A fast, lightweight desktop app for downloading videos and converting media files - powered by yt-dlp and ffmpeg.
- Download videos from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), TikTok, and hundreds of other sites
- M3U8 / HLS streams via ffmpeg
- My Playlists - browse and download your YouTube playlists (requires authentication)
- In-app authentication - sign in to YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook directly within the app (Windows/macOS); cookies are captured securely and stored locally. On Linux, use the browser cookie fallback
- File conversion - convert between MP4, MKV, WebM, MOV, AVI, GIF, MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, WAV, Opus
- Quality selection - from 360p up to best available, or audio-only extraction
- Real-time download progress and log output
Both tools must be installed and available on your PATH:
| Tool | Install |
|---|---|
| yt-dlp | yt-dlp releases - winget install yt-dlp.yt-dlp |
| ffmpeg | ffmpeg.org - winget install Gyan.FFmpeg |
On Linux: sudo apt install yt-dlp ffmpeg (or distro equivalent)
On macOS: brew install yt-dlp ffmpeg
Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page:
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows | .msi installer or .exe setup |
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | _aarch64.dmg |
| macOS (Intel) | _x64.dmg |
| Linux | .AppImage or .deb |
Requirements: Rust (stable), Node.js 18+ (required for npm dependency resolution), platform build tools
git clone https://github.com/Menddd/OpticalCortex.git
cd OpticalCortex
npm install
npm run tauri buildFor development with hot-reload:
npm run tauri devsudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libappindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev patchelfNote: macOS builds are untested. Use at your own risk.
Xcode Command Line Tools required:
xcode-select --installOpticalCortex can access private videos, members-only content, and your personal playlists using saved cookies. Cookies are stored locally and never transmitted. They are only passed to the local yt-dlp process.
Use Sign in with YouTube / Instagram / Facebook in the Authentication tab. An in-app browser window opens, you log in normally, and cookies are captured automatically.
Google blocks in-app browser logins on Linux. Use the browser fallback instead:
- Log into YouTube (or Instagram/Facebook) in your regular browser
- In the Authentication tab, expand "Or use an installed browser's cookies"
- Select your browser from the dropdown and click Test
Note: Chrome, Edge, and Brave use App-Bound Encryption which prevents direct cookie access. Use Firefox, or export cookies manually with the Get cookies.txt LOCALLY extension and load the file via the cookies.txt option.
Cookies are stored locally at ~/.config/OpticalCortex/.
Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.