YDLite

YDLite is a fast Windows video downloader desktop app powered by yt-dlp and ffmpeg.

Paste a video URL, preview metadata first, choose a format or playlist items, and download locally with clear progress. YDLite is built for people who want a simple YouTube downloader style workflow without a cloud queue, account login, or heavy browser extension.

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Why YDLite

Many video downloader tools are either command-line only, browser-based, or unclear about what is happening during a download. YDLite wraps the reliability of yt-dlp in a lightweight Windows desktop interface.

YDLite focuses on:

• Fast startup with no automatic yt-dlp or ffmpeg scan on launch.
• Local-first downloads: links, cookies, history, and files stay on your machine.
• Preview before download: title, thumbnail, duration, source, playlist entries, and available formats.
• Windows-friendly MP4 output with M4A/AAC audio defaults to avoid common Opus playback issues.
• Visible progress with percent, speed, ETA, total size, output path, and logs.
• Optional cookies.txt support for private, login-gated, or region-limited videos.

Features

Feature	What it does
Link parsing	Reads video metadata before downloading, including playlist information when available.
MP4 defaults	Prefers mp4 video plus m4a/AAC audio for better Windows player compatibility.
Format selection	Choose available video formats or audio-only output when supported by the source.
Playlist control	Select playlist entries and process them through a simple serial queue.
Manual tool check	Check yt-dlp and ffmpeg only when needed, keeping startup immediate.
Guided setup	Install or update local tools from inside the app.
Cookie support	Use cookies.txt when a video requires authentication or stricter access.
Download history	Keep recent completed files with quick access to the output folder.

Download

Get the latest Windows build from the landing page:

https://ydlite.pages.dev

Available installer files:

• YDLite_0.1.0_x64-setup.exe
• YDLite_0.1.0_x64_en-US.msi

How It Works

1. Paste a video URL.
2. Click Parse to preview metadata and formats.
3. Choose a save folder and output mode.
4. Download with live progress.
5. Open the finished file or output folder from history.

YDLite delegates extraction and downloading to yt-dlp, then uses ffmpeg when merging or converting media is required.

Download Strategy

The default video format selection is designed for Windows playback compatibility:

bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/bv*[vcodec^=avc1]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4]/bv*+ba/b

This prioritizes MP4 video with M4A/AAC audio. If a site does not provide those formats, YDLite falls back to the best available yt-dlp output.

Downloads also use:

--merge-output-format mp4 --no-playlist --newline -N 4 --windows-filenames --restrict-filenames

Requirements

For users:

• Windows 10 or Windows 11
• yt-dlp
• ffmpeg

YDLite can install tools into:

<ydlite.exe directory>\tools\

Tool lookup order:

1. YDLITE_YTDLP and YDLITE_FFMPEG environment variables
2. <ydlite.exe directory>/tools/yt-dlp.exe
3. <ydlite.exe directory>/tools/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.exe
4. System PATH

For developers:

• Node.js 20+
• Rust stable
• Tauri 2 Windows prerequisites

Tech Stack

• Tauri 2
• Vue 3
• TypeScript
• Rust
• Vite
• GSAP for landing page motion
• Cloudflare Pages for the landing page

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Run the Tauri app:

npm run tauri dev

Build the landing page:

npm run build

Build the Tauri frontend:

npm run build:app

Build Windows installers:

npm run tauri build

Tauri bundles are generated under:

src-tauri/target/release/bundle

Project Structure

src/                  Vue desktop app and landing page
src-tauri/src/        Rust commands, downloader, progress parser, tool setup
src-tauri/icons/      App icon
public/downloads/     Windows installer files served by the landing page
public/landing/       Landing page product screenshots

FAQ

Is YDLite a YouTube downloader?

YDLite supports links that yt-dlp supports, including many video platforms. Platform availability depends on yt-dlp, the source site, and whether the video requires login cookies.

Does YDLite upload videos or URLs to a server?

No. YDLite is a local Windows desktop app. Downloads run on your machine through yt-dlp and ffmpeg.

Why does YDLite prefer MP4 and AAC?

Some Windows players do not handle Opus audio inside downloaded files well. YDLite prefers MP4 video with M4A/AAC audio when available for better out-of-the-box playback.

Why are tool checks manual?

Startup should feel instant. YDLite does not scan for yt-dlp and ffmpeg automatically on launch; use the Check button when you need to verify or install tools.

Can YDLite download private videos?

If yt-dlp can access the video with cookies, YDLite can use a cookies.txt file. Access depends on the source platform and your account permissions.

Search and AI Summary

YDLite is a Windows video downloader and yt-dlp GUI built with Tauri, Vue, TypeScript, and Rust. It is useful for local video downloads, MP4 downloads, playlist downloads, ffmpeg-based merging, cookies.txt access, and users who want a lightweight desktop alternative to command-line yt-dlp.

Deployment

The landing page is deployed to Cloudflare Pages:

npm run build
npx wrangler pages deploy dist --project-name ydlite --branch main --commit-dirty=true

Before deploying a public build, copy fresh Tauri bundles into public/downloads.

License

YDLite is licensed under the MIT License.