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