fix: a YouTube video behind the bot wall is downloadable with cookies

A YouTube link can fail with "Sign in to confirm you're not a bot" while every
other YouTube download works — YouTube gates INDIVIDUAL videos behind a
signed-in session. Measured on prod job 273: all twelve of yt-dlp's player
clients fail on that one video while its neighbours download fine, the bgutil
PO-token sidecar is live and answering, and the newest yt-dlp fails identically.
So the download is not broken by our stack or a stale yt-dlp, and no retry,
client switch or upgrade gets past it. A cookie is the only way in.

The failure copy already sends the user to Settings -> Account -> Download
authentication, but YouTube was not in the cookie host registry, so that
dropdown could not help them: the app asked for something it did not offer.

credentials: YouTube joins SUPPORTED_HOSTS (youtube.com, youtu.be,
youtube-nocookie.com). The Settings dropdown, the SEC-12 host scope and the
private-asset cache salt all derive from the row, so that is the whole wiring.

adapters: a signed-in YouTube download runs only cookie-capable player clients.
Measured against yt-dlp's own INNERTUBE_CLIENTS table: with account cookies
attached yt-dlp REMOVES every client whose SUPPORTS_COOKIES is False, and a set
it empties that way raises "No player clients have been requested" — which is
not a per-client flake it retries past. Our primary set is android_vr, one of
those, so without this the cookie would have failed the download on attempt 1
and never reached the POT-backed web fallback it exists for. A test pins the
client list against the installed yt-dlp so a version bump turns the gate red
instead of silently un-authing every YouTube download, and the empty-set message
joins the retriable markers as the second line of defence.

errors: catalog entries for the wall with and without a cookie, so a user who
has already added cookies is told they were rejected (YouTube rotates exported
ones) rather than to add some. The marker is quote-agnostic: YouTube writes the
apostrophe as U+2019, so "you're not a bot" with a straight quote never matches
the real text. EN + HU copy.
This commit is contained in:
2026-09-16 02:03:00 +02:00
parent 595490cb98
commit 864f673ef5
9 changed files with 182 additions and 6 deletions
+3
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@@ -155,6 +155,9 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
# per-client responses are flaky, and android_vr can get bot-flagged under heavy load) the
# worker retries with the FALLBACK set — the POT-capable web clients (web needs the token +
# Deno) plus android for audio. Both admin-tunable when YouTube shifts what works.
# A SIGNED-IN download (the user added YouTube cookies) keeps only the cookie-capable clients
# of these two sets — yt-dlp drops the rest, so android_vr / android / ios never run there.
# See adapters.YouTubeAdapter._COOKIE_CAPABLE.
download_player_clients: str = "android_vr"
download_player_clients_fallback: str = "web_safari,web,android"
+32 -3
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@@ -93,12 +93,41 @@ class YouTubeAdapter(SourceAdapter):
"Requested format is not available",
"Only images are available",
"Sign in to confirm",
# A set yt-dlp emptied because none of its clients take cookies. `client_sets` filters those
# out below, so this is the safety net for a yt-dlp that renames a client or an admin who
# configures both knobs with cookie-incapable clients only.
"No player clients have been requested",
)
# Measured against yt-dlp's own INNERTUBE_CLIENTS table (2026-09-16, on 2026.07.04 and
# 2026.08.19): with account cookies attached yt-dlp REMOVES every client whose SUPPORTS_COOKIES
# is False, and a set left empty raises "No player clients have been requested". Our primary set
# is android_vr — one of those — so a signed-in download would fail on the first attempt and
# never reach the POT-backed web fallback that the cookie exists for. Pinned by test_adapters
# against the installed yt-dlp, so a version bump that moves the table turns the gate red
# instead of silently un-authing every YouTube download.
_COOKIE_CAPABLE = frozenset(
{
"mweb",
"tv",
"tv_downgraded",
"web",
"web_creator",
"web_embedded",
"web_music",
"web_safari",
}
)
# Where a signed-in download lands when the admin's knobs hold no cookie-capable client at all.
# Both clients in ONE set: yt-dlp queries each and merges their formats, which is the cover for
# the per-client flakiness that the two-tier ladder gives a signed-out download.
_AUTHED_DEFAULT = ("web_safari", "web")
def client_sets(self, authed: bool = False) -> list:
return [
c for c in (settings.player_client_list, settings.player_client_fallback_list) if c
] or [None]
sets = [c for c in (settings.player_client_list, settings.player_client_fallback_list) if c]
if authed:
kept = [[c for c in s if c in self._COOKIE_CAPABLE] for s in sets]
return [s for s in kept if s] or [list(self._AUTHED_DEFAULT)]
return sets or [None]
def ydl_opts_extra(self, clients) -> dict:
# == --extractor-args "youtube:player_client=…;youtubepot-bgutilhttp:base_url=…" (list values).
+5
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@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ class HostSpec:
# all derive from this, so there is nothing else to wire up.
SUPPORTED_HOSTS: tuple[HostSpec, ...] = (
HostSpec("facebook", "Facebook", ("facebook.com", "fb.watch")),
# YouTube gates INDIVIDUAL videos behind "Sign in to confirm you're not a bot" (measured on prod
# job 273: every player client fails on that one video while its neighbours download fine, and
# the newest yt-dlp fails the same way — a signed-in session is the only way through). Without a
# row here the `login_required` copy sent the user to a dropdown that could not help them.
HostSpec("youtube", "YouTube", ("youtube.com", "youtu.be", "youtube-nocookie.com")),
HostSpec("instagram", "Instagram", ("instagram.com",)),
HostSpec("twitter", "X (Twitter)", ("twitter.com", "x.com")),
HostSpec("tiktok", "TikTok", ("tiktok.com",)),
+24
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@@ -212,6 +212,30 @@ _CATALOG: tuple[_Entry, ...] = (
cookie=False,
link=facebook_group_post_id,
),
# YouTube gates INDIVIDUAL videos behind "Sign in to confirm you're not a bot" (measured on prod
# job 273, a festival set: all 12 of yt-dlp's player clients fail on that one video while its
# neighbours download fine, the POT sidecar is live and answering, and the newest yt-dlp fails
# identically — so this is the video's own signed-out gate, not a broken stack or a stale yt-dlp).
# The marker is quote-agnostic on purpose: YouTube writes the apostrophe as U+2019, so
# "you're not a bot" with a straight quote never matches the real text.
_Entry(
host="youtube",
markers=("[youtube]", "not a bot"),
code="login_required",
detail="youtube.bot_wall",
cookie=False,
),
# The same wall WITH a cookie. Not yet reproduced with a real YouTube cookie (this user's first
# one is being added now) — but "add cookies" is provably the wrong advice for someone who has,
# and yt-dlp names the likeliest cause itself: "The provided YouTube account cookies are no
# longer valid. They have likely been rotated in the browser as a security measure."
_Entry(
host="youtube",
markers=("[youtube]", "not a bot"),
code="login_required",
detail="youtube.cookie_rejected",
cookie=True,
),
)
+35
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@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
"""Per-source adapter selection + the source-specific policy each one carries. These lock the
behaviour that used to live inline in worker.build_uploader_url / backfill._should_refetch."""
from app.config import settings
from app.titles import normalize_title
from app.downloads.adapters import (
FacebookAdapter,
@@ -111,6 +112,9 @@ def test_client_sets_and_retriable_are_per_source():
assert SourceAdapter().retriable("Sign in to confirm you're not a bot") is False
assert YouTubeAdapter().retriable("Sign in to confirm you're not a bot") is True
assert YouTubeAdapter().retriable("some unrelated network blip") is False
# The empty-set error of a cookie-incapable client list (see _COOKIE_CAPABLE): retriable, so an
# admin who configures one still gets the next set tried instead of a hard failure.
assert YouTubeAdapter().retriable("ERROR: No player clients have been requested") is True
# Facebook: a second, Chrome-impersonating attempt only WITH the user's cookie, and only behind
# the parse wall (without a cookie that wall is the login wall — no disguise gets past it).
fb = FacebookAdapter()
@@ -121,6 +125,37 @@ def test_client_sets_and_retriable_are_per_source():
assert fb.retriable("ERROR: [facebook] 1: No video formats found!") is False
def test_a_signed_in_youtube_download_only_runs_cookie_capable_clients(monkeypatch):
yt = YouTubeAdapter()
monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "download_player_clients", "android_vr")
monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "download_player_clients_fallback", "web_safari,web,android")
# Signed out: the admin's ladder exactly as configured.
assert yt.client_sets() == [["android_vr"], ["web_safari", "web", "android"]]
# Signed in: yt-dlp REMOVES every client that takes no cookies, and a set it empties that way
# raises "No player clients have been requested" — which would fail the download on attempt 1,
# before the POT-backed web fallback the cookie exists for. So the adapter never asks for one:
# the android_vr-only set is gone and `android` is dropped out of the fallback.
assert yt.client_sets(authed=True) == [["web_safari", "web"]]
def test_a_signed_in_download_still_has_clients_when_the_admin_configured_none(monkeypatch):
# Both knobs cookie-incapable: fall back to the POT-backed web pair rather than no attempt at all.
monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "download_player_clients", "android_vr")
monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "download_player_clients_fallback", "android,ios")
assert YouTubeAdapter().client_sets(authed=True) == [["web_safari", "web"]]
def test_the_cookie_capable_clients_match_the_installed_ytdlp():
# The list is yt-dlp's, not ours (INNERTUBE_CLIENTS[...]["SUPPORTS_COOKIES"]). Pinned here so a
# yt-dlp bump that renames or re-flags a client turns the gate red, instead of silently sending
# a signed-in download to a client that drops the cookie.
from yt_dlp.extractor.youtube._base import INNERTUBE_CLIENTS
live = {k for k, v in INNERTUBE_CLIENTS.items() if v.get("SUPPORTS_COOKIES")}
assert live == set(YouTubeAdapter._COOKIE_CAPABLE)
assert set(YouTubeAdapter._AUTHED_DEFAULT) <= live
def test_youtube_ydl_opts_extra_carries_player_client_and_pot():
ea = YouTubeAdapter().ydl_opts_extra(["android_vr"])["extractor_args"]
assert ea["youtube"]["player_client"] == ["android_vr"]
+20 -3
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@@ -39,13 +39,23 @@ class TestHostKeyForUrl:
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=1") == "facebook"
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://fb.watch/abc/") == "facebook"
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://x.com/i/status/1") == "twitter"
# YouTube gates individual videos behind its bot check; the cookie is the only way past it.
for url in (
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc",
"https://youtu.be/abc",
"https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=abc",
"https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/abc",
):
assert credentials.host_key_for_url(url) == "youtube", url
def test_look_alike_host_never_matches(self):
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://myfacebook.com/x") is None
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://facebook.com.evil.test/x") is None
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://notyoutube.com/watch?v=abc") is None
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://youtube.com.evil.test/x") is None
def test_unrelated_or_empty_url_has_no_host_key(self):
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc") is None
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("https://vimeo.com/123456") is None
assert credentials.host_key_for_url("") is None
assert credentials.host_key_for_url(None) is None
@@ -229,9 +239,16 @@ class TestResolveCookiefile:
credentials.upsert_credential(db, u.id, "facebook", COOKIES)
db.commit()
spec = formats.normalize({})
# A YouTube URL has no supported host_key -> no cookie regardless of what's stored.
yt = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc"
# A URL of ANOTHER host (supported or not) never gets this credential's cookie. YouTube is
# a supported host in its own right now, so the case needs a host that is not.
other = "https://vimeo.com/123456"
salted = credentials.authed_format_sig(spec, u.id, "facebook")
assert (
credentials.resolve_cookiefile(db, u.id, other, self._asset_sig(salted), spec, tmp_path)
is None
)
# ...and a YouTube link gets nothing either: the stored credential is Facebook's.
yt = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc"
assert (
credentials.resolve_cookiefile(db, u.id, yt, self._asset_sig(salted), spec, tmp_path)
is None
+43
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@@ -84,6 +84,49 @@ _REEL = "https://www.facebook.com/reel/1736360027626346/?fs=e&fs=e"
_GROUP_POST = "https://www.facebook.com/groups/983554479435596/permalink/1755988225525547/?"
# Verbatim from prod job 273 (2026-09-15). YouTube writes the apostrophe as U+2019, which is why
# neither the rule nor the catalog entry may spell out "you’re" with a straight quote.
_YT_BOT_WALL = (
"ERROR: [youtube] 7JPmS_bWjhI: Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot. Use "
"--cookies-from-browser or --cookies for the authentication. See "
"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ#how-do-i-pass-cookies-to-yt-dlp for how to manually "
"pass cookies."
)
_YT = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPmS_bWjhI"
def test_youtube_bot_wall_is_that_video_own_signed_out_gate():
# Measured on prod: all 12 player clients fail on this video while its neighbours download, the
# POT sidecar answers, and the newest yt-dlp fails identically — a cookie is the only way in.
assert classify(_YT_BOT_WALL) == "login_required"
for url in (
_YT,
"https://youtu.be/7JPmS_bWjhI",
"https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/7JPmS_bWjhI",
"https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPmS_bWjhI",
):
assert dlerrors.diagnose(_YT_BOT_WALL, url=url) == (
"login_required",
"youtube.bot_wall",
), url
def test_youtube_bot_wall_with_a_cookie_is_the_cookie_refused():
# Telling a user who already gave a cookie to add one is what this entry exists to avoid.
assert dlerrors.diagnose(_YT_BOT_WALL, url=_YT, cookie_attached=True) == (
"login_required",
"youtube.cookie_rejected",
)
def test_the_youtube_entries_never_match_another_site():
# Host-scoped: the same words about a Facebook link stay the bare category.
assert dlerrors.diagnose(
"ERROR: [facebook] 1: Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot",
url="https://www.facebook.com/reel/1/",
) == ("login_required", None)
def test_facebook_cannot_parse_data_is_the_login_wall_without_a_cookie():
for url in (
_REEL,
@@ -304,6 +304,16 @@
"short": "No video found in this post",
"body": "We couldn't find a single downloadable video in this group post. If it does have one, open the video on Facebook and paste its link."
}
},
"youtube": {
"bot_wall": {
"short": "YouTube sign-in required",
"body": "YouTube only serves this video to a signed-in viewer — it asks the downloader to confirm it isn't a bot. Other YouTube videos are unaffected. Add your YouTube cookies under Settings → Account → Download authentication, then retry the download from the list."
},
"cookie_rejected": {
"short": "YouTube didn't accept the cookies",
"body": "YouTube rotates exported cookies as a security measure, so yours have probably expired. Export them again from a private browsing window, close that window without browsing on, paste them in under Settings → Account → Download authentication, then retry the download from the list."
}
}
}
},
@@ -304,6 +304,16 @@
"short": "Ebben a posztban nem található videó",
"body": "Nem találtunk egyértelműen letölthető videót ebben a csoportposztban. Ha mégis van benne, nyisd meg a videót a Facebookon, és annak a linkjét másold be."
}
},
"youtube": {
"bot_wall": {
"short": "YouTube-bejelentkezés szükséges",
"body": "A YouTube ezt a videót csak bejelentkezett nézőnek adja ki — a letöltőtől azt kéri, igazolja, hogy nem robot. A többi YouTube-videót ez nem érinti. Illeszd be a YouTube-cookie-kat a Beállítások → Fiók → Letöltés-hitelesítés alatt, majd a listában indítsd újra a letöltést."
},
"cookie_rejected": {
"short": "A YouTube nem fogadta el a cookie-kat",
"body": "A YouTube biztonsági okból cserélgeti az exportált cookie-kat, ezért a tiéid valószínűleg lejártak. Exportáld őket újra egy privát böngészőablakból, majd zárd be azt az ablakot további böngészés nélkül, illeszd be a Beállítások → Fiók → Letöltés-hitelesítés alatt, majd a listában indítsd újra a letöltést."
}
}
}
},