MeTube

MeTube is a self-hosted web UI for yt-dlp, for downloading media from YouTube and dozens of other sites.

Key capabilities: * Download videos, audio, captions, and thumbnails from a browser UI. * Download playlists and channels, with configurable output and download options. * Subscribe to channels and playlists, periodically check for new items, and queue new uploads automatically.

🐳 Run using Docker

docker run -d -p 8081:8081 -v /path/to/downloads:/downloads ghcr.io/alexta69/metube

🐳 Run using docker-compose

services:
  metube:
    image: ghcr.io/alexta69/metube
    container_name: metube
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8081:8081"
    volumes:
      - /path/to/downloads:/downloads

⚙️ Configuration via environment variables

Certain values can be set via environment variables, using the -e parameter on the docker command line, or the environment: section in docker-compose.

⬇️ Download Behavior

• MAX_CONCURRENT_DOWNLOADS: Maximum number of simultaneous downloads allowed. For example, if set to 5, then at most five downloads will run concurrently, and any additional downloads will wait until one of the active downloads completes. Defaults to 3.
• DELETE_FILE_ON_TRASHCAN: if true, downloaded files are deleted on the server, when they are trashed from the "Completed" section of the UI. Defaults to false.
• DEFAULT_OPTION_PLAYLIST_ITEM_LIMIT: Maximum number of playlist items that can be downloaded. Defaults to 0 (no limit).
• SUBSCRIPTION_DEFAULT_CHECK_INTERVAL: Default minutes between automatic checks for each subscription. Defaults to 60.
• SUBSCRIPTION_SCAN_PLAYLIST_END: Maximum playlist/channel entries to fetch per subscription check (newest-first). Defaults to 50.
• SUBSCRIPTION_MAX_SEEN_IDS: Cap on stored video IDs per subscription to limit state file growth. Defaults to 50000.
• CLEAR_COMPLETED_AFTER: Number of seconds after which completed (and failed) downloads are automatically removed from the "Completed" list. Defaults to 0 (disabled).

📁 Storage & Directories

• DOWNLOAD_DIR: Path to where the downloads will be saved. Defaults to /downloads in the Docker image, and . otherwise.
• AUDIO_DOWNLOAD_DIR: Path to where audio-only downloads will be saved, if you wish to separate them from the video downloads. Defaults to the value of DOWNLOAD_DIR.
• CUSTOM_DIRS: Whether to enable downloading videos into custom directories within the DOWNLOAD_DIR (or AUDIO_DOWNLOAD_DIR). When enabled, a dropdown appears next to the Add button to specify the download directory. Defaults to true.
• CREATE_CUSTOM_DIRS: Whether to support automatically creating directories within the DOWNLOAD_DIR (or AUDIO_DOWNLOAD_DIR) if they do not exist. When enabled, the download directory selector supports free-text input, and the specified directory will be created recursively. Defaults to true.
• CUSTOM_DIRS_EXCLUDE_REGEX: Regular expression to exclude some custom directories from the dropdown. Empty regex disables exclusion. Defaults to (^|/)[.@].*$, which means directories starting with . or @.
• DOWNLOAD_DIRS_INDEXABLE: If true, the download directories (DOWNLOAD_DIR and AUDIO_DOWNLOAD_DIR) are indexable on the web server. Defaults to false.
• STATE_DIR: Path to where MeTube will store its persistent state files (queue.json, pending.json, completed.json, subscriptions.json). Defaults to /downloads/.metube in the Docker image, and . otherwise.
• TEMP_DIR: Path where intermediary download files will be saved. Defaults to /downloads in the Docker image, and . otherwise.
• Set this to an SSD or RAM filesystem (e.g., tmpfs) for better performance.
• Note: Using a RAM filesystem may prevent downloads from being resumed.
• CHOWN_DIRS: If false, ownership of DOWNLOAD_DIR, STATE_DIR, and TEMP_DIR (and their contents) will not be set on container start. Ensure user under which MeTube runs has necessary access to these directories already. Defaults to true.

📝 File Naming & yt-dlp

• OUTPUT_TEMPLATE: The template for the filenames of the downloaded videos, formatted according to this spec. Defaults to %(title)s.%(ext)s.
• OUTPUT_TEMPLATE_CHAPTER: The template for the filenames of the downloaded videos when split into chapters via postprocessors. Defaults to %(title)s - %(section_number)s %(section_title)s.%(ext)s.
• OUTPUT_TEMPLATE_PLAYLIST: The template for the filenames of the downloaded videos when downloaded as a playlist. Defaults to %(playlist_title)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s. Set to empty to use OUTPUT_TEMPLATE instead.
• OUTPUT_TEMPLATE_CHANNEL: The template for the filenames of the downloaded videos when downloaded as a channel. Defaults to %(channel)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s. Set to empty to use OUTPUT_TEMPLATE instead.
• YTDL_OPTIONS: Additional options to pass to yt-dlp, as a JSON object. See Configuring yt-dlp options for details, examples, and available options reference.
• YTDL_OPTIONS_FILE: Path to a JSON file containing yt-dlp options. Monitored and reloaded automatically on changes. See Configuring yt-dlp options.
• YTDL_OPTIONS_PRESETS: Named bundles of yt-dlp options, selectable per download in the UI. See Configuring yt-dlp options for format and examples.
• YTDL_OPTIONS_PRESETS_FILE: Path to a JSON file containing presets. Monitored and reloaded automatically on changes. See Configuring yt-dlp options.
• ALLOW_YTDL_OPTIONS_OVERRIDES: Whether to show a free-text field in the UI for per-download yt-dlp option overrides. Defaults to false. See Configuring yt-dlp options for details and security considerations.
• YTDL_NIGHTLY_UPDATE_TIME: If set, will cause MeTube to use nightly yt-dlp builds instead of the stable releases. Set to the time (HH:MM, 24-hour) when you want the daily upgrades and MeTube restart to happen. Defaults to empty (disabled).

🌐 Web Server & URLs

• HOST: The host address the web server will bind to. Defaults to 0.0.0.0 (all interfaces).
• PORT: The port number the web server will listen on. Defaults to 8081.
• URL_PREFIX: Base path for the web server (for use when hosting behind a reverse proxy). Defaults to /.
• PUBLIC_HOST_URL: Base URL for the download links shown in the UI for completed files. By default, MeTube serves them under its own URL. If your download directory is accessible on another URL and you want the download links to be based there, use this variable to set it.
• PUBLIC_HOST_AUDIO_URL: Same as PUBLIC_HOST_URL but for audio downloads.
• HTTPS: Use https instead of http (CERTFILE and KEYFILE required). Defaults to false.
• CERTFILE: HTTPS certificate file path.
• KEYFILE: HTTPS key file path.
• CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS: Comma-separated list of origins permitted to make cross-origin requests to the MeTube API. When unset or empty, all cross-origin requests are denied. Set to * to allow all origins. This must be configured for browser extensions, bookmarklets, and any other browser-based tools that contact MeTube from a different origin. For browser extensions use * (see below); for bookmarklets you can list specific sites, e.g. https://www.youtube.com,https://www.vimeo.com.
• ROBOTS_TXT: A path to a robots.txt file mounted in the container.

🏠 Basic Setup

• PUID: User under which MeTube will run. Defaults to 1000 (legacy UID also supported).
• PGID: Group under which MeTube will run. Defaults to 1000 (legacy GID also supported).
• UMASK: Umask value used by MeTube. Defaults to 022.
• DEFAULT_THEME: Default theme to use for the UI, can be set to light, dark, or auto. Defaults to auto.
• LOGLEVEL: Log level, can be set to DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL, or NONE. Defaults to INFO.
• ENABLE_ACCESSLOG: Whether to enable access log. Defaults to false.

🎛️ Configuring yt-dlp options

MeTube lets you customize how yt-dlp behaves at three levels, from broadest to most specific:

1. Global options — apply to every download by default.
2. Presets — named bundles of options that users can pick per download from the UI.
3. Per-download overrides — free-form options entered in the UI for a single download.

When a download starts, these layers are combined in order. If the same option appears in more than one layer, the more specific one wins: per-download overrides beat presets, and presets beat global options.

In JSON presets and overrides, setting an option to null clears that option for that download (for example, "download_archive": null overrides a global archive path so the archive is not used). This follows yt-dlp’s usual meaning of None for that option.

Option format

yt-dlp options in MeTube are expressed as JSON objects. The keys are yt-dlp API option names, which roughly correspond to command-line flags with dashes replaced by underscores. For example, the command-line flag --write-subs becomes "writesubtitles": true in JSON.

Tip: Some command-line flags don't have a direct single-key equivalent — for instance, --embed-thumbnail and --recode-video must be expressed via "postprocessors". A full list of available API options can be found in the yt-dlp source, and this conversion script can help translate command-line flags to their API equivalents.

Global options

Global options form the baseline for every download. There are two ways to define them, and you can use either or both:

Inline via environment variable (YTDL_OPTIONS) — pass a JSON object directly:

environment:
  - 'YTDL_OPTIONS={"writesubtitles": true, "subtitleslangs": ["en", "de"], "updatetime": false, "writethumbnail": true}'

Via a JSON file (YTDL_OPTIONS_FILE) — mount a file into the container and point to it:

volumes:
  - /path/to/ytdl-options.json:/config/ytdl-options.json
environment:
  - YTDL_OPTIONS_FILE=/config/ytdl-options.json

where ytdl-options.json contains:

{
  "writesubtitles": true,
  "subtitleslangs": ["en", "de"],
  "updatetime": false,
  "writethumbnail": true
}

The file is monitored for changes and reloaded automatically — no container restart needed. If you use both methods and they define the same key, the file takes precedence.

Presets

Presets let you define named bundles of options that appear in the web UI under Advanced Options as "Option Presets". Users can select one or more presets per download, making it easy to apply common option combinations without editing global settings.

Like global options, presets can be set inline or via a file:

• YTDL_OPTIONS_PRESETS — a JSON object where each key is a preset name and its value is a set of yt-dlp options.
• YTDL_OPTIONS_PRESETS_FILE — path to a JSON file containing presets, monitored and reloaded on changes.

If both are used and they define a preset with the same name, the file's version takes precedence.

Example — a presets file defining three presets:

{
  "sponsorblock": {
    "postprocessors": [
      { "key": "SponsorBlock", "categories": ["sponsor", "selfpromo", "interaction"] },
      { "key": "ModifyChapters", "remove_sponsor_segments": ["sponsor", "selfpromo", "interaction"] }
    ]
  },
  "embed-subs": {
    "writesubtitles": true,
    "writeautomaticsub": true,
    "subtitleslangs": ["en", "de"],
    "postprocessors": [{ "key": "FFmpegEmbedSubtitle" }]
  },
  "limit-rate": {
    "ratelimit": 5000000
  }
}

This makes three presets available in the UI: * sponsorblock — strips sponsor, self-promo, and interaction segments from videos. * embed-subs — downloads English and German subtitles and embeds them into the video file. * limit-rate — caps download speed to ~5 MB/s.

When multiple presets are selected for a download, they are applied in order. If two presets set the same option, the later one wins.

Per-download overrides

For one-off tweaks, MeTube can expose a free-text JSON field in the UI ("Custom yt-dlp Options") where users type yt-dlp options that apply only to that single download. This is disabled by default:

environment:
  - ALLOW_YTDL_OPTIONS_OVERRIDES=true

Once enabled, the field appears under Advanced Options. Any options entered there take the highest priority, overriding both global options and selected presets.

⚠️ Security note: Enabling this allows arbitrary yt-dlp API options to be supplied by anyone with access to the UI. Depending on the options used, this may enable arbitrary command execution inside the container. Enable only in trusted environments.

How the layers combine

When a download starts, the final set of yt-dlp options is built in this order:

1. Start with global options (YTDL_OPTIONS / YTDL_OPTIONS_FILE).
2. Apply each selected preset in order (later presets overwrite earlier ones for conflicting keys).
3. Apply any per-download overrides on top (overwrite ever