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unshackle/docs/DOWNLOAD_CONFIG.md

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Download & Processing Configuration

This document covers configuration options related to downloading and processing media content.

aria2c (dict)

  • max_concurrent_downloads Maximum number of parallel downloads. Default: min(32,(cpu_count+4)) Note: Overrides the max_workers parameter of the aria2(c) downloader function.

  • max_connection_per_server Maximum number of connections to one server for each download. Default: 1

  • split Split a file into N chunks and download each chunk on its own connection. Default: 5

  • file_allocation Specify file allocation method. Default: "prealloc"

    • "none" doesn't pre-allocate file space.
    • "prealloc" pre-allocates file space before download begins. This may take some time depending on the size of the file.
    • "falloc" is your best choice if you are using newer file systems such as ext4 (with extents support), btrfs, xfs or NTFS (MinGW build only). It allocates large(few GiB) files almost instantly. Don't use falloc with legacy file systems such as ext3 and FAT32 because it takes almost same time as prealloc, and it blocks aria2 entirely until allocation finishes. falloc may not be available if your system doesn't have posix_fallocate(3) function.
    • "trunc" uses ftruncate(2) system call or platform-specific counterpart to truncate a file to a specified length.

curl_impersonate (dict)

For example,

curl_impersonate:
  browser: "chrome120"

downloader (str | dict)

Choose what software to use to download data throughout unshackle where needed. You may provide a single downloader globally or a mapping of service tags to downloaders.

Options:

Note that aria2c can reach the highest speeds as it utilizes threading and more connections than the other downloaders. However, aria2c can also be one of the more unstable downloaders. It will work one day, then not another day. It also does not support HTTP(S) proxies natively (non-HTTP proxies are bridged via pproxy).

Note that n_m3u8dl_re will automatically fall back to requests for track types it does not support, specifically: direct URL downloads, Subtitle tracks, and Attachment tracks.

Example mapping:

downloader:
  NF: requests
  AMZN: n_m3u8dl_re
  DSNP: n_m3u8dl_re
  default: requests

The default entry is optional. If omitted, requests will be used for services not listed.

n_m3u8dl_re (dict)

Configuration for N_m3u8DL-RE downloader. This downloader supports HLS, DASH, and ISM (Smooth Streaming) manifests. It will automatically fall back to the requests downloader for unsupported track types (direct URLs, subtitles, attachments).

  • thread_count Number of threads to use for downloading. Default: Uses the same value as max_workers from the command (which defaults to min(32,(cpu_count+4))).
  • ad_keyword Keyword to identify and potentially skip advertisement segments. Default: None
  • use_proxy Whether to use proxy when downloading. Default: true
  • retry_count Number of times to retry failed downloads. Default: 10

N_m3u8DL-RE also respects the decryption config setting. When content keys are provided, it will use the configured decryption engine (shaka or mp4decrypt) and automatically locate the corresponding binary.

For example,

n_m3u8dl_re:
  thread_count: 16
  ad_keyword: "advertisement"
  use_proxy: true
  retry_count: 10

dl (dict)

Pre-define default options and switches of the dl command. The values will be ignored if explicitly set in the CLI call.

The Key must be the same value Python click would resolve it to as an argument. E.g., @click.option("-r", "--range", "range_", type=... actually resolves as range_ variable.

For example to set the default primary language to download to German,

lang: de

You can also set multiple preferred languages using a list, e.g.,

lang:
  - en
  - fr

to set how many tracks to download concurrently to 4 and download threads to 16,

downloads: 4
workers: 16

to set --bitrate=CVBR for the AMZN service,

lang: de
AMZN:
  bitrate: CVBR

or to change the output subtitle format from the default (original format) to WebVTT,

sub_format: vtt

subtitle (dict)

Configuration for subtitle processing and conversion.

  • conversion_method Method to use for converting subtitles between formats. Default: "auto"
    • "auto" — Smart routing: uses subby for WebVTT/SAMI, pycaption for others.
    • "subby" — Always use subby with advanced processing.
    • "pycaption" — Use only pycaption library (no SubtitleEdit, no subby).
    • "subtitleedit" — Prefer SubtitleEdit when available, fall back to pycaption.
    • "pysubs2" — Use pysubs2 library (supports SRT/SSA/ASS/WebVTT/TTML/SAMI/MicroDVD/MPL2/TMP).
  • sdh_method Method to use for SDH (hearing impaired) stripping. Default: "auto"
    • "auto" — Try subby (SRT only), then SubtitleEdit (if available), then subtitle-filter.
    • "subby" — Use subby library (SRT only).
    • "subtitleedit" — Use SubtitleEdit tool (Windows only, falls back to subtitle-filter).
    • "filter-subs" — Use subtitle-filter library directly.
  • strip_sdh Automatically create stripped (non-SDH) versions of SDH subtitles. Default: true
  • convert_before_strip Auto-convert VTT/other formats to SRT before using subtitle-filter for SDH stripping. Ensures compatibility when subtitle-filter is used as fallback. Default: true
  • preserve_formatting Preserve original subtitle formatting (tags, positioning, styling). When true, skips pycaption processing for WebVTT files to keep tags like <i>, <b>, positioning intact. Combined with no sub_format setting, ensures subtitles remain in their original format. Default: true
  • output_mode Output mode for subtitles. Default: "mux"
    • "mux" — Embed subtitles in MKV container only.
    • "sidecar" — Save subtitles as separate files only.
    • "both" — Embed in MKV and save as sidecar files.
  • sidecar_format Format for sidecar subtitle files when output_mode is "sidecar" or "both". Default: "srt" Options: srt, vtt, ass, original (keep current format).

For example,

subtitle:
  conversion_method: auto
  sdh_method: auto
  strip_sdh: true
  convert_before_strip: true
  preserve_formatting: true
  output_mode: mux
  sidecar_format: srt

decryption (str | dict)

Choose what software to use to decrypt DRM-protected content throughout unshackle where needed. You may provide a single decryption method globally or a mapping of service tags to decryption methods.

Options:

Note that Shaka Packager is the traditional method and works with most services. mp4decrypt is an alternative that may work better with certain services that have specific encryption formats.

Example mapping:

decryption:
  ATVP: mp4decrypt
  AMZN: shaka
  default: shaka

The default entry is optional. If omitted, shaka will be used for services not listed.

Simple configuration (single method for all services):

decryption: mp4decrypt