fix(yt-dlp): enable remote components for YouTube JS challenges

1 files changed, 49 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/assets/2026-02-02-yt-dlp-remote-components-fix.txt b/assets/2026-02-02-yt-dlp-remote-components-fix.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbc887b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/2026-02-02-yt-dlp-remote-components-fix.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+yt-dlp YouTube Download Fix
+============================
+
+Date: 2026-02-02
+
+PROBLEM
+-------
+YouTube video downloads are failing or showing warnings like:
+
+  WARNING: [youtube] [jsc] Remote components challenge solver script (deno)
+  and NPM package (deno) were skipped.
+
+  WARNING: [youtube] Signature solving failed: Some formats may be missing.
+
+  WARNING: [youtube] n challenge solving failed: Some formats may be missing.
+
+CAUSE
+-----
+YouTube now uses JavaScript-based challenges to protect video stream URLs.
+yt-dlp version 2026.01.31 can solve these challenges using deno (which is
+installed), but by default it won't download the required solver scripts
+for security reasons.
+
+FIX
+---
+Add this line to ~/.config/yt-dlp/config:
+
+  --remote-components ejs:github
+
+This tells yt-dlp to download the official challenge solver scripts from
+the yt-dlp/ejs GitHub repository.
+
+The config file is symlinked to:
+  ~/code/archsetup/dotfiles/common/.config/yt-dlp/config
+
+VERIFICATION
+------------
+After adding the flag, test with:
+
+  yt-dlp --simulate "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
+
+You should see:
+  [youtube] [jsc:deno] Downloading challenge solver lib script from https://...
+
+instead of the warnings.
+
+REFERENCE
+---------
+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/EJS