEN, API_ID, API_HASH, and CHANNEL_USERNAME variables in downloader.py.

Prompt 3

Explain how to export YouTube and Instagram cookies and name the files correctly for this bot.

Prompt 4

How do I run this bot persistently in the background using screen or tmux?

Frequently asked questions

What is youdl-bot?

A Telegram bot for downloading videos, audio, subtitles, and stories from YouTube and Instagram, with quality selection and trimming.

What language is youdl-bot written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, yt-dlp, FFmpeg.

What license does youdl-bot use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is youdl-bot to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is youdl-bot for?

Mainly general.

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