]> jfr.im git - yt-dlp.git/blame - README.md
[ffmpeg] Standardize use of `-map 0`
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ec2e44fc 1<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b31fdeed 2<div align="center">
3
e980017a 4[![YT-DLP](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master/.github/banner.svg)](#readme)
d9d045e2 5
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1aebc0f7 10[![Supported Sites](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Supported_Sites-brightgreen.svg?style=for-the-badge)](supportedsites.md)
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c76eb41b 17
b31fdeed 18</div>
ec2e44fc 19<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c76eb41b 20
b31fdeed 21yt-dlp is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
5c0e5bc4 22
ec2e44fc 23<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "USAGE AND OPTIONS" SECTION HERE -->
24
25<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
034b6215 26* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
53ed7066 27 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
c76eb41b 28* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
17fa3ee2 29 * [Update](#update)
0e5927ee 30 * [Release Files](#release-files)
cf59cd4d 31 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
17fa3ee2 32 * [Compile](#compile)
b31fdeed 33* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
34 * [General Options](#general-options)
50865ca8 35 * [Network Options](#network-options)
b31fdeed 36 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
50865ca8 37 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
38 * [Download Options](#download-options)
39 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
b31fdeed 40 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
50865ca8 41 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
0744a815 42 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
50865ca8 43 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
44 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
45 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
46 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
50865ca8 47 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
7a340e0d 48 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
50865ca8 49 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 50* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
50865ca8 51 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
c76eb41b 52* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 53 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
54 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 55* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 56 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
57 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
58 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
73cd218f 59* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
60 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
5d3a0e79 61* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
f74980cb 62* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
8c6f4daa 63* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
e167860c 64* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
8c6f4daa 65* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
66 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
67 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
c76eb41b 68* [MORE](#more)
ec2e44fc 69<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
50865ca8 70
71
034b6215 72# NEW FEATURES
91f071af 73
b69fd25c 74* Based on **youtube-dl 2021.12.17 [commit/5014bd6](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/5014bd67c22b421207b2650d4dc874b95b36dda1)** and **youtube-dlc 2020.11.11-3 [commit/f9401f2](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee)**: You get all the features and patches of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) in addition to the latest [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
034b6215 75
7a340e0d 76* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
034b6215 77
7581d246 78* **[Format Sorting](#sorting-formats)**: The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now preferred instead of simply using larger bitrate. Furthermore, you can now specify the sort order using `-S`. This allows for much easier format selection than what is possible by simply using `--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
034b6215 79
0fdf490d 80* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--write-comments`, `BiliBiliSearch`, `BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico improvements are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
29b6000e 81
f5546c0b 82* **Youtube improvements**:
6ccf351a 83 * All Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) and private playlists supports downloading multiple pages of content
0fdf490d 84 * Search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`), search URLs and in-channel search works
85 * Mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
86c1a8aa 86 * Some (but not all) age-gated content can be downloaded without cookies
a4211baf 87 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326)
f20f5fe5 88 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
e6f21b3d 89 * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from youtube music when premium cookies are given
9ee4f0bb 90 * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded ([except self-uploaded music](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/723))
adbc4ec4 91 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start`
f20f5fe5 92
f59f5ef8 93* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]`
245524e6 94
597c1866 95* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
96
b31fdeed 97* **Multi-threaded fragment downloads**: Download multiple fragments of m3u8/mpd videos in parallel. Use `--concurrent-fragments` (`-N`) option to set the number of threads used
8d801631 98
b31fdeed 99* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
f20f5fe5 100
e75bb0d6 101* **New and fixed extractors**: Many new extractors have been added and a lot of existing ones have been fixed. See the [changelog](Changelog.md) or the [list of supported sites](supportedsites.md)
86c1a8aa 102
103* **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN
fac98805 104
3de7c2ce 105* **Subtitle extraction from manifests**: Subtitles can be extracted from streaming media manifests. See [commit/be6202f](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/be6202f12b97858b9d716e608394b51065d0419f) for details
034b6215 106
597c1866 107* **Multiple paths and output templates**: You can give different [output templates](#output-template) and download paths for different types of files. You can also set a temporary path where intermediary files are downloaded to using `--paths` (`-P`)
0bc0a322 108
109* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
110
418964fa 111* **Output template improvements**: Output templates can now have date-time formatting, numeric offsets, object traversal etc. See [output template](#output-template) for details. Even more advanced operations can also be done with the help of `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
fac98805 112
91f071af 113* **Other new options**: Many new options have been added such as `--print`, `--wait-for-video`, `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-on-reject` etc
0bc0a322 114
9e907ebd 115* **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--match-filter`, multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection), merge multi-video/audio, multiple `--config-locations`, etc
c69911e4 116
86c1a8aa 117* **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
b31fdeed 118
7a5c1cfe 119* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
aa837ddf 120
7a5c1cfe 121See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 122
53ed7066 123### Differences in default behavior
124
0930b11f 125Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
53ed7066 126
96565c7e 127* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
b69fd25c 128* `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
96565c7e 129* The default [output template](#output-template) is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`. There is no real reason for this change. This was changed before yt-dlp was ever made public and now there are no plans to change it back to `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`. Instead, you may use `--compat-options filename`
e4f02757 130* The default [format sorting](#sorting-formats) is different from youtube-dl and prefers higher resolution and better codecs rather than higher bitrates. You can use the `--format-sort` option to change this to any order you prefer, or use `--compat-options format-sort` to use youtube-dl's sorting order
e75bb0d6 131* The default format selector is `bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be preferred. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
28b0eb0f 132* Unlike youtube-dlc, yt-dlp does not allow merging multiple audio/video streams into one file by default (since this conflicts with the use of `-f bv*+ba`). If needed, this feature must be enabled using `--audio-multistreams` and `--video-multistreams`. You can also use `--compat-options multistreams` to enable both
133* `--ignore-errors` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
134* When writing metadata files such as thumbnails, description or infojson, the same information (if available) is also written for playlists. Use `--no-write-playlist-metafiles` or `--compat-options no-playlist-metafiles` to not write these files
9222c381 135* `--add-metadata` attaches the `infojson` to `mkv` files in addition to writing the metadata when used with `--write-info-json`. Use `--no-embed-info-json` or `--compat-options no-attach-info-json` to revert this
9e907ebd 136* Some metadata are embedded into different fields when using `--add-metadata` as compared to youtube-dl. Most notably, `comment` field contains the `webpage_url` and `synopsis` contains the `description`. You can [use `--parse-metadata`](#modifying-metadata) to modify this to your liking or use `--compat-options embed-metadata` to revert this
28b0eb0f 137* `playlist_index` behaves differently when used with options like `--playlist-reverse` and `--playlist-items`. See [#302](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/302) for details. You can use `--compat-options playlist-index` if you want to keep the earlier behavior
138* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
3acf6d38 139* All *experiences* of a funimation episode are considered as a single video. This behavior breaks existing archives. Use `--compat-options seperate-video-versions` to extract information from only the default player
28b0eb0f 140* Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
09f1580e 141* Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to `/video`. Append a `/featured` to the URL to download only the videos in the home page. If the channel does not have a videos tab, we try to download the equivalent `UU` playlist instead. Also, `/live` URLs raise an error if there are no live videos instead of silently downloading the entire channel. You may use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to revert all these redirections
28b0eb0f 142* Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
18e674b4 143* If `ffmpeg` is used as the downloader, the downloading and merging of formats happen in a single step when possible. Use `--compat-options no-direct-merge` to revert this
e858a9d6 144* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
e4f02757 145* Some private fields such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use `--no-clean-infojson` or `--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
e75bb0d6 146* When `--embed-subs` and `--write-subs` are used together, the subtitles are written to disk and also embedded in the media file. You can use just `--embed-subs` to embed the subs and automatically delete the separate file. See [#630 (comment)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/630#issuecomment-893659460) for more info. `--compat-options no-keep-subs` can be used to revert this
53ed7066 147
148For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
28b0eb0f 149* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options
150* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
151* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
53ed7066 152
f20f5fe5 153
d19bb9c0 154# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 155
7bc877a2 156You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
a61f4b28 157
a4211baf 158### Using the release binary
0930b11f 159
160You can simply download the [correct binary file](#release-files) for your OS: **[[Windows](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)] [[UNIX-like](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)]**
5f326cf5 161
0930b11f 162In UNIX-like OSes (MacOS, Linux, BSD), you can also install the same in one of the following ways:
5ba4a0b6
A
163
164```
165sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
166sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
167```
168
169```
170sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
171sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
172```
173
174```
b69fd25c 175sudo aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp --dir /usr/local/bin -o yt-dlp
5ba4a0b6
A
176sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
177```
178
0930b11f 179PS: The manpages, shell completion files etc. are available in [yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
180
a4211baf 181### With [PIP](https://pypi.org/project/pip)
0930b11f 182
183You can install the [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) with:
184```
185python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp
186```
187
86c1a8aa 188You can install without any of the optional dependencies using:
0930b11f 189```
190python3 -m pip install --no-deps -U yt-dlp
191```
192
86c1a8aa 193If you want to be on the cutting edge, you can also install the master branch with:
0930b11f 194```
9222c381 195python3 -m pip install --force-reinstall https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/archive/master.zip
0930b11f 196```
197
198Note that on some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
199
a4211baf 200### With [Homebrew](https://brew.sh)
0930b11f 201
202macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew can also install it by:
b8773e63
THD
203
204```
205brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp
206```
207
a4211baf 208## UPDATE
0930b11f 209You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are [using the provided release](#using-the-release-binary)
210
211If you [installed with pip](#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
212
213If you [installed using Homebrew](#with-homebrew), run `brew upgrade yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
cf59cd4d 214
ec2e44fc 215<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
a4211baf 216## RELEASE FILES
0e5927ee 217
733d8e8f 218#### Recommended
219
220File|Description
221:---|:---
0930b11f 222[yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independant binary. Needs Python (recommended for **UNIX-like systems**)
223[yt-dlp.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary (recommended for **Windows**)
733d8e8f 224
225#### Alternatives
226
0e5927ee
R
227File|Description
228:---|:---
96565c7e 229[yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable
0930b11f 230[yt-dlp_x86.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_x86.exe)|Windows (Vista SP2+) standalone x86 (32-bit) binary
96565c7e 231[yt-dlp_min.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_min.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary built with `py2exe`.<br/> Does not contain `pycryptodomex`, needs VC++14
0930b11f 232[yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
233[yt-dlp_macos.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos.zip)|Unpackaged MacOS (10.15+) executable (no auto-update)
733d8e8f 234
235#### Misc
236
237File|Description
238:---|:---
0e5927ee
R
239[yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball. Also contains manpages, completions, etc
240[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
241[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
ec2e44fc 242<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
0e5927ee 243
a4211baf 244## DEPENDENCIES
cf59cd4d 245Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
b31fdeed 246
c9652aa4 247<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
248<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
cf59cd4d 249On windows, [Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)](https://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/5/165255E7-1014-4D0A-B094-B6A430A6BFFC/vcredist_x86.exe) is also necessary to run yt-dlp. You probably already have this, but if the executable throws an error due to missing `MSVCR100.dll` you need to install it manually.
c9652aa4 250-->
fac98805 251
e75bb0d6 252While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
ec2e44fc 253
b69fd25c 254* [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for [merging separate video and audio files](#format-selection) as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. License [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
0930b11f 255* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen) - For embedding thumbnail in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
256* [**pycryptodomex**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome) - For decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data. Licensed under [BSD2](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
257* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets) - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD3](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
f59f5ef8 258* [**secretstorage**](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage) - For accessing the Gnome keyring while decrypting cookies of Chromium-based browsers on Linux. Licensed under [BSD](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage/blob/master/LICENSE)
0930b11f 259* [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For embedding thumbnail in mp4/m4a if mutagen is not present. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
260* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
261* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
262* [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licensed under [BSD3](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
263* [**sponskrub**](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) - For using the now **deprecated** [sponskrub options](#sponskrub-options). Licensed under [GPLv3+](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub/blob/master/LICENCE.md)
cf59cd4d 264* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
b31fdeed 265
cf59cd4d 266To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
267
0930b11f 268The Windows and MacOS standalone release binaries are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen, pycryptodomex and websockets included.
d710cc6d 269
e75bb0d6 270**Note**: There are some regressions in newer ffmpeg versions that causes various issues when used alongside yt-dlp. Since ffmpeg is such an important dependency, we provide [custom builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds/wiki/Latest#latest-autobuilds) with patches for these issues at [yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds). See [the readme](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#patches-applied) for details on the specific issues solved by these builds
d710cc6d 271
5f326cf5 272
a4211baf 273## COMPILE
5f326cf5 274
c76eb41b 275**For Windows**:
49a57e70 276To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen, pycryptodomex, websockets). Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, (optionally) build lazy extractors using `devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py`, and then just run `pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (32/64 bit) as the python used to build it.
e38df8f9 277
733d8e8f 278 py -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
49a57e70 279 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
733d8e8f 280 py pyinst.py
7581d246 281
fac98805 282Note that pyinstaller [does not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment
b96a939b 283
c76eb41b 284**For Unix**:
060ac762 285You will need the required build tools: `python`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`, `zip`, `pytest`
127d0759 286Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files
5f326cf5 287
49a57e70 288**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts/update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
d19bb9c0 289
75b725a7 290You can also fork the project on github and run your fork's [build workflow](.github/workflows/build.yml) to automatically build a release
59a7a13e 291
b31fdeed 292# USAGE AND OPTIONS
6bcd846b 293
ec2e44fc 294<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
7a5c1cfe 295 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 296
c2b5f311 297`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
ec2e44fc 298<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c2b5f311 299
ec2e44fc 300<!-- Auto generated -->
c76eb41b 301## General Options:
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302 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
303 --version Print program version and exit
8d801631 304 -U, --update Update this program to latest version. Make
305 sure that you have sufficient permissions
306 (run with sudo if needed)
b1940459 307 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
0930b11f 308 The download will be considered successful
b1940459 309 even if the postprocessing fails
310 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download
311 errors; e.g. to skip unavailable videos in
312 a playlist (default)
8a51f564 313 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
314 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
34488702 315 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
316 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
c4af7684 317 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
34488702 318 extractors and exit
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319 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
320 extractor
321 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
322 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
9ee4f0bb 323 from google videos for the search term
324 "large apple". Use the value "auto" to let
325 yt-dlp guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
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326 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
327 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
328 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
8a51f564 329 this is not possible instead of searching
9e907ebd 330 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
331 except those given by --config-locations.
332 For backward compatibility, if this option
333 is found inside the system configuration
334 file, the user configuration is not loaded
335 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
336 (default). When given inside a
337 configuration file, ignore all previous
338 --config-locations defined in the current
339 file
340 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
0202b52a 341 either the path to the config or its
9e907ebd 342 containing directory. Can be used multiple
343 times and inside other configuration files
c4af7684 344 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
8a51f564 345 only list them
6623ac34 346 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
adbc4ec4
THD
347 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
348 Currently only supported for YouTube
9e907ebd 349 (Experimental)
87e04996 350 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
351 (default)
91f071af 352 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
353 available. Pass the minimum number of
354 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
355 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
b5ae35ee 356 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate).
357 Currently only supported for YouTube
597c1866 358 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
8a51f564 359 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
53ed7066 360 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
31654882 361 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
53ed7066 362 configurations by reverting some of the
363 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
364 default behavior" for details
08c1d0d3 365
149f05c7 366## Network Options:
28b4f736 367 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
0934c9d4
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368 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
369 scheme. For example
28b4f736
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370 socks5://127.0.0.1:1080/. Pass in an empty
371 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
149f05c7 372 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
c4af7684 373 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
c4af7684 374 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
c4af7684 375 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
8c6c88c7 376
b31fdeed 377## Geo-restriction:
c25f1a9b
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378 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
379 some geo-restricted sites. The default
380 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
7550ea50 381 option is not present) is used for the
8a51f564 382 actual downloading
8c6c88c7 383 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
0934c9d4 384 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
8c6c88c7
S
385 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
386 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
8c6c88c7
S
387 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
388 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
0934c9d4 389 country code
9e18bb4c
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390 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
391 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
0934c9d4 392 notation
149f05c7 393
cfcec693 394## Video Selection:
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395 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is 1)
396 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
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397 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
398 indices of the videos in the playlist
399 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
400 1,2,5,8" if you want to download videos
401 indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
402 specify range: "--playlist-items
403 1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
8a51f564 404 at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13
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405 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
406 SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
407 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
408 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
0930b11f 409 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
6623ac34 410 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
411 "(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
c4af7684 412 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
c76eb41b 413 this date. The date formats accepted is the
414 same as --date
c4af7684 415 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
c76eb41b 416 this date. The date formats accepted is the
417 same as --date
77b87f05
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418 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Any field (see
419 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a
a047eeb6 420 number or a string using the operators
421 defined in "Filtering formats". You can
422 also simply specify a field to match if the
423 field is present and "!field" to check if
424 the field is not present. In addition,
425 Python style regular expression matching
426 can be done using "~=", and multiple
427 filters can be checked with "&". Use a "\"
428 to escape "&" or quotes if needed. Eg:
429 --match-filter "!is_live & like_count>?100
2e7781a9 430 & description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'"
a047eeb6 431 matches only videos that are not live, has
432 a like count more than 100 (or the like
77b87f05 433 field is not available), and also has a
a047eeb6 434 description that contains the phrase "cats
435 & dogs" (ignoring case)
c76eb41b 436 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
c4af7684 437 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
8a51f564 438 to a video and a playlist
c4af7684 439 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
8a51f564 440 a video and a playlist
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441 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
442 age
443 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
444 archive file. Record the IDs of all
8a51f564 445 downloaded videos in it
91f071af 446 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
447 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
8b0d7497 448 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
8a51f564 449 a file that is in the archive
8b0d7497 450 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
8a51f564 451 a file that has been filtered out
91f071af 452 --break-per-input Make --break-on-existing and --break-on-
453 reject act only on the current input URL
454 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and --break-on-reject
455 terminates the entire download queue
26e2805c 456 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest
457 of the playlist is skipped
6bcd846b 458
d5a62e4f 459## Download Options:
b31fdeed 460 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
87e04996 461 video that should be downloaded
462 concurrently (default is 1)
5e3856a2 463 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
c4af7684 464 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
6aecd871 465 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
466 below which throttling is assumed and the
467 video data is re-extracted (e.g. 100K)
c4af7684 468 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
8a51f564 469 "infinite"
87e04996 470 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
471 error (default is 10), or "infinite"
0be8314d 472 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
b56e41a7
S
473 is 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
474 ISM)
6623ac34 475 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
476 hlsnative and ISM (default)
8a51f564 477 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
6623ac34 478 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
8a51f564 479 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
a82f4184 480 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
6623ac34 481 downloading is finished
c76eb41b 482 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
483 downloading is finished (default)
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484 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
485 (default is 1024)
c76eb41b 486 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
487 from an initial value of --buffer-size
488 (default)
489 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
db157d2a
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490 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
491 downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
492 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
493 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
494 (experimental)
2101f5d4 495 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
6623ac34 496 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
c76eb41b 497 (default)
31487eb9 498 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
c4af7684 499 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
0934c9d4 500 expected file size
9bd20204 501 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
502 allowing some players to play the video
503 while downloading, and reducing the chance
504 of file corruption if download is
505 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
506 live streams
507 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
508 videos. This is default when not
509 downloading live streams
52a8a1e1 510 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
511 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
512 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
513 use it for. Currently supports native,
514 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
515 wget (Recommended: aria2c). You can use
516 this option multiple times to set different
517 downloaders for different protocols. For
518 example, --downloader aria2c --downloader
519 "dash,m3u8:native" will use aria2c for
520 http/ftp downloads, and the native
521 downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
522 (Alias: --external-downloader)
46ee996e 523 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
524 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
330690a2 525 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
526 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to
527 different positions using the same syntax
528 as --postprocessor-args. You can use this
529 option multiple times to give different
530 arguments to different downloaders
29b6000e 531 (Alias: --external-downloader-args)
d5a62e4f 532
cfcec693 533## Filesystem Options:
940a67a3 534 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
e8dfecb3 535 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
940a67a3 536 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
8a51f564 537 comments and ignored
1e520b55 538 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
6ccf351a 539 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
0202b52a 540 downloaded. Specify the type of file and
de6000d9 541 the path separated by a colon ":". All the
6a34813a 542 same TYPES as --output are supported.
de6000d9 543 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
6ccf351a 544 (default) and "temp" paths. All
545 intermediary files are first downloaded to
546 the temp path and then the final files are
547 moved over to the home path after download
548 is finished. This option is ignored if
549 --output is an absolute path
d818eb74 550 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
c76eb41b 551 TEMPLATE" for details
0bc0a322 552 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder value for unavailable meta
553 fields in output filename template
554 (default: "NA")
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555 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
556 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
557 filenames
c76eb41b 558 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
559 filenames (default)
0930b11f 560 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
561 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
562 using Windows (default)
c2934512 563 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
564 extension) to the specified number of
565 characters
9b45b9f5 566 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
567 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files.
568 This option includes --no-continue
569 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
570 related files (default)
c25228e5 571 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
572 (default)
573 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
e58c22a0 574 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
c25228e5 575 restart download of the entire file
c76eb41b 576 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
6623ac34 577 into output file (default)
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578 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
579 into output file
c76eb41b 580 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
581 file modification time (default)
c4af7684
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582 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
583 the file modification time
584 --write-description Write video description to a .description
585 file
6623ac34 586 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
1dc2726f 587 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
c25228e5 588 (this may contain personal information)
6623ac34 589 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
cac96421 590 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
591 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
592 --write-description etc. (default)
593 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
594 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
75d43ca0 595 --clean-infojson Remove some private fields such as
596 filenames from the infojson. Note that it
597 could still contain some personal
598 information (default)
599 --no-clean-infojson Write all fields to the infojson
2305e2e5 600 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
601 infojson. The comments are fetched even
602 without this option if the extraction is
603 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
604 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
605 extraction is known to be quick
606 (Alias: --no-get-comments)
d845622b 607 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
c4af7684
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608 (created with the "--write-info-json"
609 option)
91f071af 610 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies
611 from and dump cookie jar in
982ee69a
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612 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
613 (default)
f59f5ef8
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614 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]
615 The name of the browser and (optionally)
616 the name/path of the profile to load
617 cookies from, separated by a ":". Currently
618 supported browsers are: brave, chrome,
619 chromium, edge, firefox, opera, safari,
620 vivaldi. By default, the most recently
621 accessed profile is used. The keyring used
622 for decrypting Chromium cookies on Linux
623 can be (optionally) specified after the
624 browser name separated by a "+". Currently
625 supported keyrings are: basictext,
626 gnomekeyring, kwallet
982ee69a 627 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
6623ac34 628 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
3b1fe47d 629 can store some downloaded information (such
630 as client ids and signatures) permanently.
9ee4f0bb 631 By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/yt-dlp or
632 ~/.cache/yt-dlp
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633 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
634 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 635
b31fdeed 636## Thumbnail Options:
1dc2726f 637 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
6623ac34 638 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
c76eb41b 639 (default)
1dc2726f 640 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
34488702 641 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
642 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
2b1bd292 643
732044af 644## Internet Shortcut Options:
8a51f564 645 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
646 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
647 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
648 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
649 OS caches the URL based on the file path
650 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
651 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
732044af 652
0744a815 653## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
34488702 654 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with
655 --verbose, print the log to stderr
6c072e7d 656 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
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657 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
658 anything to disk
34488702 659 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
660 options are used
0930b11f 661 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
662 extracting metadata even if the videos are
663 not actually available for download
0cf05715 664 (experimental)
665 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
666 formats are found (default)
e167860c 667 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
668 related files (Alias: --no-download)
ca30f449 669 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
ed5835b4 670 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
671 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
672 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
673 --use-postprocessor, and "video" (default).
674 Implies --quiet and --simulate (unless
675 --no-simulate is used). This option can be
676 used multiple times
34488702 677 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
678 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
679 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
680 description of available keys
681 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
682 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
683 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
684 a playlist, the whole playlist information
685 is dumped in a single line
8a51f564 686 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
e58c22a0 687 written as far as no errors occur, even if
688 -s or another simulation option is used
8a51f564 689 (Alias: --force-download-archive)
1dc2726f
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690 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
691 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
819e0531 692 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
1dc2726f 693 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
819e0531 694 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
695 Template for progress outputs, optionally
696 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
697 "download-title:" (the console title),
698 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
699 The video's fields are accessible under the
700 "info" key and the progress attributes are
0930b11f 701 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.:
819e0531 702 --console-title --progress-template
703 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
1dc2726f 704 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
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705 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
706 to debug problems (very verbose)
707 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
708 files in the current directory to debug
709 problems
780083db 710 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 711
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712## Workarounds:
713 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
0930b11f 714 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
c4af7684 715 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
e167860c 716 information about the video (Currently
05a7ffb1 717 supported only for YouTube)
1dc2726f 718 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
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719 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
720 access is restricted to one domain
721 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
45016689 722 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
c4af7684
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723 option multiple times
724 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
725 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
726 or fribidi executable in PATH
1cf376f5 727 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
728 during data extraction
c4af7684 729 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
e167860c 730 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
731 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
732 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
733 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can
734 only be used along with --min-sleep-interval
1cf376f5 735 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
736 subtitle download
36f35428 737
cfcec693 738## Video Format Options:
eb8a4433 739 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
740 for more details
741 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
742 "Sorting Formats" for more details
8a51f564 743 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
744 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
eb8a4433 745 Formats" for more details
746 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
c76eb41b 747 specified sort order (default), see
748 "Sorting Formats" for more details
749 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
750 into a single file
751 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
752 each output file (default)
753 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
754 into a single file
755 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
756 each output file (default)
da9be05e 757 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
758 over non-free ones of same quality. Use
759 with "-S ext" to strictly prefer free
760 containers irrespective of quality
761 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
762 containers (default)
0930b11f 763 --check-formats Check that the selected formats are
0ba692ac 764 actually downloadable
0930b11f 765 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
0ba692ac 766 actually downloadable
0930b11f 767 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
768 downloadable
34488702 769 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
770 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
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771 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
772 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
773 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
774 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
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775
776## Subtitle Options:
c76eb41b 777 --write-subs Write subtitle file
778 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
779 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
e167860c 780 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
781 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
782 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
34488702 783 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
784 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
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785 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
786 preference, for example: "srt" or
787 "ass/srt/best"
c32b0aab 788 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
789 be regex) or "all" separated by commas.
a4211baf 790 (Eg: --sub-langs "en.*,ja") You can prefix
c32b0aab 791 the language code with a "-" to exempt it
792 from the requested languages. (Eg: --sub-
793 langs all,-live_chat) Use --list-subs for a
794 list of available language tags
6bcd846b 795
cfcec693 796## Authentication Options:
1dc2726f 797 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
c4af7684 798 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
7a5c1cfe 799 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
dc48a354 800 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
1dc2726f 801 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
0001fcb5 802 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
803 either the path or its containing
804 directory. Defaults to ~/.netrc
29f7c58a 805 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
f5e008d1 806 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
909d24dd 807 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
808 a list of available MSOs
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809 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
810 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
c74d1aa3 811 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
812 interactively
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813 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
814 operators
815
c76eb41b 816## Post-Processing Options:
c4af7684 817 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
e4172ac9 818 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
3de7c2ce 819 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format to convert the audio
820 to when -x is used. Currently supported
821 formats are: best (default) or one of
9222c381 822 best|aac|flac|mp3|m4a|opus|vorbis|wav|alac
e4172ac9 823 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality, insert a
86c1a8aa 824 value between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for
e4172ac9 825 VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
c4af7684 826 (default 5)
c76eb41b 827 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
29b6000e 828 necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv|flv
829 |webm|mov|avi|mp3|mka|m4a|ogg|opus). If
830 target container does not support the
06167fbb 831 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
3de7c2ce 832 can specify multiple rules; Eg.
06167fbb 833 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to
834 m4a, mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv.
c76eb41b 835 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
3de7c2ce 836 re-encoding is necessary. The syntax and
837 supported formats are the same as --remux-video
1b77b347 838 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
43820c03 839 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
45016689 840 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
841 to give the argument to the specified
8fa43c73 842 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
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843 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
844 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
8fa43c73 845 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
846 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
6aecd871 847 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
848 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
8fa43c73 849 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
9ee4f0bb 850 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
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851 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
852 specified executable only when being used
853 by the specified postprocessor.
854 Additionally, for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o"
855 can be appended to the prefix optionally
856 followed by a number to pass the argument
857 before the specified input/output file. Eg:
858 --ppa "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can
859 use this option multiple times to give
e4172ac9 860 different arguments to different
5b1ecbb3 861 postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
c76eb41b 862 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
6623ac34 863 after post-processing
c76eb41b 864 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
6623ac34 865 post-processing (default)
866 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
867 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
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868 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
869 webm and mkv videos)
c76eb41b 870 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
6aecd871 871 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
6623ac34 872 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
9222c381 873 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
874 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
875 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json
876 are used (Alias: --add-metadata)
7a340e0d 877 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
6aecd871 878 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
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879 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
880 (Alias: --add-chapters)
881 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default)
882 (Alias: --no-add-chapters)
9222c381 883 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
884 mkv/mka video files
885 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
886 to the video file
73cd218f 887 --parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
888 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
889 for details
e9f4ccd1 890 --replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
891 Replace text in a metadata field using the
892 given regex. This option can be used
893 multiple times
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894 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
895 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
896 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
897 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
898 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
899 default; fix file if we can, warn
6aecd871 900 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
87e04996 901 already exists)
e4172ac9 902 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
903 path to the binary or its containing
904 directory
1e43a6f7 905 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
906 when to execute it (after_move if
907 unspecified), separated by a ":". Supported
908 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
909 --use-postprocessor. Same syntax as the
910 output template can be used to pass any
911 field as arguments to the command. After
912 download, an additional field "filepath"
9de3ea31 913 that contains the final path of the
1e43a6f7 914 downloaded file is also available, and if
915 no fields are passed, %(filepath)q is
916 appended to the end of the command. This
34488702 917 option can be used multiple times
1e43a6f7 918 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
e167860c 919 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
3de7c2ce 920 (currently supported: srt|vtt|ass|lrc)
e167860c 921 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
8fa43c73 922 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
3de7c2ce 923 (currently supported: jpg|png)
72755351 924 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
925 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix
926 can be used with "--paths" and "--output"
927 to set the output filename for the split
928 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
929 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters
930 (default)
7a340e0d 931 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
2d9ec704 932 given regular expression. Time ranges
933 prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
934 of chapters to remove the specified range.
935 Eg: --remove-chapters "*10:15-15:00"
936 --remove-chapters "intro". This option can
7a340e0d 937 be used multiple times
9ee4f0bb 938 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
939 (default)
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940 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes around the chapters before
941 removing/splitting them. Requires a
e75bb0d6 942 re-encode and thus is very slow, but the
7a340e0d
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943 resulting video may have fewer artifacts
944 around the cuts
945 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
946 when cutting/splitting (default)
3ae5e797 947 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS] The (case sensitive) name of plugin
948 postprocessors to be enabled, and
949 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
e75bb0d6 950 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
3ae5e797 951 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
952 The "when" argument determines when the
953 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
954 "pre_process" (after extraction),
955 "before_dl" (before video download),
956 "post_process" (after video download;
ebed8b37 957 default), "after_move" (after moving file
958 to their final locations), "after_video"
959 (after downloading and processing all
960 formats of a video), or "playlist" (end of
961 playlist). This option can be used multiple
962 times to add different postprocessors
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963
964## SponsorBlock Options:
965Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
966 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
8a51f564 967 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
968
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969 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
970 for, separated by commas. Available
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971 categories are all, default(=all), sponsor,
972 intro, outro, selfpromo, preview, filler,
973 interaction, music_offtopic, poi_highlight.
974 You can prefix the category with a "-" to
975 exempt it. See [1] for description of the
976 categories. Eg: --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
977 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
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978 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
979 the video file, separated by commas. If a
980 category is present in both mark and
981 remove, remove takes precedence. The syntax
982 and available categories are the same as
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983 for --sponsorblock-mark except that
984 "default" refers to "all,-filler" and
985 poi_highlight is not available
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986 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
987 The title template for SponsorBlock
988 chapters created by --sponsorblock-mark.
989 The same syntax as the output template is
990 used, but the only available fields are
991 start_time, end_time, category, categories,
992 name, category_names. Defaults to
993 "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
994 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
995 --sponsorblock-remove
996 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
997 https://sponsor.ajay.app
a9e7f546 998
78895bd3 999## Extractor Options:
5ef7d9bd 1000 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor
d6e51845 1001 errors (default is 3), or "infinite"
6623ac34 1002 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
8a51f564 1003 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1004 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1005 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
e409895f 1006 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1007 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1008 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1009 formats at discontinuities such as ad
1010 breaks (default)
5d3a0e79 1011 --extractor-args KEY:ARGS Pass these arguments to the extractor. See
1012 "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You can
1013 use this option multiple times to give
245524e6 1014 arguments for different extractors
17cb02d0 1015
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1016# CONFIGURATION
1017
7a5c1cfe 1018You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
e2e43aea 1019
0202b52a 10201. **Main Configuration**: The file given by `--config-location`
7a5c1cfe
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10211. **Portable Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the bundled binary. If you are running from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`), the root directory is used instead.
10221. **Home Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P "home:<path>"`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
e2e43aea 10231. **User Configuration**:
1024 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1025 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
1026 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1027 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1028 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1029 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
1030
ec2e44fc 1031 `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to `~/.config` if undefined. On windows, `%APPDATA%` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming` and `~` points to `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`), or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
07cce701 10321. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
b7770046 1033
7a5c1cfe 1034For example, with the following configuration file yt-dlp will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `YouTube` directory in your home directory:
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1035```
1036# Lines starting with # are comments
1037
1038# Always extract audio
1039-x
1040
1041# Do not copy the mtime
1042--no-mtime
1043
1044# Use this proxy
1045--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1046
298f597b 1047# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1048-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
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1049```
1050
e2e43aea 1051Note that options in configuration file are just the same options aka switches used in regular command line calls; thus there **must be no whitespace** after `-` or `--`, e.g. `-o` or `--proxy` but not `- o` or `-- proxy`.
b7770046 1052
a4211baf 1053You can use `--ignore-config` if you want to disable all configuration files for a particular yt-dlp run. If `--ignore-config` is found inside any configuration file, no further configuration will be loaded. For example, having the option in the portable configuration file prevents loading of home, user, and system configurations. Additionally, (for backward compatibility) if `--ignore-config` is found inside the system configuration file, the user configuration is not loaded.
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1054
1055### Authentication with `.netrc` file
1056
0001fcb5 1057You may also want to configure automatic credentials storage for extractors that support authentication (by providing login and password with `--username` and `--password`) in order not to pass credentials as command line arguments on every yt-dlp execution and prevent tracking plain text passwords in the shell command history. You can achieve this using a [`.netrc` file](https://stackoverflow.com/tags/.netrc/info) on a per extractor basis. For that you will need to create a `.netrc` file in `--netrc-location` and restrict permissions to read/write by only you:
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1058```
1059touch $HOME/.netrc
1060chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
1061```
1062After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1063```
0001fcb5 1064machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
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1065```
1066For example:
1067```
1068machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1069machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1070```
7a5c1cfe 1071To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
b7770046 1072
0001fcb5 1073The default location of the .netrc file is `$HOME` (`~`) in UNIX. On Windows, it is `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
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1074
1075# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1076
0202b52a 1077The `-o` option is used to indicate a template for the output file names while `-P` option is used to specify the path each type of file should be saved to.
b7770046 1078
ec2e44fc 1079<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1080**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
ec2e44fc 1081<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1082
e58c22a0 1083The simplest usage of `-o` is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `yt-dlp -o funny_video.flv "https://some/video"` (hard-coding file extension like this is _not_ recommended and could break some post-processing).
a439a3a4 1084
0930b11f 1085It may however also contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences may be formatted according to [Python string formatting operations](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting). For example, `%(NAME)s` or `%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations.
a439a3a4 1086
1087The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
2b8a2973 10881. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using `:`. Eg: `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. `%()s` refers to the entire infodict. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
ec2e44fc 1089
e625be0d 10901. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
ec2e44fc 1091
e625be0d 10921. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. Eg: `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
ec2e44fc 1093
e75bb0d6 10941. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. Eg: `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1095
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10961. **Replacement**: A replacement value can specified using a `&` separator. If the field is *not* empty, this replacement value will be used instead of the actual field content. This is done after alternate fields are considered; thus the replacement is used if *any* of the alternative fields is *not* empty.
1097
e75bb0d6 10981. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` separator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1099
abbeeebc 11001. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, `B`, `j`, `l`, `q`, `D`, `S` can be used for converting to **B**ytes, **j**son (flag `#` for pretty-printing), a comma separated **l**ist (flag `#` for `\n` newline-separated), a string **q**uoted for the terminal (flag `#` to split a list into different arguments), to add **D**ecimal suffixes (Eg: 10M) (flag `#` to use 1024 as factor), and to **S**anitize as filename (flag `#` for restricted), respectively
ec2e44fc 1101
524e2e4f 11021. **Unicode normalization**: The format type `U` can be used for NFC [unicode normalization](https://docs.python.org/3/library/unicodedata.html#unicodedata.normalize). The alternate form flag (`#`) changes the normalization to NFD and the conversion flag `+` can be used for NFKC/NFKD compatibility equivalence normalization. Eg: `%(title)+.100U` is NFKC
a439a3a4 1103
1104To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1105```
e978789f 1106%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
a439a3a4 1107```
de6000d9 1108
940a67a3 1109Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files separately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template separated by a colon `:`. The different file types supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation` (deprecated), `infojson`, `link`, `pl_thumbnail`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`. For example, `-o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s"` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video. If any of the templates (except default) is empty, that type of file will not be written. Eg: `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
e29663c6 1110
1111The available fields are:
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1112
1113 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1114 - `title` (string): Video title
1115 - `url` (string): Video URL
1116 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1117 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
597c1866 1118 - `description` (string): The description of the video
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1119 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1120 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1121 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1122 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
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1123 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
1124 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
e6f21b3d 1125 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
f0d785d3 1126 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
1127 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
1128 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified
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1129 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1130 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1131 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
1132 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1133 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
53c18592 1134 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
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1135 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1136 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1137 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1138 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1139 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
277d6ff5 1140 - `comment_count` (numeric): Number of comments on the video (For some extractors, comments are only downloaded at the end, and so this field cannot be used)
b7770046 1141 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
940a67a3 1142 - `live_status` (string): One of "is_live", "was_live", "is_upcoming", "not_live"
b7770046 1143 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
f76ede8e 1144 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
6cfda058 1145 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
940a67a3 1146 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
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1147 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1148 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
29b6000e 1149 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
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1150 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
1151 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
1152 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
1153 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
1154 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
1155 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1156 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1157 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
1158 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1159 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1160 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
176f1866 1161 - `dynamic_range` (string): The dynamic range of the video
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1162 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
1163 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
1164 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
1165 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
1166 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
1167 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1168 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
1169 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
1170 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
9c906919 1171 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
e6f21b3d 1172 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
b7770046 1173 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
f0d785d3 1174 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
e6f21b3d 1175 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1176 - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
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1177 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
1178 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
1179 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1180 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
bd99f6e6 1181 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
0bb322b9 1182 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1183 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
bd99f6e6 1184 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
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1185
1186Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1187
1188 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1189 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1190 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1191
1192Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1193
1194 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1195 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1196 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1197 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1198 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1199 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1200 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1201
1202Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1203
1204 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1205 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1206 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1207 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1208 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1209 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1210 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1211 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1212 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1213 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1214
b050d210 1215Available for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
72755351 1216
1217 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1218 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1219 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1220 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1221
53c18592 1222Available only when used in `--print`:
1223
1224 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1225 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the actual filename may be different due to post-processing. Use `--exec echo` to get the name after all postprocessing is complete
ed5835b4 1226 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1227 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1228 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1229 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1230
7a340e0d
NA
1231
1232Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1233
1234 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1235 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1236 - `categories` (list): The SponsorBlock categories the chapter belongs to
1237 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1238 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1239 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
53c18592 1240
49a57e70 1241Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `yt-dlp test video` and id `BaW_jenozKc`, this will result in a `yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKc.mp4` file created in the current directory.
1242
1243Note that some of the sequences are not guaranteed to be present since they depend on the metadata obtained by a particular extractor. Such sequences will be replaced with placeholder value provided with `--output-na-placeholder` (`NA` by default).
b7770046 1244
0930b11f 1245**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
b7770046 1246
49a57e70 1247For numeric sequences you can use [numeric related formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting), for example, `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
b7770046 1248
940a67a3 1249Output templates can also contain arbitrary hierarchical path, e.g. `-o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"` which will result in downloading each video in a directory corresponding to this path template. Any missing directory will be automatically created for you.
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1250
1251To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1252
91ebc640 1253The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
b7770046 1254
f304da8a 1255In some cases, you don't want special characters such as 中, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the `--restrict-filenames` flag to get a shorter title.
b7770046 1256
ec2e44fc 1257<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
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1258#### Output template and Windows batch files
1259
1260If you are using an output template inside a Windows batch file then you must escape plain percent characters (`%`) by doubling, so that `-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"` should become `-o "%%(title)s-%%(id)s.%%(ext)s"`. However you should not touch `%`'s that are not plain characters, e.g. environment variables for expansion should stay intact: `-o "C:\%HOMEPATH%\Desktop\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"`.
ec2e44fc 1261<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
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1262
1263#### Output template examples
1264
b7770046 1265```bash
940a67a3 1266$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1267test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1268
940a67a3 1269$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1270youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
b7770046 1271
940a67a3 1272$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
9222c381 1273youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
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1274
1275# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
940a67a3 1276$ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
b7770046 1277
b050d210 1278# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
940a67a3 1279$ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
e29663c6 1280
e978789f 1281# Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
6a34813a 1282$ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist_index|)s%(playlist_index& - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
e978789f 1283
b7770046 1284# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
940a67a3 1285$ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
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1286
1287# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
940a67a3 1288$ yt-dlp -u user -p password -P "~/MyVideos" -o "%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial"
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1289
1290# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
940a67a3 1291$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -o "%(series)s/%(season_number)s - %(season)s/%(episode_number)s - %(episode)s.%(ext)s" "https://videomore.ru/kino_v_detalayah/5_sezon/367617"
b7770046 1292
6a34813a 1293# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1294# and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1295$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1296
1297# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1298$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "subtitle:%(uploader)s/subs/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --write-subs
1299
b7770046 1300# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
7a5c1cfe 1301$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
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1302```
1303
1304# FORMAT SELECTION
1305
7a5c1cfe
P
1306By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1307This is generally equivalent to using `-f bestvideo*+bestaudio/best`. However, if multiple audiostreams is enabled (`--audio-multistreams`), the default format changes to `-f bestvideo+bestaudio/best`. Similarly, if ffmpeg is unavailable, or if you use yt-dlp to stream to `stdout` (`-o -`), the default becomes `-f best/bestvideo+bestaudio`.
b7770046 1308
c111cefa 1309**Deprecation warning**: Latest versions of yt-dlp can stream multiple formats to the stdout simultaneously using ffmpeg. So, in future versions, the default for this will be set to `-f bv*+ba/b` similar to normal downloads. If you want to preserve the `-f b/bv+ba` setting, it is recommended to explicitly specify it in the configuration options.
1310
eff63539 1311The general syntax for format selection is `-f FORMAT` (or `--format FORMAT`) where `FORMAT` is a *selector expression*, i.e. an expression that describes format or formats you would like to download.
b7770046 1312
ec2e44fc 1313<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1314**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
ec2e44fc 1315<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1316
a439a3a4 1317The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
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1318
1319You can also use a file extension (currently `3gp`, `aac`, `flv`, `m4a`, `mp3`, `mp4`, `ogg`, `wav`, `webm` are supported) to download the best quality format of a particular file extension served as a single file, e.g. `-f webm` will download the best quality format with the `webm` extension served as a single file.
1320
fa9f30b8 1321You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1322
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1323You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1324
59a7a13e 1325 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1326 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1327 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio
1328 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1329 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1330 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1331 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
1332 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that **contains audio**. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]`
1333 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
909d24dd 1334 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1335 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 1336 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1337 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 1338 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
b7770046 1339
e58c22a0 1340For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recommended not to use `worst` and related options. When your format selector is `worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
eff63539 1341
1342You can select the n'th best format of a type by using `best<type>.<n>`. For example, `best.2` will select the 2nd best combined format. Similarly, `bv*.3` will select the 3rd best format that contains a video stream.
b7770046 1343
eb8a4433 1344If you want to download multiple videos and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred, for example `-f 22/17/18` will download format 22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
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1345
1346If you want to download several formats of the same video use a comma as a separator, e.g. `-f 22,17,18` will download all these three formats, of course if they are available. Or a more sophisticated example combined with the precedence feature: `-f 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio`.
1347
d806c9fd 1348You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg installed), for example `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg.
1349
1350**Deprecation warning**: Since the *below* described behavior is complex and counter-intuitive, this will be removed and multistreams will be enabled by default in the future. A new operator will be instead added to limit formats to single audio/video
1351
1352Unless `--video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, unless `--audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. For example, `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --video-multistreams --audio-multistreams` will download and merge all 3 given formats. The resulting file will have 2 video streams and 2 audio streams. But `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --no-video-multistreams` will download and merge only `bestvideo` and `bestaudio`. `best` is ignored since another format containing a video stream (`bestvideo`) has already been selected. The order of the formats is therefore important. `-f best+bestaudio --no-audio-multistreams` will download and merge both formats while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
eb8a4433 1353
1354## Filtering Formats
1355
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1356You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1357
1358The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1359
1360 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1361 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1362 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1363 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1364 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1365 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1366 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1367 - `fps`: Frame rate
1368
1369Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
1370
1371 - `ext`: File extension
1372 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1373 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1374 - `container`: Name of the container format
1375 - `protocol`: The protocol that will be used for the actual download, lower-case (`http`, `https`, `rtsp`, `rtmp`, `rtmpe`, `mms`, `f4m`, `ism`, `http_dash_segments`, `m3u8`, or `m3u8_native`)
1376 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
29f7c58a 1377 - `language`: Language code
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1378
1379Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain).
1380
e58c22a0 1381Note that none of the aforementioned meta fields are guaranteed to be present since this solely depends on the metadata obtained by particular extractor, i.e. the metadata offered by the website. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
b7770046 1382
e094cec1 1383Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a question mark (`?`) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so `-f "[height<=?720][tbr>500]"` selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s. You can also use the filters with `all` to download all formats that satisfy the filter. For example, `-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
b7770046 1384
940a67a3 1385Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses, for example if you want to download the best pre-merged mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480 you can use `-f "(mp4,webm)[height<480]"`.
b7770046 1386
eb8a4433 1387## Sorting Formats
1388
2e7781a9 1389You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1390
1391The available fields are:
eb8a4433 1392
63be1aab 1393 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1394 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
1395 - `ie_pref`: The format preference as given by the extractor
1396 - `lang`: Language preference as given by the extractor
dca3ff4a 1397 - `quality`: The quality of the format as given by the extractor
63be1aab 1398 - `source`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
d80d98e7 1399 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1400 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
1401 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
eb8a4433 1402 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
d80d98e7 1403 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
1404 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
63be1aab 1405 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
0930b11f 1406 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
63be1aab 1407 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1408 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
eb8a4433 1409 - `height`: Height of video
1410 - `width`: Width of video
63be1aab 1411 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1412 - `fps`: Framerate of video
49a57e70 1413 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
63be1aab 1414 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1415 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1416 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1417 - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
1418 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
d806c9fd 1419
1420**Deprecation warning**: Many of these fields have (currently undocumented) aliases, that may be removed in a future version. It is recommended to use only the documented field names.
eb8a4433 1421
9ee4f0bb 1422All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a `:`. Eg: `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two preferred values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg: `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `vp9.2` > `av01` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. Eg: `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
1423
176f1866 1424The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--format-sort-force`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,hdr:12,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. The extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
eb8a4433 1425
e75bb0d6 1426Note that the default has `codec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not preferred. Similarly, the default for hdr is `hdr:12`; i.e. dolby vision is not preferred. These choices are made since DV and AV1 formats are not yet fully compatible with most devices. This may be changed in the future as more devices become capable of smoothly playing back these formats.
eb8a4433 1427
e58c22a0 1428If your format selector is `worst`, the last item is selected after sorting. This means it will select the format that is worst in all respects. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps`.
eb8a4433 1429
1430**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1431
eb8a4433 1432## Format Selection examples
b7770046 1433
b7770046 1434```bash
e58c22a0 1435# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
909d24dd 1436# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
940a67a3 1437$ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
909d24dd 1438
1439# Download best format that contains video,
1440# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
940a67a3 1441$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
2af884ff 1442
1443# Same as above
7a5c1cfe 1444$ yt-dlp
909d24dd 1445
6fd35a11 1446# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1447# For this case, an output template should be used since
1448# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
940a67a3 1449$ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
909d24dd 1450
f8d4ad9a 1451# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1452# and all audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1453$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
f8d4ad9a 1454
1455# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1456# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1457$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
909d24dd 1458
6fd35a11 1459
1460# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
f8d4ad9a 1461# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
6fd35a11 1462
1463# Download the worst video available (old method)
940a67a3 1464$ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
eb8a4433 1465
1466# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
940a67a3 1467$ yt-dlp -S "+res"
eb8a4433 1468
1469# Download the smallest video available
940a67a3 1470$ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
eb8a4433 1471
1472
909d24dd 1473
eb8a4433 1474# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
940a67a3 1475$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
eb8a4433 1476
1477# Download the best video with the best extension
1478# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
940a67a3 1479$ yt-dlp -S "ext"
eb8a4433 1480
1481
909d24dd 1482
eb8a4433 1483# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1484# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1485$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
b7770046 1486
eb8a4433 1487# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1488# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1489$ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
b7770046 1490
eb8a4433 1491# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1492# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1493# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1494# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
940a67a3 1495$ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
b7770046 1496
b7770046 1497
909d24dd 1498
eb8a4433 1499# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1500# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1501$ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
eb8a4433 1502
1503# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1504# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1505$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
eb8a4433 1506
1507# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
940a67a3 1508$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
eb8a4433 1509
1510
909d24dd 1511
eb8a4433 1512# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1513# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
940a67a3 1514$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1515
1516# Download best video available via the best protocol
1517# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
940a67a3 1518$ yt-dlp -S "proto"
eb8a4433 1519
1520
909d24dd 1521
eb8a4433 1522# Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
940a67a3 1523$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1524
1525# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1526# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1527$ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1528
1529# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1530# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1531$ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1532
1533
1534
1535# More complex examples
1536
e58c22a0 1537# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1538# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
940a67a3 1539$ yt-dlp -f "((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)"
eb8a4433 1540
1541# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
f8d4ad9a 1542# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1543# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
940a67a3 1544$ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
eb8a4433 1545
1546
909d24dd 1547
eb8a4433 1548# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1549# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1550# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
940a67a3 1551$ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
b7770046 1552```
eb8a4433 1553
73cd218f 1554# MODIFYING METADATA
1555
a4211baf 1556The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
e9f4ccd1 1557
418964fa 1558`--replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE` is used to replace text in any metadata field using [python regular expression](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html#regular-expression-syntax). [Backreferences](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html?highlight=backreferences#re.sub) can be used in the replace string for advanced use.
e9f4ccd1 1559
2e7781a9 1560The general syntax of `--parse-metadata FROM:TO` is to give the name of a field or an [output template](#output-template) to extract data from, and the format to interpret it as, separated by a colon `:`. Either a [python regular expression](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html#regular-expression-syntax) with named capture groups or a similar syntax to the [output template](#output-template) (only `%(field)s` formatting is supported) can be used for `TO`. The option can be used multiple times to parse and modify various fields.
73cd218f 1561
1562Note that any field created by this can be used in the [output template](#output-template) and will also affect the media file's metadata added when using `--add-metadata`.
1563
9c2b75b5 1564This option also has a few special uses:
28b0eb0f 1565* You can download an additional URL based on the metadata of the currently downloaded video. To do this, set the field `additional_urls` to the URL that you want to download. Eg: `--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
88968992 1566* You can use this to change the metadata that is embedded in the media file. To do this, set the value of the corresponding field with a `meta_` prefix. For example, any value you set to `meta_description` field will be added to the `description` field in the file. For example, you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis". To modify the metadata of individual streams, use the `meta<n>_` prefix (Eg: `meta1_language`). Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
c31be5b0 1567
1568For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1569
1570Metadata fields|From
1571:---|:---
1572`title`|`track` or `title`
1573`date`|`upload_date`
1574`description`, `synopsis`|`description`
1575`purl`, `comment`|`webpage_url`
1576`track`|`track_number`
1577`artist`|`artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1578`genre`|`genre`
1579`album`|`album`
1580`album_artist`|`album_artist`
1581`disc`|`disc_number`
1582`show`|`series`
1583`season_number`|`season_number`
1584`episode_id`|`episode` or `episode_id`
1585`episode_sort`|`episode_number`
1586`language` of each stream|From the format's `language`
1587**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1588
73cd218f 1589
1590## Modifying metadata examples
1591
73cd218f 1592```bash
1593# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
940a67a3 1594$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
73cd218f 1595
1596# Regex example
940a67a3 1597$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
73cd218f 1598
1599# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
940a67a3 1600$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
73cd218f 1601
1602# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url
940a67a3 1603$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --add-metadata
73cd218f 1604
0930b11f 1605# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
940a67a3 1606$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<formats>)" -j
0930b11f 1607
e9f4ccd1 1608# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
940a67a3 1609$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
e9f4ccd1 1610
73cd218f 1611```
1612
5d3a0e79 1613# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1614
59a7a13e 1615Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) separated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. Eg: `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=android_agegate,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
5d3a0e79 1616
1617The following extractors use this feature:
96565c7e 1618
1619#### youtube
1620* `skip`: `hls` or `dash` (or both) to skip download of the respective manifests
d0d012d4 1621* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android`, `ios`, `mweb`. These also have `_music`, `_embedded`, `_agegate`, and `_creator` variants (Eg: `web_embedded`) (`mweb` has only `_agegate`). By default, `android,web` is used, but the agegate and creator variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly the music variants are added for `music.youtube.com` urls. You can also use `all` to use all the clients, and `default` for the default clients.
96565c7e 1622* `player_skip`: Skip some network requests that are generally needed for robust extraction. One or more of `configs` (skip client configs), `webpage` (skip initial webpage), `js` (skip js player). While these options can help reduce the number of requests needed or avoid some rate-limiting, they could cause some issues. See [#860](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/860) for more details
adbc4ec4 1623* `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats even without `--live-from-start` (These formats don't download properly)
96565c7e 1624* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
e75bb0d6 1625* `max_comments`: Limit the amount of comments to gather. Comma-separated list of integers representing `max-comments,max-parents,max-replies,max-replies-per-thread`. Default is `all,all,all,all`.
46383212 1626 * E.g. `all,all,1000,10` will get a maximum of 1000 replies total, with up to 10 replies per thread. `1000,all,100` will get a maximum of 1000 comments, with a maximum of 100 replies total.
1627* `max_comment_depth` Maximum depth for nested comments. YouTube supports depths 1 or 2 (default)
1628 * **Deprecated**: Set `max-replies` to `0` or `all` in `max_comments` instead (e.g. `max_comments=all,all,0` to get no replies)
96565c7e 1629
1630#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1631* `skip`: One or more of `webpage` (skip initial webpage download), `authcheck` (allow the download of playlists requiring authentication when no initial webpage is downloaded. This may cause unwanted behavior, see [#1122](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/1122) for more details)
1632
1633#### funimation
1634* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1635* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1636
a9d4da60 1637#### crunchyroll
1638* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:language=jaJp`
1639* `hardsub`: Which hard-sub versions to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:hardsub=None,enUS`
1640
96565c7e 1641#### vikichannel
1642* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
73d829c1 1643
aa4b0545 1644#### youtubewebarchive
1645* `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1646
d43de682
M
1647#### gamejolt
1648* `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1649
26f2aa3d
AG
1650#### hotstar
1651* `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1652* `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1653* `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1654
bc97cdae 1655NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
5d3a0e79 1656
ec2e44fc 1657<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1658
3acf6d38 1659
f74980cb 1660# PLUGINS
b7770046 1661
3ae5e797 1662Plugins are loaded from `<root-dir>/ytdlp_plugins/<type>/__init__.py`; where `<root-dir>` is the directory of the binary (`<root-dir>/yt-dlp`), or the root directory of the module if you are running directly from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`). Plugins are currently not supported for the `pip` version
1663
1664Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`. Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it. Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
1665
1666See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example plugins.
1667
1668Note that **all** plugins are imported even if not invoked, and that **there are no checks** performed on plugin code. Use plugins at your own risk and only if you trust the code
1669
1670If you are a plugin author, add [ytdlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/ytdlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
b7770046 1671
b7770046 1672
8c6f4daa 1673
1674# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1675
1676yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1677
1678Your program should avoid parsing the normal stdout since they may change in future versions. Instead they should use options such as `-J`, `--print`, `--progress-template`, `--exec` etc to create console output that you can reliably reproduce and parse.
1679
1680From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1681
1682```python
59a7a13e 1683from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1684
093a1710 1685ydl_opts = {'format': 'bestaudio'}
59a7a13e 1686with YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
8c6f4daa 1687 ydl.download(['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'])
1688```
1689
f304da8a 1690Most likely, you'll want to use various options. For a list of options available, have a look at [`yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py`](yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L162).
8c6f4daa 1691
093a1710 1692Here's a more complete example demonstrating various functionality:
8c6f4daa 1693
1694```python
1695import json
8c6f4daa 1696import yt_dlp
8c6f4daa 1697
1698
1699class MyLogger:
1700 def debug(self, msg):
e75bb0d6 1701 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
8c6f4daa 1702 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
1703 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
1704 pass
1705 else:
1706 self.info(msg)
1707
1708 def info(self, msg):
1709 pass
1710
1711 def warning(self, msg):
1712 pass
1713
1714 def error(self, msg):
1715 print(msg)
1716
1717
093a1710 1718# ℹ️ See the docstring of yt_dlp.postprocessor.common.PostProcessor
59a7a13e 1719class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
093a1710 1720 # ℹ️ See docstring of yt_dlp.postprocessor.common.PostProcessor.run
8c6f4daa 1721 def run(self, info):
1722 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
1723 return [], info
1724
1725
093a1710 1726# ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in the docstring of yt_dlp.YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1727def my_hook(d):
1728 if d['status'] == 'finished':
1729 print('Done downloading, now converting ...')
1730
1731
093a1710 1732def format_selector(ctx):
1733 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
1734 This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
1735
1736 # formats are already sorted worst to best
1737 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
1738
1739 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
1740 best_video = next(f for f in formats
1741 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
1742
1743 # find compatible audio extension
1744 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
1745 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
1746 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
1747 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
1748
1749 yield {
1750 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
1751 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
1752 'ext': best_video['ext'],
1753 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
e75bb0d6 1754 # Must be + separated list of protocols
093a1710 1755 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
1756 }
1757
1758
1759# ℹ️ See docstring of yt_dlp.YoutubeDL for a description of the options
8c6f4daa 1760ydl_opts = {
093a1710 1761 'format': format_selector,
8c6f4daa 1762 'postprocessors': [{
093a1710 1763 # Embed metadata in video using ffmpeg.
1764 # ℹ️ See yt_dlp.postprocessor.FFmpegMetadataPP for the arguments it accepts
1765 'key': 'FFmpegMetadata',
1766 'add_chapters': True,
1767 'add_metadata': True,
8c6f4daa 1768 }],
1769 'logger': MyLogger(),
1770 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
1771}
1772
59a7a13e 1773
1774# Add custom headers
1775yt_dlp.utils.std_headers.update({'Referer': 'https://www.google.com'})
1776
093a1710 1777# ℹ️ See the public functions in yt_dlp.YoutubeDL for for other available functions.
1778# Eg: "ydl.download", "ydl.download_with_info_file"
8c6f4daa 1779with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1780 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP())
1781 info = ydl.extract_info('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc')
093a1710 1782
1783 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
8c6f4daa 1784 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1785```
1786
49a57e70 1787**Tip**: If you are porting your code from youtube-dl to yt-dlp, one important point to look out for is that we do not guarantee the return value of `YoutubeDL.extract_info` to be json serializable, or even be a dictionary. It will be dictionary-like, but if you want to ensure it is a serializable dictionary, pass it through `YoutubeDL.sanitize_info` as shown in the example above
1788
8c6f4daa 1789
ec2e44fc 1790<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "NEW FEATURES" SECTION HERE -->
1791
e167860c 1792# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
1793
1794These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
1795
8130779d 1796#### Almost redundant options
1797While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
1798
1799 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
1800 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
1801 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table
1802 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
1803
6ccf351a 1804#### Redundant options
1805While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
f4536226 1806
53c18592 1807 --get-description --print description
1808 --get-duration --print duration_string
1809 --get-filename --print filename
1810 --get-format --print format
1811 --get-id --print id
1812 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
1813 -e, --get-title --print title
1814 -g, --get-url --print urls
8f18aca8 1815 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
1816 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
1817 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
1818 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
6ccf351a 1819
1820
1821#### Not recommended
1822While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
1823
1e43a6f7 1824 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
1825 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
d9aa2332 1826 --all-formats -f all
c32b0aab 1827 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
b7b04c78 1828 --print-json -j --no-simulate
e167860c 1829 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)03d
a439a3a4 1830 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
19b824f6 1831 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
73cd218f 1832 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
52a8a1e1 1833 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
1834 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
53ed7066 1835 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
1836 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
5d3a0e79 1837 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
1838 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
1839 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
1840 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
6ccf351a 1841
1842
1843#### Developer options
1844These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
1845
34488702 1846 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
6ccf351a 1847 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
88acdbc2 1848 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
1849 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
f4536226 1850
1851
1852#### Old aliases
1853These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
1854
1855 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
1856 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
1857 --dump-headers --print-traffic
1858 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
1859 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
1860 --load-info --load-info-json
1861 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
e167860c 1862 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
e167860c 1863 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
1864 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
f4536226 1865 --split-tracks --split-chapters
1866 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
e167860c 1867 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
f4536226 1868 --write-srt --write-subs
e167860c 1869 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
f4536226 1870
7a340e0d 1871#### Sponskrub Options
f304da8a 1872Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
7a340e0d
NA
1873
1874 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
1875 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
1876 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
1877 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
1878 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
1879 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
1880 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
1881 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
1882
f4536226 1883#### No longer supported
1884These options may no longer work as intended
1885
1886 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
1887 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
1888 -C, --call-home Not implemented
1889 --no-call-home Default
1890 --include-ads No longer supported
1891 --no-include-ads Default
0bb1bc1b 1892 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
1893 --no-write-annotations Default
486fb179 1894
1895#### Removed
1896These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
1897
f4536226 1898 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1899 -t, --title -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1900 -l, --literal -o accepts literal names
1901
8c6f4daa 1902# CONTRIBUTING
1903See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp) for instructions on [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue) and [Contributing code to the project](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
e167860c 1904
c2b5f311 1905# MORE
8c6f4daa 1906For FAQ see the [youtube-dl README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)