What is a PO Token?

A plugin framework for yt-dlp that allows the YouTube extractor to request Proof of Origin (PO) Tokens from an external source when needed. It allows for multiple providers to co-exist and provide PO Tokens for different scenarios.

For example, one plugin could support fetching PO Tokens for logged-out users, while another supports fetching PO Tokens for logged-in users.

To use, a user will need both the client plugin (this plugin) and one or more provider plugins installed.

• Installing
  • pip/pipx
  • Manual install
• Developing a Provider plugin
  • Debugging
  • Tips

Requires yt-dlp 2024.09.27 or above.

If yt-dlp is installed through pip or pipx, you can install the plugin with the following:

pipx inject yt-dlp yt-dlp-get-pot

or

python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp-get-pot

1. Download the latest release zip from releases

2. Add the zip to one of the yt-dlp plugin locations

   • User Plugins

     • ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins (recommended on Linux/macOS)
     • ~/.yt-dlp/plugins/
     • ${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/plugins/ (recommended on Windows)

   • System Plugins

     • /etc/yt-dlp/plugins/
     • /etc/yt-dlp-plugins/

   • Executable location

     • Binary: where <root-dir>/yt-dlp.exe, <root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/

For more locations and methods, see installing yt-dlp plugins

If installed correctly, you should see the GetPOT YouTubeIE plugin override in yt-dlp -v output:

[debug] Extractor Plugins: GetPOT (YoutubeIE)

The provider plugin assumes this plugin is installed. You can define it as a Python dependency in your plugin package, or users can install it manually.

1. Create a new plugin (you can use the yt-dlp sample plugins template).
2. Create a new python file under yt_dlp_plugins.extractor (recommend naming it getpot_<name>.py).
3. In the plugin file, define a Provider that extends yt_dlp_plugins.extractor.getpot.GetPOTProvider.
4. Implement _get_pot method to retrieve the PO Token from your source.

It should look something like:

from yt_dlp_plugins.extractor.getpot import GetPOTProvider, register_provider

@register_provider
class MyProviderRH(GetPOTProvider):
   _PROVIDER_NAME = 'myprovider'
   _SUPPORTED_CLIENTS = ('web', )
   
   def _get_pot(self, client, ydl, visitor_data=None, data_sync_id=None, **kwargs):
        # Implement your PO Token retrieval here
        return 'PO_TOKEN'

See getpot_example.py for a more in-depth example.

When yt-dlp attempts to get a PO Token, it will call out to available providers. This is the Fetching PO Token for <client> client line you see in the verbose log.

To check that your provider is being loaded, run yt-dlp with the -v flag and a YouTube video, and look for the PO Token Providers line in the output. You should see your provider listed:

[debug] [GetPOT] PO Token Providers: <PROVIDER_NAME>

You can use --print-traffic to see if your provider is being called.

For general plugin debugging tips, consult the yt-dlp plugin development wiki.

• Your implementation should consider caching the PO Token for the given parameters to avoid unnecessary requests.
• If publishing to GitHub, add the yt-dlp-plugins-get-pot topic to your repository to help users find your provider plugin.
• If publishing to PyPI, add the yt-dlp-plugins-get-pot keyword to your package to help users find your provider plugin.
• The PO Token Guide has more information on PO Tokens.
• Advanced: A Provider is a customized yt-dlp HTTP Request Handler, so any parameters and functions that are available to the RequestHandler are also available to a Provider. Check out yt_dlp.networking.common.RequestHandler to see more.