yt-dlp-rpc

(yt-dlp) Proof-of-concept RPC server implementation

This is an example server program (written in Python) implementing basic RPC logic for the yt-dlp program.

The goal is to keep yt-dlp loaded in memory, cutting away any overheads and delays coming from a Python interpreter and disk I/O.

Requires the aiohttp Python library to be installed, in addition to all yt-dlp dependencies (except optional ones).

How to use:

1. Clone the yt-dlp repository
2. Place server.py in the yt-dlp/yt_dlp folder
3. Run server.py

By default, it binds to:

ip_server = '127.0.0.1'
port_number = 9120

The server waits for POST requests containing yt-dlp parameters.

Additional Usage Examples

The server handles two GET requests:

Get the video title and duration:

/?get_title=1&url=<youtube_url>

• URL must be URL-encoded
• Fetches the URL, looking for the title and duration variables. Implemented in a dumb way - without using yt-dlp
• The result is a text response containing a JSON array with "title" and "duration" values

Get player information:

/?get_player=1&url=<youtube_url>

• Invokes the yt-dlp module, requesting video information in JSON format (-J)
• This is an example, all options are hardcoded inside server.py itself.

yt-dlp-rpc.cpp

Contains an example program to interface with this server. It takes normal command-line options (as if you were calling yt-dlp directly), passes them to the server, and returns the result. Obviosly, interactive functionality will not be available here. Not even the progress bar. It can be used as a standalone program or in combination with the MPV player:

Add to your mpv.conf file:

script-opts=ytdl_hook-ytdl_path=<path to the rpc-client program>

Tested both on Windows and Linux.

SECURITY NOTICE!

This server does not have any built-in security features!

• It does not filter the input by any means
• It allows all yt-dlp flags to be used
• This POC is a potential security vector that can allow malicious actors to do harmful things to your system

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!