Authentication Setup

The YouTube Predownloader now uses simplified OAuth authentication for accessing your personal YouTube subscriptions.

Setup Instructions

1. Get Google API Credentials

Go to the Google Cloud Console
Create a new project or select an existing one
Enable the YouTube Data API v3
Go to Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth 2.0 Client ID
Choose Desktop Application
Download the credentials as client_secret.json
Place the file in your project directory

2. Authenticate

Run the interactive authentication:

python3 auth.py --interactive

This will:

Open a browser window
Ask you to sign in to Google
Request permission to access your YouTube data
Save the authentication token for future use

3. Verify Authentication

Test that authentication is working:

python3 -c "from auth import get_token_non_interactive; print('✅ Auth working' if get_token_non_interactive() else '❌ Auth failed')"

Files

client_secret.json - Your OAuth credentials (keep private)
youtube_token.pickle - Saved authentication token (auto-generated)

Troubleshooting

Token Expired

If you see authentication errors, re-run:

python3 auth.py --interactive

Missing Permissions

Make sure you granted permission to access your YouTube data during authentication.

No Subscriptions Found

If you get 0 subscriptions, ensure:

You're signed in to the correct Google account
That account has YouTube subscriptions
Authentication completed successfully

Security Notes

Keep client_secret.json private (add to .gitignore)
The youtube_token.pickle file contains your access token
Tokens expire and will be automatically refreshed when needed