YT-Kara 🎤

A karaoke web app thrown together for parties - plays YouTube videos on a TV while friends control the queue from their phones. Vibe-coded quickly with Claude Code to solve a real problem: every karaoke app sucks or costs money.

Note: This was built fast to work, not to be pretty. The code isn't the cleanest and it probably won't be actively maintained. But hey, it works! 🤷

✨ Features

• 🎵 YouTube Playback - Plays any YouTube video (actually works, unlike iframe embeds)
• 📱 Phone Control - Everyone connects via QR code
• 🔍 Search & Queue - Search YouTube, add to queue
• 🎬 HD Streaming - Uses MSE for better quality when possible
• 💾 Persistent Queue - Survives server restarts
• 🔄 Real-time Sync - All devices stay in sync

📦 Installation

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Python 3+ (for yt-dlp)
• A computer connected to a TV

Quick Install (npm)

# Install globally
npm install -g yt-kara

# Install yt-dlp (required for video extraction)
pip3 install yt-dlp

# Start it
yt-kara

Or use npx without installing:

# Install yt-dlp first
pip3 install yt-dlp

# Run directly
npx yt-kara

Alternative: Clone from Source

# Clone it
git clone https://github.com/Zeletochoy/yt-kara.git
cd yt-kara

# Install everything (includes yt-dlp)
npm run setup

# Start it
npm start

Manual Setup

If automated setup fails:

# Install yt-dlp (the magic that makes this work)
pip3 install yt-dlp
# or: brew install yt-dlp (macOS)
# or: sudo apt install yt-dlp (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install node stuff (if cloned from source)
npm install

# Run it
npm start  # from source
# or: yt-kara  # if installed globally

🎮 How to Use

Setup for Party

1. Run yt-kara on computer connected to TV
2. Open http://localhost:8080 on the TV browser
3. Everyone scans the QR code with their phones
4. Search and add songs
5. Party! 🎉

Controls

On the TV (host):

• Space = Play/Pause
• Click buttons for skip, previous, etc.

On phones:

• Search songs
• Add to queue
• Basic playback controls

🛠️ Technical Stuff

Built with:

• yt-dlp - The real MVP, extracts YouTube URLs
• Express - Web server
• WebSocket - Real-time sync
• MSE - For HD streaming (when it works)

Files live in:

• server/ - Backend stuff
• public/ - Frontend stuff
• data/ - Saved queues and cookies

🐛 Common Issues

"yt-dlp not found"

• Just run: pip3 install yt-dlp

Videos won't load

• Update yt-dlp: pip3 install --upgrade yt-dlp
• YouTube changes their stuff constantly, yt-dlp usually catches up

Can't connect from phone

• Make sure you're on the same WiFi
• Firewall might be blocking port 8080

Looks janky

• Yeah, it's not pretty. PRs welcome if you want to make it look nice!

⚠️ Disclaimers

• This was made in a hurry for personal use
• The code is functional but not clean
• It might break when YouTube changes things
• Use at your own risk
• Respect content creators and YouTube ToS

🤝 Contributing

Feel free to fork and improve! Just don't expect quick responses on issues - this is a "works on my machine" project.

🍺 License

Beerware - If we meet someday and you think this is worth it, you can buy me a beer

Made for parties where someone always hogs the karaoke mic 🎤