Video Download
Download videos from YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms to local MP4 files. Handles format selection, platform-prefixed dedup, TikTok cookie fallback, and Douyin/TikTok browser-based fallback automatically.
Quick Start
# Download any video
bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/download-video.sh '<URL>'
# Download to a custom directory
bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/download-video.sh '<URL>' 'path/to/output'Prerequisites
yt-dlp --version # Required. Install: brew install yt-dlp (macOS) or pip install yt-dlpOptional (for Douyin/TikTok fallback):
agent-browserinstalled globally (npm install -g agent-browser)- Chrome for Testing installed (
agent-browser install)
Usage
Single Video
bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/download-video.sh '<URL>'The script handles everything automatically:
- Extracts a platform-prefixed video ID (
yt-dQw4w9WgXcQ,tk-7571284267028729101,vid-aHR0cHM6Ly93d3) - Saves to
resources/references/<video_id>.mp4 - Skips download if file already exists (dedup)
- Retries TikTok downloads with
--cookies-from-browser chromeon failure - Removes zero-byte leftovers from interrupted downloads
Batch Download
for URL in '<URL1>' '<URL2>' '<URL3>'; do
bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/download-video.sh "$URL"
doneScript Output
| Output | Meaning |
|---|---|
ALREADY_EXISTS: <path> | File already downloaded, skipped |
DOWNLOADED: <path> | Download succeeded |
FAILED: <message> | Download failed (exit code 1) |
Post-Download Actions
After a successful download, the user may want to:
- Analyze the video — extract script, style, or rhythm:
node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/gemini-gen/scripts/gemini.mjs --file <path> --mode video-script - Add to Material Pool — for use as reference material in video generation:
node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/renoise-gen/scripts/material-ingest.mjs <path>
Suggest these options to the user after download completes.
Douyin/TikTok Fallback
When yt-dlp fails for Douyin or TikTok URLs (common with 403 errors or region-restricted content), use the one-step browser-based fallback:
bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/download-fallback.sh '<douyin-or-tiktok-url>' 'output-dir'This script wraps the full agent-browser + GreenVideo flow into a single command (open → paste URL → parse → extract video URL → download → close).
Manual Fallback Steps
If the fallback script is unavailable, follow these steps:
- Open GreenVideo:
agent-browser open "https://greenvideo.cc/en/" - Paste URL and parse:
agent-browser snapshot agent-browser fill <input-ref> "<video-url>" agent-browser click <start-button-ref> - Wait 5 seconds, then extract video URL:
agent-browser eval " (function() {const nuxtData = window.__NUXT__; if (!nuxtData) return 'ERROR: No Nuxt data found'; const str = JSON.stringify(nuxtData); const mp4Match = str.match(/https?:[^\\\"]*(?:mp4|video|play|aweme|douyinvod|bilivideo)[^\\\"]{0,500}/g); if (mp4Match && mp4Match.length > 0) return mp4Match[0]; return 'ERROR: No video URL found in Nuxt state';})() " - Download and cleanup:
curl -L -o ~/Downloads/<filename>.mp4 "<extracted-video-url>" agent-browser close
Video ID Logic
| Platform | Pattern | Example ID |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | watch?v=, shorts/, embed/, youtu.be/ → 11-char ID | yt-dQw4w9WgXcQ |
| TikTok | 15+ digit numeric ID in URL | tk-7571284267028729101 |
| Other | Base64url of URL, first 16 chars | vid-aHR0cHM6Ly93d3 |
Troubleshooting
| Error | Solution |
|---|---|
HTTP Error 403 (TikTok/Douyin) | Script auto-retries with cookies. If still failing, use fallback script |
--max-filesize skipped | Video exceeds 200M limit. Download manually with -f 'best[height<=720]' |
is not a valid URL | Ensure URL is wrapped in single quotes |
Requested formats are incompatible | yt-dlp auto-transcodes, no action needed |
| Parse fails on GreenVideo | Check URL is valid and publicly accessible |
| No video URL in Nuxt state | Try clicking download button and check for <video> elements |
| Download fails (403) from GreenVideo | Video URLs expire quickly — extract and download immediately |