MPGrab

MPGrab is a YouTube to MP3 downloader built with Tauri v2, React, and TypeScript.

Features

• Single executable, no external dependencies required.
• Windows and Linux support.
• Real-time download progress.
• Custom output folder selection.

See the Changelog for release history and upcoming features.

Design Decisions

Tauri over Electron. Electron ships with its own Chromium instance, which adds around 150MB to the binary instantly. Tauri uses the OS WebView, so the final binary stays under 15MB. This matters for a minimalist tool like MPGrab.

Rust for the backend. The backend does process spawning, file I/O, and binary extraction. Rust is the right tool for these. The frontend stays in TypeScript, so Rust only appears where it makes sense.

Embedded yt-dlp and ffmpeg. I consider installing external tools a real friction point for the end user. Both binaries ship inside the executable and get extracted to the system temp directory on first run. No setup required.

Automated releases. Every release triggers a GitHub Actions pipeline that builds binaries for Linux and Windows. Versioning is derived from commit history automatically.

Technical Implementation

• Tauri v2: Desktop shell backed by Rust. Uses the system WebView, so no browser engine is bundled into the binary.
• React + TypeScript: All UI logic lives in the frontend, decoupled from the backend.
• IPC: The frontend calls Rust backend functions via Tauri commands. Downloads run on a background thread and stream progress to the UI via Tauri events.
• Embedded binaries: yt-dlp and ffmpeg are bundled inside the executable and extracted to the system temp directory on first run.

Installation

Windows

1. Download mpgrab.exe from the Releases page.
2. Double-click to run.

Windows Defender may show a warning because the app is unsigned. Click More info then Run anyway.

Linux

1. Download mpgrab from the Releases page.
2. Make it executable and run:

chmod +x mpgrab
./mpgrab