TubeSift

The fastest zero-config way to search inside YouTube channels from your terminal.

TubeSift indexes channels and playlists into local SQLite FTS5 and gives instant search across title, description, and optional subtitles with exact timestamp links.

Why This Exists

YouTube search is weak for this workflow:

I know this phrase exists somewhere on this channel, find it now.

TubeSift is search-first and local-first:

• no API keys
• no Docker
• no login
• no external search backend
• regex, filters, and subtitle timestamps that can be piped to scripts

Install

Fastest setup:

pipx install tubesift

Alternative package install:

pip install tubesift

Homebrew:

brew tap balyakin/tubesift
brew install tubesift

Quick Start

tubesift fetch @3blue1brown --subs auto
tubesift search @3blue1brown "eigenvectors"
tubesift ui @3blue1brown

Real Search Scenarios

# Metadata search with phrase
tubesift search @3blue1brown "\"linear algebra\"" --sort date

# Regex over candidate set
tubesift search @computerphile "regex|automata" --regex --no-shorts

# Subtitle-only search with language and direct open
tubesift search --all "transformer" --field subtitle --lang en --open 1

# Export to machine-readable formats
tubesift search @veritasium "black hole" --json > results.json
tubesift search @veritasium "black hole" --csv --output exports/results.csv
tubesift search @veritasium "black hole" --markdown > results.md

Comparison

Tool	Strong point	Why it is not enough	How TubeSift wins
YouTube Search	Global and easy	Weak channel-internal relevance, weak timestamp discovery	Local FTS5 + subtitle timestamp snippets + precise filters
Tube Archivist / downloader suites	Big archival workflows	Heavy stack and not search-first	One command to index, one command to find
ytfzf-like wrappers	Terminal UX	Mostly online search, limited local indexing	Offline-capable local DB with consistent CLI and exports
Subtitle-only niche tools	Timestamp search	Narrow scope or weaker UX	Metadata + subtitles + filters + TUI in one tool

Screenshots

CLI search:

TUI workflow:

Command Model

tubesift fetch <scope>
tubesift sync [scope...]
tubesift search [scope] <query>
tubesift ui [scope]
tubesift list
tubesift info <scope>
tubesift top <scope>
tubesift open <video_id>
tubesift clear <scope>
tubesift doctor

Fetch and sync options:

tubesift fetch @channel --subs auto --refresh-recent 30
tubesift sync --subs all --refresh-recent 50
tubesift fetch @channel --cookies-from-browser chrome
tubesift fetch @channel --cookies ~/cookies.txt

JSON, CSV, Markdown Exports

tubesift search @channel "query" --json
tubesift search @channel "query" --csv --output exports/results.csv
tubesift search @channel "query" --markdown

Data Directory

~/.tubesift/
├── tubesift.db
├── logs/
├── exports/
└── cache/

Set TUBESIFT_HOME to override this location.

FAQ

Does TubeSift download videos?

No. TubeSift is search-first and indexes metadata/subtitles only.

Does TubeSift require Google API keys?

No. It uses yt-dlp and local SQLite.

Can I search offline?

Yes, once data is indexed locally.

What if YouTube triggers bot-check challenges?

Use cookie options from browser or cookie file:

tubesift fetch @channel --cookies-from-browser chrome
tubesift fetch @channel --cookies ~/cookies.txt

Contributing

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .[dev]
pytest

Release automation notes are in docs/RELEASING.md.