Download single videos, audio-only tracks, or entire playlists through a unified flow.
Queue multiple jobs with progress tracking, pause, resume, retry, and download history.
Detect platform-friendly formats automatically and store files in custom locations.
Quick actions for popular sites plus manual URL entry for anything yt-dlp supports.
Theme toggle (system, light, dark) and localized interface in English and Simplified Chinese.
Desktop-native touches such as tray integration, update checks, and persistent settings.

Tech Stack

Runtime: Electron 38, electron-vite, electron-builder.
Frontend: React 19, React Router, Jotai, React Hook Form, Tailwind CSS 4, shadcn/ui, Lucide icons.
Tooling: TypeScript 5, pnpm, Biome, dayjs, electron-log, electron-store, electron-updater, i18next, next-themes.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Node.js 18 or newer
pnpm 8 or newer

Install dependencies

pnpm install

Run the app in development

pnpm dev

The Electron app and Vite dev server launch together with hot module replacement.

Useful Scripts

Command	Description
`pnpm dev`	Run the Electron and Vite development environment.
`pnpm start`	Preview the production build locally.
`pnpm run typecheck`	Type-check the main and renderer projects.
`pnpm build`	Run type checks and produce production bundles.
`pnpm build:win` / `pnpm build:mac` / `pnpm build:linux`	Create platform-specific distributables.
`pnpm build:unpack`	Produce unpacked output directories.
`pnpm run check`	Format and lint the codebase with Biome.

Project Structure

src/
├─ main/            # Electron main process, IPC services, configuration
├─ preload/         # Context bridge and preload helpers
└─ renderer/
   ├─ src/
   │  ├─ pages/      # Application routes (Home, Settings, Playlist, etc.)
   │  ├─ components/ # UI components, download views, shared controls
   │  ├─ data/       # Static datasets such as popularSites.ts
   │  ├─ hooks/      # Custom hooks and global atoms
   │  ├─ lib/        # Utilities shared across the renderer
   │  └─ assets/     # Global styles and icons
   └─ index.html

Internationalization

The renderer uses i18next with English (en) and Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) namespaces. Update strings in src/renderer/src/locales/en.json; other locales are maintained separately.

Configuration and Storage

Persistent settings are stored with electron-store and exposed through IPC helpers.
User-facing preferences such as download paths and themes live in src/main/settings.ts and related services.
Logs are recorded with electron-log to simplify troubleshooting.

Packaging

Run one of the following commands after a successful build:

pnpm build:win
pnpm build:mac
pnpm build:linux

Artifacts are generated under dist/. Use pnpm build:unpack to create unpacked directories for manual inspection.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Keep changes focused, document user facing updates, and run pnpm run check before opening a PR.

License

This project is distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

README.md

VidBee

A minimal Electron downloader for video and audio

Features