EzTube: A Clean Script-Based YouTube Downloader for macOS

A minimal Bash wrapper around yt-dlp that makes downloading YouTube videos or MP3 audio fast, clean, and repeatable with a simple interactive CLI.

EzTube Downloader (yt-dlp Wrapper)

If you download YouTube videos often, you already know the pain:

random webm files everywhere
naming / output paths all over the place
forgetting the exact yt-dlp flags you used last time
and having to Google the same commands again and again

EzTube Downloader fixes that by wrapping yt-dlp inside a clean, interactive Bash script for macOS.

It’s intentionally simple: pick Video or MP3, choose a quality preset, pick a destination folder, paste a URL, done.

Repository:
https://github.com/JPerez00/eztube-downloader

Why I Built It

I wanted a downloader that felt like a small tool, not a project.

Something I could run anytime from the terminal without thinking:

no complicated config files
no “read the docs” moment
no remembering format strings
no messy output formats

Just one script, a few prompts, and consistent results.

What It Does

EzTube Downloader supports: filecite/turn0file0

Video downloads with quality presets (Best, 1080p, 720p)
Audio-only MP3 extraction
Clean output folders:
- ~/Downloads/YouTube
- ~/Downloads/Other Videos
Automatic MKV merging to avoid webm clutter
Age-restricted support via browser cookies (Chrome by default)

The UX: One Flow, No Overthinking

The whole script is structured around one loop:

Choose download type
(If video) choose quality
Choose save destination
Paste URL
Download
Ask if you want another

That “repeat download” loop matters more than it sounds. It turns the script into a tiny workflow tool instead of a one-off command.

The Core of the Script

1) Quality presets that are actually useful

Instead of making you manually craft yt-dlp -f strings every time, the script offers three options and maps them to the right selectors:

case $video_choice in
  1) video_quality="bestvideo+bestaudio/best" ;;
  2) video_quality="bestvideo[height<=1080][fps<=60]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080][fps<=60]" ;;
  3) video_quality="bestvideo[height<=720][fps<=60]+bestaudio/best[height<=720][fps<=60]" ;;
  *) video_quality="bestvideo+bestaudio/best" ;;
esac

This gives you predictable results, without losing the flexibility that makes yt-dlp so good.

2) MKV output by default (no WebM clutter)

YouTube commonly serves webm video formats, especially at higher qualities.

That’s fine, but most people want one clean file at the end.

EzTube forces a merged output container:

yt-dlp -f "$video_quality" --merge-output-format mkv   -o "$save_path/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "$url"

So you end up with a clean .mkv in the folder you chose.

3) MP3 mode is one command

For audio, it uses yt-dlp’s built-in extraction flow:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3   -o "$save_path/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "$url"

No extra steps. Just paste the URL and you get the MP3.

4) Age-restricted support with browser cookies

Some videos require sign-in. The script includes:

--cookies-from-browser chrome

If you use Firefox or Edge, you can switch it to:

firefox
edge

This keeps the script beginner-friendly while still handling real-world videos.

Requirements

You’ll need:

Python 3.10+
yt-dlp
FFmpeg (for merging/extraction)

Install

Clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/JPerez00/eztube-downloader.git
cd eztube-downloader

Make it executable:

chmod +x eztube-downloader.sh

Install dependencies:

brew install yt-dlp ffmpeg

Run It

./eztube-downloader.sh

Then follow the prompts.

Where This Can Go Next

This project is intentionally minimal, but it’s easy to expand:

add a playlist mode
support more save locations
include a default quality setting
auto-detect browser (chrome vs firefox)
add a “safe filename” option for cleaner output titles

Conclusion

EzTube Downloader is the kind of tool I like building and using:

small
focused
fast
and built around real usage, not theory

If you already like yt-dlp but want something that feels more like a simple utility, this is the point.