YouTube archiving made simple.
To install Yark, simply download Python 3.9+ and FFmpeg (optional), then run the following:
$ pip3 install yarkOnce you've installed Yark, think of a name for your archive (e.g., "foobar") and copy the target's url:
$ yark new foobar https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSMdm6bUYIBN0KfS2CVuEPANow that you've created the archive, you can tell Yark to download all videos and metadata using the refresh command:
$ yark refresh foobarOnce everything has been downloaded, Yark will automatically give you a status report of what's changed since the last refresh:
Viewing you archive is easy, just type view with your archives name:
$ yark view foobarThis will pop up an offline website in your browser letting you watch all videos 🚀
Under each video is a rich history report filled with timelines and graphs, as well as a noting feature which lets you add timestamped and permalinked comments 👐
Light and dark modes are both available and automatically apply based on the system's theme.
Here are some things to keep in mind when using Yark; the good and the bad:
- Don't create a new archive again if you just want to update it, Yark accumulates all new metadata for you via timestamps
- Feel free to suggest new features via the issues tab on this repository
- Scheduling isn't a feature just yet, please use
cronor something similar!
The archive format itself is simple and consists of a directory-based structure with a core metadata file and all thumbnail/video data in their own directories as typical files:
[name]/– Your self-contained archiveyark.json– Archive file with all metadatayark.bak– Backup archive file to protect against data damagevideos/– Directory containing all known videos[id].*– Files containing video data for YouTube videos
thumbnails/– Directory containing all known thumbnails[hash].png– Files containing thumbnails with its hash
It's best to take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with your archive by looking at files which look interesting to you in it, everything is quite readable.