[FIXED] YouTube is sometimes unreachable because of A/B testing of forced log in

[wukko]

innertube returns "Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot. This helps protect our community. Learn more" instead of video info or regular errors.

cobalt may sometimes not be able to get the video, especially on larger instances (such as main one). if that happens, it'll show you an appropriate error that links to this issue:

related issue threads in repos of other projects:

• [Bug] "This helps protect our community." iv-org/invidious#4734
• [YouTube] "Sign in to confirm..."/"Watch on the latest version..." TeamNewPipe/NewPipe#11139
• Got error: "Sign in to confirm that you're not a bot" TeamPiped/Piped#3658
• [youtube] The following content is not available on this app.. Watch on the latest version of YouTube yt-dlp/yt-dlp#10108

FIXED:
@dumbmoron implemented support for OAuth2! main instance (cobalt.tools) is back to being able to download youtube videos (so far).

if you host a cobalt instance, you can generate your own token by running npm run token:youtube in local cobalt repo folder. please don't use your personal google account. it might get banned, restricted, or rate limited.

[kane50613]

My YouTube alt account got blocked when I used the cookie.
When I play a video, it always shows "Video unavailable. This content isn’t available." Changing the IP doesn't help.

[wukko]

My YouTube alt account got blocked when I used the cookie.

this is exactly what i mean! using user cookies WILL cause issues. this is why using dummy accounts is not a good option, they will quickly run out.

[wukko]

support for youtube cookies was added to cobalt in f6632e2, but please don't use your main account cookies

main instance seems to be fine for now, but it's unknown how long it'll last. we shall see and find out

[wukko]

the dummy account cookie already got nuked omfg

update: you need to refresh the cookie every few minutes. it's best to not use it at all and instead use a different authentication method

[00-kat]

From what I remember,

1. Google needs a phone number for each account
2. You can't make a YouTube account without a Google account
3. A single phone number can only be used six times to verify Google accounts

Dummy/throwaway accounts are a stupid idea unless you happen to have unlimited cash to burn on burner phone numbers.

(Just letting you know in case you don't already)

[wukko]

in case you don't

i do know like no other lol

[TheSystemGuy1337]

YouTube really hates its users and I personally saw this coming from miles away. They just bricked every YouTube downloader known to mankind with one simple change and are now handing out IP and account bans.* I guess this might be the end of YouTube download utilities until they either get their act together and stop (which they won't), or a workaround is discovered.

This also cripples legitimate uses for downloader utilities, including data preservation.

*Well, somewhat. They don't appear to be 100% bricked yet, but they are getting there rather fast. I hope that this causes significant controversy (much like the adblock crisis) and YouTube loses the battle. But it looks like we lost right out of the gates.

[wukko]

legitimate uses for downloader utilities, including data preservation

that's what cobalt is for, along with content creation and teaching

[TheSystemGuy1337]

that's what cobalt is for, along with content creation and teaching

And yet, here we are. YouTube is going through the effort and potentially spending thousands of dollars to brick downloader utilities even though most uses are protected under fair use. Lets hope this generates controversy and that we win the war against YouTube harming their own users.

[unknownsrc]

My Cobalt fork (the only change I made is using YTSTUDIO_ANDROID instead of WEB) still works. The number of users using Cobalt might be causing YouTube to be upset, but I don't know. It's worth a try, I guess.

[alectrocute]

Would using a Premium-enabled YouTube dummy account have the same limitations?

[TheSystemGuy1337]

Nobody has tested this, but judging by how YouTube is blocking users who use yt-dlp; the answer is likely yes. Moral of the story; don’t pass cookies unless you want a ban.

[Jacherr]

The only way I see a public-facing production instance continuing to work at scale for YouTube video downloading is if Cobalt asks the user to sign in with a Google account prior to downloading. It can then use that account to download the content. Definitely not ideal though, especially for the API..

[Miner11github]

Thanks YouTube, you guys really know what you're doing.

[TheSystemGuy1337]

The only way I see a public-facing production instance continuing to work at scale for > YouTube video downloading is if Cobalt asks the user to sign in with a Google > account prior to downloading. It can then use that account to download the content. > Definitely not ideal though, especially for the API..

Doing this is very risky, as YouTube is a part of Google. They can easily revoke API access or in the worst case scenario; outright terminate your account. Bans can also apply to users signing in to the API to use cobalt, too. The only reason why YouTube is doing this is not to prevent scraping; but to protect their bottom line. They tried going after adblockers and failed. We can only hope history repeats itself and this generates enough controversy that YouTube gives up trying. This will also fuck over Discord bots, so that might end up being the spark that starts the riot along with breaking YouTube downloaders.

[Tintin232]

Wukko, will you be able to get this fixed? 🥺

[alectrocute]

I'm actually thankful this broke Discord music bots, as it'll surely bring a lot of mainstream attention to this issue. Fingers crossed.

[2shiraz]

The only way I see a public-facing production instance continuing to work at scale for > YouTube video downloading is if Cobalt asks the user to sign in with a Google > account prior to downloading. It can then use that account to download the content. > Definitely not ideal though, especially for the API..
Doing this is very risky, as YouTube is a part of Google. They can easily revoke API access or in the worst case scenario; outright terminate your account. Bans can also apply to users signing in to the API to use cobalt, too. The only reason why YouTube is doing this is not to prevent scraping; but to protect their bottom line. They tried going after adblockers and failed. We can only hope history repeats itself and this generates enough controversy that YouTube gives up trying. This will also fuck over Discord bots, so that might end up being the spark that starts the riot along with breaking YouTube downloaders.

Can confirm this is fucking over Discord bots as well. I own a music bot on 400k+ servers and YouTube is currently completely broken right now.

Same, I own some YouTube downloader Sites, 4-5 million monthly users and I am losing my mind rn!!

[IoreEroi]

The Maki Bot is working Idk how but it is

[alectrocute]

The Maki Bot is working Idk how but it is

Probably just haven't been banned (yet). Luck of the draw?

[TheSystemGuy1337]

We should also get Louis Rossman on the line. He could bring additional attention to how fucked up YouTube's practices are. Combine that with the riot that's starting with Discord music bots and we got a firestorm that will most certainly secure our victory.

[2shiraz]

We should also get Louis Rossman on the line. He will likely bring additional attention to how fucked up YouTube's practices are.

That is a great idea. Someone email him the situation

[Mazedotexe]

9 hours ago? Wow, that's recent! I wonder how long this has been an issue before that...
And ihatespawn on #555 just mentioned this issue 15 minutes ago...

[wukko]

@dumbmoron implemented support for OAuth2! main instance (cobalt.tools) is back to being able to download youtube videos (so far).

if you host a cobalt instance, you can generate your own token by running npm run token:youtube in local cobalt repo folder. please don't use your personal google account. it might get banned, restricted, or rate limited.

i will close this issue if the sign in problem doesn't come back within next 2 hours :D

[TheSystemGuy1337]

@dumbmoron implemented support for OAuth2! main instance (cobalt.tools) is back to being able to download youtube videos (so far).

if you host a cobalt instance, you can generate your own token by running npm run token:youtube in local cobalt repo folder. please don't use your personal google account. it might get banned, restricted, or rate limited.

i will close this issue if the sign in problem doesn't come back within next 2 hours :D

SUCCESS. We have cracked YouTube's downloader block. With any effort we will be able to crack it without the use of OAUTH or cookies. I wonder, is there a CLI version of Cobalt available much like yt-dlp? And we should obfuscate and encrypt our keys; this is in case Google is actively looking though the repo to find keys to revoke. This is likely as they are money hungry and greedy and will do ANYTHING for their investors and to protect their bottom line.

[wukko]

yep, seems to be all good

[ggtylerr]

FIXED: @dumbmoron implemented support for OAuth2! main instance (cobalt.tools) is back to being able to download youtube videos (so far.)

I'm on Docker, which container should I run this on?