cobalt api documentation
this document provides info about methods and acceptable variables for all cobalt api requests.
if you are looking for the documentation for the old (7.x) api, you can find
it here
POST: /
cobalt's main processing endpoint.
request body type: application/json
response body type: application/json
⚠️ you must include Accept and Content-Type headers with every `POST /` request.
Accept: application/json
Content-Type: application/json
request body
key |
type |
expected value(s) |
default |
description |
url |
string |
URL to download |
-- |
must be included in every request. |
videoQuality |
string |
144 / ... / 2160 / 4320 / max |
1080 |
720 quality is recommended for phones. |
audioFormat |
string |
best / mp3 / ogg / wav / opus |
mp3 |
|
audioBitrate |
string |
320 / 256 / 128 / 96 / 64 / 8 |
128 |
specifies the bitrate to use for the audio. applies only to audio conversion. |
filenameStyle |
string |
classic / pretty / basic / nerdy |
classic |
changes the way files are named. previews can be seen in the web app. |
downloadMode |
string |
auto / audio / mute |
auto |
audio downloads only the audio, mute skips the audio track in videos. |
youtubeVideoCodec |
string |
h264 / av1 / vp9 |
h264 |
h264 is recommended for phones. |
youtubeDubLang |
string |
en / ru / cs / ja / ... |
-- |
specifies the language of audio to download, when the youtube video is dubbed |
youtubeDubBrowserLang |
boolean |
true / false |
false |
uses value from the Accept-Language header for youtubeDubLang . |
alwaysProxy |
boolean |
true / false |
false |
tunnels all downloads through the processing server, even when not necessary. |
disableMetadata |
boolean |
true / false |
false |
disables file metadata when set to true . |
tiktokFullAudio |
boolean |
true / false |
false |
enables download of original sound used in a tiktok video. |
tiktokH265 |
boolean |
true / false |
false |
changes whether 1080p h265 videos are preferred or not. |
twitterGif |
boolean |
true / false |
true |
changes whether twitter gifs are converted to .gif |
response
the response will always be a JSON object containing the status
key, which will be one of:
error
- something went wrong
picker
- we have multiple items to choose from
redirect
- you are being redirected to the direct service URL
tunnel
- cobalt is proxying the download for you
tunnel/redirect response
key |
type |
values |
status |
string |
tunnel / redirect |
url |
string |
url for the cobalt tunnel, or redirect to an external link |
filename |
string |
cobalt-generated filename for the file being downloaded |
picker response
key |
type |
values |
status |
string |
picker |
audio |
string |
optional returned when an image slideshow (such as on tiktok) has a general background audio |
audioFilename |
string |
optional cobalt-generated filename, returned if audio exists |
picker |
array |
array of objects containing the individual media |
picker object
key |
type |
values |
type |
string |
photo / video / gif |
url |
string |
|
thumb |
string |
optional thumbnail url |
error response
key |
type |
values |
status |
string |
error |
error |
object |
contains more context about the error |
error object
key |
type |
values |
code |
string |
machine-readable error code explaining the failure reason |
context |
object |
optional container for providing more context |
error.context object
key |
type |
values |
service |
string |
optional, stating which service was being downloaded from |
limit |
number |
optional number providing the ratelimit maximum number of requests, or maximum downloadable video duration |
GET: /
returns current basic server info.
response body type: application/json
response body
key |
type |
variables |
cobalt |
object |
information about the cobalt instance |
git |
object |
information about the codebase that is currently running |
cobalt object
key |
type |
description |
version |
string |
current version |
url |
string |
server url |
startTime |
string |
server start time in unix milliseconds |
durationLimit |
number |
maximum downloadable video length in seconds |
services |
string[] |
array of services which this instance supports |
git object
key |
type |
variables |
commit |
string |
commit hash |
branch |
string |
git branch |
remote |
string |
git remote |