Table of Contents

mediagrab — Kids Show Downloader

Automated downloader for kids' TV shows, running in the doppler LXD container on hertz. Downloads are stored in /moviedata/video/ and automatically picked up by Gerbera UPnP/DLNA server.

Location

Cron Schedule

Commands

# List all shows and status
python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py list

# Run weekly check manually
python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py weekly

# Run archive backfill manually
python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py archive

# Test a URL (list episodes without downloading)
python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py test "<url>"

# Seed archive from existing files (run after manual downloads)
python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py seed

All commands can also be run via Claude Code MCP: 

hertz-tools → mediagrab → command: "list"

Adding a New Show

Step 1: Find the show URL

Supported sources (via yt-dlp):

To find a show URL:

  1. Go to ardmediathek.de, search for the show, click “Sendung” tab, copy URL
  2. Or search on kika.de

Step 2: Test the URL

python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py test "https://www.ardmediathek.de/sendung/..."

Check: are episodes listed? Are durations correct? Are there unwanted variants (Gebärdensprache, Audiodeskription)?

Step 3: Build the JSON config

{
  "name": "Show Name",
  "url": "https://...",
  "dir": "show_directory_name",
  "mode": "weekly",
  "min_duration": 1200,
  "max_duration": 2100,
  "title_exclude": ["Gebärdensprache", "Audiodeskription", "Hörfassung"]
}

Fields:

Field Required Description
name yes Display name
url yes yt-dlp compatible URL
dir yes Subdirectory under /moviedata/video/
mode yes weekly (all new) or archive (N per day)
per_run archive only Episodes per daily run (default: 3)
max_total archive only Stop after this many total files
min_duration no Minimum duration in seconds
max_duration no Maximum duration in seconds
title_exclude no List of regex patterns to skip by title

Step 4: Add it

python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py add '{"name": "Show Name", "url": "https://...", "dir": "show_name", "mode": "weekly"}'

Step 5: Test download

Run mediagrab.py weekly or mediagrab.py archive to verify it downloads correctly. Check:

Examples

Weekly show (ARD, filtered): 

python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py add '{
  "name": "Die Sendung mit der Maus",
  "url": "https://www.ardmediathek.de/sendung/die-sendung-mit-der-maus/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlLmRlL3NlbmR1bmcgbWl0IGRlciBtYXVz",
  "dir": "sendung_mit_der_maus",
  "mode": "weekly",
  "min_duration": 1500,
  "max_duration": 2100,
  "title_exclude": ["Gebärdensprache", "Audiodeskription", "Hörfassung"]
}'

Archive backfill (with cap): 

python3 /opt/mediagrab/mediagrab.py add '{
  "name": "Woozle Goozle",
  "url": "https://archive.org/details/woozle-goozle",
  "dir": "woozle_goozle",
  "mode": "archive",
  "per_run": 3,
  "max_total": 50,
  "min_duration": 1200,
  "max_duration": 1500
}'

Troubleshooting

Architecture