youtube-music-cast - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: youtube-music-cast

description: Download music from YouTube/YouTube Music and stream to Chromecast via Home Assistant. Complete CLI toolset with web server integration, configuration wizard, and playback controls.

version: "6.0.0"

author: Wobo

license: MIT

homepage: https://github.com/clawdbot/skills

repository: https://github.com/clawdbot/skills/tree/main/youtube-music-cast

user-invocable: true

triggers:

play music
cast to chromecast
youtube music
download music
cast music

keywords:

youtube
music
chromecast
home-assistant
cast
media-player
streaming
yt-dlp
google-cast
audio
mp3
free-music

category: media

requires:

bins:

- yt-dlp

- python3

- curl

- jq

env: []

config:

stateDirs:

- ~/.youtube-music-cast

metadata:

clawdbot:

emoji: "🎵"

YouTube Music Cast

YouTube music → your Chromecast. Simple, free, works.

Download audio from YouTube or YouTube Music and stream it through Home Assistant to any Cast-enabled device. No subscriptions, no cloud services, just your local network.

Features

✅ Free forever — No subscriptions, no premium accounts needed
✅ High quality — 320K MP3, crystal clear audio
✅ Video mode — Create MP4 videos with album art and text overlays
✅ Radio mode — Auto-discover and play related songs
✅ Local storage — Your music stays on your machine, no cloud
✅ Multi-room — Cast to any Chromecast device in your home
✅ Batch download — Download entire playlists, stream anytime
✅ Simple CLI — Fast commands, no browser required
✅ Works offline — Once downloaded, music is yours to keep

Use Cases

Daily Music

Download your favorite tracks in the morning, cast them throughout the day. No waiting, no buffering.

Party Mode

Download a playlist before guests arrive, then queue up songs without fumbling with phones or apps.

Background Audio

Play ambient music or podcasts while you work without worrying about ads or interruptions.

Multi-Room Sync

Stream the same track to multiple Chromecasts simultaneously (bedroom + living room + kitchen).

Why This Over Premium Services?

|---------|-------------------|------------------|------------------|

Quick Start


# 1. Setup (one time, takes 2 minutes)

cast-setup



# 2. Download your first song

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ



# 3. Start the web server

cast-server start



# 4. Cast it to your default device

cast-play never-gonna-give-you-up.mp3

That's it. Your music is playing through your Chromecast.

What This Does

Three simple steps, one command each:

1. Download

yt-dlp grabs audio from YouTube or YouTube Music, extracts it as MP3 (320K quality).

2. Host

A lightweight Python HTTP server makes your downloaded files accessible over your local network. No setup required — just Python 3.

3. Cast

Home Assistant's media_player.play_media service sends the HTTP URL to your Chromecast, which streams the audio.

Why a Web Server?

Home Assistant's play_media service requires a URL, not a file path. The web server bridges that gap.


# ✅ This works — HA can fetch via HTTP

media_content_id: "http://192.168.1.81:8735/song.mp3"



# ❌ This fails — HA can't read file paths

media_content_id: "/tmp/youtube-music/song.mp3"

Architecture:


YouTube URL → yt-dlp → MP3 file → Python HTTP server → Home Assistant API → Chromecast

Installation

What You Need

Home Assistant with Google Cast integration
Chromecast or Cast-enabled device (Nest speakers, Google Home, TV)
System tools: yt-dlp, Python 3, curl, jq

Step 1: Install Scripts


# Clone or download the skill

cd youtube-music-cast



# Make all scripts executable

chmod +x scripts/*



# Install globally (recommended)

./install.sh --global



# Or install locally

./install.sh

Step 2: Run Setup Wizard


cast-setup

The wizard will ask for:

Home Assistant URL — e.g., http://homeassistant.local:8123
Long-Lived Access Token — Generate in HA → Profile → Long-Lived Access Tokens
Server IP — The machine running these scripts
Default media player — e.g., media_player.bedroom_display

Step 3: Test Your Setup


# Download a test song

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ



# Start the server

cast-server start



# Cast it

cast-play song.mp3

If music plays, you're ready!

Commands

| Command | Description | Example |

|---------|-------------|----------|

| cast-setup | Run configuration wizard | cast-setup |

| cast-download <URL> [options] | Download from YouTube/YouTube Music | cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=... --video |

| cast-radio <URL> [options] | Start radio mode with related songs | cast-radio https://youtube.com/watch?v=... --count 10 |

| cast-play <file> [device] | Cast music or video file to device | cast-play song.mp4 |

| cast-stop [device] | Stop playback | cast-stop |

| cast-status [device] | Show player status | cast-status |

| cast-devices | List all available media players | cast-devices |

| cast-list | List downloaded files | cast-list |

| cast-help | Show help | cast-help |

Usage Guide

Your First Song


# Download from YouTube

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ



# Rename for cleaner URL (recommended)

mv "/tmp/youtube-music/Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up.mp3" \

   "/tmp/youtube-music/never-gonna-give-you-up.mp3"



# Start the web server

cast-server start



# Cast to your default device

cast-play never-gonna-give-you-up.mp3

Cast to Different Rooms


# Living room TV

cast-play song.mp3 media_player.living_room



# Kitchen speaker

cast-play song.mp3 media_player.kitchen_speaker



# Bedroom Chromecast

cast-play song.mp3 media_player.bedroom_display



# Multiple rooms at once (run multiple commands)

cast-play song.mp3 media_player.living_room & \

cast-play song.mp3 media_player.bedroom_display

Check What's Playing


# Default device

cast-status



# Specific device

cast-status media_player.bedroom_display

Output:


📺 media_player.bedroom_display



State: playing

Friendly Name: Bedroom display

Volume: 22%



Now Playing:

  Title: Never Gonna Give You Up

  Artist: Rick Astley

  Duration: 3:32



App: Default Media Receiver

Stop Playback


# Stop default device

cast-stop



# Stop specific device

cast-stop media_player.living_room

See What You've Downloaded


# List all music files with sizes

cast-list

Output:


🎵 Downloaded Music



boneheads-bank-holiday.mp3                                    9.3M

never-gonna-give-you-up.mp3                                 8.2M

song-for-nary.mp3                                          7.8M



Total: 3 files

See Available Devices


cast-devices

Output:


📺 Available Media Players



media_player.bedroom_display

  Name: Bedroom display

  State: idle

  Supported: play_media, volume_set, volume_mute, ...



media_player.living_room

  Name: Living room TV

  State: off

  Supported: play_media, volume_set, ...



Default device: media_player.bedroom_display

New Features: Radio Mode & Video Mode

📻 Radio Mode

Radio mode automatically discovers and downloads related songs based on YouTube recommendations. After downloading a seed song, it searches for similar tracks and adds them to your queue.

Start radio mode:


# Basic radio (downloads seed + 3 related songs)

cast-radio https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ



# Custom number of related songs

cast-radio https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --count 10



# Radio mode with video files

cast-radio https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --video --count 5

Or use cast-download with --radio flag:


# Download with radio mode

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --radio



# Download with custom count

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --radio --radio-count 5



# Radio + video mode combined

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --radio --video

How it works:

Downloads the seed song you specify
Extracts artist/title from metadata
Searches YouTube for similar videos
Downloads related songs (prefixed with radio_)
Related songs are ready to cast in sequence

Play your radio queue:


# Start server

cast-server start



# Play the first song

cast-play $(ls -t /tmp/youtube-music/*.mp3 | head -n 1 | xargs basename)



# Or play related songs sequentially

cast-play radio_some-song.mp3

cast-play radio_another-song.mp3

# ... etc

Tips:

Related songs are prefixed with radio_ for easy identification
The radio mode searches based on the artist name from the seed song
Use --count to control how many related songs to download
Combine with --video flag for visual radio mode

🎬 Video Mode with Visuals

Video mode creates MP4 videos instead of plain MP3 files. Each video includes:

The original audio track
Album art thumbnail from YouTube
Text overlay showing song title and artist
Smooth, high-quality encoding

Download a video:


# Download as MP4 with album art and text

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --video



# Cast the MP4 file

cast-server start

cast-play "Never Gonna Give You Up.mp4"

Radio mode with videos:


# Download seed + related songs as videos

cast-radio https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --video --count 5



# Cast videos

cast-play "Never Gonna Give You Up.mp4"

cast-play "radio_Together Forever.mp4"

# ... etc

How it works:

Downloads the audio track (320K MP3 quality)
Downloads the album art thumbnail from YouTube
Uses ffmpeg to create an MP4 video with:
- Looping album art background
- Audio track encoded as AAC
- Text overlay (song title and artist name) at bottom
Cast the MP4 to your Chromecast (TVs with video support)

Video output:

Codec: H.264 (libx264)
Audio: AAC (192K)
Resolution: Same as thumbnail (usually 480p or 720p)
Text: White text with semi-transparent black box
Compatible with all Chromecast devices with video support

Notes:

Videos take more space than MP3s (~2-3x larger)
Requires ffmpeg to be installed on your system
Text overlay uses DejaVu Sans Bold font (included on most Linux systems)
Chromecast audio devices (like Google Home Mini) will play audio only
Chromecast with displays (TVs, Google Nest Hub) will show the full video

Requirements for video mode:

ffmpeg must be installed on your system


# Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt install ffmpeg



# macOS

brew install ffmpeg

Mixed MP3 and MP4

cast-play automatically detects the file type:

.mp3, .wav, .ogg, .m4a, .flac → music
.mp4, .mkv, .webm, .mov → video

You can mix both formats in the same directory:


# Download some as MP3

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_1



# Download some as MP4

cast-download https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_2 --video



# Play both - cast-play handles the difference

cast-play song.mp3

cast-play video.mp4

Configuration

Config file: ~/.youtube-music-cast/config.sh


# Home Assistant

HA_URL="http://homeassistant.local:8123"

HA_TOKEN="your-long-lived-access-token-here"



# Web Server

SERVER_IP="192.168.1.81"

SERVER_PORT="8735"



# Default Device (override per command)

DEFAULT_DEVICE="media_player.bedroom_display"



# Directories

DOWNLOAD_DIR="/tmp/youtube-music"

CAST_DIR="$HOME/.youtube-music-cast"

Edit the file directly or re-run cast-setup to update.

File Naming Best Practices

Keep URLs clean. Simple filenames save you from headaches later.

The Problem

❌ Bad filenames:


http://192.168.1.81:8735/Bonehead's%20Bank%20Holiday%20(Remastered).mp3

This URL is messy, hard to type, and prone to encoding errors.

The Solution

✅ Good filenames:


http://192.168.1.81:8735/boneheads-bank-holiday.mp3

Clean, easy to type, no issues.

Practical Tips


# After download, rename immediately

mv "Oasis - Bonehead's Bank Holiday (Remastered 1995).mp3" \

   "oasis-boneheads-bank-holiday.mp3"



# Use lowercase, hyphens only

mv "My Awesome Song.mp3" "my-awesome-song.mp3"



# No special characters

mv "song@remix#.mp3" "song-remix.mp3"

Rule of thumb:

Lowercase
Hyphens instead of spaces
No special characters (@, #, ?, etc.)
Keep it short

Troubleshooting

Chromecast Not in Home Assistant

Problem: cast-devices shows no Chromecast devices.

Solution: Add Google Cast integration

Home Assistant → Settings → Devices & Services
Click "+ Add Integration"
Search "Google Cast" → Select it
Follow the discovery wizard

If discovery fails:

Ensure Chromecast and Home Assistant are on the same network
Try adding manually with Chromecast IP address

Server Won't Start

Problem: cast-server start fails or says "port in use".

Solution:


# Check if port 8735 is in use

netstat -tlnp | grep 8735

# or

ss -tlnp | grep 8735



# Stop any existing server

cast-server stop



# Try starting manually to see error

cd /tmp/youtube-music

python3 -m http.server 8735

If port is in use by another process:

Edit ~/.youtube-music-cast/config.sh:


SERVER_PORT="8736"  # Change to something else

"File Not Found" Error

Problem: cast-play song.mp3 says file not found.

Solution:


# List what's actually there

cast-list



# Check exact spelling (case-sensitive!)

cast-play "Exact-Filename.mp3"  # Not "exact-filename.mp3"



# Verify server is running

cast-server status

Common mistakes:

Wrong case: Song.mp3 vs song.mp3
Wrong extension: song.MP3 vs song.mp3
File in wrong directory: Check DOWNLOAD_DIR in config

Download Fails

Problem: cast-download errors or hangs.

Solution:


# Update yt-dlp (YouTube changes often)

pip install --upgrade yt-dlp



# Check version

yt-dlp --version



# Try verbose output to see what's wrong

yt-dlp --verbose "URL"



# Try different URL format

# YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

# YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

If it's a geo-blocked video:

Use a VPN or find an alternative upload of the same track.

Home Assistant Connection Error

Problem: curl errors when contacting HA.

Solution:


# Test your HA token manually

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \

     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \

     "http://homeassistant.local:8123/api/states"



# If you see JSON → token is good

# If 401 Unauthorized → token is wrong or expired

# If connection refused → URL is wrong or HA is down

Regenerate token if needed:

HA → Profile → Scroll down → Long-Lived Access Tokens → Generate new

Video Mode Issues

Problem: cast-download --video fails with "ffmpeg not found" or similar error.

Solution:


# Check if ffmpeg is installed

ffmpeg -version



# If not found, install it

# Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt install ffmpeg



# macOS

brew install ffmpeg

Problem: Video creation is slow or takes too long.

Solution:

Video encoding is CPU-intensive. First-time creation may take 10-30 seconds per song.
Use MP3 mode (cast-download without --video) for faster downloads.
Consider lowering video quality in the script (edit cast-download and change -preset ultrafast to -preset fast for better quality but slower encoding).

Problem: Text overlay doesn't appear or looks wrong.

Solution:

The script uses DejaVu Sans Bold font. If it's not installed, text won't appear.

Install the font:


# Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt install fonts-dejavu



# macOS (usually pre-installed)

Or edit the script to use a different font path.

Problem: Chromecast audio device plays video without visuals.

Solution:

This is expected behavior. Audio-only Chromecast devices (Google Home Mini, Chromecast Audio) will play the audio track from MP4 files but cannot display video.
Use MP3 mode for audio-only devices to save bandwidth and storage.

Problem: MP4 files are too large.

Solution:

Videos are larger than MP3s (typically 2-3x the size).
Reduce video bitrate by editing cast-download and changing -b:a 192k to -b:a 128k for audio, or adjust video codec settings.
Use MP3 mode if storage is a concern.

Radio Mode Issues

Problem: Radio mode downloads unrelated songs.

Solution:

Radio mode searches YouTube using the artist name from the seed song.
Sometimes the search may return mixed results due to ambiguous artist names.
Try using a different seed song with a clearer artist name.
The radio_ prefix makes it easy to identify and remove unwanted downloads.

Problem: Radio mode doesn't find any related songs.

Solution:

Ensure you have a stable internet connection.
Check that the seed song has proper metadata (title/uploader).
Try a different seed song — some videos have limited search results.
Increase the count with --radio-count 10 to get more results.

Problem: Related songs don't play in sequence automatically.

Solution:

Radio mode downloads the songs but doesn't auto-play them in sequence.

You need to manually play each related song, or create a simple playlist script:


# Play all radio songs in sequence

for file in /tmp/youtube-music/radio_*.mp3; do

    cast-play "$(basename "$file")"

    sleep 5  # Wait between songs

done

Cast Commands Hang

Problem: cast-play doesn't return or music never starts.

Common causes:

Media player is offline — Check cast-devices for state
Server isn't accessible from HA — Verify SERVER_IP in config matches current IP
Chromecast network issue — Restart Chromecast
Wrong device ID — Copy exact ID from cast-devices output

Quick fix:


# Restart everything

cast-server stop

cast-server start

cast-play song.mp3



# Check device is online

cast-devices



# Try casting from HA UI to isolate issue

Project Structure


youtube-music-cast/

├── scripts/

│   ├── cast-setup      # Configuration wizard (interactive)

│   ├── cast-download   # Download from YouTube (uses yt-dlp)

│   ├── cast-server     # HTTP server manager (start/stop/status)

│   ├── cast-play       # Cast to device (HA API)

│   ├── cast-stop       # Stop playback

│   ├── cast-status     # Player status query

│   ├── cast-devices    # List all HA media players

│   ├── cast-list       # List downloaded files

│   └── cast-help       # Help documentation

├── install.sh          # Installation script (--global, --help)

├── SKILL.md           # This file (ClawdHub skill definition)

├── README.md          # User-facing documentation

├── CHANGELOG.md       # Version history

├── LICENSE            # MIT license

├── .gitignore        # Protects secrets and state

└── .clawdhub/

    └── origin.json    # ClawdHub metadata



~/.youtube-music-cast/

└── config.sh         # Your configuration (don't commit to Git)



/tmp/youtube-music/

└── *.mp3            # Downloaded music files

Requirements

yt-dlp (YouTube downloader)


pip install yt-dlp

Update regularly: pip install --upgrade yt-dlp

Python 3 (HTTP server)


# Check version (usually pre-installed)

python3 --version

curl (HTTP client for HA API)


# Check version (usually pre-installed)

curl --version

jq (JSON processor)


# Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt install jq



# macOS

brew install jq

ffmpeg (Video mode - optional)

Required for --video flag to create MP4 videos with album art and text overlays.


# Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt install ffmpeg



# macOS

brew install ffmpeg

Check installation:


ffmpeg -version

Note: Video mode is optional. If you only download MP3s, you don't need ffmpeg.

Performance Tips

1. Batch Downloads

Download multiple tracks or entire playlists at once:


# Download playlist

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 320K \

  -o "/tmp/youtube-music/%(playlist_index)s-%(title)s.%(ext)s" \

  "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYLIST_ID"



# Then cast them without waiting

cast-play 01-song.mp3

cast-play 02-song.mp3

cast-play 03-song.mp3

2. Keep Server Running

The HTTP server is lightweight (~5MB RAM). No need to stop/start between casts:


# Start once

cast-server start



# Cast as many songs as you want

cast-play song1.mp3

cast-play song2.mp3

# ... etc

3. Use Default Device

Set DEFAULT_DEVICE in config to avoid typing it every time:


# In ~/.youtube-music-cast/config.sh

DEFAULT_DEVICE="media_player.bedroom_display"



# Now just cast

cast-play song.mp3  # Automatically uses bedroom_display

4. Clean Up Occasionally

Files in /tmp/ are cleared on reboot by design, but you can manually clean:


# List all files with sizes

cast-list



# Remove old files

rm /tmp/youtube-music/*.mp3

5. WiFi Matters

If streaming glitches:

Move Chromecast to 5GHz WiFi
Reduce distance between Chromecast and server
Check for WiFi interference

6. Alias Commands

Add shell aliases for faster access:


# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc

alias cs='cast-server'

alias cd='cast-download'

alias cp='cast-play'

alias cl='cast-list'

alias cst='cast-status'



# Now just type

cs      # Start server

cd URL   # Download

cp song  # Cast

cl       # List

Notes

Files are stored in /tmp/youtube-music/ — cleared on reboot (by design)
Web server runs in background, persists across sessions
Keep filenames simple: lowercase, hyphens, no spaces/special chars
Server and Chromecast must be on same network
HA token is stored locally in config.sh — don't commit to Git
Quality is 320K MP3 — good balance of quality and file size
No cloud services, no subscriptions, no tracking

Comparison: This vs Alternatives

|---------|-------------------|----------------|-----------------|

Bottom line: If you value privacy, want to own your music, and don't need cloud features, this is for you.

License

MIT License — use it, modify it, share it.

Version: 6.0.0

Author: Wobo

License: MIT