This skill should be used when the user asks to "download Apple Music tracks", "rip Apple Music", "download songs", "get DRM-free music", "download music for my headphones", or asks anything about the apple-music-rip workflow or Apple Music AAC downloads.
The apple-music-rip skill downloads Apple Music content as DRM-free 256kbps AAC files using gamdl. Output is compatible with any device that plays AAC/M4A.
Workflow: Apple Music URL → gamdl (256kbps AAC download) → ~/Music/Swimming Files/
| Component | Path |
|---|---|
| gamdl | Homebrew (brew install gamdl) |
| Config | ~/.gamdl/config.ini |
| Cookies | ~/.gamdl/cookies.txt |
| Output | ~/Music/Swimming Files/ |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/apple-music-rip:setup |
| One-time setup (install gamdl, configure, export cookies) |
/apple-music-rip:download <url> | Download a song, album, or playlist |
gamdl downloads 256kbps AAC (.m4a) files. Compatible with most devices and players that support AAC, including MP3 players, swim headphones, car stereos, and any standard media app.
gamdl "https://music.apple.com/us/album/..."
gamdl reads config from ~/.gamdl/config.ini and cookies from ~/.gamdl/cookies.txt.
Cookies are extracted automatically using @steipete/sweet-cookie (npm). The user just needs to:
Claude then runs sweet-cookie to extract the cookies and writes them to ~/.gamdl/cookies.txt:
npx @steipete/sweet-cookie --url "https://music.apple.com" --browser chrome --format netscape > ~/.gamdl/cookies.txt
Adjust --browser to match what the user logged in with: chrome, firefox, edge, or safari.
Cookies expire periodically — if downloads start failing with auth errors, ask the user to log in again and re-run the extraction.
Auth/cookie errors — Ask the user to log in to music.apple.com again, then re-extract cookies with sweet-cookie.
Track not available — May not be in your storefront region.
gamdl not found — brew install gamdl
sweet-cookie fails — Ensure Node ≥22. Install with npm i -g @steipete/sweet-cookie if npx isn't working.