Subscriptions¶
A subscription checks a channel or playlist for eligible uploads and adds missing items to the download queue.
Create a subscription¶
Open Subscriptions, paste the channel or playlist URL, and choose the download settings before subscribing. The app reads the source name and begins collecting eligible items. It also fetches the channel's avatar, or the playlist's cover, to show the subscription with, and refreshes it at most once a day as the subscription is checked.
| Setting | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Audio only | Creates an audio subscription; existing subscriptions cannot switch between audio and video |
| Quality | Sets the requested maximum video quality; defaults to Best |
| Time range | Downloads all eligible uploads, a preset recent period, or a custom number of days, weeks, months, or years |
| Use subfolder | Keeps the subscription in its own directory; enabled by default |
| Auto playlist | Maintains a library playlist for the subscription's downloaded files |
| Retrieve channel playlists | For a channel, also downloads the videos in its playlists, whatever the date range, and keeps each one as a library playlist |
| Custom args / output | Overrides download details for this subscription |
A date range such as now-2weeks controls which uploads are eligible when a check runs. It does not delete older files that were already downloaded. Use the Delete old files task with Subscription files only on for retention.
A check with a date range first lists the source's uploads with their approximate dates, and fetches full details only for uploads near or inside the range, whose exact date decides. On a channel, or its Videos, Shorts or Live tab, uploads are listed newest first, so the check stops where the range ends: a short range on a large channel reads a page or two, not the channel's whole history. A playlist need not be in date order, so it is still listed in full, as is a subscription whose custom args already decide where a check stops (--playlist-items, --playlist-end, --max-downloads or a --break-... option).
The global Skip join-only videos option skips items identified as membership-only and records skipped subscription items in the Archive. If your access later changes, review that history before expecting those items to download. The optional Redownload fresh uploads setting requests later quality checks for recently published items; it is not a command to upgrade every existing file in a subscription.
Check and schedule¶
Use a subscription's check action for an immediate refresh. For automatic checks, open Tasks → Check subscriptions → Schedule. A new installation seeds this task for midnight each day in the server's timezone. Schedules saved through the UI carry the browser's timezone.
There is no current subscription-check-interval environment setting. Change the task schedule instead.
The subscription page distinguishes checking the source from downloading the queued files. It also shows paused, unfinished, and unavailable states and the last completed check, with the check's counts and any error under Details. A successful check may queue nothing because every matching item is already present or archived.
A check that cannot read one upload, such as a live event that has not started, still counts as complete when the source itself was listed. A check that stops early shows the downloader's last error, and the next check starts over.
Pause, stop, and edit¶
Pause a subscription to stop recurring collection while retaining its files and settings. Stop an active check when you need to interrupt the current refresh. Use Downloads to inspect individual queued or running jobs.
Open the subscription's settings to change quality, date range, folder behavior, playlist creation, and custom options. Changes affect subsequent work; they do not automatically reorganize every existing file on disk.
When automatic playlist creation is enabled, the app adds downloaded files without duplicating playlist entries. It waits until there are files before creating the playlist. Unsubscribing also cleans up the managed playlist and subscription references.
With Retrieve channel playlists on, each check also lists the channel's playlists and queues any of their videos not yet downloaded. Each playlist becomes a library playlist once one of its videos is downloaded, and follows the channel's order as more arrive. Turning the setting on starts a check. A subscription's page lists its videos and its playlists under separate tabs.
Delete or unsubscribe¶
Read the removal dialog's choices carefully. Unsubscribing removes the subscription and its library records; retaining files on disk does not retain them as an active subscription in the library. Choosing to delete files also removes their stored media.
When deleting an individual subscription item, keeping it in the Archive prevents the next check from downloading it again. Removing its archive entry makes it eligible again if it still matches the subscription range.