# Unspool

> A Chrome and Microsoft Edge extension that detects, downloads and joins video streams entirely in the browser. Built by Jo Leung.

## Official links

- [Home and installation guide](https://unspool.joleu.ng/)
- [Download v3.4.4](https://unspool.joleu.ng/downloads/Unspool-3.4.4.zip)
- [Checksum](https://unspool.joleu.ng/downloads/SHA256SUMS.txt)
- [Project directory](https://joleu.ng/)

## Product facts

- No local server, native companion, Node installation or FFmpeg installation is required to use Unspool.
- All controls live in the toolbar popup. There is no viewer or separate downloads library.
- Per-site switches in the popup's This site tab, each asking for access to that site only: restore the browser's right-click menu, allow selecting and copying text, open links with recognizable destinations in new tabs, hide open developer tools from the page, and hide switching to another tab or app. They apply when the page reloads.
- Supports direct video, finished HLS and static single-period DASH. Joins encoded audio/video without re-encoding; MP4 or Matroska output depends on the codecs. Direct files preserve their original bytes.
- Closing the popup does not stop a download. Keep the browser running. Reopen the popup to view progress, cancel or retry an interrupted final export.
- Files use the browser's download location and save prompts.
- Temporary media streams to browser-managed disk storage. Testing verified an 11 GiB direct export and an HLS merge into an 11.98 GB MP4. These are tested cases, not a universal size guarantee. Allow roughly twice output size in disk space.
- Optional HTTP/HTTPS site access is requested on detection or inspection. Detection follows one chosen tab for 30 minutes, including its embedded frames.
- No account, analytics or media upload service. Media requests go directly to the source. Request details and source URLs use session storage; internal recovery records omit media URLs and headers.
- Install by extracting the ZIP, enabling Developer mode in chrome://extensions or edge://extensions, and choosing Load unpacked. This is not a browser-store listing.
- Current release: 3.4.4. Minimum API version: Chrome 120. Routine Chromium tests run on Windows and Ubuntu. Firefox, Safari and mobile browsers are unsupported.

## Limits

Unspool does not bypass DRM. Live streams, sample encryption, multi-period DASH, subtitles and selectable alternate audio are unsupported. Some websites refuse replayed requests. Browser shutdown interrupts active work; source downloads do not resume automatically. Save media you own or have permission to download.