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[PO Token Guide] Update with details on subtitles PO Token (#55)
coletdjnz
GitHub
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
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# YouTube PO Token Guide
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> [!TIP]
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> TL;DR recommended setup: Either use a [plugin](#plugins), or [manual extraction](#guide-providing-a-po-token-manually-for-use-with-mweb-client), to provide the `mweb` client with a [PO Token for GVS requests](#cases-where-a-po-token-is-required).
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> TL;DR recommended setup: Either use a [PO Token Provider plugin](#po-token-provider-plugins), or [manual extraction](#guide-providing-a-po-token-manually-for-use-with-mweb-client), to provide the `mweb` client with a [PO Token for GVS requests](#cases-where-a-po-token-is-required).
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>
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> See the notice in the [YouTube Extractor Wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Extractors#youtube) for more information on the current state of downloading videos from YouTube.
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@@ -13,16 +13,17 @@
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* [Introduction](#introduction)
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* [Cases where a PO Token is required](#cases-where-a-po-token-is-required)
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* [Current PO Token enforcement](#current-po-token-enforcement)
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* [Guide: Providing a PO Token manually (for use with `web` client)](#guide-providing-a-po-token-manually-for-use-with-web-client)
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* [PO Token Provider Plugins](#po-token-provider-plugins)
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* [Featured Plugins](#featured-plugins)
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* [Guide: Providing a PO Token manually (for use with `mweb` client)](#guide-providing-a-po-token-manually-for-use-with-mweb-client)
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* [PO Token for GVS](#po-token-for-gvs)
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* [No account](#no-account)
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* [With an account](#with-an-account)
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* [PO Token for Player](#po-token-for-player)
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* [Plugins](#plugins)
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* [PO Token for Player or Subs](#po-token-for-player-or-subs)
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* [Other PO Token related tools](#other-po-token-related-tools)
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* [Technical details](#technical-details)
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* [PO Tokens for GVS](#po-tokens-for-gvs)
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* [PO Tokens for Player](#po-tokens-for-player)
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* [PO Tokens for Player and Subs](#po-tokens-for-player-and-subs)
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<!-- TOC -->
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@@ -41,31 +42,45 @@ For more technical details on these tokens, refer to the [technical details sect
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There are currently two cases yt-dlp may require PO Tokens for video downloads, [depending on the client used](#current-po-token-enforcement):
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- GVS: Google Video Server requests
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- Player: Innertube `player` requests
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- Subs: Subtitle requests
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The PO Tokens may be generated differently for each of these cases, depending on the client.
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### Current PO Token enforcement
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YouTube is at present rolling out changes to enforce PO Tokens for video playback. Currently, only GVS requires PO Tokens for some clients.
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YouTube is at present rolling out changes to enforce PO Tokens for video playback. Currently, only GVS and Subs require PO Tokens for some clients.
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| Client | PO Token for GVS Required | PO Token for Player Required | Notes |
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|----------------|---------------------------|------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
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| `web` | Yes | No | Only SABR formats available |
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| `web_safari` | Yes* | No | |
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| `mweb` | Yes | No | |
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| `tv` | No | No | |
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| `tv_embedded` | No | No | Requires account cookies |
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| `web_embedded` | No | No | Only embeddable videos available |
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| `web_music` | Yes | No | |
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| `web_creator` | Yes | No | Requires account cookies |
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| `android` | Yes | ? | Account cookies not supported |
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| `android_vr` | No | No | YouTube Kids videos are not available |
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| `ios` | Yes* | ? | Account cookies not supported |
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| Client | PO Token for GVS Required | PO Token for Player Required | PO Token for Subs required | Notes |
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|----------------|---------------------------|------------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
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| `web` | Yes | No | Sometimes (A/B test) | Only SABR formats available |
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| `web_safari` | Yes* | No | Sometimes (A/B test) | |
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| `mweb` | Yes | No | No | |
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| `tv` | No | No | No | All formats may have DRM if you request too much |
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| `tv_embedded` | No | No | No | Requires account cookies |
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| `web_embedded` | No | No | No | Only embeddable videos available |
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| `web_music` | Yes | No | No | |
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| `web_creator` | Yes | No | No | Requires account cookies |
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| `android` | Yes? | ? | No | Account cookies not supported |
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| `android_vr` | No | No | No | YouTube Kids videos are not available |
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| `ios` | Yes?* | ? | No | Account cookies not supported |
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*Client provides HLS (m3u8) formats which do not require PO Token for GVS at this time.
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You can select what client to use with the [`player_client` extractor argument](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#youtube).
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## PO Token Provider Plugins
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Manually fetching PO Tokens can be a tedious process. As an alternative, you can install a PO Token Provider plugin to handle fetching PO Tokens automatically.
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### Featured Plugins
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- [bgutil-ytdlp-pot-provider](https://github.com/Brainicism/bgutil-ytdlp-pot-provider) by [Brainicism](https://github.com/Brainicism)
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- A PO Token Provider which uses [BgUtils](https://github.com/LuanRT/BgUtils) to generate PO Tokens. _Not affiliated with yt-dlp._
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Check out the [yt-dlp-pot-provider GitHub topic](https://github.com/topics/yt-dlp-pot-provider) for more PO Token Provider plugins.
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For developers, refer to the [PO Token Provider developer documentation](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/tree/master/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube/pot/README.md)
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## Guide: Providing a PO Token manually (for use with `mweb` client)
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This section provides a basic guide on extracting PO Token(s) manually from YouTube in a web browser **for use with the `mweb` client**, and manually passing it to yt-dlp via the [`po_token` extractor argument](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#youtube).
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@@ -105,30 +120,25 @@ Addendum:
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- This should not be the case for YouTube Music or YouTube Embedded - if so, please raise an issue, so we can update these docs.
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### PO Token for Player
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### PO Token for Player or Subs
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The PO Token for `web`/`mweb` Player requests is tied to the Video ID. This means you must generate a new PO Token for each video.
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> [!NOTE]
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> If you are using the `web` client and have not disabled the `webpage` request, providing this PO Token is not necessary at this time.
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The PO Token for `web`/`mweb` Player or Subs requests is tied to the Video ID. This means you must generate a new PO Token for each video.
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1. Open [YouTube Web](https://www.youtube.com) in a browser.
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2. Open the developer console (F12), then go to the "Network" tab and filter by `v1/player`
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3. Navigate to the video you want to download (e.g. using search - do not go to the video url directly as the page will refresh)
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4. In the request payload JSON, find the PO Token at `serviceIntegrityDimensions.poToken` and save that value
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5. Export cookies from the browser
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6. Pass the PO Token for Player to yt-dlp using `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=default,mweb;po_token=mweb.player+PO_TOKEN_VALUE_HERE"`
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## Plugins
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**For Subs PO Token:**
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- Pass the PO Token for Subs to yt-dlp using `--extractor-args "youtube:po_token=web.subs+PO_TOKEN_VALUE_HERE"`
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Manually fetching PO Tokens can be a tedious process. Alternatively, you can use a plugin that hooks into the YouTube extractor to handle fetching a PO Token.
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**For Player PO Token:**
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> [!NOTE]
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> If you are using the `web` client and have not disabled the `webpage` request, providing this PO Token is not necessary at this time.
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- [yt-dlp-get-pot](https://github.com/coletdjnz/yt-dlp-get-pot) by [coletdjnz](https://github.com/coletdjnz)
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- An experimental plugin framework for yt-dlp to support fetching PO Tokens from external providers. _Maintained by a yt-dlp maintainer._
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- [bgutil-ytdlp-pot-provider](https://github.com/Brainicism/bgutil-ytdlp-pot-provider) by [Brainicism](https://github.com/Brainicism)
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- A [yt-dlp-get-pot](https://github.com/coletdjnz/yt-dlp-get-pot) provider which uses [BgUtils](https://github.com/LuanRT/BgUtils) to generate PO Tokens. _Not affiliated with yt-dlp._
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- Pass the PO Token for Player to yt-dlp using `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=default,mweb;po_token=mweb.player+PO_TOKEN_VALUE_HERE"`
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See the [yt-dlp-plugins GitHub topic](https://github.com/topics/yt-dlp-plugins) and the [yt-dlp plugin wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Plugins) to explore more yt-dlp plugins.
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## Other PO Token related tools
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@@ -157,8 +167,8 @@ If a video download fails with an HTTP 403 midway through, then the client likel
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These PO Tokens are only valid for a limited time (usually at least 12 hours), so it will need to be refreshed periodically. However, some reports suggest that the token may be valid for many days.
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### PO Tokens for Player
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### PO Tokens for Player and Subs
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Web Tokens for player requests are bound to the video ID the associated `/player` request is for. YouTube has only recently started generating these for some clients (e.g. `web`).
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Web Tokens for player (and subtitles) requests are bound to the video ID the associated `/player` request is for. YouTube has only recently started generating these for some clients (e.g. `web`).
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As of writing, some clients, such as `web_music` use a session-bound PO Token for player requests. This is likely to change.
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