YouTube Snipper 🎬✂️

YouTube Snipper is a simple little web application that lets you extract and combine the best moments from any YouTube video (or other supported video sources) into a single compilation clip. Perfect for creating highlight reels, funny moment compilations, or condensing long videos into their most valuable segments.

✨ What Does It Do?

Ever watched a long video and wished you could just extract the best parts? YouTube Snipper makes it easy:

Download any video from YouTube or other supported platforms
Visually select clips using an interactive timeline editor
Preview your selections before exporting
Export a single video containing only your chosen moments

Whether you're creating gaming highlights, educational summaries, or comedy compilations, YouTube Snipper streamlines the entire process into a simple, intuitive workflow.

🚀 Quick Start

Option 1: One-File Install (No Cloning Needed)

You can run YouTube Snipper by simply downloading the docker-compose.yml file and placing it in a folder on your computer. This works great with platforms like Dockge, Portainer, or any system that can run Docker Compose.

Download docker-compose.yml
- Get the file here
- Place it in a folder (e.g. youtube-snipper)
Create a .env file for configuration
- Download .env.example to the same folder and rename it to .env
- Edit .env and configure:
  - User permissions:
    - Windows users: Use UID=1000 and GID=1000
    - Mac/Linux users: Run id -u and id -g to get your IDs, then update .env
  - Projects folder: Set PROJECTS_PATH to where you want to store downloaded videos and projects
    - Windows example: PROJECTS_PATH=C:/Users/YourName/youtube-snipper-data
    - Mac/Linux example: PROJECTS_PATH=/home/yourname/youtube-snipper-data
    - If not set, defaults to ./projects (a subfolder next to docker-compose.yml)
Start the app
```
docker-compose up
```
Or use your Docker Compose GUI (Dockge, Portainer, etc.) to start the stack.
Open the app
- Go to http://localhost:3000 in your browser
Stop the app
```
docker-compose down
```

Option 2: Manual Install (Clone the Repo)

If you want to modify the code or run in development mode:

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Eckankar/youtube-snipper.git
cd youtube-snipper

Configure user permissions and projects folder
```
# On Windows (PowerShell):
copy .env.example .env

# On Mac/Linux:
cp .env.example .env
```
- Edit .env:
  - User permissions: Set UID and GID as above for your OS
  - Projects folder: Set PROJECTS_PATH to your desired location
    - If not set, defaults to ./projects (a subfolder in the repository)
    - Consider using a location outside the repo if you want to persist data across repo updates
Start the application
```
docker-compose up
```
Open the app
- Go to http://localhost:3000
Stop the app
```
docker-compose down
```

📖 How to Use

Creating Your First Project

Click "New Project" in the top-right corner
Enter a project name (optional - will auto-fill from video title if not given)
Paste the video URL from YouTube or another supported site
Click "Create Project"

The video will begin downloading automatically. Progress is shown with a live progress bar including download speed and estimated time remaining.

Editing Your Clips

Once the video downloads, you'll see the editor interface:

Timeline Controls

Click the timeline to jump to any point in the video
Press 'S' to quickly add a 5-second clip starting at the current time
Press Space to play/pause the video
Scroll on the timeline to zoom in/out for precise editing

Working with Segments

Drag the edges of any clip to adjust its start/end time
Drag the entire clip to move it to a different part of the timeline
Click a clip to select it and show controls
Click "Play" on a segment to preview just that clip
Click "Delete" to remove an unwanted segment
Use "Play All Clips" to preview all segments in sequence

Exporting Your Video

Click "Export Video" when you're happy with your clips
Wait for processing (usually takes 30 seconds to a few minutes)
Your compiled video will download automatically

🐛 Troubleshooting

Video won't download:

Check if the URL is from a supported site (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
Some videos may be region-locked or age-restricted

Permission errors on Linux/Mac:

Make sure your UID and GID in .env match your user
Run id -u and id -g to find correct values

Docker issues:

Try docker-compose down -v to clean up, then rebuild
Make sure Docker Desktop is running
For development: docker-compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml down -v

Frontend won't load:

Wait 30 seconds after "webpack compiled" message
Try hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R)

Images not updating:

Pull latest images: docker-compose pull
For development, rebuild: docker-compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up --build

💻 For Developers

If you want to contribute to or modify YouTube Snipper, please see CONTRIBUTING.md for:

Project structure and tech stack
Development setup with hot reload
API documentation
CI/CD pipeline details
Environment variables reference

⚠️ Buyer beware

This project is largely "vibe-coded" — experimental, informal, and not production-hardened. It is intended for single-person use on a trusted internal network only. Do not expose backend or Redis services to the public Internet; use at your own risk.

📝 License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

Eckankar/youtube-snipper