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overwrites my cookie file... and also tells me that I need to sign in? #27017

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opened 2026-02-21 14:36:04 -05:00 by deekerman · 6 comments

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 14:36:04 -05:00

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Originally created by @mesozoic-technology on GitHub (Dec 24, 2024).

Checklist

I'm reporting a broken site support issue
I've verified that I'm running youtube-dl version 2021.12.17
I've checked that all provided URLs are alive and playable in a browser
I've checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped
I've searched the bugtracker for similar bug reports including closed ones
I've read bugs section in FAQ

Verbose log

ERROR: [youtube] a07qXFXjEDI: Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot. Use --cookies-from-browser or --cookies for the authentication. See  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ#how-do-i-pass-cookies-to-yt-dlp  for how to manually pass cookies. Also see  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Extractors#exporting-youtube-cookies  for tips on effectively exporting YouTube cookies

Description

I know this may look like broken site support, but it also overwrites my cookie file, which seems like a bug. I start with a cookie file I take from my browser that has quite a lot in it, but after I run it, the cookie file is completely different and very small.
Here is my code

    url = f"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={video_id}"
    options = { 
        'quiet': True,
         cookiefile': "cookies.txt"
    }
    try:
        with YoutubeDL(options) as ydl:

            info_dict = ydl.extract_info(url, download=False)
            print("info_dict", info_dict)

    except Exception as e:
        print("Error", e)
        return jsonify({"status": "error", "message": str(e)}), 500

Originally created by @mesozoic-technology on GitHub (Dec 24, 2024).  ## Checklist  - [x] I'm reporting a broken site support issue - [x] I've verified that I'm running youtube-dl version **2021.12.17** - [x] I've checked that all provided URLs are alive and playable in a browser - [x] I've checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped - [ ] I've searched the bugtracker for similar bug reports including closed ones - [ ] I've read bugs section in FAQ ## Verbose log ``` ERROR: [youtube] a07qXFXjEDI: Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot. Use --cookies-from-browser or --cookies for the authentication. See https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ#how-do-i-pass-cookies-to-yt-dlp for how to manually pass cookies. Also see https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Extractors#exporting-youtube-cookies for tips on effectively exporting YouTube cookies ``` ## Description I know this may look like broken site support, but it also overwrites my cookie file, which seems like a bug. I start with a cookie file I take from my browser that has quite a lot in it, but after I run it, the cookie file is completely different and very small. Here is my code ``` url = f"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={video_id}" options = { 'quiet': True, cookiefile': "cookies.txt" } try: with YoutubeDL(options) as ydl: info_dict = ydl.extract_info(url, download=False) print("info_dict", info_dict) except Exception as e: print("Error", e) return jsonify({"status": "error", "message": str(e)}), 500 ```

deekerman added the

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2026-02-21 14:36:04 -05:00

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 14:36:06 -05:00

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@dirkf commented on GitHub (Dec 25, 2024):

#22069: yt-dl treats the cookie file like a browser would, refreshing the cookie store. You can keep a copy of the original exported cookie file (but cookies won't be refreshed, so more likely to be expired on next use). Setting the file as read-only provokes an error.

For the bot-ty part of the issue see #32960.

@dirkf commented on GitHub (Dec 25, 2024): #22069: _yt-dl_ treats the cookie file like a browser would, refreshing the cookie store. You can keep a copy of the original exported cookie file (but cookies won't be refreshed, so more likely to be expired on next use). Setting the file as read-only provokes an error. For the bot-ty part of the issue see #32960.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 14:36:07 -05:00

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@dirkf commented on GitHub (Dec 25, 2024):

Also, please use the latest nightly release per #30839.

@dirkf commented on GitHub (Dec 25, 2024): Also, please use the latest nightly release per #30839.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 14:36:07 -05:00

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@mesozoic-technology commented on GitHub (Dec 25, 2024):

Are you saying it is refreshing the cookie store because youtube is invalidating the cookies on request? Then I suppose they have updated their policy, because this was working about a month and a half ago and is no longer.

@mesozoic-technology commented on GitHub (Dec 25, 2024): Are you saying it is refreshing the cookie store because youtube is invalidating the cookies on request? Then I suppose they have updated their policy, because this was working about a month and a half ago and is no longer.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 14:36:07 -05:00

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@dirkf commented on GitHub (Dec 25, 2024):

If the site sends new cookies or the existing ones expire, those changes are reflected in the cookie file. We don't do anything to make this happen or not, other than .load the file initially into a specialised MozillaCookieJar (from the Python library) and .save it on exit.

It's entirely possible that YT has changed cookie policies since there seems to be a lot of other breakage. The #32960 part of the issue may be connected: the bot-detection bot could be seeing your cookies and invalidating them as part of the message to force you into the app or website.

@dirkf commented on GitHub (Dec 25, 2024): If the site sends new cookies or the existing ones expire, those changes are reflected in the cookie file. We don't do anything to make this happen or not, other than `.load` the file initially into a specialised `MozillaCookieJar` (from the Python library) and `.save` it on exit. It's entirely possible that YT has changed cookie policies since there seems to be a lot of other breakage. The #32960 part of the issue may be connected: the bot-detection bot could be seeing your cookies and invalidating them as part of the message to force you into the app or website.

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 14:36:08 -05:00

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@wellsyw commented on GitHub (Dec 26, 2024):

Admittedly I was also taken aback by the behaviour, that it updates/overwrites my cookie file. It seems like a very unnatural thing to do, that it should have a specific option to allow overwriting, but at this point it's probably impossible to change.

Basically I crafted a cookie file with expiry dates far into the future only to find them cut to a tiny fraction of what they were...

@wellsyw commented on GitHub (Dec 26, 2024): Admittedly I was also taken aback by the behaviour, that it updates/overwrites my cookie file. It seems like a very unnatural thing to do, that it should have a specific option to allow overwriting, but at this point it's probably impossible to change. Basically I crafted a cookie file with expiry dates far into the future only to find them cut to a tiny fraction of what they were...

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 14:36:08 -05:00

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@dirkf commented on GitHub (Dec 26, 2024):

An exact case where stashing a copy of the custom file before using it would have helped ...

The #22069 behaviour may not have seemed surprising to the original authors, but it could perhaps be noted in the documentation.

@dirkf commented on GitHub (Dec 26, 2024): An exact case where stashing a copy of the custom file before using it would have helped ... The #22069 behaviour may not have seemed surprising to the original authors, but it could perhaps be noted in the documentation.

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starred/youtube-dl-ytdl-org#27017

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