YouTube Live Auto Recorder for Ugreen NAS

A simple Docker app for Ugreen NAS users who want to automatically record YouTube livestreams.

Open the web dashboard, add YouTube channel links, and the recorder will keep checking those channels. When a channel goes live, the stream is saved into that channel's recordings folder.

This project is built primarily for the Ugreen NAS Docker app. It may also work on other Docker systems, but the easiest setup path below is written for Ugreen NAS owners.

Features

• Monitor multiple YouTube channels from one simple web dashboard.
• Automatically start recording when a monitored channel goes live.
• Keep recordings organized in one folder per channel.
• Turn recording on or off for each channel without removing it from the list.
• Continue monitoring channels even when recording is turned off.
• Save finished livestreams as MP4 files using a NAS-friendly fast remux workflow.

Easiest Ugreen NAS Install

Use this method if you are installing from the Ugreen NAS desktop Docker app.

1. Open your Ugreen NAS desktop.
2. Open the Docker app.
3. Click Image.
4. Search for:

csselement/yt-auto-recorder

5. Pull the image from Docker Hub.
6. Create a container from the image.
7. Set the port mapping:

8090 -> 8090

8. Add two folder mappings:

/config      stores the channel list and settings
/recordings  stores finished livestream recordings

For the NAS side of those mappings, choose real folders on your Ugreen NAS. For example:

/volume1/docker/yt-auto-recorder/config
/volume1/recordings/youtube

If the Ugreen Docker app says a NAS path was not found, create that folder first in the Ugreen File Manager, then try again.

9. Start the container.
10. Open the dashboard in a browser:

http://NAS_IP_ADDRESS:8090

For example:

http://192.168.8.206:8090

Use http, not https, unless you have set up your own reverse proxy.

How To Use It

Add YouTube channel links in this format:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheLotRadio

The dashboard only accepts channel links like the example above. Do not use normal video links, shortened youtu.be links, or /live links.

Each channel has a Rec on/off switch.

• Rec on: the channel is monitored and future livestreams will be recorded.
• Rec off: the channel stays in the list and is still monitored, but new recordings will not start.
• If a channel is already recording, turning Rec off does not stop the current recording. It only prevents future recordings.

Recordings are saved under the /recordings folder you mapped in Docker. The recorder keeps one folder per channel.

What To Expect

The app checks channels on a timer. By default, it checks about every 30 seconds.

If you add a channel while it is already live, the recorder tries to start from the beginning of the livestream using YouTube's live rewind/DVR data. If YouTube does not provide the beginning of the stream, recording starts from the current live position.

Finished recordings are saved as .mp4 files. While a stream is still recording, temporary .mkv files may appear. After the stream ends, the app finalizes them into MP4.

Each finished MP4 also attempts to save YouTube live chat automatically when chat replay is available. The recorder keeps the raw .live_chat.json3 archive, a timestamped .chat.jsonl editing sidecar, and a .chat-manifest.json capture record beside the MP4. No dashboard setup is required.

Recording Format

The default setup is meant to be light on Ugreen NAS CPU.

By default, the app uses fast remuxing:

FINALIZE_MODE=remux

Remuxing copies the video and audio into an MP4 container without re-encoding. This is much faster than transcoding.

The recorder also asks YouTube for MP4-friendly streams when possible:

YTDLP_FORMAT=bestvideo[vcodec^=avc1]+bestaudio[acodec^=mp4a]/best[vcodec^=avc1][acodec^=mp4a]/best

That means it prefers H.264 video and AAC/M4A audio, which can usually become MP4 without heavy CPU work.

Ugreen Compose Option

If you prefer using a Docker Compose project in the Ugreen Docker app, use docker-compose.ugreen.yml.

The published image is:

csselement/yt-auto-recorder:latest

In UGOS Pro:

1. Open Docker from the Ugreen NAS desktop.
2. Go to Project > Create.
3. Paste or upload the contents of docker-compose.ugreen.yml.
4. Click Deploy.
5. Open:

http://NAS_IP_ADDRESS:8090

The Ugreen compose file uses project-relative folders:

volumes:
  - ./config:/config
  - ./recordings:/recordings

This avoids Ugreen's "NAS path not found" validation error.

General Docker Information

Docker packages the dashboard, recorder, yt-dlp, ffmpeg, and required dependencies into one container.

Inside the container:

• /config stores the channel list and dashboard settings.
• /recordings stores livestream recordings.
• The dashboard listens on port 8090.

With the included local docker-compose.yml, files are stored here:

./data/config/recording-channels.txt
./data/recordings/

Run Locally

From this folder:

docker compose up -d --build

Open:

http://localhost:8090

If Docker Desktop is not running, start Docker Desktop first and wait until it says Docker is running.

Useful Commands

Start or update after edits:

docker compose up -d --build

Stop:

docker compose down

View logs:

docker compose logs -f

Rebuild with the latest yt-dlp:

docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d

Settings

These environment variables are available in docker-compose.yml:

• CHECK_INTERVAL: seconds between channel checks. Default is 30.
• CHANNEL_LIST: path inside the container for the monitored channel list.
• SETTINGS_FILE: path inside the container for per-channel settings.
• BASE_DIR: path inside the container for recordings.
• FINALIZE_MODE: how finished .mkv files become .mp4. Default is remux. Set to transcode only if you need H.264 video with MP3 audio.
• YTDLP_FORMAT: yt-dlp format selector. Default prefers H.264 video and AAC/M4A audio.
• VIDEO_CRF: H.264 quality for FINALIZE_MODE=transcode. Lower is higher quality/larger files. Default is 23.
• VIDEO_PRESET: H.264 encoding speed for FINALIZE_MODE=transcode. Default is veryfast.
• AUDIO_BITRATE: MP3 audio bitrate for FINALIZE_MODE=transcode. Default is 192k.

Build Your Own Image

If you fork this project or want to publish your own Docker image, replace every USERNAME placeholder with your Docker Hub login name.

For example, if your Docker Hub login is janedoe, then:

USERNAME/yt-auto-recorder:latest

becomes:

janedoe/yt-auto-recorder:latest

Then build and push a multi-architecture image:

docker login
docker buildx create --use --name yt-auto-recorder-builder
docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 -t USERNAME/yt-auto-recorder:latest --push .

Notes

• If one channel is recording, other channels continue being checked.
• If more than one .mkv file is present for a channel, the recorder concatenates them sequentially before creating the final MP4.
• Transcoding is available, but it is much heavier on NAS CPU than the default remux mode.