Fix for [Issue #78] the latest YouTube Cipher/Deciphering Changes

[atpugvaraa]

Pull Request

Description

This implementation addresses the signature algorithm detection issue by implementing a fix based on YouTube.js PR #953. The solution uses a dynamic approach to find the global variable containing the signature algorithm instead of relying on hardcoded variable names, which makes the library more resilient to YouTube's frequent changes.

Related Issues

• YouTube seems to have broken stuff again #78

Changes Made

• Updated the JavaScript extraction logic to dynamically detect the global variable used for signature algorithms
• Added proper documentation to the js property explaining the new signature deciphering approach

Checklist

• APIs have been properly documented (if relevant).
• Documentation has been updated (if relevant).
• New unit tests have been written (if relevant).

Out of scope

• Extraction method: .remote is also broken (.local is preferred until a fix is pushed)

Additional Notes

• The implementation tries to maintain compatibility with the existing codebase

P.S. This is my first real PR. I am still in a learning phase and moderate use of Artificial Intelligence has been made in order to fix this issue.

[jordibruin]

Thanks for finding a fix so quickly!

[manchan]

There still seems to be an error.

Failed to decode object from given start point: 
pattern (ytplayer\.config\s*=\s*) failed: （YouTubeKit.YouTubeKitError1）
applying descrambler
YouTubeKit/RegularExpression.swift:16: Fatal error: Illegal regular expression var (\w+)={[^}]+}

[atpugvaraa]

Kind of found what the problem is...

Extraction.swift:61 
let configPatterns = [
    // NSRegularExpression(#"ytplayer\.config\s*=\s*(\{)"#), ---> Seems to be outdated. Hence should be commented out?
    NSRegularExpression(#"ytInitialPlayerResponse\s*=\s*(\{)"#)
]

• I do not have proper error handling or Unit tests setup right now (don't know how to)
• I am testing this package using an app and the error has seemed to have been "removed"

[fynn-bckr]

This still fails with pattern (ytInitialPlayerResponse\s*=\s*(\{)) failed: The operation couldn’t be completed. (YouTubeKit.YouTubeKitError error 1.) for me.

[chnbr]

I have now commit 76bc73f running, but still get these errors at runtime:

finding initial function name
pattern (ytInitialPlayerResponse\s*=\s*({)) failed: Der Vorgang konnte nicht abgeschlossen werden. (YouTubeKit.YouTubeKitError-Fehler 1.)
applying descrambler
Found global variable for signature algorithm: J
Using global variable: J
getting transform object
getting transform object
finding initial function name
pattern (ytInitialPlayerResponse\s*=\s*({)) failed: Der Vorgang konnte nicht abgeschlossen werden. (YouTubeKit.YouTubeKitError-Fehler 1.)
Found global variable for signature algorithm: J
Using global variable: J
getting transform object
getting transform object

[chnbr]

@alexeichhorn : Could you please also have a look into this issue. It seems that YTK is currently broken for most of us. Thx!

[alexeichhorn]

Hey @atpugvaraa, thanks for your work.
Unfortunately, it still gets a lot of errors in my tests.
I'm also working a bit on trying to find a solution. It just requires a lot of time, going through all the yt-dlp changes, and the necessary changes look quite significant. They will take time on my part.

[atpugvaraa]

@alexeichhorn thanks for looking into this, i still lack the necessary knowledge and experience to fix things, being only able to make it work locally (without proper error handling seems to be what happened)

Thanks a lot for YTK.

[chnbr]

Good morning, are there any news on this ?

Please keep us updated !

Thank you so much !!!

[alexeichhorn]

Internally, it's in a state where some videos work again, but most still have problems. Unfortunately, I just don't have much time currently to put into this.

[chnbr]

Internally, it's in a state where some videos work again, but most still have problems. Unfortunately, I just don't have much time currently to put into this.

We are very grateful that you initiated and maintain this project and we fully understand that time for open source projects is limited. But since we are using this in a commercial project we have to think about solution.

Are you aware of similar projects we could migrate to ?

What are the steps when you fix issues like this ?
Are you taking the codebase of ytdl as template and 'convert' it to Swift ?

Can we do something to 'incentivate' you ?

Regards
Christian

p.s. Nothing above is meant offensive ! Just thinking about options....

[fynn-bckr]

I've written a very hacky solution for this, see my comment in #78.

[alexeichhorn]

Please checkout #80 (or branch fix/youtube-may-25) and give some feedback if it works for you or not.

[alexeichhorn]

Internally, it's in a state where some videos work again, but most still have problems. Unfortunately, I just don't have much time currently to put into this.

We are very grateful that you initiated and maintain this project and we fully understand that time for open source projects is limited. But since we are using this in a commercial project we have to think about solution.

Are you aware of similar projects we could migrate to ?

What are the steps when you fix issues like this ? Are you taking the codebase of ytdl as template and 'convert' it to Swift ?

Can we do something to 'incentivate' you ?

Regards Christian

p.s. Nothing above is meant offensive ! Just thinking about options....

Fair question.
I usually use yt-dlp as a template, but their code structure and language limitations are so different from mine that it is sometimes extremely hard to just "copy over the changes." When I started this, I purposefully structured it very similarly to the "pytube" project, but pytube has stopped being maintained. So it has gotten harder. 😉

I have written some more things about the future of YouTubeKit in #82, where I also asked some questions. Would appreciate your input there.