Cookies and Login State

Some web content is not a public direct link. The fact that the browser can play it does not mean the desktop app can download it from the URL alone. A site may require login state, cookies, paid access, age verification, or region access. The browser extension helps Ameow reuse the browser session that already has access.

When “it plays in the browser but fails in Ameow,” validate this path first: logged in browser, actual content page open, extension Connected, task sent through the extension.

When is login state needed?

Common cases:

• the page can only be viewed after login;
• the content is members-only, age-restricted, or region-restricted;
• the same link plays in the browser but fails when pasted into the desktop app;
• the site returns different media URLs based on the active browser session.

In those cases, send the task through the extension.

What should the user do?

1. Log in to the site in the browser.
2. Open the actual content page and confirm it plays or displays normally.
3. Confirm the extension popup shows Connected.
4. Send the task from the popup or page entry point.
5. Watch the queue state in the desktop app.

Success state: the task reaches preparing, downloading, or done instead of failing immediately with an access-related error.

What are cookies used for here?

Cookies prove that the current browser session is allowed to access the content. Ameow’s goal is to let the desktop app reuse that access state as part of the download flow.

The docs will not ask you to copy raw cookie strings manually, and you should not send cookies to untrusted tools or other people. Prefer letting the extension pass the needed context locally between the browser and desktop app.

Site cookies saved by Ameow are written only to the app data directory on your computer. They are used later by yt-dlp or gallery-dl for downloads from the same site. Ameow does not upload cookie or login-state content.

Per-Site Login-State Sync And Maintenance

After you manually sync a site from desktop Settings or the browser extension popup, Ameow treats that site as authorized on this computer. Later, Ameow may refresh cookies for that same site locally, such as during scheduled maintenance, before a download starts, or when a saved login state needs to be refreshed for a download.

This is not a global sync for every website. Ameow only handles sites you have already synchronized or explicitly enabled; it does not silently read cookies for sites you have never synced. The browser extension remains the component that reads browser cookies. The desktop app requests the sync, validates the site scope, saves the snapshot, and creates temporary cookie files for downloads.

For example, after you manually sync Bilibili once, later Bilibili downloads may refresh Bilibili cookies locally. That does not authorize YouTube. Ameow only maintains YouTube after you sync YouTube too. If sync fails, the extension is disconnected, or the wait times out, Ameow continues the normal download attempt.

Saved site login states can be reviewed, refreshed, or cleared from the desktop Settings page under Site login states.

The extension popup’s Login state drawer also shows a compact list of synchronized sites. This list is only a summary read from the desktop app, so you can confirm which sites have already been synchronized. Supported sites that have never been synchronized are not shown. The extension itself is not the long-term cookie store, and it does not replace the desktop Settings page for refreshing, clearing, or using saved login state during downloads.

Do Douyin videos need login state?

Public Douyin videos can usually be downloaded by pasting the video link or short link directly, including v.douyin.com short links and jingxuan?modal_id=... page links. Ameow handles Douyin videos through the general yt-dlp download capability, so there is no separate Douyin downloader runtime to prepare.

If the video plays in the browser but fails when pasted into the desktop app, or if the content needs account access, send the task from the logged-in browser page through the extension.

Common failures

I am logged in, but it still fails

Make sure you are sending the actual content page, not the homepage, a list page, or search results. Reopen the specific page and retry from there.

The extension is not connected

Login state cannot help if the extension is disconnected. Get it back to Connected first.

The content itself is restricted

Paid, region-restricted, age-restricted, or private content may still fail. Ameow only works within the range where the user has access and the site is currently supported.

The site changed

If the same site suddenly starts failing across many pages, the site structure may have changed. Update to the latest stable release and check whether the Release Notes mention a fix.