spotDL/spotify-downloader

Inform the user if YouTube Premium cookies are detected

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#2501 opened on Sep 23, 2025

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 (3 comments) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)Python (14,703 stars) (1,418 forks)batch import
Feature RequestGood First Issue

Description

Requested Feature

Hello,

I recently acquired YouTube Premium access by letting a friend export his cookies.txt to me. However there isn't currently an easy way to verify that this functions. Best I've come up with is using them with yt-dlp -v and checking the output for successful use of the cookies.

Possible implementation

A one liner like [INFO] YouTube Premium detected! or similar on the start of the download. Maybe on the INFO or PROGRESS log level.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
python
Domain
cli
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Python loggingyt dlp cookie usage
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
80
Research direction
Investigate how spotDL loads cookies for YouTube downloads, typically in the download handler. Search for where cookies are passed to yt dlp. Add a check for the presence of a 'YTPREMIUM' cookie and log an info message if found. Refer to yt dlp documentation for cookie detection details. The change is likely a small addition in the relevant Python file.