# YouTube Abandonment Decision - August 27, 2025

## Decision Made
**Abandon YouTube integration completely** and switch to SoundCloud for the Quixotic Telegram MiniApp.

## Reasoning
1. **YouTube bot detection too strong** - all anonymous methods blocked
2. **Cookie-based auth inappropriate** for Telegram MiniApp (should be anonymous)
3. **User needs mainstream music** like "Virtual Insanity" - Archive.org won't have it
4. **SoundCloud still viable option** for popular tracks

## Actions Taken
- Remove all YouTube-related code from src/youtube.js
- Remove YouTube dependencies (play-dl, ytdl-core, youtube-dl-exec)
- Replace with SoundCloud integration
- Keep similar API interface for frontend compatibility

## SoundCloud Implementation Plan
1. Use scdl-core or soundcloud-downloader npm packages
2. Search functionality via SoundCloud API
3. Download functionality for available tracks
4. Keep same UI/UX, just change backend source

## Fallback Strategy
If SoundCloud also fails, consider:
1. Multiple source aggregation
2. User-provided links approach
3. Different content strategy (playlists, podcasts, etc.)