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ltaoo/wx_channels_download

★ 5,797GoAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · moderate

TLDR

A lightweight Go desktop utility for Windows and macOS that adds a download button to WeChat Channels videos by running a local proxy that intercepts the video stream.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((wx_channels_download))
    What it does
      Video download
      WeChat Channels
      Quality select
    How it works
      Local proxy
      Certificate install
      Download button
    Tech
      Go
      Windows macOS
    Use cases
      Offline viewing
      Video archiving
      Quality control
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Download a WeChat Channels video in the highest available quality directly to your computer.

USE CASE 2

Save a short video from WeChat Channels for offline viewing or local archiving.

USE CASE 3

Choose a specific video quality from a dropdown before saving a WeChat Channels clip.

USE CASE 4

Set up a lightweight proxy-based tool on Mac or Windows to capture WeChat video streams for research purposes.

Tech stack

Go

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires running as administrator and installing a local certificate, WeChat desktop app must be open and playing the video.

In plain English

wx_channels_download is a small desktop utility for downloading videos from WeChat Channels, the short-video feature inside the WeChat app on Windows and macOS. The tool is written in Go and is described as lightweight and simple to use. The way it works: you download the pre-built application from the releases page and run it with administrator permissions. On first launch it installs a local certificate and starts a proxy service. Once the terminal shows that the proxy is running, you open the WeChat desktop app and browse to a video. A new download button appears in the video controls. You let the video start playing, pause it, and then click the download button to save the file locally. The downloaded file name includes a label indicating the video quality. By default the tool downloads the video at the quality currently playing, which is typically the smallest file size. A dropdown menu lets you choose a different quality if other options are available for that video. The README is written in Chinese. The project credits two other open-source projects for the decryption logic it uses: one handling the front-end decryption and one for the back-end decryption. A disclaimer in the README states that the project is intended for technical learning and research only and that users are responsible for ensuring they comply with applicable laws.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I want to download a WeChat Channels video on my Mac, walk me through installing wx_channels_download, trusting the local certificate, starting the proxy, and saving my first video.
Prompt 2
After installing wx_channels_download and starting the proxy, exactly what steps do I follow inside WeChat desktop to make the download button appear on a video?
Prompt 3
The download button in wx_channels_download only offers the lowest quality, how do I use the quality dropdown to select a higher resolution before downloading?
Prompt 4
What administrator permissions does wx_channels_download need on Windows, and why does it require them to install the certificate and run the proxy?
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