Dependencies

Youwee relies on several powerful open-source CLI tools to perform downloads, media extraction, and video processing. You have full control over how these dependencies are managed.

yt-dlp (YouTube & 1800+ sites)

The core engine for fetching video metadata and streams. Youwee provides four release channels for yt-dlp to balance stability and the latest platform fixes:

Bundled

Shipped securely with Youwee. Reliable fallback if you are offline or updates fail.

Stable (Default)

Automatically downloaded on first launch. Safe and tested official releases.

Nightly

Bleeding-edge builds for emergency fixes when a site's extractor suddenly breaks.

System Source

Uses your OS package manager (Homebrew, APT, PATH). Advanced users only.

FFmpeg (Media Processing)

Required for merging high-resolution videos (2K, 4K, 8K), embedding thumbnails, applying subtitle hardsubs, and AI post-processing workflows.

Auto-Install: Youwee can automatically download a verified, checksum-matched build of FFmpeg for Windows, macOS (Intel/M-series), and Linux.
System FFmpeg: You can switch to use the FFmpeg installed on your machine. Youwee will automatically verify your system's PATH.

Deno (JavaScript Runtime)

YouTube often uses complex bot-protection scripts for age-restricted videos and signature decryption. yt-dlp requires a JS runtime to execute these scripts. Youwee bundles support for Deno natively.

On your first launch, Youwee will automatically download a lightweight Deno binary. Without it, some YouTube links might get stuck on "Failed to fetch video info".

gallery-dl (Image Galleries)

Powering the dedicated Gallery workspace, `gallery-dl` handles batch downloading of image sequences from supported sites (Twitter, Pixiv, Pinterest, etc.). It must be installed on your system to work.

Windows Installation

Use Scoop or Winget.

# Using Scoop
scoop install gallery-dl

# Using Winget
winget install gallery-dl

System Source Setup Guide (Advanced)

If you prefer to manage `yt-dlp` and `FFmpeg` through your operating system's package manager instead of letting Youwee download them, you can do so. Below are the standard commands for each platform:

yt-dlp

We recommend using Scoop or Winget.

# Using Scoop
scoop install yt-dlp
scoop update yt-dlp

# Using Winget
winget install yt-dlp

FFmpeg

# Using Scoop
scoop install ffmpeg
scoop update ffmpeg

# Using Winget
winget install ffmpeg

Managing Dependencies

You can check the status, update, or change the source of all these dependencies anytime by navigating to Settings > Dependencies inside the application.

Dependencies status lights in Settings — Open Settings > Dependencies to check which tools are ready, which source each tool is using, and whether anything still needs to be downloaded or fixed.