How to Configure YouTube Cookies in Agent Reach for Age-Restricted Videos

To access age-restricted or member-only YouTube videos in Agent Reach, run agent-reach configure youtube-cookies <browser|filepath> to store your authentication credentials, which the tool then passes to yt-dlp via --cookies-from-browser or --cookies.

Agent Reach relies on yt-dlp to extract metadata and subtitles from YouTube URLs. When videos are gated behind age restrictions or membership requirements, you must configure YouTube cookies in Agent Reach to authenticate requests. This guide explains the exact CLI commands and source code implementation that enable seamless access to restricted content.

Why Cookies Are Required for Age-Restricted Videos

YouTube serves age-restricted and member-only content only to authenticated users. Without valid session cookies, yt-dlp encounters access barriers and cannot retrieve video metadata or transcripts. By configuring YouTube cookies in Agent Reach, you provide yt-dlp with the necessary authentication tokens to bypass these restrictions while keeping your credentials local and secure.

Step-by-Step Configuration Guide

Agent Reach exposes a dedicated CLI command that writes your cookie source to the configuration file at ~/.agent-reach/config.yaml.

Configure Cookies from a Browser

The most common method uses cookies from a browser where you are already logged into YouTube. Supported browsers include chrome, firefox, edge, brave, and opera.

agent-reach configure youtube-cookies chrome

This command stores chrome under the youtube_cookies_from key in your configuration file. When the agent executes yt-dlp, it automatically appends --cookies-from-browser chrome to the command.

Configure Cookies from a File

If you prefer exporting cookies manually, use a browser extension like Cookie-Editor to save your YouTube cookies to a text file, then reference that path:

agent-reach configure youtube-cookies ~/my_youtube_cookies.txt

The configuration file now contains:

youtube_cookies_from: /home/user/my_youtube_cookies.txt

Agent Reach detects the file path and passes --cookies /home/user/my_youtube_cookies.txt to yt-dlp instead of the browser flag.

How Agent Reach Implements Cookie Handling

The cookie configuration flows through several key modules in the Agent Reach codebase.

CLI Command Processing

In agent_reach/cli.py (line 1108), the configure subcommand handles the youtube-cookies argument by persisting the value via config.set("youtube_cookies_from", value):

# From agent_reach/cli.py

config.set("youtube_cookies_from", value)

Configuration Persistence

The agent_reach/config.py module (lines 79-84) provides the set() and get() methods that read and write to ~/.agent-reach/config.yaml. This ensures your cookie source persists across agent sessions.

YouTube Channel Integration

When processing YouTube URLs, agent_reach/channels/youtube.py (lines 23-46) contains the check() method that validates yt-dlp availability and prepares the environment. The channel implementation reads the youtube_cookies_from configuration and constructs the appropriate yt-dlp command flags.

Runtime Path Utilities

The agent_reach/utils/paths.py module (lines 29-45) includes render_ytdlp_fix_command(), which generates fix commands for Node.js runtime configuration—critical for yt-dlp's JavaScript execution on YouTube pages.

Verification and Troubleshooting

Always verify your configuration before attempting to process restricted videos.

Verify Configuration with Doctor Command

Run the built-in diagnostic tool:

agent-reach doctor

You should see confirmation similar to:

✅ YouTube cookie source configured: chrome

Ensure JavaScript Runtime Availability

yt-dlp requires Node.js or Deno to execute JavaScript on YouTube pages. The check() method in agent_reach/channels/youtube.py warns you if a JS runtime is missing. If you encounter runtime errors, execute the command suggested by render_ytdlp_fix_command() in agent_reach/utils/paths.py, or run:

agent-reach install

Verify Cookie Authentication

Test your setup by requesting an age-restricted video:

agent-reach read https://youtube.com/watch?v=EXAMPLE_ID

If configured correctly, the agent builds and executes a yt-dlp command similar to:

yt-dlp --dump-json --cookies-from-browser chrome "https://youtube.com/watch?v=EXAMPLE_ID"

For file-based cookies, the command uses --cookies instead:

yt-dlp --dump-json --cookies ~/my_youtube_cookies.txt "https://youtube.com/watch?v=EXAMPLE_ID"

Summary

• Configure YouTube cookies in Agent Reach using agent-reach configure youtube-cookies <browser|filepath> to enable access to age-restricted and member-only content.
• Browser authentication supports Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Opera via --cookies-from-browser.
• File-based authentication requires exporting cookies manually and referencing the path via --cookies.
• Configuration storage occurs in ~/.agent-reach/config.yaml under the youtube_cookies_from key, implemented in agent_reach/config.py and agent_reach/cli.py.
• JavaScript runtime requirement: Ensure Node.js or Deno is installed, as validated by the check() method in agent_reach/channels/youtube.py.
• Privacy preservation: Cookies remain local and are never uploaded to remote servers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What browsers are supported for cookie authentication?

Agent Reach supports chrome, firefox, edge, brave, and opera for direct cookie extraction via yt-dlp's --cookies-from-browser flag. You must be logged into YouTube in the chosen browser for authentication to succeed.

Why do I need Node.js or Deno installed?

According to the check() method in agent_reach/channels/youtube.py, yt-dlp requires a JavaScript runtime to execute code on YouTube pages when processing age-restricted content. The render_ytdlp_fix_command() function in agent_reach/utils/paths.py generates configuration commands to specify --js-runtimes node if the automatic detection fails.

Can I use exported cookie files instead of browser extraction?

Yes. Export your cookies using a browser extension like Cookie-Editor to a cookies.txt file, then run agent-reach configure youtube-cookies /path/to/cookies.txt. Agent Reach detects the file path and uses the --cookies parameter instead of --cookies-from-browser when invoking yt-dlp.

Where does Agent Reach store my cookie configuration?

The configuration is stored locally in ~/.agent-reach/config.yaml under the youtube_cookies_from key. This value is written by the CLI handler in agent_reach/cli.py (line 1108) and retrieved by the configuration module in agent_reach/config.py (lines 79-84) during video processing.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}