The latest articles on DEV Community by Tamil Status Music (@tamil_statusmusic_73d0eb). https://dev.to/tamil_statusmusic_73d0eb https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3965761%2Fefd4f38d-1856-45b7-873f-487dbfbba746.jpg https://dev.to/tamil_statusmusic_73d0eb en Tamil Status Music Wed, 03 Jun 2026 05:29:50 +0000 https://dev.to/tamil_statusmusic_73d0eb/i-built-a-free-social-media-video-downloader-in-php-heres-how-it-works-41af https://dev.to/tamil_statusmusic_73d0eb/i-built-a-free-social-media-video-downloader-in-php-heres-how-it-works-41af <p>I recently launched SocialSave Hub (<a href="https://socialsavehub.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://socialsavehub.com</a>) — a free browser-based tool to download videos from Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X. Here's a quick look at how it works technically.</p> <h2> Architecture </h2> <p>Pure PHP 8.2, MVC pattern, no framework, no Composer. Hosted on shared hosting. The whole thing runs without Node.js, no npm, no build step.</p> <h2> How Scraping Works </h2> <p>Each platform has a scraper with a fallback chain:</p> <p><strong>Instagram</strong>: graphql → embed_page → page_source<br> <strong>Facebook</strong>: mobile_page → page_source<br> <strong>Twitter</strong>: syndication_api → fxtwitter_api → oembed</p> <p>The scrapers hit public CDN URLs — no authentication bypassing, only publicly accessible content.</p> <h2> Stack </h2> <ul> <li>Backend: PHP 8.2, PDO, custom router</li> <li>Frontend: Tailwind CDN + vanilla JS</li> <li>DB: MySQL 8.0</li> <li>No Composer, no npm</li> </ul> <h2> Key Design Decisions </h2> <ol> <li> <strong>No watermarks</strong> — deliver the original CDN file directly</li> <li> <strong>No login required</strong> — zero friction for users</li> <li> <strong>Rate limiting</strong> — IP-based, stored in DB</li> <li> <strong>Cache layer</strong> — 30-min TTL on extracted URLs to reduce CDN load</li> </ol> <p>The full tool is live at <a href="https://socialsavehub.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://socialsavehub.com</a> — supports Instagram Reels, Facebook videos, Twitter/X videos and GIFs.</p> <h1> php #webdev #buildinpublic #opensource </h1> php webdev buildinpublic tutorial