Douyin Downloader V2.0

中文文档 (Chinese): README.zh-CN.md

A practical Douyin downloader supporting videos, image-notes, collections, music, favorites collections, and profile batch downloads, with progress display, retries, SQLite deduplication, download integrity checks, and browser fallback support.

Desktop App (Douzy)

A desktop GUI built on the same backend, with dedicated workspaces for Douyin, TikTok, and YouTube. Paste a link to start, sync account content, follow every task, and manage downloaded works in a local archive.

• Three platforms: Douyin videos, galleries, profiles, and collections; TikTok videos, photos, and profiles; YouTube videos, Shorts, channels, and playlists
• Account content: sync Douyin following, favorites collections, collected series, and likes
• Visual workflow: multi-link queue, task status and retry controls, local download archive, filters, and quick re-download

Beta: The desktop app is currently in closed beta. To try it, download the build from the Releases page.

| Douyin link download | TikTok download workspace | YouTube workbench | |:---:|:---:|:---:| | | | | | Paste a video, gallery, profile, or collection link and start in one click. | Download public videos, photo posts, and profiles without signing in. | Scan videos, Shorts, channels, and playlists, then configure video, MP3, or subtitle downloads. | | Following management | Favorites and likes | Task Center | | | | | | Sync creators, filter new works, add notes, and download directly from the list. | Browse collected videos, series, and liked works from the current Douyin account. | Track job results, retry failures, and open output folders. |

_Screenshots were captured from the current desktop main build. Demonstration data is used for privacy._

Feature Overview

⚠️ Douyin's anti-bot gate blocks the CLI from downloading likes / favorites / favorite collections (since 2026-08) and single videos / notes, collections and music (since 2026-09); profile posts can only rely on the browser fallback. See Current Limitations for the cause and what still works; use the Douzy desktop app for these downloads.

Supported

| Feature | Description | |---------|-------------| | Single video download | /video/{aweme_id} | | Single image-note download | /note/{note_id} and /gallery/{note_id} | | Single collection download | /collection/{mix_id} and /mix/{mix_id} | | Single music download | /music/{music_id} (prefers direct audio, fallback to first related aweme) | | Short link parsing | https://v.douyin.com/..., v.iesdouyin.com, bare hosts | | Profile batch download | /user/{sec_uid} + mode: [post, like, mix, music] | | Logged-in favorites collections | /user/self?showTab=favorite_collection + mode: [collect, collectmix] | | No-watermark preferred | Automatically selects watermark-free video source | | Highest-quality selection | Auto-picks highest bitrate from video.bit_rate ladder (video + live-photo) | | Live stream recording | live.douyin.com/{room_id} → FLV/HLS, preserves partial data on stream end | | Comments collection | Per-aweme comments (+ optional replies) saved as *_comments.json | | Hot search + keyword search | --hot-board [N] / --search "keyword" dumps to JSONL | | REST API server mode | --serve --serve-port 8000 (optional fastapi + uvicorn) | | Notification push | Bark / Telegram / Webhook on download completion | | Extra assets | Cover, music, avatar, JSON metadata | | Video transcription | Optional, using OpenAI Transcriptions API | | Concurrent downloads | Configurable concurrency, default 5 | | Retry with backoff | Exponential backoff (1s, 2s, 5s) | | Rate limiting | Default 2 req/s | | SQLite history | Records download metadata; does not decide incremental skips | | Incremental downloads | Disk-based skip/redownload via increase.post/like/mix/music | | Time filters | start_time / end_time | | Browser fallback | Launches browser when pagination is blocked, manual CAPTCHA supported | | Download integrity check | Content-Length validation, auto-cleanup of incomplete files | | Progress display | Rich progress bars, supports progress.quiet_logs quiet mode | | Docker deployment | Dockerfile included | | CI/CD | GitHub Actions for testing and linting |

Current Limitations

• Douyin Argus gate: Douyin's edge ArgusSecurityPlugin answers every non-browser request to these endpoints with

HTTP 403 Blocked by ArgusSecurityPlugin Uifid Not Found, with or without cookies and no matter how often you retry:

• since 2026-08: aweme/favorite, collects/*, aweme/listcollection, mix/listcollection (likes / favorites / favorite collections)
• since 2026-09-10: mix/aweme (collection items)
• since 2026-09-14: aweme/detail (single video / note), aweme/post (profile posts), mix/detail, mix/list,

music/detail, music/aweme, music/list

The required x-secsdk-web-signature can only be produced by the SDK inside a real Douyin web page, which the CLI's direct API requests cannot carry, so single videos / notes, collections, music and likes / favorites cannot be downloaded in the CLI. Profile-post (post) API paging is rejected as well; with playwright installed and browser_fallback left on (headed by default), the browser fallback reads the page's own post-list requests and may still work, but it has not been tested against this gate. The Douzy desktop app sends these requests through its built-in login window and is not affected. Endpoints still reachable directly as of 2026-09-14: user profile, following list, comments, live rooms (webcast), hot board and search.

• Browser fallback is fully validated for post; like/mix/music currently relies on API pagination
• number.allmix / increase.allmix are retained as compatibility aliases and normalized to mix
• collect / collectmix currently work for the account represented by the logged-in cookies only
• collect / collectmix must be used alone and cannot be combined with post / like / mix / music
• increase currently applies to post / like / mix / music; favorites collection modes do not support incremental stop
• Live stream recording saves FLV natively; HLS sources only save the playlist (use ffmpeg for playable output)
• The webcast room endpoint is not verified against every live scenario — treat as experimental

Quick Start

1) Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• macOS / Linux / Windows

2) Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

For browser fallback and automatic cookie capture:

pip install playwright
python -m playwright install chromium

3) Copy config file

cp config.example.yml config.yml

4) Get cookies (recommended: automatic)

python -m tools.cookie_fetcher --config config.yml

After logging into Douyin, return to the terminal and press Enter. Cookies will be written to your config automatically.

5) Docker deployment (optional)

docker build -t douyin-downloader .
docker run -v $(pwd)/config.yml:/app/config.yml -v $(pwd)/Downloaded:/app/Downloaded douyin-downloader

Minimal Working Config

link:
https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAAxxxx

path: ./Downloaded/
mode:
post

number:
  post: 0
  collect: 0
  collectmix: 0
thread: 5
retry_times: 3
proxy: ""
database: true
database_path: dy_downloader.db
progress:
  quiet_logs: true
cookies:
  msToken: ""
  ttwid: YOUR_TTWID
  odin_tt: YOUR_ODIN_TT
  passport_csrf_token: YOUR_CSRF_TOKEN
  sid_guard: ""
browser_fallback:
  enabled: true
  headless: false
  max_scrolls: 240
  idle_rounds: 8
  wait_timeout_seconds: 600
transcript:
  enabled: false
  model: gpt-4o-mini-transcribe
  output_dir: ""
  response_formats: ["txt", "json"]
  api_url: https://api.openai.com/v1/audio/transcriptions
  api_key_env: OPENAI_API_KEY
  api_key: ""

Usage

Run with a config file

python run.py -c config.yml

Append CLI arguments

python run.py -c config.yml \
  -u "https://www.douyin.com/video/7604129988555574538" \
  -t 8 \
  -p ./Downloaded

Arguments

| Argument | Description | |----------|-------------| | -u, --url | Append download link(s), can be repeated | | -c, --config | Specify config file (default: config.yml) | | -p, --path | Specify download directory | | -t, --thread | Specify concurrency | | --show-warnings | Show warning/error logs | | -v, --verbose | Show info/warning/error logs | | --hot-board [N] | Fetch Douyin hot search board and write JSONL; optional top-N | | --search KEYWORD | Search videos by keyword, write JSONL | | --search-max N | Max items for --search (default 50) | | --serve | Run as REST API server (requires pip install fastapi uvicorn) | | --serve-host HOST | REST server listen host (default 127.0.0.1) | | --serve-port PORT | REST server listen port (default 8000) | | --version | Show version number |

Typical Scenarios

Download one video

link:
https://www.douyin.com/video/7604129988555574538

Download one image-note

link:
https://www.douyin.com/note/7341234567890123456

Download a collection

link:
https://www.douyin.com/collection/7341234567890123456

Download a music track

link:
https://www.douyin.com/music/7341234567890123456

Batch download a creator's posts

link:
https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAAxxxx
mode:
post
number:
  post: 50

Batch download a creator's liked posts

link:
https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAAxxxx
mode:
like
number:
  like: 0    # 0 means download all

Download multiple modes at once

link:
https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAAxxxx
mode:
post
like
mix
music

Cross-mode deduplication: the same aweme_id won't be downloaded twice across different modes.

Download logged-in favorites collection items

link:
https://www.douyin.com/user/self?showTab=favorite_collection
mode:
collect
number:
  collect: 0

Download logged-in collected mixes

link:
https://www.douyin.com/user/self?showTab=favorite_collection
mode:
collectmix
number:
  collectmix: 0

Record a live stream (experimental)

link:
https://live.douyin.com/123456789   # or /follow/live/{room_id}
live:
  max_duration_seconds: 3600   # 0 = record until broadcaster ends
  chunk_size: 65536
  idle_timeout_seconds: 30

The recorder saves an FLV file under Downloaded/{author}/live/ plus a *_room.json metadata snapshot. If the broadcaster ends the stream, network goes idle, or you Ctrl+C, any already-recorded bytes are preserved (the .tmp file is promoted to the final file).

Collect comments per aweme

comments:
  enabled: true
  include_replies: false   # true will fetch each comment's second-level replies (extra API calls)
  max_comments: 500        # 0 = no cap
  page_size: 20

Generates a {date}_{title}_{aweme_id}_comments.json next to the media file.

Dump the hot search board

python run.py --hot-board 30 -p ./Downloaded
Output: ./Downloaded/hot_board/20260424_221530.jsonl

Search by keyword

python run.py --search "猫咪" --search-max 100 -p ./Downloaded
Output: ./Downloaded/search/猫咪_20260424_221530.jsonl

Run as REST API server

pip install fastapi uvicorn       # one-time optional dep
python run.py --serve --serve-port 8000

Endpoints:

| Method | Path | Description | |--------|------|-------------| | POST | /api/v1/download | Submit {"url": "..."}, returns {job_id, status} | | GET | /api/v1/jobs/{job_id} | Get a specific job's status/counts | | GET | /api/v1/jobs | List recent jobs (TTL + capacity capped) | | GET | /api/v1/health | Health probe |

Finished jobs are pruned by TTL (default 24h) and max-jobs (default 500) — in-flight jobs are never pruned. Configure via server.max_jobs / server.job_ttl_seconds.

Send a notification on completion

notifications:
  enabled: true
  on_success: true
  on_failure: true
  providers:
type: bark
      url: https://api.day.app/YOUR_DEVICE_KEY
      sound: bell
type: telegram
      bot_token: "123456:ABC..."
      chat_id: "987654321"
type: webhook                 # works with 企业微信/飞书/钉钉 bot URLs too
      url: https://qyapi.weixin.qq.com/cgi-bin/webhook/send?key=xxx
      extra_body:
        msgtype: text

All enabled providers are notified in parallel; a failing provider never blocks the download flow.

Incremental download (disk-based)

increase:
  post: true

With true, the downloader skips an item only when its non-empty primary media already exists under the current download directory. Deleting the media file makes the next run download it again; SQLite history does not affect this decision.

Set a mode to false to redownload and atomically replace existing files within the current number/date/media filters.

Full crawl (no item limit)

number:
  post: 0

Optional Feature: Video Transcription (transcript)

Current behavior applies to video items only (image-note items do not generate transcripts).

1) Enable in config

transcript:
  enabled: true
  model: gpt-4o-mini-transcribe
  output_dir: ""        # empty: same folder as video; non-empty: mirrored to target dir
  response_formats:
txt
json
  api_key_env: OPENAI_API_KEY
  api_key: ""           # can be set directly, or via environment variable

Recommended to provide key through environment variable:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-xxxx"

2) Output files

When enabled, it generates:

• xxx.transcript.txt
• xxx.transcript.json

If database: true, job status is also recorded in SQLite table transcript_job (success/failed/skipped).

Testing

Recommended:

python3 -m pytest -q

Plain pytest is also supported now:

pytest -q

Key Config Fields

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | mode | Supports post/like/mix/music; logged-in favorites mode additionally supports standalone collect/collectmix | | number.post/like/mix/music/collect/collectmix | Per-mode download limit, 0 = unlimited | | increase.post/like/mix/music | true: skip existing primary media on disk; false: redownload and overwrite current scope | | start_time / end_time | Time filter (format: YYYY-MM-DD) | | folderstyle | Create per-item subdirectories | | browser_fallback.* | Browser fallback for post when pagination is restricted | | progress.quiet_logs | Quiet logs during progress stage | | transcript.* | Optional transcription after video download | | comments.* | Per-aweme comments collection (opt-in) | | live.* | Live stream recording options (max_duration_seconds / chunk_size / idle_timeout_seconds) | | notifications.* | Bark/Telegram/Webhook push on completion | | server.* | REST API server tuning (max_jobs, job_ttl_seconds) | | proxy | Optional HTTP/HTTPS proxy setting | | database | Enable SQLite deduplication and history | | database_path | SQLite path, default is dy_downloader.db in the current working directory | | thread | Concurrent download count | | retry_times | Retry count on failure |

Output Structure

Default with folderstyle: true and database_path: dy_downloader.db:

workspace/
├── config.yml
├── dy_downloader.db          # default location when database: true
└── Downloaded/
    ├── download_manifest.jsonl
    ├── hot_board/                # when --hot-board is used
    │   └── 20260424_221530.jsonl
    ├── search/                   # when --search is used
    │   └── 猫咪_20260424_221530.jsonl
    └── AuthorName/
        ├── post/
        │   └── 2024-02-07_Title_aweme_id/
        │       ├── ...mp4
        │       ├── ..._cover.jpg
        │       ├── ..._music.mp3
        │       ├── ..._data.json
        │       ├── ..._avatar.jpg
        │       ├── ..._comments.json    # when comments.enabled
        │       ├── ...transcript.txt
        │       └── ...transcript.json
        ├── like/
        │   └── ...
        ├── mix/
        │   └── ...
        ├── music/
        │   └── ...
        ├── collect/
        │   └── ...
        ├── collectmix/
        │   └── ...
        └── live/                 # when recording live streams
            └── 2026-04-24_2215_LiveTitle_RoomId/
                ├── ...flv
                └── ..._room.json

Re-downloading Content

The program uses a database record + local file dual check to decide whether to skip already-downloaded content. To force re-download, you need to clean up accordingly:

Re-download a specific item

# Delete local files (folder name contains the aweme_id)
rm -rf Downloaded/AuthorName/post/*_<aweme_id>/
Delete database record
sqlite3 dy_downloader.db "DELETE FROM aweme WHERE aweme_id = '<aweme_id>';"

Re-download all items from a specific author

rm -rf Downloaded/AuthorName/
sqlite3 dy_downloader.db "DELETE FROM aweme WHERE author_name = 'AuthorName';"

Full reset (re-download everything)

rm -rf Downloaded/
rm dy_downloader.db

Note: Deleting only the database but keeping files will NOT trigger re-download — the program scans local filenames for aweme_id to detect existing downloads. Deleting only files but keeping the database WILL trigger re-download (the program treats "in DB but missing locally" as needing retry).

FAQ

1) Why do I only get around 20 posts?

This is a common pagination risk-control behavior. Make sure:

• browser_fallback.enabled: true
• browser_fallback.headless: false
• complete verification manually in the browser popup, and do not close it too early

2) Why is the progress output noisy/repeated?

By default, progress.quiet_logs: true suppresses logs during progress stage. Use --show-warnings or -v temporarily when debugging.

3) What if cookies are expired?

Run:

python -m tools.cookie_fetcher --config config.yml

4) Why are transcript files not generated?

Check in order:

• whether transcript.enabled is true
• whether downloaded items are videos (image-notes are not transcribed)
• whether OPENAI_API_KEY (or transcript.api_key) is valid
• whether response_formats includes txt or json

5) How to view download history?

sqlite3 dy_downloader.db "SELECT aweme_id, title, author_name, datetime(download_time, 'unixepoch', 'localtime') FROM aweme ORDER BY download_time DESC LIMIT 20;"

Community Group

点击链接加入群聊【QQ群】：https://qm.qq.com/q/9xoNt8Wzv4

Disclaimer

This project is for technical research, learning, and personal data management only. Please use it legally and responsibly:

• Do not use it to infringe others' privacy, copyright, or other legal rights
• Do not use it for any illegal purpose
• Users are solely responsible for all risks and liabilities arising from usage
• If platform policies or interfaces change and features break, this is a normal technical risk

By continuing to use this project, you acknowledge and accept the statements above.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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