Improve yt-dlp extraction, cookies, and user guidance

Updated README and Gradio UI with detailed yt-dlp extractor and secure cookie usage instructions. Enhanced yt_audio_get_tracks.py for better cookie handling and player_client preference. Updated requirements.txt to use yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]. Refreshed cookies.txt for improved authenticated extraction.

README.md

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ and view the results in a Gradio AudioGallery UI with MCP support.
 
 ## Usage
 
-Run the app locally:
+Run the app locally (not admin):
 
 ```bash
 pip install -r requirements.txt
@@ -58,3 +58,22 @@ Separated files are written under `separated/htdemucs_6s/{job_id}/`.
 For YouTube sources, `job_id` is the extracted video ID. For uploaded audio,
 `job_id` is a sanitized version of the uploaded filename stem.
 Each stem card in the gallery can be played in place or downloaded directly.
+
+## Extractors & Cookies
+
+For details about yt-dlp extractor behavior, see the official documentation:
+
+- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-wiki/blob/master/Extractors.md
+
+If you need authenticated extraction (for age-restricted or otherwise protected
+content), one way to provide cookies safely is via a private/incognito browser
+session:
+
+1. Open a new private browsing/incognito window and log into YouTube.
+2. In the same window and same tab from step 1, navigate to
+   https://www.youtube.com/robots.txt (this should be the only
+   private/incognito browsing tab open).
+3. Export youtube.com cookies from the browser, then close the private/
+   incognito window so that the session is never opened in the browser again.
+
+Upload the exported cookies file in the app UI when prompted.

app.py

@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ with gr.Blocks(title="SeparateTracks") as demo:
         "using [Demucs htdemucs\\_6s](https://github.com/adefossez/demucs)."
     )
 
+
     with gr.Row():
         video_id_input = gr.Textbox(
             label="YouTube Video ID or URL",
@@ -268,7 +269,15 @@ with gr.Blocks(title="SeparateTracks") as demo:
             3. Click extension → Export cookies
             4. Upload the file here
             """)
-
+        gr.Markdown(
+            "\n\nFor details about yt-dlp's extractor behavior, see: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-wiki/blob/master/Extractors.md\n\n"
+            "One way to provide cookies safely is through a private browsing/incognito window:\n\n"
+            "1. Open a new private browsing/incognito window and log into YouTube.\n"
+            "2. chrome://extensions and specify Allow in Incognito.\n"
+            "2. In the same window and same tab from step 1, navigate to https://www.youtube.com/robots.txt (this should be the only private/incognito browsing tab open).\n"
+            "3. Export youtube.com cookies from the browser, then close the private browsing/incognito window so that the session is never opened in the browser again.\n"
+        )
+        # https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-wiki/
     upload_input = gr.File(
         label="Audio File Override (.wav or .mp3)",
         file_types=[".wav", ".mp3"],

modules/cookies.txt

@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@
 .youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1809672953	__Secure-1PSIDTS	sidts-CjQBhkeRdzNqWsCZmJ3-gkQi5XfDWk2kp9iiQgPaUxmrZjRZ_3ej2OAxYImFfurTjFOv5VO9EAA
 .youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1809672953	__Secure-3PSIDTS	sidts-CjQBhkeRdzNqWsCZmJ3-gkQi5XfDWk2kp9iiQgPaUxmrZjRZ_3ej2OAxYImFfurTjFOv5VO9EAA
 .youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1809673265	__Secure-3PSIDCC	AKEyXzWBoEdxrm5iyQK7QFba8BjySeE4Hvz49k1X8zhdAxwfePNf2bUDY2yaA8Buaq0yV5a9IA
-.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1793690254	VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE	0HOxtcrbVL8
-.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1793690254	VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA	CgJVUxIEGgAgaw%3D%3D
+.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1793737731	VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE	0HOxtcrbVL8
+.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1793737731	VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA	CgJVUxIEGgAgaw%3D%3D
 .youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1793681123	__Secure-ROLLOUT_TOKEN	CObY3I_n2pG-tQEQ1bTnseyZkwMYx9-alq-mlAM%3D
 .youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1793681123	__Secure-YNID	18.YT=Tx0A40MPkqhXx1ssHRZzuknGzSYMu4HquWBxKZVhu_0va9vVL6-pj-hgIxnNj494GkolBTXqTIRUTUC6fOJCobVAekeq8te87cIsbGIO2g_jPtJnm9zE0kpjWOKceLvXzON4m1GZqXSjj5c-IjmVR2V8_43Iqnn5sEdQDd9cDor11A7gsHRNqJVIsOMuKB2n1Np9oHkp3xMIZWg38MUB13NSur0Rr3SgGIvHZBEZ1z_MTrqCYndzX5CPDbSdhT1QfUR6lC85Y1o29OlpOE3hsSUq8xROpXOX016gCc8PsSbpu54DQOw2FHydbuW4FcWEtODp1vJ3ob5QbdAN6oYeeQ
-.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1778140053	GPS	1
-.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	0	YSC	IUGP09gmBNI
+.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	0	SOCS	CAI
+.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	1778185936	GPS	1
+.youtube.com	TRUE	/	TRUE	0	YSC	sG4KsUxH1Ew

modules/yt_audio_get_tracks.py

@@ -30,12 +30,13 @@ def download_audio(url, video_id, progress_callback=None):
         'quiet': False,
         'no_warnings': False,
         'nocheckcertificate': True,
-        'extractor_args': {'youtube': {'player_client': ['android', 'web', 'ios']}},
+        'extractor_args': {'youtube': {'player_client':['web', 'android', 'ios']}},
         'http_headers': {'Referer': 'https://www.youtube.com/'},
         'socket_timeout': 60,
         'retries': 10,
         'compat_opts': compat_opts,
     }
+
     if is_hf:
         ydl_opts['impersonate'] = 'chrome'
     if is_hf or os.path.exists(cookie_path):
@@ -44,6 +45,16 @@ def download_audio(url, video_id, progress_callback=None):
     else:
         ydl_opts['cookiesfrombrowser'] = ('chrome', None, None, None)
 
+    # with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL({**ydl_opts, 'quiet': True}) as ydl:
+    #     info = ydl.extract_info(url, download=False)
+    #     print(ydl.list_formats(info))
+    #     audio = [f for f in info.get('formats', []) 
+    #              if f.get('ext') in ('webm','m4a','mp4','opus') and f.get('acodec') != 'none']
+    #     if not audio:
+    #         _emit_progress(progress_callback, "No webm/mp4 audio available")
+    #         return None
+    #     _emit_progress(progress_callback, f"Found {len(audio)} audio formats")
+
     with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
         ydl.download([url])
     _emit_progress(progress_callback, 'Converting downloaded audio to WAV...')

requirements.txt

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # core audio pipeline
-yt-dlp>=2026.3.17
+yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]>=2026.3.17
 demucs
 pydub
 youtube-transcript-api
@@ -13,4 +13,3 @@ python-dotenv
 numpy
 Pillow
 requests
-yt-dlp[curl-cffi]