cookies.txt detected but still "sign in to confirm you're not a bot"

[ttcfcl]

I'm using using ghcr.io/meeb/tubesync:latest. I added my cookie a couple times, once with a Chrome plugin ("Get cookies.txt LOCALLY") and once with a Firefox plugin ("cookies.txt"). Tubesync is able to download like 1 or 2 videos before these errors come up. Maybe has something to do with that GVS PO token mentions? I looked it up in yt-dlp but couldn't figure out how to get that info/file into tubesync. Thank you.

Here's some logs and an excerpt of them. I can provide my cookie.txt on request.

_Tubesync_logs (2).txt

2025-05-04 21:57:45,114 [tubesync/INFO] [youtube-dl] using cookies.txt from: /config/cookies.txt 2025-05-04 21:57:48,072 [tubesync/WARNING] [youtube] No GVS PO Token provided for ios client, which may be required for working ios formats. This client will be deprioritized 2025-05-04 21:57:49,170 [tubesync/WARNING] [youtube] No GVS PO Token provided for web client, which may be required for working web formats. This client will be deprioritized 2025-05-04 21:57:49,179 [tubesync/ERROR] ERROR: [youtube] KA5mtV2zzKA: Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot. Use --cookies-from-browser or --cookies for the authentication. See https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ#how-do-i-pass-cookies-to-yt-dlp for how to manually pass cookies. Also see https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Extractors#exporting-youtube-cookies for tips on effectively exporting YouTube cookies Rescheduling Downloading metadata for: KA5mtV2zzKA: "Dan Plays Sonic '06 part 14 | Blight Club"

[tcely]

Have you read the following document yet?

https://github.com/meeb/tubesync/blob/main/docs/using-cookies.md

[tubesync/INFO] [youtube-dl] using cookies.txt from: /config/cookies.txt

It looks like you have a file in the correct place. The next step is to see if yt-dlp can use the cookies in that file. This appears to be where it is not working.

I don't use cookies myself, but a search of the issues, open and closed, for "cookies" will show you some information about how you can troubleshoot yt-dlp when it tries to use the cookies file.

This message is right at the top of the yt-dlp "Intractable issues" list.

https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/3766

[aguadoenzo]

@ttcfcl chiming in to mention I had the same issue but managed to fix it by using incognito mode cookies. Guide is the second half of this part of yt-dlp wiki It's been stable for the past week

[tcely]

I've made some progress on this by doing two things:

1. I created a cookies file for use as a logged-out visitor.
2. Using the YouTube Proof-of-Origin Tokens.

As a bonus, this lets me cache the generated token since my visitor ID isn't changing as often.

I haven't seen as many 429 errors or the bot message in a while.

This could be because I haven't tested large channels / playlists recently, but I thought that I would share anyway.