Viewing youtube videos in Lynx
Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:17:59 +0200
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Thanks to  the lynx-dev mailing list  I can now view  html pages in
rdrview and launch  mpv to play youtube videos  directly from Lynx.

Mime-types are managed by my mailcap file, but youtube videos are a
https url and require EXTERNAL_LINK handling.

Lynx has to be compiled with --enable-externs for this to function.

You can download my fork of Lynx 2.9.2 here:
https://git.wittamore.com/lynx

Lynx config option:
EXTERNAL_MENU:<url>:<menu>:<command> %s:<norestriction>:
              <allow_for_activate>[:environment]

If  there is  more than  one EXTERNAL_MENU option for any
given situation, Lynx will display a menu of the options.

As I have  a French keyboard I changed the  EXTERNAL_LINK keymap to
';'. Hitting ";" on a link will execute ythandler.

I've included my mpv.conf as I run DWM with mpv set as a floating
centered window for both audio and video files.

+--- lynx.cfg ---------------------------------------------------+

 KEYMAP:,:EXTERN_PAGE                          
 KEYMAP:;:EXTERN_LINK
 EXTERNAL_MENU:http:Reader:rdrview --disable-sandbox -T title -B 
       "lynx -cfg  /home/philip/.config/lynx/lynx.cfg" '%s':TRUE
 EXTERNAL_MENU::Youtube:ythandler '%s':TRUE

+--- ythandler --------------------------------------------------+

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# open youtube link in mpv

URL=https:$(awk -F'https%3a' '{print $2}' <<< "$1")

if curl --head --silent $URL > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    notify-send "Launching mpv $URL"
    mpv $URL >/dev/null 2>&1 &
else
    notify-send "invalid URL $URL"
fi

 +--- mpv.conf --------------------------------------------------+

 script-opts=osc-visibility=always
 geometry=1068x600
 ontop 
 idle=yes
 force-window=yes