Lightweight open-source desktop application to locally download Coursera courses using secure browser cookies. A modern GUI replacement for legacy scripts featuring smart throttling and random delays. - courseradl/coursera-dl-gui
Hey Product Hunt community! š
I'm the maker behind Coursera DL. Like many students and self-learners, I frequently need to keep offline personal archives of the educational materials I am enrolled in so I can study during flights, commutes, or in areas with patchy connectivity.
For a long time, the community relied on the legacy terminal script `coursera-dl`. However, it has become heavily outdated and prone to breaking on SSL or API handshakes. Additionally, managing a python terminal environment isn't ideal for every learner.
To solve this, I engineered Coursera DL as a native desktop utility (Windows, macOS, Linux).
Why I chose this specific architecture:
⢠Tauri + Rust: Instead of shipping a heavy Electron runtime that eats up system resources, compiling a native binary keeps the desktop app incredibly lightweight and memory-efficient.
⢠Local-First Privacy: Security is absolute. The application processes authentication completely on your machine using your browser session cookies. No passwords or tokens ever leave your local drive.
⢠Smart Random Delays: The Rust backend handles requests responsibly by automatically interleaving random pauses between media segments and PDF downloads to mimic standard browser pacing.
The app is entirely open-source under the GPL-3.0 license. I'm actively hanging around today and would love to hear your technical feedback on the Tauri configuration or answer any questions!
Repository: https://github.com/courseradl/co...