with_ui.py + frontend.html — browser-based UI for inspecting post metadata and streaming downloads.
batch.py — command-line batch downloader (supports urls.json).
urls.sample.json — example JSON input file.

Features

Inspect available formats and metadata before downloading.
Stream yt-dlp output to the browser with live progress.
Batch-mode support for many posts via a JSON file or inline list.

Requirements

Python 3.8+ and pip.
yt-dlp installed and available on PATH (or configure via environment variables).

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone <repo-url>
cd patreon-downloader

Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Export your Patreon cookies to cookies.txt (use a browser extension such as “Get cookies.txt”) and place it in the project root.

Quick Start

Web UI (recommended)

Start the UI server:

python with_ui.py

Open http://localhost:5000 in your browser.
Fill in the post URL and the path to cookies.txt. Inspect formats and click download. The terminal-like pane shows yt-dlp output live.

Batch mode

You can provide URLs in two ways:

Inline in batch.py: edit the URLS list.
JSON file: create urls.json (or set URLS_JSON) containing an array of URLs.

Example urls.json format (see urls.sample.json):

["https://www.patreon.com/posts/example-post-12345678", "https://www.patreon.com/posts/another-example-87654321"]

Run the batch script:

python batch.py

Configuration

YTDLP_PATH (env): override yt-dlp executable for the UI server.
DOWNLOAD_DIR (env): override download directory used by the UI server.
URLS_JSON (env): path to a JSON file containing an array of URLs for batch.py (default: ./urls.json).

JSON input behavior (batch)

If URLS_JSON exists and contains a non-empty array of strings, batch.py will use those URLs.
If not present, batch.py falls back to the URLS list embedded in the script.

Examples

Run single download quickly via UI.
Use urls.sample.json as a template for bulk downloads.

Troubleshooting

yt-dlp extractor or permission errors: re-export cookies.txt and ensure they are up to date.
UI fetch timeout: the UI uses a 30s timeout for --dump-json; run the yt-dlp --dump-json command manually to debug.
If downloads fail on Windows, ensure YTDLP in batch.py points to yt-dlp.exe.

Security & Ethics

Use this tool only for content you are authorized to access (e.g., from subscriptions you paid for). Respect creators' terms.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests welcome. Keep changes minimal and focused.

Files of interest

with_ui.py — Flask UI server and job manager.
frontend.html — browser interface.
batch.py — command-line batch downloader (now supports JSON input).
requirements.txt — Python dependencies.
urls.sample.json — example JSON file.

Browser helper

Use the included get_urls.js helper to extract post URLs from a Patreon page via the browser console. Paste and run the script in the console while viewing a page with posts; the script logs an array of URLs which you can right-click and "Copy Object" on.

License

MIT No Attribution — see MIT-0.txt.

README.md

Patreon Downloader

Contents