vdoldl

Universal MP4/MP3/image downloader with a modern terminal UI. Supports YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, X, and 1000+ sites via yt-dlp. Automatically distinguishes video / image / album-carousel.

by a80uls · npm i -g vdoldl

Install (once)

npm i -g vdoldl

That single command also installs everything required:

• all npm libraries (citty, @clack/prompts, ffmpeg-static, sharp, …)
• the latest yt-dlp binary via postinstall (stored in vendor/, falls back to system yt-dlp if present)
• an ffmpeg binary via ffmpeg-static (no manual install)

Requires Node.js >= 18. No Python / manual ffmpeg needed.

Use

# Fullscreen TUI (default, no flags) — paste link, pick resolution, download
vdoldl

# Direct
vdoldl "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxx" --mp4 --quality 1080p
vdoldl "https://www.tiktok.com/@user/video/123" --mp3
vdoldl "https://www.instagram.com/reel/xxxx" --mp4 --quality 720p

# Images (Pinterest / IG photos): resize + upscale + format
vdoldl "https://www.pinterest.com/pin/xxxx" --imgsize 1080w --imgfmt jpg
vdoldl "https://www.pinterest.com/pin/xxxx" --imgsize 2x --imgfmt png
# imgsize: original, 1080w, 2048w, 4096w, 2x, 4x (lanczos upscale)
# imgfmt: jpg, png, webp

# Albums / carousels (e.g. 3-slide IG posts, multi-image pins): pick slides
vdoldl "https://www.instagram.com/p/xxxx" --slides all
vdoldl "https://www.instagram.com/p/xxxx" --slides 1,3
# slides: all or 1,3 / 1-3

# Batch
vdoldl --batch links.txt --mp3

# Misc
vdoldl --history
vdoldl --config
vdoldl --dashboard
vdoldl --checksixel
vdoldl -o "D:\Videos" "URL" --mp4

Default folder: ~/Downloads/vdoldl/<platform>/.

Example on Windows: C:\Users\you\Downloads\vdoldl\youtube\.

Custom output folder

vdoldl "URL" --mp4 -o "D:\My Videos"
vdoldl "URL" --mp3 -o "D:\Music"

-o / --out accepts absolute paths, ~ home shorthand, or paths relative to the current folder. The folder is created automatically, the exact target is printed as saving to → … before downloading, and after finishing vdoldl verifies the file really exists there — it never reports "saved" falsely.

Troubleshooting "downloaded but file nowhere": read the saving to → line in the output — that is the exact folder. If it points somewhere unexpected, override it with -o as above.

Quality (follows what the source actually offers)

• Video: best, 2160p, 1440p, 1080p, 720p, 480p (+ per-choice MB estimate in TUI)
• Audio: 320k, 256k, 192k, 160k, 128k, 96k, 64k (+ per-choice MB estimate in TUI)

Inside the --tui mode every pasted link instantly shows: song/video title, artist/channel, duration, and estimated file size before downloading.

Images & albums in TUI: image links → resolution menu (Original/1080w/2048w/4096w/2x/4x upscale, Tab switches jpg/png/webp). Carousel links (e.g. 3-slide IG) → an auto-built numbered contact-sheet preview (opens by itself, o reopens) so you can see clearly "image 1 is this one, image 2 is that one" → pick all / slide numbers → Enter → download (mixed video slides download as mp4, files named 01-…, 02-…).

Preview HD (Sixel): on supporting terminals (Windows Terminal 1.22+, WezTerm), the preview renders inline in the Preview column — box-wide, adaptive palette + dithering (sharp even when small). Key p = big overlay that stays centered and follows terminal resizes. Check first: vdoldl --checksixel. Older terminals automatically use the dithered half-block Preview box.

Private / age-restricted content

Export cookies from your browser (Get cookies.txt extension), then:

vdoldl "URL" --mp4 --cookies cookies.txt

In TUI press c to set your cookies.txt path.

Update engine

npm i -g vdoldl@latest
npm run update-engine --prefix "$(npm root -g)/vdoldl"

Disclaimer

Respect copyright & each platform's ToS. Use only for your own content / royalty-free content / owner permission.

Author

a80uls — vdoldl.