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Installation Guide

This guide will help you install Downie and its dependencies on your system.

System Requirements

  • Python 3.8 or higher
  • FFmpeg
  • 500MB free disk space
  • Internet connection for downloading

Installing FFmpeg

FFmpeg is required for video processing capabilities. Install it for your operating system:

macOS

Using Homebrew: 

brew install ffmpeg

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg

Windows

  1. Download FFmpeg from the official website
  2. Extract the archive
  3. Add the FFmpeg bin directory to your system PATH

Installing Downie

pip install downie

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/where-is-brett/downie.git
cd downie

# Create and activate virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .

Verifying Installation

Check if everything is installed correctly:

# Check FFmpeg
ffmpeg -version

# Check Downie
downie --version

Optional Dependencies

For Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"

For Documentation

pip install -e ".[docs]"

Upgrading

To upgrade to the latest version:

pip install --upgrade downie

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. FFmpeg not found 

    Error: FFmpeg is not installed or not accessible
    Solution: Add FFmpeg to your system PATH or reinstall FFmpeg

  2. Python version mismatch 

    Error: Python 3.8 or higher is required
    Solution: Update Python to a supported version

  3. Permission errors 

    Error: Permission denied
    Solution: Use sudo pip install (Linux/macOS) or run as administrator (Windows)

For more issues, check our GitHub Issues.