youtube-song-downloader

name	youtube-song-downloader
description	Find YouTube links for requested songs, save links to a text file, and download them as opus using yt-dlp. Use when user says "download song", "get this song", "find and download music", "youtube song", or requests specific songs to download.

YouTube Song Downloader

Find songs on YouTube, collect their links in a text file, and download them as opus files using yt-dlp.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user requests:

• "Download [song name] by [artist]"
• "Get me these songs from YouTube"
• "Find and download this music"
• "Add [song] to my download list"
• Any request to find YouTube links for songs and download them

Instructions

Step 1: Gather Song Requests

Ask the user which songs they want to download. Get:

• Song title
• Artist name (helps find the right version)
• Any preferences (live version, acoustic, remix, etc.)

Step 2: Search YouTube for Each Song

IMPORTANT: Always use the Chrome DevTools MCP tools (mcp__chrome-devtools__*), NOT Playwright tools. Chrome DevTools shares cookies with the local Chrome browser, which is required for yt-dlp authentication.

Use the Chrome DevTools MCP tools to search YouTube directly for each song:

1. Navigate to YouTube search: Use mcp__chrome-devtools__navigate_page to go to:

   https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=[song title] [artist] official audio
   

   URL-encode the search query (spaces become + or %20).

2. Take a snapshot: Use mcp__chrome-devtools__take_snapshot to capture the search results page.

3. Extract the video URL: From the snapshot, find the first relevant video result. Look for elements with video links in the format /watch?v=VIDEO_ID. The full URL will be:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
   

4. Repeat for each song: Navigate to a new search for each song in the list.

Tips for finding the right video:

• Look for results with "Official Audio", "Official Video", or the artist's verified channel
• Prefer shorter videos for songs (3-7 minutes typically) over compilations
• Avoid "lyrics" videos unless specifically requested

Valid YouTube URLs look like:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID

Step 3: Create Links File and Song Mapping

Create two files in the current directory:

1. songs.txt - One YouTube URL per line:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=def456
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghi789

2. song_mapping.txt - Tab-separated mapping of URL to song name and artist for renaming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123	Song Name 1	Artist 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=def456	Song Name 2	Artist 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghi789	Song Name 3	Artist 3

Show the user the list of songs and their URLs before proceeding.

Step 4: Download Songs with yt-dlp

Run yt-dlp to download all songs from the links file, using Chrome's cookies for authentication:

yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome -x --audio-format opus --audio-quality 0 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" -a songs.txt

Flag explanations:

• --cookies-from-browser chrome: Use cookies from Chrome browser (handles age-restricted/login-required videos)
• -x: Extract audio only
• --audio-format opus: Convert to opus (smaller files, good quality)
• --audio-quality 0: Best quality
• -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s": Name files by video title
• -a songs.txt: Read URLs from the links file

Step 5: Re-encode with ffmpeg (Required)

IMPORTANT: yt-dlp's opus encoding can cause playback issues with some devices (e.g., Yoto players). Always re-encode the downloaded files with ffmpeg to ensure compatibility:

for f in *.opus; do
  ffmpeg -y -i "$f" -c:a libopus -b:a 128k "${f%.opus}_temp.opus" 2>/dev/null && mv "${f%.opus}_temp.opus" "$f"
done

This re-encodes each opus file in place, fixing any encoding quirks from yt-dlp.

Step 6: Rename Files

Rename downloaded files from YouTube titles to the standardized format {Song Name} - {Artist}.opus.

Use the song_mapping.txt file to match each downloaded file to its proper name. For each entry in the mapping:

1. Find the downloaded file (yt-dlp names files by video title)
2. Rename to: {Song Name} - {Artist}.opus

Example renaming:

# Original: "Bohemian Rhapsody (Official Video Remastered).opus"
# Renamed:  "Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen.opus"

Note: Use the mv command to rename files. Handle special characters in filenames by quoting paths.

Step 7: Report Results

After download completes:

1. List the downloaded files
2. Report any failures
3. Keep songs.txt for reference

Examples

Example 1: Single Song

User: "Download 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen"

Actions:

1. Search YouTube for "Bohemian Rhapsody Queen official audio" using Chrome DevTools MCP
2. Find URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ
3. Create songs.txt with that URL
4. Create song_mapping.txt:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ	Bohemian Rhapsody	Queen
   

5. Run: yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome -x --audio-format opus --audio-quality 0 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" -a songs.txt
6. Re-encode with ffmpeg for compatibility
7. Rename file to Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen.opus
8. Report: "Downloaded: Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen.opus"

Example 2: Multiple Songs

User: "Get me these songs:

• 'Stairway to Heaven' by Led Zeppelin
• 'Hotel California' by Eagles
• 'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd"

Actions:

1. Search YouTube for each song using Chrome DevTools MCP
2. Create songs.txt:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkF3oxziUI4
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BciS5krYL80
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FrOQC-zEog
   

3. Create song_mapping.txt:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkF3oxziUI4	Stairway to Heaven	Led Zeppelin
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BciS5krYL80	Hotel California	Eagles
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FrOQC-zEog	Comfortably Numb	Pink Floyd
   

4. Show user the list for confirmation
5. Download all with single yt-dlp command
6. Re-encode with ffmpeg
7. Rename files:
   • Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin.opus
   • Hotel California - Eagles.opus
   • Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd.opus

Example 3: Specific Version

User: "Download the live version of 'Purple Rain' by Prince"

Actions:

1. Search "Purple Rain Prince live performance"
2. Find appropriate live performance URL
3. Create links file and download

Technical Details

• Dependencies: yt-dlp and ffmpeg must be installed (brew install yt-dlp ffmpeg)
• Browser tools: Always use Chrome DevTools MCP (mcp__chrome-devtools__*), NOT Playwright. Chrome DevTools uses the same profile as your local Chrome browser.
• Authentication: yt-dlp uses --cookies-from-browser chrome to access your Chrome cookies, enabling download of age-restricted or login-required videos
• Output format: opus (smaller files than mp3, excellent quality)
• Output location: Current working directory
• Links file: songs.txt in current directory
• Mapping file: song_mapping.txt - tracks URL to song name and artist for renaming
• File naming: {Song Name} - {Artist}.opus (e.g., Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen.opus)
• Re-encoding: Required to fix yt-dlp encoding quirks that cause playback issues on some devices (e.g., Yoto players)

Troubleshooting

yt-dlp not found

brew install yt-dlp

Download fails for a specific video

• Video may be region-locked or age-restricted
• Try searching for an alternative upload
• Check if video is available in your region

Poor audio quality

The --audio-quality 0 flag already requests best quality. Some videos may have lower source quality.

Notes

• Always confirm the YouTube links with the user before downloading
• Some videos may have ads or intros - the full video audio is downloaded
• yt-dlp respects YouTube's rate limiting automatically
• Files are renamed from YouTube titles to {Song Name} - {Artist}.opus format for clean organization
• Always re-encode with ffmpeg after downloading - yt-dlp's direct opus output can have encoding quirks that cause playback failures on some devices
• Keep song_mapping.txt for reference when renaming files