ytmusic-hub

Interact with YouTube Music using the ytmusicapi library, authenticated via browser cookies. Supports full playlist management, search, liked songs, and more.

Setup

Install dependency

pip install ytmusicapi

Auth file path

/var/minis/workspace/ytmusic_headers.json

Authentication (run before first use or when cookies expire)

Two steps: get cookies → generate auth file.

Step 1: Get cookies

Navigate to YouTube Music and get cookies via browser_use:

browser_use navigate: https://music.youtube.com
browser_use get_cookies -> save env file path

Confirm the page is logged in (avatar visible in top-right), then call get_cookies and note the env file path.

Step 2: Generate auth file

Load the env file and run the auth setup script:

. /var/minis/offloads/env_cookies_youtube_com_xxx.sh
python3 /var/minis/skills/ytmusic-hub/scripts/setup_auth.py

The script reads all Cookie env vars and writes a browser-auth file with SAPISIDHASH to /var/minis/workspace/ytmusic_headers.json.

Step 3: Initialize YTMusic client

Use the unified client module — it automatically handles DNS pollution and SSL issues:

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, "/var/minis/skills/ytmusic-hub/scripts")
from ytmusic_client import get_client

yt = get_client()

get_client() will automatically:

1. Patch urllib3 to disable SSL certificate verification (required in iSH)
2. Detect if local DNS is polluted
3. If polluted, resolve the real IP via Google DoH and patch socket.getaddrinfo
4. Return a ready-to-use YTMusic instance, or raise RuntimeError with a clear message

API Reference

📋 Playlist Management

# Get all my playlists
playlists = yt.get_library_playlists(limit=25)
# Returns: [{playlistId, title, count, ...}, ...]

# Get playlist contents (all tracks)
playlist = yt.get_playlist(playlistId, limit=100)
# Returns: {title, description, trackCount, tracks: [{videoId, title, artists, ...}]}

# Create a new playlist
playlistId = yt.create_playlist(
    title="Playlist name",
    description="Description",
    privacy_status="PRIVATE"  # PUBLIC / PRIVATE / UNLISTED
)

# Edit playlist metadata
yt.edit_playlist(playlistId, title="New name", description="New description")

# Delete a playlist
yt.delete_playlist(playlistId)

# Add songs to a playlist
yt.add_playlist_items(playlistId, videoIds=["videoId1", "videoId2"])

# Remove songs from a playlist
# setVideoId is the track's unique ID within the playlist (different from videoId)
tracks = yt.get_playlist(playlistId)["tracks"]
yt.remove_playlist_items(playlistId, tracks=[
    {"videoId": t["videoId"], "setVideoId": t["setVideoId"]}
    for t in tracks if t["title"] == "Target song"
])

❤️ Liked Songs & Library

# Get liked songs
liked = yt.get_liked_songs(limit=100)
tracks = liked["tracks"]  # [{videoId, title, artists, album, ...}]

# Get library songs / albums / artists
songs   = yt.get_library_songs(limit=25)
albums  = yt.get_library_albums(limit=25)
artists = yt.get_library_artists(limit=25)

# Like / unlike a song
yt.rate_song(videoId, "LIKE")   # LIKE / DISLIKE / INDIFFERENT

🔍 Search

# General search (mixed results)
results = yt.search("Jay Chou")

# Filter by type
songs   = yt.search("Jay Chou", filter="songs")
videos  = yt.search("Jay Chou", filter="videos")
albums  = yt.search("Jay Chou", filter="albums")
artists = yt.search("Jay Chou", filter="artists")

# Get videoId for adding to playlist
videoId = songs[0]["videoId"]

🎵 Browse & Recommendations

# Home feed
home = yt.get_home()

# Charts (global or by country)
charts = yt.get_charts(country="US")  # TW / HK / CN / JP / KR etc.

# Mood playlists
moods = yt.get_mood_categories()
mood_playlists = yt.get_mood_playlists(params=moods["Moods & moments"][0]["params"])

# Lyrics
watch = yt.get_watch_playlist(videoId="videoId")
lyrics_id = watch.get("lyrics")
if lyrics_id:
    lyrics = yt.get_lyrics(lyrics_id)
    print(lyrics["lyrics"])

🎤 Artists & Albums

artist = yt.get_artist(channelId)
album  = yt.get_album(browseId)
user   = yt.get_user(channelId)
user_playlists = yt.get_user_playlists(channelId, params)

Common Workflows

Workflow A: Search and add a song to a playlist

results = yt.search("Gao Wu Ren - Love Missed", filter="songs")
videoId = results[0]["videoId"]

playlists = yt.get_library_playlists()
for i, pl in enumerate(playlists):
    print(f"{i+1}. {pl['title']} [{pl['playlistId']}]")

yt.add_playlist_items(playlistId, videoIds=[videoId])
print("✅ Added to playlist")

Workflow B: Create a playlist from liked songs

new_id = yt.create_playlist("My Favorites", "Picked from liked songs", "PRIVATE")
liked  = yt.get_liked_songs(limit=50)
ids    = [t["videoId"] for t in liked["tracks"][:20]]
yt.add_playlist_items(new_id, videoIds=ids)
print(f"✅ Created playlist with {len(ids)} songs")

Workflow C: Export a playlist as Markdown

playlist = yt.get_playlist(playlistId, limit=200)
lines = [f"# {playlist['title']}", f"> {playlist.get('description', '')}", ""]
for i, t in enumerate(playlist["tracks"], 1):
    artists = ", ".join(a["name"] for a in t.get("artists", []))
    lines.append(f"{i}. **{t['title']}** — {artists}")
print("\n".join(lines))

Notes

• Cookie expiry: Cookies typically last days to weeks. Re-run the auth flow when they expire.
• Auth file security: ytmusic_headers.json contains login credentials — do not share it.
• Rate limits: ytmusicapi is unofficial. Avoid bulk operations that may trigger Google's rate limiting.
• Network: Requires access to music.youtube.com. The client module handles DNS pollution and SSL issues automatically.
• videoId vs setVideoId: When removing tracks from a playlist, you must use setVideoId (the track's position-specific ID), not videoId.