YouTube Video Downloading

GatherHub supports downloading YouTube videos, including private, unlisted, and age-restricted content. This page explains how to configure GatherHub to properly download YouTube videos using your account credentials.

YouTube Authentication

To download YouTube videos that are:

Age-restricted
Private (shared with your account)
Unlisted
Available only to logged-in users

You need to provide GatherHub with your YouTube authentication cookies from a browser where you're logged into YouTube.

Important: YouTube cookies contain sensitive authentication information. GatherHub stores these cookies locally on your device and does not transmit them to any third parties. You can delete these cookies at any time from the Cookie Settings page.

Cookie Requirements

For YouTube downloads to work properly, your cookies file must:

Be in the standard Netscape cookies.txt format
Contain cookies for youtube.com domains
Include essential authentication cookies (LOGIN_INFO, SID, HSID, SSID)
Be reasonably fresh (cookies typically expire after 14 days)

GatherHub validates these requirements when you upload a cookies file.

How to Configure YouTube Authentication

Step 1: Export Your YouTube Cookies

The recommended way to export cookies is using a browser extension:

Chrome/Edge

Install Get cookies.txt extension
Log in to YouTube in your browser
Navigate to youtube.com
Click the extension icon
Click "Export" to download cookies.txt

Firefox

Install Cookies.txt add-on
Log in to YouTube in your browser
Navigate to youtube.com
Click the add-on icon
Click "Save" to download cookies.txt

Step 2: Upload Your Cookies File

In GatherHub, go to Settings > Cookie Settings
Click "Upload Cookies" button
Select your cookies.txt file
Click "Upload"

GatherHub will validate your cookies file and confirm if it contains valid YouTube authentication information.

Step 3: Verify Cookie Status

After uploading, check that:

The status shows "YouTube cookies detected"
No validation errors are reported

Cookie Lifecycle

YouTube cookies typically expire after about 14 days. You may need to update your cookies periodically if you notice that downloads of restricted videos start to fail.

Event	Action Required
Initial setup	Export and upload cookies as described above
Every ~14 days	Export new cookies and upload again
YouTube login changes	Re-export and upload cookies
Browser cleared cookies	Log in to YouTube again, then export and upload

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Problem	Possible Cause	Solution
No YouTube cookies found	Not logged in when exporting cookies	Log in to YouTube first, then export cookies
Invalid cookie format	Incorrect export method	Use a browser extension that exports in Netscape format
Missing essential cookies	Partial export or logged out	Clear browser cookies, log in again, then export
Cookies too old	Cookie file was exported more than 14 days ago	Export fresh cookies and upload again
Still can't access restricted videos	Video requires specific account access	Make sure the YouTube account has access to the video

Cookie Validation

When you upload cookies, GatherHub validates:

File format (Netscape cookies.txt)
Presence of YouTube domain cookies
Essential authentication cookies
File age (warns if older than 14 days)

If validation fails, you'll see specific error messages to help you troubleshoot.

Security Considerations

GatherHub implements several security measures for YouTube cookies:

Cookies are stored with restricted permissions (0600)
Cookies are only stored locally
You can delete cookies at any time
No data is sent to third-party services

Advanced Configuration

If you're using the GatherHub API or command-line interface, you can specify the path to your cookies file:

# Using a specific cookies file for a download
./gatherhub --download https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXAMPLE --cookies /path/to/cookies.txt

# In your config.toml
[storage]
cookies_path = "/path/to/cookies.txt"