Replaced spotipy with a non-api library by TzurSoffer · Pull Request #2626 · spotDL/spotify-downloader

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-15T07:03:55Z

Title

Due to recent changes in Spotify, the api is no longer useful to non-premium users, therfore I have replaced it.

Description

I have made a wrapper to spotAPI, which functions as a drag-n-drop replacement to spotipy, it not perfect, but it has fixed spotdl.
To install working verison run pip install git+https://github.com/TzurSoffer/spotify-downloader
If this helped you a star to my fork and bump would be appreciated to help promote this fix.

Related Issue

#2621
#2617

Motivation and Context

It solves the problem of the app not working without Spotify Premium.

How Has This Been Tested?

I have tested both playlists and individual songs.

Types of Changes

Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)

Checklist

My code follows the code style of this project
My change requires a change to the documentation
I have updated the documentation accordingly
I have read the CONTRIBUTING document
I have added tests to cover my changes
All new and existing tests passed

Its not perfect, but it works

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-15T18:05:10Z

I currently have a hardcoded variable in the Spotify.py file, but this should be a config option. I tried to make it a config option, but I am unfamiliar with this code and couldn't.

…well as some minor issues in tracks)

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-23T04:27:55Z

Hey, is there any progress towards merging this PR?

DylanBPY · 2026-03-25T01:00:30Z

This branch works on my system

DylanBPY · 2026-03-25T23:02:18Z

@TzurSoffer Have you seen this?

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-25T23:08:08Z

if you see that error, you didnt install my fork as it does not use api.spotify.com...
if you do spotdl --version does it print 4.4.5 or 4.4.3?

gripfastistech · 2026-03-25T23:36:37Z

if you see that error, you didnt install my fork as it does not use api.spotify.com... if you do spotdl --version does it print 4.4.5 or 4.4.3?

4.4.5

I had too many pre-existing versions hanging around, was pointing back to the previous .local install.

After removing everything spotdl related, reinstalled again from the fork, and its processing, without the error so far.

Thanks!

sidelkins · 2026-03-26T00:41:53Z

Works on my system! Thanks!

m111k333 · 2026-03-26T13:55:45Z

works very well,thank you!

ciangottinim · 2026-03-26T17:38:01Z

I tried it with the "artist" option and it doesn't work, I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or not; I run the command on a linux headless server, I attached the command and the error here:

Command: spotdl download artist:X --headless --output {artist}/{album}/{title}.{output-ext} --format m4a
Error: error.txt

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-26T17:41:35Z

Artists are not yet supported, download a playlist with all his songs instead for now

taco-mustard · 2026-03-27T09:09:36Z

Thanks, it works pretty well! Just running into a couple errors at the moment (running this on mac):

Trying to download spotify playlist from youtube playlist of same length via spotdl "{youtube playlist url}|{spotify playlist url}" results in AttributeError: 'Downloader' object has no attribute 'download_url'
Downloading spotify playlists of over about 30 songs (after using command ulimit -n 10000) results in AudioProviderError: YT-DLP download error

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-27T14:13:18Z

@taco-mustard Please provide the commands as well as the output from the terminal so I can fix replicate it

taco-mustard · 2026-03-27T15:53:40Z

This was the code that led to the AttributeError
spotdl "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7fDRdzfbWcwVwup1gMdeO46S7-lMwFG2|https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2G42OAnMtsPSeUDmsC9TBt?si=UIpV6CXnRA-yrDnkf0bfhA"

This was the output

Found 121 songs in dl_songs (Playlist)                                                                                                                                                                                 
AttributeError: 'Downloader' object has no attribute 'download_url' ```

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-27T15:59:28Z

@taco-mustard It possible that youtube is bugged, I dont have time to fix it rn. for now, you can do
spotdl "https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2G42OAnMtsPSeUDmsC9TBt"
if you have trouble with yt-dlp, update it pip install -U yt-dlp

taco-mustard · 2026-03-27T20:21:29Z

changing candidate_urls = [self.download_url] to candidate_urls = [song.download_url] in line 716 of spotdl/download/downloader.py appears to fix the issue for me

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-29T20:01:07Z

changing candidate_urls = [self.download_url] to candidate_urls = [song.download_url] in line 716 of spotdl/download/downloader.py appears to fix the issue for me

You are %100 right, fixed it and gave you credit. Thanks a lot!

EvanBelcher · 2026-03-29T20:09:02Z

I am trying to use this programmatically as follows:

spotdl = Spotdl(client_id=config['SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID'], client_secret=config['SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET'], downloader_settings={**config_file_options, 'output': os.path.join(config['SPOTIFY_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION'], '{artists} - {title}.{output-ext}')})

This code was working for me before Spotify changed its API and I downloaded your fork. Now I'm getting the below error:

  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/spotify.py", line 202, in <module>
    main(args)
    ~~~~^^^^^^
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/spotify.py", line 40, in main
    process_tracks(config, tracks)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/spotify.py", line 47, in process_tracks
    downloaded_tracks = download_tracks(config, tracks)
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/spotify.py", line 65, in download_tracks
    spotdl = get_spotdl(config)
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/spotify.py", line 89, in get_spotdl
    return Spotdl(client_id=config['SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID'], client_secret=config['SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET'], downloader_settings={**config_file_options,
'output': os.path.join(config['SPOTIFY_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION'], '{artists} - {title}.{output-ext}')})
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/__init__.py", line 83, in __init__
    self.downloader = Downloader(
                      ~~~~~~~~~~^
        settings=downloader_settings,
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
        loop=loop,
        ^^^^^^^^^^
    )
    ^
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/download/downloader.py", line 174, in __init__
    found_files = gather_known_songs(self.settings["output"], scan_format)
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/utils/search.py", line 616, in gather_known_songs
    search_results = get_search_results(path.stem)
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/utils/search.py", line 76, in get_search_results
    return Song.list_from_search_term(search_term)
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/types/song.py", line 193, in list_from_search_term
    raw_search_results = Song.search(search_term)
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/types/song.py", line 152, in search
    raw_search_results = spotify_client.search(search_term)
  File "/home/evan/compose/spotcron/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/SpotipyFree/Spotify.py", line 221, in search
    results = spotapi.Search().search(query)["data"]
              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: module 'spotapi' has no attribute 'Search'

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-29T20:15:53Z

I am trying to use this programmatically as follows:

spotdl = Spotdl(client_id=config['SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID'], client_secret=config['SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET'], downloader_settings={**config_file_options, 'output': os.path.join(config['SPOTIFY_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION'], '{artists} - {title}.{output-ext}')})

Searching is broken, you have to use the url or id for now

EvanBelcher · 2026-03-30T02:04:38Z

Searching is broken, you have to use the url or id for now

Ah gotcha, thanks for the help. Based on this, I had to make these changes to get it working

I had to set scan-for-songs to false in my config.json. This is what was actually triggering the above error when initializing spotdl
I originally was getting songs like this:

songs = spotdl.search(track_urls)
results = spotdl.download_songs(songs)

I had to change it to this:

songs = [Song.from_url(url) for url in track_urls]
results = spotdl.download_songs(songs)

I suppose I should have been doing this from the beginning given that I already had the track URLs, but I incorrectly assumed searching with the urls would just do this under the hood.

TzurSoffer · 2026-03-30T16:14:01Z

Searching should now work. If it doesn't, please update SpotipyFree
pip install -U spotipyFree

Gr3gory

It works!
(macOS brewed-python installation)

adocampo · 2026-04-01T13:50:01Z

hopefully this will be merged soon

yonka2019 · 2026-04-02T15:32:02Z

how do i run this version? the uv run build actually crashes

TzurSoffer · 2026-04-02T15:34:17Z

pip install git+https://github.com/TzurSoffer/spotify-downloader

yonka2019 · 2026-04-02T15:34:43Z

it do installs the packages but nothing run

TzurSoffer · 2026-04-02T15:36:09Z

Do python -m spotdl url

yonka2019 · 2026-04-02T15:38:48Z

oh got it.
The version works perfectly, you're god
Thanks!

JonneSaloranta · 2026-04-02T16:11:29Z

Seems to work well with spotify playlist links.
First had an issue with songs not downloading but I updated yt-dlp package as suggested and now it works.

@taco-mustard It possible that youtube is bugged, I dont have time to fix it rn. for now, you can do spotdl "https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2G42OAnMtsPSeUDmsC9TBt" if you have trouble with yt-dlp, update it pip install -U yt-dlp

mborn1 · 2026-04-02T17:56:32Z

It did not work using pip install for me, however, cloning the forked repo and building with uv did work for me (also after upgrading yt-dlp version).
Starred the fork, hope it gets merged soon.

My configuration

Command (with uv environment active)

python -m spotdl [playlist url]

Spotify environment

Created dev app (today)
Set both http://127.0.0.1:9900 and http://127.0.0.1:9900/ as the redirect URIs
Added my premium account to the permitted users
Altered ~/.config/spotdl/config.json to include my client_id, clent_secret, and port = 9900

System specs

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - kernel 6.17.0-19-generic
Python 3.12.3
uv 0.11.1 (a6042f67f 2026-03-24 x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)

elktonsgay2025 · 2026-04-02T23:14:47Z

When attempting to install your version I am now getting this;
ERROR: Error [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'git' while executing command git version
ERROR: Cannot find command 'git' - do you have 'git' installed and in your PATH?

TzurSoffer · 2026-04-02T23:17:05Z

Either install git or download the repo as zip, unzip it, and run pip install . in the folder

elktonsgay2025 · 2026-04-02T23:24:11Z

My apologies for so many comments, still learning this. When I install your thread and run python -m spotdl I get this right afterwards, no downloads;

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 189, in _run_module_as_main
File "", line 148, in _get_module_details
File "", line 112, in _get_module_details
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/init.py", line 13, in
from spotdl.console import console_entry_point
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/console/init.py", line 5, in
from spotdl.console.entry_point import console_entry_point
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/console/entry_point.py", line 12, in
from spotdl.console.download import download
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/console/download.py", line 7, in
from spotdl.download.downloader import Downloader
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/download/downloader.py", line 20, in
from spotdl.download.progress_handler import ProgressHandler
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/download/progress_handler.py", line 23, in
from spotdl.types.song import Song
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/types/song.py", line 11, in
from spotdl.utils.spotify import SpotifyClient
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotdl/utils/spotify.py", line 217, in
from SpotipyFree import Spotify as SpotifyClient # type: ignore
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/SpotipyFree/init.py", line 3, in
from .Spotify import Spotify
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/SpotipyFree/Spotify.py", line 3, in
import spotapi
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotapi/init.py", line 1, in
from spotapi.artist import *
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotapi/artist.py", line 4, in
from spotapi.types.annotations import enforce
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotapi/types/init.py", line 1, in
from spotapi.types.data import *
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotapi/types/data.py", line 4, in
from spotapi.http.request import TLSClient
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotapi/http/init.py", line 1, in
from spotapi.http.request import *
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/spotapi/http/request.py", line 4, in
from tls_client.settings import ClientIdentifiers
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/tls_client/init.py", line 15, in
from .sessions import Session
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/tls_client/sessions.py", line 1, in
from .cffi import request, freeMemory, destroySession
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/tls_client/cffi.py", line 20, in
library = ctypes.cdll.LoadLibrary(f'{root_dir}/dependencies/tls-client{file_ext}')
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/ctypes/init.py", line 480, in LoadLibrary
return self._dlltype(name)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/ctypes/init.py", line 361, in init
self._handle = self._load_library(name, mode, handle, winmode)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/ctypes/init.py", line 401, in _load_library
return _dlopen(name, mode)
OSError: dlopen failed: library "libpthread.so.0" not found: needed by /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/tls_client/dependencies/tls-client-arm64.so in namespace (default)

TzurSoffer · 2026-04-02T23:27:03Z

You probably need to install libpthread.so.0

elktonsgay2025 · 2026-04-03T00:13:06Z

Is this not doable on android with termux since the phone isn't rooted?

TzurSoffer · 2026-04-03T00:14:39Z

Idk, never tested it

elktonsgay2025 · 2026-04-03T05:17:35Z

It seems like this is only working on computers and will not work on termux for android. If anyone has any fixes for that I'm all ears please

watrd · 2026-04-03T22:01:25Z

Is there anyway to get the lyrics attached into the mp3 file like the way original spotdl does it?
btw good work, it's working fine for me

TzurSoffer · 2026-04-03T22:18:06Z

Is there anyway to get the lyrics attached into the mp3 file like the way original spotdl does it? btw good work, it's working fine for me

I am not aware of my app changing anything about the lyrics.
Do you get any errors? What command are you using

TzurSoffer and others added 4 commits March 14, 2026 23:53

Replace spotipy with my custom wrapper

49a654d

Its not perfect, but it works

Bumped Version and added spotipyFree dep

0737b85

Update spotify.py to work with mypy

79def25

bumped min version of spotipyFree (Fixed embedMetadata for songs)

0febccf

bumped min version of spotipyFree to 1.0.5 (fixed albums and sync as …

d0c90b3

…well as some minor issues in tracks)

This was referenced Mar 15, 2026

Spotify API Update Prevents SpotDL from working. #2621

Open

Spotify's February 2026 Dev Mode changes will break spotDL – what’s the plan going forward? #2617

Open

Bumped min spotipyFree version to 1.0.7

4b863b4

This was referenced Mar 23, 2026

Persistent ‘Retry after 86400’ error in SpotDL, all versions fail with no external cause #2585

Open

Rate limits depsite using it once, having an app set in config, having premium, and a public playlist. #2633

Open

Improved searching, app is now more accurate

02abed3

phuanh004 mentioned this pull request Mar 26, 2026

Spotify API 403 Forbidden + Python 3.14 compatibility phuanh004/spotify-downloader#2

Open

Bugfix: added support for python3.14

37ffd06

TzurSoffer mentioned this pull request Mar 29, 2026

Active premium subscription required for the owner of the app #2634

Open

Bugfix for override of download url (fix found by taco-mustard)

48178f8

Gr3gory reviewed Apr 1, 2026

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Title

Description

Related Issue

Motivation and Context

How Has This Been Tested?

Types of Changes

Checklist

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TzurSoffer commented Mar 15, 2026

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TzurSoffer commented Mar 23, 2026

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DylanBPY commented Mar 25, 2026

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mborn1 commented Apr 2, 2026

My configuration

Command (with uv environment active)

Spotify environment

System specs

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