Developers
Open source, all of it.
Villow is MIT-licensed, and the Villow extension is open source too. Read the code, run your own Villow by hand, or check exactly what the extension does.
The code
VillowTBD
The web app. MIT-licensed.
Villow extension
The browser extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox, including Firefox for Android.
How Villow is built
- React web app for browsers on phones, tablets and computers
- Hosted on Vercel
- Supabase for the database
- YouTube Data API and YouTube's official embedded player
- Google sign-in
Built on YouTube's public API, with no special access.
How Villow Setup works
Run your own private Villow or join one run by someone you trust. One person operates the hosting and database, and friends sign in. There's no central Villow everyone signs into.
Villow Setup is a computer app (Windows today; macOS and Linux: TBDmacOS and Linux availability) that walks you through creating the accounts Villow runs on, Vercel, Supabase and Google Cloud, then builds and connects everything. No GitHub, Git or terminal needed.
YouTube access uses a daily API quota from the owner's Google Cloud project, shared by everyone on that Villow. That's part of why each Villow is run by its owner for a small group.
Setting it up by hand
Prefer not to use Setup? The code is open source, so you can set up Villow yourself. Start with the Villow repositoryTBD.
Contributing
Code, bug reports, accessibility feedback and tested setup or recovery notes all help. Start with the repositories above, or contact the project if you're unsure where a contribution fits.
Detailed contribution guidance: TBDhow to contribute.
Running a Villow responsibly
Whoever runs a Villow is responsible for using it in line with YouTube's API terms and Google's policies.