diff --git a/bin/hooks/README.md b/bin/hooks/README.md
index 9c18c55b..6d694941 100644
--- a/bin/hooks/README.md
+++ b/bin/hooks/README.md
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ these are `--xiu` hooks; unlike `xbu` and `xau` (which get executed on every sin
 * [qbittorrent-magnet.py](qbittorrent-magnet.py) starts downloading a torrent if you post a magnet url
 * [usb-eject.py](usb-eject.py) adds web-UI buttons to safe-remove usb flashdrives shared through copyparty
 * [msg-log.py](msg-log.py) is a guestbook; logs messages to a doc in the same folder
+* [ytdlp-i.py](ytdlp-i.py) is an import-safe hook, based on wget.py, adds yt-dlp and aria2 support
+  * allows downloading file via URLs, yt-dlp supported links, any link downloadable with aria2 (including magnets)
 
 
 # general concept demos
diff --git a/bin/hooks/ytdlp-i.py b/bin/hooks/ytdlp-i.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..78b6c01c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/hooks/ytdlp-i.py
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import os
+import sys
+import json
+import subprocess as sp
+import threading
+
+from typing import Any
+
+
+_ = r"""
+yt-dlp hook for copyparty. Based on wget.py hook
+
+use copyparty as a file downloader by POSTing URLs as
+application/x-www-form-urlencoded (for example using the
+📟 message-to-server-log in the web-ui)
+
+this hook is a modified copy of wget.py, modified to
+make use of yt-dlp + aria2 in an import-safe way, 
+so it can be run with the 'I' flag, which speeds up 
+the startup time of the hook by 140x
+
+example usage as global config:
+    --xm aw,I,bin/hooks/bin/hooks/ytdlp-i.py
+
+parameters explained,
+    xm = execute on message-to-server-log
+    aw = only users with write-access can use this
+    I = import; do not fork / subprocess
+
+example usage as a volflag (per-volume config):
+    -v srv/inc:inc:r:rw,ed:c,xm=aw,I,bin/hooks/ytdlp-i.py
+                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+    (share filesystem-path srv/inc as volume /inc,
+     readable by everyone, read-write for user 'ed',
+     running this plugin on all messages with the params explained above)
+
+example usage as a volflag in a copyparty config file:
+    [/inc]
+      srv/inc
+      accs:
+        r: *
+        rw: ed
+      flags:
+        xm: aw,I,bin/hooks/ytdlp-i.py
+
+the volflag examples only kicks in if you send the message
+while you're in the /inc folder (or any folder below there)
+
+Dependencies:
+    yt-dlp, aria2
+    Example Dockerfile:
+        FROM copyparty/ac
+
+        ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
+        RUN apk add --update --no-cache python3 py3-pip
+
+        RUN python3 -m pip config set global.break-system-packages true
+        RUN python3 -m pip install yt-dlp aria2
+
+        RUN yt-dlp --version
+        RUN aria2c --version
+
+IMPORTANT NOTE:
+    because this hook uses the 'I' flag to run inside copyparty,
+    many other flags will not work (f,j,c3,t3600 as seen in the
+    original wget.py), and furthermore + more importantly we
+    need to be EXCEPTIONALLY CAREFUL to avoid side-effects, so
+    the os.chdir has been replaced with cwd=dirpath for example
+"""
+
+
+def helper(ka: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, str]:
+    logger = ka["log"]
+
+    url = ka["txt"]
+    if "://" not in url and url[:6] != "magnet":
+        url = "https://" + url
+        proto = url.split("://")[0].lower()
+        if proto not in ("http", "https", "ftp", "ftps"):
+            raise Exception(f"ytdlp_hook: Bad protocol {proto}")
+
+    path = ka["ap"]
+
+    name = url.split("?")[0].split("/")[-1]
+    tfn = "ytdlp_hook: DOWNLOADING " + name
+    logger(f"{tfn}\n", 2)
+    open(tfn, "wb").close()
+
+    cmd = [
+        "yt-dlp",
+        "-P",
+        path,
+        "-f",
+        "bv*+ba/b",
+        "--downloader",
+        "aria2c",
+        "--downloader-args",
+        f"-j 16 -x 8 -s 16 -k 1M -d {path}",
+        url,
+    ]
+
+    if url[:6] == "magnet":
+        cmd = [cmd[4]] + [cmd[7]]
+
+    else:
+        if "." in (name[-3], name[-4]) and name.split(".")[-1] not in (
+            "php",
+            "htm",
+            "aspx",
+            "html",
+        ):
+            cmd += ["-o", name]
+
+    logger(" ".join(cmd) + "\n", 2)
+
+    try:
+        result = sp.run(cmd, stdout=sp.PIPE, stderr=sp.PIPE, text=True)
+        result.check_returncode()
+
+        t = "ytdlp_hook: DOWNLOAD COMPLETED " + name
+        logger(f"{t}\n", 2)
+        stdout, stderr = result.stdout, result.stderr
+
+    except sp.CalledProcessError as e:
+        t = "ytdlp_hook: DOWNLOAD FAILED " + name
+        logger(f"{t}\n", 4)
+        open(t, "wb").close()
+        logger(f"ytdlp_hook: Error: {e}", 4)
+        stdout, stderr = e.stdout, e.stderr
+
+    except sp.SubprocessError as e:
+        t = "ytdlp_hook: DOWNLOAD FAILED " + name
+        logger(f"{t}\n", 2)
+        open(t, "wb").close()
+        logger(f"ytdlp_hook: Error: {e}", 4)
+        stdout, stderr = e.stdout, e.stderr
+
+    finally:
+        logger("ytdlp_hook: STDOUT:\n" + stdout, 1)
+        logger("ytdlp_hook: STDERR:\n" + stderr, 1)
+        os.unlink(tfn)
+
+
+def main(inf: dict[str, Any]):
+    threading.Thread(target=helper, name="ytdlp_hook", args=(inf,), daemon=True).start()