What it is
Download engines: yt-dlp fetches video and audio from hundreds of sites (YouTube, TikTok, VK Video), and streamrip fetches music from Qobuz, Deezer and Tidal. A bot hands them a link and gets a file back.
How we use it
The video downloader bot runs on yt-dlp: 12 platforms, quality up to 4K, and Vimeo and Coub were added with no platform-specific code. In ToshaMusic, streamrip downloads Hi-Res with a cap on parallel downloads, so the streaming account does not get banned.
Where it helps a business
- A user sends a link to a video or a release and wants the file right in the chat, without ad-ridden websites.
- Many platforms need to be supported without writing separate code for each.
How we use it
- The video downloader bot runs on yt-dlp: TikTok without the watermark, YouTube and Shorts, Reels, VK Video and eight more platforms, quality from 240p to 4K with the file size on the button, MP3 with cover art. Vimeo and Coub were added with no platform-specific code. A repeated link is served from the cache instantly.
- ToshaMusic runs on streamrip: Hi-Res from Qobuz, Deezer and Tidal up to FLAC 24-bit / 192 kHz. streamrip is launched as a child process with a config the bot generates itself, and a worker pool caps parallel downloads (two by default).
Common problems
- The platform changes its protection. YouTube regularly changes how it protects links; signing needs the Deno JS runtime, and audio needs a PO token service. When downloads fail, yt-dlp is updated first.
- Restricted videos. Age-restricted and private videos need a cookies file; Instagram without cookies often returns an empty response.
- A banned streaming account. Downloading too aggressively risks a ban, hence the queue and per-user limits.
- Dependency conflicts. streamrip is installed separately because of incompatible aiofiles versions.
When you do not need it
If media only needs to be watched, not saved, a downloader is unnecessary. And it does not bypass services' protection: ToshaMusic works from the owner's active subscription.