YouTube Video/Audio Downloader API

A Node.js API for downloading YouTube videos and audio with preview support. Supports both youtube.com and youtu.be URLs.

Prerequisites

1. Node.js 14+ installed

Setup

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a .env file with:

PORT=3000
ORIGIN=http://localhost:3000

4. Start the server:

npm start

API Endpoints

1. Video Download /youtube

Get Video Information

POST /youtube
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
  "getInfo": true
}

Or using youtu.be format:

{
  "videoUrl": "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID",
  "getInfo": true
}

Response:

{
  "title": "Video Title",
  "duration": 300,
  "thumbnail": "thumbnail_url",
  "description": "video description",
  "formats": [
    {
      "format_id": "22",
      "ext": "mp4",
      "quality": "720p",
      "resolution": "1280x720",
      "filesize": 12345678
    }
  ]
}

Download/Stream Video

POST /youtube
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
  "quality": "best[ext=mp4]"  // Optional: format selection
}

2. Audio Download /audio

Get Audio Information

POST /audio
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
  "getInfo": true
}

Response:

{
  "title": "Video Title",
  "duration": 300,
  "thumbnail": "thumbnail_url",
  "description": "video description",
  "formats": [
    {
      "format_id": "140",
      "ext": "m4a",
      "quality": "128k",
      "filesize": 12345678,
      "asr": 44100
    }
  ]
}

Download/Stream Audio

POST /audio
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "videoUrl": "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID"
}

URL Support

The API accepts YouTube URLs in both formats:

• Standard format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• Short format: https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID

Parameters in URLs (like ?si=...) are automatically handled.

Features

• Support for any length videos
• Support for both youtube.com and youtu.be URLs
• Video/audio preview support in Postman or browser
• Video format selection
• High-quality audio extraction
• Range request support for streaming
• Progress tracking via Content-Length
• Proper MIME types
• Error handling
• Sanitized filenames
• Cache control headers

Preview Support

Both video and audio endpoints support:

• Direct preview in Postman
• HTML5 video/audio player integration
• Streaming with range requests
• Progress tracking
• Proper content type headers

Using in Frontend

Example HTML5 video player:

<video controls>
  <source src="http://localhost:3000/youtube" type="video/mp4" />
</video>

Example HTML5 audio player:

<audio controls>
  <source src="http://localhost:3000/audio" type="audio/mp3" />
</audio>

Error Responses

All error responses follow this format:

{
  "error": "Error type",
  "details": "Detailed error message"
}

Common status codes:

• 400: Invalid URL or parameters
• 500: Server or download errors
• 206: Partial content (for range requests)

Health Check

GET /health returns server status:

{
  "status": "ok"
}

Notes

• Don't try to delete the /downloads folder as it contains the big videos(temporarily) before sending it to the client.
• Don't host it on vercel/netlify as response time is usually more than 10s so use it locally or in a VPS instead.
• Files are streamed directly for preview in browser/Postman
• Support for range requests enables seeking in media players
• Temporary files are automatically cleaned up after streaming
• Server timeout is set to 5 minutes for large files
• All YouTube URL formats are supported (youtube.com and youtu.be)