Tube Archivist

Tube Archivist is an open-source, self-hosted application that indexes, downloads, and organizes YouTube video collections for offline access. It provides a web interface to manage a local archive of videos, allowing users to maintain their own copies of content and search through them using metadata. This ensures that video collections remain accessible even if the original content is removed from the platform.

The software is deployed as a server application using Docker. It manages the end-to-end process of subscribing to channels, queuing videos for download, and storing them on a local filesystem for playback through the browser. Users can configure specific download formats to ensure compatibility with different operating systems, such as iOS or macOS, or set the system to download the best available quality by default.

Key features

• Subscribes to YouTube channels for automated tracking
• Downloads videos using yt-dlp
• Indexes video metadata to make collections searchable
• Integrated video player for offline viewing
• Tracking for viewed and unviewed videos
• Support for custom download formats and quality settings
• Integration with Jellyfin and Plex via plugins
• Browser extension available for Firefox and Chrome

The application architecture relies on a stack including Elasticsearch for indexing and Redis for coordination. It supports various authentication methods, including local password databases, LDAP, and reverse proxy header forwarding. The system is designed for users with a home server or NAS, requiring a minimum of 2GB of memory for small testing setups and 4GB for mid to large sized installations. It can be deployed on various environments including Unraid, Synology, and Podman.

Tube Archivist is a digital preservation tool for users who want to maintain a searchable, offline library of online video content.