grabbo

Download audio, video, or transcripts from YouTube and 1800+ sites — from the command line.

Installation

Requires Python 3.10+ and ffmpeg.

# Install ffmpeg (if not already installed)
brew install ffmpeg

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/steferic/grabbo.git
cd grabbo
pip install -e .

Usage

Clipboard watcher

The easiest way to use grabbo - just copy any YouTube URL and it downloads automatically:

# Auto-download mode - copies trigger downloads
grabbo watch -y

# Interactive mode - prompts before each download
grabbo watch

# With quality option
grabbo watch -y -q 320

Keep a terminal running with grabbo watch -y, then copy any YouTube URL from your browser.

Download audio, video, or transcript

Pick what you want — each command auto-detects playlist URLs:

grabbo audio "URL"        # MP3 (also: grabbo d "URL", grabbo download "URL")
grabbo video "URL"        # video file (also: grabbo v "URL")
grabbo transcript "URL"   # captions (also: grabbo t "URL")

Time clipping (audio + video)

Extract a specific portion. The clip flags work the same for audio and video:

# 20 seconds starting at 0:12
grabbo audio "URL" -s 12 -d 20
grabbo video "URL" -s 12 -d 20

# From 1:30 to 2:00
grabbo audio "URL" -s 1:30 -e 2:00

# Various time formats work
grabbo audio "URL" -s 1m30s -d 30s
grabbo audio "URL" -s 1:02:30 -e 1:05:00

Audio options

-o, --output PATH    Output directory
-q, --quality        Audio quality: 128, 192 (default), or 320 kbps
-n, --name           Custom filename (without extension)
-s, --start          Start time (e.g., 12, 1:30, 1m30s)
-d, --duration       Duration (e.g., 20, 20s, 1:00)
-e, --end            End time (alternative to duration)
-N, --max            Max videos when URL is a playlist

Video options

-o, --output PATH       Output directory
-r, --resolution        Cap on height: 480, 720, 1080, 1440, 2160 (4K), 4320 (8K) (default: best)
-c, --container         mp4 (default) or webm
-n, --name              Custom filename
-s, --start             Start time
-d, --duration          Duration
-e, --end               End time
-N, --max               Max videos when URL is a playlist

Search and download

Search YouTube without needing a URL:

# Search and show results
grabbo search "lofi hip hop"

# Download the first result directly
grabbo search "song name" -d 1

# Show more results
grabbo search "query" -n 20

Playlist downloads

Download entire YouTube playlists:

# Download all videos in a playlist
grabbo playlist "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=..."

# Download first 5 videos only
grabbo playlist "URL" -n 5

# Preview playlist contents without downloading
grabbo playlist "URL" --info

Batch downloads

Download multiple videos at once:

# Multiple URLs as arguments
grabbo batch "url1" "url2" "url3"

# From a file (one URL per line)
grabbo batch -f urls.txt

# Combine both
grabbo batch "url1" -f more_urls.txt -q 320

Trim silence

Remove silence from the beginning and end of tracks:

# Trim a specific file
grabbo trim "song.mp3"

# Trim all files in output directory
grabbo trim --all

# Only trim start (keep ending)
grabbo trim song.mp3 --no-end

# More aggressive threshold (-40dB instead of -50dB)
grabbo trim song.mp3 -t -40

Download transcripts

Download captions/transcripts only (no audio):

# Download transcript as plain text
grabbo transcript "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."

# Or use the shortcut
grabbo t "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."

# Different formats
grabbo t "URL" -f txt   # Plain text (default)
grabbo t "URL" -f srt   # SRT subtitles with timestamps
grabbo t "URL" -f json  # JSON with timestamps

# Download transcripts for entire playlist
grabbo t "PLAYLIST_URL"

# First 10 videos only
grabbo t "PLAYLIST_URL" -n 10

# Preview playlist without downloading
grabbo t "PLAYLIST_URL" --info

# Different language
grabbo t "URL" -l es    # Spanish

Transcripts are organized by creator and playlist under the base dir:

~/grabbo/transcripts/
├── Huberman Lab/
│   └── Huberman Lab Podcast/
│       ├── Episode 1.txt
│       └── Episode 2.txt
└── Lex Fridman/
    └── Lex Fridman Podcast/
        └── Interview.txt

Default folder layout

Everything lives under one base directory (default: ~/grabbo), with one subfolder per kind:

~/grabbo/
├── audio/         # MP3s from `grabbo audio` / `download` / `batch` / `playlist` / `watch`
├── video/         # videos from `grabbo video`
└── transcripts/   # captions from `grabbo transcript`, nested by creator/playlist

grabbo set-dir changes the base, not a single kind's dir.

Manage downloads

# List downloaded files (audio by default)
grabbo list
grabbo list -k video         # List video files instead

# Show current config (counts per kind)
grabbo config

# Change base output directory (default: ~/grabbo)
grabbo set-dir ~/Media

# Open base folder in Finder
grabbo open

All Commands

Command	Description
audio / download / d	Download as MP3 (auto-detects playlists)
video / v	Download as video file (auto-detects playlists)
transcript / t	Download captions/transcripts only
watch	Watch clipboard for YouTube URLs
search	Search YouTube and download results
playlist	Download entire playlists as MP3
batch	Download multiple videos as MP3
trim	Remove silence from start/end of files
list	List downloaded files (-k audio default, -k video)
config	Show current configuration
set-dir	Set the base output directory
open	Open output directory in Finder