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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/mr-sunset/youtube-rip/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This page walks you through everything you need to install before running YouTube Rip: Homebrew, yt-dlp, and the AppleScript file itself. The whole process takes about five minutes on a fresh Mac.

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Prerequisites

YouTube Rip is designed for macOS on Apple Silicon (M-series) Macs. Intel Macs are also likely to work — the script explicitly includes /usr/local/bin (the default Homebrew prefix on Intel hardware) in its PATH alongside /opt/homebrew/bin (the Apple Silicon prefix). You do not need Xcode or any developer tools beyond what Homebrew installs automatically.

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Installation steps

1

Install Homebrew

Open Terminal (find it in /Applications/Utilities/ or via Spotlight) and run the official Homebrew install script:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Follow the on-screen prompts. The installer may ask for your Mac login password and will install the Xcode Command Line Tools if they are not already present. When it finishes, follow any instructions it prints about adding Homebrew to your PATH.
2

Install yt-dlp via Homebrew

With Homebrew installed, run:
brew install yt-dlp
Homebrew will download and install yt-dlp along with its dependencies (including ffmpeg, which is required for audio conversion to MP3).
3

Verify yt-dlp is installed

Confirm the installation was successful by checking the version:
yt-dlp --version
You should see a version string such as 2024.11.18. If the command is not found, make sure your shell’s PATH includes the Homebrew prefix (see the note below).
4

Download the YouTube Rip AppleScript

Visit the project repository at https://github.com/mr-sunset/youtube-rip and download YouTube Rip.applescript to your Mac. You can either:
  • Click the file in the GitHub web UI and use the Download raw file button, or
  • Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/mr-sunset/youtube-rip.git
Save the file somewhere convenient, such as ~/Documents or ~/Scripts.
5

Open the script in Script Editor

macOS includes Script Editor (/Applications/Utilities/Script Editor.app). Open YouTube Rip.applescript in one of these ways:
  • Double-click the .applescript file — macOS should open it in Script Editor automatically.
  • Right-click the file in Finder → Open With → Script Editor.
  • Launch Script Editor first, then use File → Open to browse to the file.
Once open, you can run the script immediately with the ▶ Run button, or save it as a compiled .scpt or self-contained .app bundle via File → Export for faster future access.
The script prepends both /opt/homebrew/bin (Apple Silicon) and /usr/local/bin (Intel) to the shell PATH before invoking yt-dlp. This means it works with either Homebrew installation prefix without any manual configuration.
Keep yt-dlp up to date with brew upgrade yt-dlp. YouTube frequently changes its internal API, and running an outdated version of yt-dlp is the most common cause of download failures.

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