docs/mkdocs/docs/urls.md

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description
How URLs from YouTube get parsed

URLs

This document describes how Tube Archivist identifies and treats links from YouTube.

!!! info Application logic of Tube Archivist is tied only to the IDs, not the names.

Video

A video ID is 11 characters long, e.g. 2tdiKTSdE9Y.

Urls can have several forms:

URL Type Example Description
Watch URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y Regular URLs you will see while browsing YouTube, with the path /watch and a v parameter
Share URL https://youtu.be/2tdiKTSdE9Y Link you will get when you click on share on a video
Shorts URL https://www.youtube.com/shorts/U80grnZJm_8 Video links for YouTube shorts

Channel

A channel ID is 24 characters long, e.g. UCBa659QWEk1AI4Tg--mrJ2A.

Channel URLs can have these forms, all will get translated to the ID:

URL Type Example Description
ID URL https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBa659QWEk1AI4Tg--mrJ2A With a channel path
Channel Handle @TomScottGo Starting with a @ this handle is personal and unique
Alias URL https://www.youtube.com/@TomScottGo Based off the channel handle

Channel subpages

Tube Archivist can differentiate between the primary subpages:

  • Videos only: https://www.youtube.com/@IBRACORP/videos
  • Shorts only: https://www.youtube.com/@IBRACORP/shorts
  • Streams only: https://www.youtube.com/@IBRACORP/streams
  • Every other channel sub page will default to download all, for example https://www.youtube.com/@IBRACORP/featured will download videos and shorts and streams.

Playlist

A playlist ID can be 34, 26 or 18 characters long, e.g. PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha

URL Type Example Description
Playlist URL https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha Playlist URLs start with a playlist path and have a list parameter

Playlist vs Video URLs

While browsing YouTube videos in Playlists, you might encounter URLs looking like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPZ0pIK_wsc&list=PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha. As established above, based on the /watch path and the v parameter, Tube Archivist will treat this as a video with the ID QPZ0pIK_wsc and not as a playlist. If you mean the playlist, you can easily grab the correct ID from the URL, e.g. PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha.