README.md

@@ -1768,7 +1768,7 @@ The following extractors use this feature:
 #### youtube
 * `lang`: Prefer translated metadata (`title`, `description` etc) of this language code (case-sensitive). By default, the video primary language metadata is preferred, with a fallback to `en` translated. See [youtube.py](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c26f9b991a0681fd3ea548d535919cec1fbbd430/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py#L381-L390) for list of supported content language codes
 * `skip`: One or more of `hls`, `dash` or `translated_subs` to skip extraction of the m3u8 manifests, dash manifests and [auto-translated subtitles](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/4090#issuecomment-1158102032) respectively
-* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `ios` and `android`, with variants `_music` and `_creator` (e.g. `ios_creator`); and `mweb`, `mediaconnect`, `android_vr`, `web_safari`, `web_embedded`, `tv` and `tv_embedded` with no variants. By default, `ios,mweb` is used, and `web_creator` is added as needed for age-gated videos when account age verification is required. Similarly, the `_music` variants are added for `music.youtube.com` URLs. Some clients, such as `web` and `android`, require a `po_token` for their formats to be downloadable. Some clients, such as the `_creator` variants, will only work with authentication. You can use `all` to use all the clients, and `default` for the default clients. You can prefix a client with `-` to exclude it, e.g. `youtube:player_client=all,-web`
+* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `ios` and `android`, with variants `_music` and `_creator` (e.g. `ios_creator`); and `mweb`, `mediaconnect`, `android_vr`, `web_safari`, `web_embedded`, `tv` and `tv_embedded` with no variants. By default, `ios,mweb` is used, and `web_creator,mediaconnect` is added as needed for age-gated videos when account age verification is required. Similarly, the `_music` variants are added for `music.youtube.com` URLs. Some clients, such as `web` and `android`, require a `po_token` for their formats to be downloadable. Some clients, such as the `_creator` variants, will only work with authentication. You can use `all` to use all the clients, and `default` for the default clients. You can prefix a client with `-` to exclude it, e.g. `youtube:player_client=all,-web`
 * `player_skip`: Skip some network requests that are generally needed for robust extraction. One or more of `configs` (skip client configs), `webpage` (skip initial webpage), `js` (skip js player). While these options can help reduce the number of requests needed or avoid some rate-limiting, they could cause some issues. See [#860](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/860) for more details
 * `player_params`: YouTube player parameters to use for player requests. Will overwrite any default ones set by yt-dlp.
 * `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)

yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py

@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
             },
         },
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT_CLIENT_NAME': 62,
-        'REQUIRE_AUTH': True,
     },
     'android': {
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT': {
@@ -141,7 +140,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
         'REQUIRE_JS_PLAYER': False,
         'REQUIRE_PO_TOKEN': True,
     },
-    # This client now requires sign-in for every video
     'android_music': {
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT': {
             'client': {
@@ -156,7 +154,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT_CLIENT_NAME': 21,
         'REQUIRE_JS_PLAYER': False,
         'REQUIRE_PO_TOKEN': True,
-        'REQUIRE_AUTH': True,
     },
     # This client now requires sign-in for every video
     'android_creator': {
@@ -173,7 +170,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT_CLIENT_NAME': 14,
         'REQUIRE_JS_PLAYER': False,
         'REQUIRE_PO_TOKEN': True,
-        'REQUIRE_AUTH': True,
     },
     # YouTube Kids videos aren't returned on this client for some reason
     'android_vr': {
@@ -209,7 +205,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT_CLIENT_NAME': 5,
         'REQUIRE_JS_PLAYER': False,
     },
-    # This client now requires sign-in for every video
     'ios_music': {
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT': {
             'client': {
@@ -224,7 +219,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
         },
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT_CLIENT_NAME': 26,
         'REQUIRE_JS_PLAYER': False,
-        'REQUIRE_AUTH': True,
     },
     # This client now requires sign-in for every video
     'ios_creator': {
@@ -241,7 +235,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
         },
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT_CLIENT_NAME': 15,
         'REQUIRE_JS_PLAYER': False,
-        'REQUIRE_AUTH': True,
     },
     # mweb has 'ultralow' formats
     # See: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/557
@@ -274,7 +267,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
             },
         },
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT_CLIENT_NAME': 85,
-        'REQUIRE_AUTH': True,
     },
     # This client now requires sign-in for every video
     # It may be able to receive pre-merged video+audio 720p/1080p streams
@@ -287,7 +279,6 @@ INNERTUBE_CLIENTS = {
         },
         'INNERTUBE_CONTEXT_CLIENT_NAME': 95,
         'REQUIRE_JS_PLAYER': False,
-        'REQUIRE_AUTH': True,
     },
 }
 
@@ -316,7 +307,6 @@ def build_innertube_clients():
         ytcfg.setdefault('INNERTUBE_HOST', 'www.youtube.com')
         ytcfg.setdefault('REQUIRE_JS_PLAYER', True)
         ytcfg.setdefault('REQUIRE_PO_TOKEN', False)
-        ytcfg.setdefault('REQUIRE_AUTH', False)
         ytcfg.setdefault('PLAYER_PARAMS', None)
         ytcfg['INNERTUBE_CONTEXT']['client'].setdefault('hl', 'en')
 
@@ -4055,9 +4045,8 @@ class YoutubeIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
         if smuggled_data.get('is_music_url') or self.is_music_url(url):
             for requested_client in requested_clients:
                 _, base_client, variant = _split_innertube_client(requested_client)
-                music_client = f'{base_client}_music' if base_client != 'mweb' else 'web_music'
+                music_client = f'{base_client}_music'
                 if variant != 'music' and music_client in INNERTUBE_CLIENTS:
-                    if not INNERTUBE_CLIENTS[music_client]['REQUIRE_AUTH'] or self.is_authenticated:
                     requested_clients.append(music_client)
 
         return orderedSet(requested_clients)
@@ -4171,10 +4160,10 @@ class YoutubeIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
                 self.to_screen(
                     f'{video_id}: This video is age-restricted and YouTube is requiring '
                     'account age-verification; some formats may be missing', only_once=True)
-                # web_creator can work around the age-verification requirement
+                # web_creator and mediaconnect can work around the age-verification requirement
-                # android_vr and mediaconnect may also be able to work around age-verification
+                # _testsuite & _vr variants can also work around age-verification
                 # tv_embedded may(?) still work around age-verification if the video is embeddable
-                append_client('web_creator')
+                append_client('web_creator', 'mediaconnect')
 
         prs.extend(deprioritized_prs)