# dzhang314/YouTubeDrive

Store files as YouTube videos == infinite disk space

Repository: https://github.com/dzhang314/YouTubeDrive
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/youtubedrive
Language: Mathematica
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2018-07-26T07:46:43+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3370, "days_push": 2960, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1940, forks 50 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:57.333188+00:00)

## What it is
YouTubeDrive is a Wolfram Language (Mathematica) package that encodes arbitrary files into RGB videos which it uploads to YouTube, and decodes back into files when retrieved. It exploits YouTube's lack of upload limits to provide an effectively infinite, though extremely slow, form of cloud file storage, and is explicitly a proof-of-concept novelty.

## Use cases
- store files on youtube as unlimited free cloud storage
- encode files as videos to upload to youtube
- use youtube as an infinite disk backup
- recover files from youtube videos
- convert arbitrary data into a video format
- experiment with data-to-video encoding in mathematica

## When to choose
- You want a novelty or art project demonstrating data hidden in video uploads
- You need to stash small files with no storage quota and can tolerate minutes-long processing plus very low throughput
- You work in Wolfram Language and want to explore encoding/decoding data through FFmpeg-mediated video pipelines

## When to avoid
- You need fast, private, or reliable storage - uploads take 5-10 minutes to process, videos are publicly visible, and effective bandwidth is tiny
- You need production-grade backup - the author explicitly warns against high-volume use and the project has not been updated since 2018
- You do not use Wolfram Language/Mathematica, or cannot install FFmpeg, youtube-upload, and youtube-dl alongside it
- You require guaranteed durability - YouTube could remove videos or change its platform at any time

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: abandoned
- function: serialization, video-processing, file-system
- domain: files, media, developer-tools
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: wolfram-language, mathematica, youtube, cloud-storage, file-storage, video-encoding, data-encoding, proof-of-concept, novelty, desktop

## Member repositories
- dzhang314/YouTubeDrive (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:57.333188+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:08:09.143991+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dzhang314/YouTubeDrive (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:57.333188+00:00, sha 791518ed87dc)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.