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[ExtractAudio] Support `alac`
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b31fdeed 15[![PyPi Downloads](https://img.shields.io/pypi/dm/yt-dlp?label=PyPi&style=for-the-badge)](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
c76eb41b 16
b31fdeed 17</div>
c76eb41b 18
b31fdeed 19yt-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 20
034b6215 21* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
53ed7066 22 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
c76eb41b 23* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
17fa3ee2 24 * [Update](#update)
0e5927ee 25 * [Release Files](#release-files)
cf59cd4d 26 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
17fa3ee2 27 * [Compile](#compile)
b31fdeed 28* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
29 * [General Options](#general-options)
50865ca8 30 * [Network Options](#network-options)
b31fdeed 31 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
50865ca8 32 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
33 * [Download Options](#download-options)
34 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
b31fdeed 35 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
50865ca8 36 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
0744a815 37 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
50865ca8 38 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
39 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
40 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
41 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
50865ca8 42 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
7a340e0d 43 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
50865ca8 44 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 45* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
50865ca8 46 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
c76eb41b 47* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 48 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
49 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 50* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 51 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
52 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
53 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
73cd218f 54* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
55 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
5d3a0e79 56* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
f74980cb 57* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
8c6f4daa 58* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
e167860c 59* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
8c6f4daa 60* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
61 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
62 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
c76eb41b 63* [MORE](#more)
50865ca8 64
65
034b6215 66# NEW FEATURES
f20f5fe5 67The major new features from the latest release of [blackjack4494/yt-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) are:
034b6215 68
7a340e0d 69* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
034b6215 70
7581d246 71* **[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 72
6aecd871 73* **Merged with youtube-dl [commit/379f52a](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/379f52a4954013767219d25099cce9e0f9401961)**: (v2021.06.06) You get all the latest features and patches of [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) in addition to all the features of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc)
034b6215 74
0fdf490d 75* **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 76
f5546c0b 77* **Youtube improvements**:
6ccf351a 78 * All Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) and private playlists supports downloading multiple pages of content
0fdf490d 79 * Search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`), search URLs and in-channel search works
80 * Mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
86c1a8aa 81 * Some (but not all) age-gated content can be downloaded without cookies
a4211baf 82 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326)
f20f5fe5 83 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
e6f21b3d 84 * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from youtube music when premium cookies are given
9ee4f0bb 85 * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded ([except self-uploaded music](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/723))
f20f5fe5 86
245524e6 87* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[:PROFILE]`
88
597c1866 89* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
90
b31fdeed 91* **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 92
b31fdeed 93* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
f20f5fe5 94
86c1a8aa 95* **New extractors**: 17live, 3speak, amazonstore, animelab, audius, bandcampmusic, bannedvideo, biliintl, bitwave.tv, blackboardcollaborate, cam4, cgtn, chingari, ciscowebex, damtomo, discoveryplus.in, douyin, epicon, euscreen, fancode, filmmodu, gab, gedi, gettr, gopro, gotostage, gronkh, koo, manototv, mediaite, mediaklikk, mediasetshow, mediathek, microsoftstream, mildom, mirrativ, mlsscoccer, mtv.it, musescore, mxplayershow, n1, nebula, nfhsnetwork, novaplay, nzherald, olympics replay, on24, openrec, parlview-AU, peloton, planetmarathi, pluto.tv, polsatgo, polskieradio, pornflip, projectveritas, radiko, radiokapital, radlive, raiplayradio, rcs, rctiplus, saitosan, sciencechannel, shemaroome, skynews-AU, skynews-story, sovietscloset, startv, streamanity, telemundo, theta, theta, tokentube, tv2huseries, ukcolumn, utreon, veo, vidiolive, vidiopremier, voicy, vupload, whowatch, wim.tv, wppilot, youtube webarchive, zee5, zen.yandex
f20f5fe5 96
86c1a8aa 97* **New playlist extractors**: bilibili categories, eroprofile albums, hotstar series, hungama albums, newgrounds user, niconico search/users, paramountplus series, patreon user, peertube playlist/channels, roosterteeth series, sonyliv series, tiktok user, trovo channels, voot series
98
99* **Fixed/improved extractors**: 7plus, 9now, afreecatv, akamai, aljazeera, amcnetworks, animalplanet, archive.org, arte, atv, bbc, bilibili, bitchute, bravotv, camtube, cbc, cda, ceskatelevize, chingari, comedycentral, coub, crackle, crunchyroll, curiositystream, diynetwork, dw, eroprofile, facebook, francetv, funimation, globo, hearthisatie, hidive, hotstar, hungama, imdb, ina, instagram, iprima, itv, iwara, kakao, la7, linkedinlearning, linuxacadamy, mediaset, mediasite, motherless, mxplayer, nbcolympics, ndr, newgrounds, niconico, nitter, nova, nrk, nuvid, oreilly, paramountplus, parliamentlive, patreon, pbs, peertube, plutotv, polskieradio, pornhub, reddit, reddit, redtube, rmcdecouverte, roosterteeth, rtp, rumble, saml verizon login, skyit, sonyliv, soundcloud, southparkde, spankbang, spreaker, streamable, tagesschau, tbs, tennistv, tenplay, tiktok, tubi, tv2, tv2hu, tv5mondeplus, tvp, twitcasting, vh1, viafree, videa, vidio, vidme, viewlift, viki, vimeo, viu, vk, vlive, vrt, wakanim, xhamster, yahoo
100
101* **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN
fac98805 102
3de7c2ce 103* **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 104
597c1866 105* **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 106
107* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
108
418964fa 109* **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 110
418964fa 111* **Other new options**: `--print`, `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-on-reject` etc
0bc0a322 112
418964fa 113* **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--match-filter`, multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection) etc
c69911e4 114
86c1a8aa 115* **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
b31fdeed 116
7a5c1cfe 117* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
aa837ddf 118
29b6000e 119
7a5c1cfe 120See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 121
122
90505ff1 123**PS**: Some of these changes are already in youtube-dlc, but are still unreleased. See [this](Changelog.md#unreleased-changes-in-blackjack4494yt-dlc) for details
f20f5fe5 124
b9650873 125If you are coming from [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl), the amount of changes are very large. Compare [options](#options) and [supported sites](supportedsites.md) with youtube-dl's to get an idea of the massive number of features/patches [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) has accumulated.
f20f5fe5 126
53ed7066 127### Differences in default behavior
128
0930b11f 129Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
53ed7066 130
96565c7e 131* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
28b0eb0f 132* `avconv` is not supported as as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
96565c7e 133* 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 134* 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
28b0eb0f 135* 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 prefered. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
136* 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
137* `--ignore-errors` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
138* 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
139* `--add-metadata` attaches the `infojson` to `mkv` files in addition to writing the metadata when used with `--write-infojson`. Use `--compat-options no-attach-info-json` to revert this
f279aaee 140* 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`](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#modifying-metadata) to modify this to your liking or use `--compat-options embed-metadata` to revert this
28b0eb0f 141* `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
142* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
3acf6d38 143* 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 144* 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 145* 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 146* Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
18e674b4 147* 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 148* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
e4f02757 149* 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
0930b11f 150* 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 seperate 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 151
152For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
28b0eb0f 153* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options
154* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
155* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
53ed7066 156
f20f5fe5 157
d19bb9c0 158# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 159
7bc877a2 160You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
a61f4b28 161
a4211baf 162### Using the release binary
0930b11f 163
164You 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 165
0930b11f 166In UNIX-like OSes (MacOS, Linux, BSD), you can also install the same in one of the following ways:
5ba4a0b6
A		 167
168```
169sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
170sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
171```
172
173```
174sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
175sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
176```
177
178```
179sudo aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
180sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
181```
182
0930b11f 183PS: 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)
184
a4211baf 185### With [PIP](https://pypi.org/project/pip)
0930b11f 186
187You can install the [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) with:
188```
189python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp
190```
191
86c1a8aa 192You can install without any of the optional dependencies using:
0930b11f 193```
194python3 -m pip install --no-deps -U yt-dlp
195```
196
86c1a8aa 197If you want to be on the cutting edge, you can also install the master branch with:
0930b11f 198```
59a7a13e 199python3 -m pip3 install --force-reinstall https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/archive/master.zip
0930b11f 200```
201
202Note that on some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
203
a4211baf 204### With [Homebrew](https://brew.sh)
0930b11f 205
206macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew can also install it by:
b8773e63
THD		 207
208```
209brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp
210```
211
a4211baf 212## UPDATE
0930b11f 213You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are [using the provided release](#using-the-release-binary)
214
215If you [installed with pip](#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
216
217If you [installed using Homebrew](#with-homebrew), run `brew upgrade yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
cf59cd4d 218
a4211baf 219## RELEASE FILES
0e5927ee 220
733d8e8f 221#### Recommended
222
223File|Description
224:---|:---
0930b11f 225[yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independant binary. Needs Python (recommended for **UNIX-like systems**)
226[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 227
228#### Alternatives
229
0e5927ee
R		 230File|Description
231:---|:---
96565c7e 232[yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable
0930b11f 233[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 234[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 235[yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
236[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 237
238#### Misc
239
240File|Description
241:---|:---
0e5927ee
R		 242[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
243[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
244[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
245
a4211baf 246## DEPENDENCIES
cf59cd4d 247Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
b31fdeed 248
c9652aa4 249<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
250<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
cf59cd4d 251On 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 252-->
fac98805 253
cf59cd4d 254While all the other dependancies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
255* [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for [merging seperate video and audio files](#format-selection) as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. Licence [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
0930b11f 256* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen) - For embedding thumbnail in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
257* [**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)
258* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets) - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD3](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
259* [**keyring**](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring) - For decrypting cookies of chromium-based browsers on Linux. Licensed under [MIT](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring/blob/main/LICENSE)
260* [**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)
261* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
262* [**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)
263* [**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)
264* [**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 265* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
b31fdeed 266
cf59cd4d 267To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
268
0930b11f 269The Windows and MacOS standalone release binaries are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen, pycryptodomex and websockets included.
d710cc6d 270
271**Note**: There are some regressions in newer ffmpeg versions that causes various issues when used alongside yt-dlp. Since ffmpeg is such an important dependancy, 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 specifc issues solved by these builds
272
5f326cf5 273
a4211baf 274## COMPILE
5f326cf5 275
c76eb41b 276**For Windows**:
49a57e70 277To 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 278
733d8e8f 279 py -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
49a57e70 280 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
733d8e8f 281 py pyinst.py
7581d246 282
fac98805 283Note 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 284
c76eb41b 285**For Unix**:
060ac762 286You will need the required build tools: `python`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`, `zip`, `pytest`
127d0759 287Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files
5f326cf5 288
49a57e70 289**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts/update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
d19bb9c0 290
59a7a13e 291You can also fork the project on github and push it to a release branch in your fork for the [build workflow](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/.github/workflows/build.yml) to automatically make a release for you
292
b31fdeed 293# USAGE AND OPTIONS
6bcd846b 294
7a5c1cfe 295 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 296
c2b5f311 297`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
e58c22a0 298<!-- Auto generated -->
c2b5f311 299
c76eb41b 300## General Options:
1dc2726f
PH		 301 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
302 --version Print program version and exit
8d801631 303 -U, --update Update this program to latest version. Make
304 sure that you have sufficient permissions
305 (run with sudo if needed)
b1940459 306 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
0930b11f 307 The download will be considered successful
b1940459 308 even if the postprocessing fails
309 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download
310 errors; e.g. to skip unavailable videos in
311 a playlist (default)
8a51f564 312 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
313 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
34488702 314 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
315 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
c4af7684 316 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
34488702 317 extractors and exit
c4af7684
PH		 318 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
319 extractor
320 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
321 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
9ee4f0bb 322 from google videos for the search term
323 "large apple". Use the value "auto" to let
324 yt-dlp guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
c4af7684
PH		 325 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
326 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
327 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
8a51f564 328 this is not possible instead of searching
298f597b 329 --ignore-config, --no-config Disable loading any configuration files
8a51f564 330 except the one provided by --config-location.
331 When given inside a configuration
298f597b 332 file, no further configuration files are
333 loaded. Additionally, (for backward
334 compatibility) if this option is found
335 inside the system configuration file, the
8a51f564 336 user configuration is not loaded
0202b52a 337 --config-location PATH Location of the main configuration file;
338 either the path to the config or its
339 containing directory
c4af7684 340 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
8a51f564 341 only list them
6623ac34 342 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
b5ae35ee 343 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate).
344 Currently only supported for YouTube
597c1866 345 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
8a51f564 346 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
53ed7066 347 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
31654882 348 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
53ed7066 349 configurations by reverting some of the
350 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
351 default behavior" for details
08c1d0d3 352
149f05c7 353## Network Options:
28b4f736 354 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
0934c9d4
S		 355 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
356 scheme. For example
28b4f736
PH		 357 socks5://127.0.0.1:1080/. Pass in an empty
358 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
149f05c7 359 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
c4af7684 360 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
c4af7684 361 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
c4af7684 362 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
8c6c88c7 363
b31fdeed 364## Geo-restriction:
c25f1a9b
S		 365 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
366 some geo-restricted sites. The default
367 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
7550ea50 368 option is not present) is used for the
8a51f564 369 actual downloading
8c6c88c7 370 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
0934c9d4 371 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
8c6c88c7
S		 372 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
373 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
8c6c88c7
S		 374 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
375 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
0934c9d4 376 country code
9e18bb4c
S		 377 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
378 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
0934c9d4 379 notation
149f05c7 380
cfcec693 381## Video Selection:
1dc2726f
PH		 382 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is 1)
383 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
c4af7684
PH		 384 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
385 indices of the videos in the playlist
386 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
387 1,2,5,8" if you want to download videos
388 indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
389 specify range: "--playlist-items
390 1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
8a51f564 391 at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13
780083db 392 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
c4af7684
PH		 393 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
394 SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
395 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
396 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
0930b11f 397 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
6623ac34 398 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
399 "(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
c4af7684 400 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
c76eb41b 401 this date. The date formats accepted is the
402 same as --date
c4af7684 403 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
c76eb41b 404 this date. The date formats accepted is the
405 same as --date
77b87f05
MT		 406 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Any field (see
407 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a
a047eeb6 408 number or a string using the operators
409 defined in "Filtering formats". You can
410 also simply specify a field to match if the
411 field is present and "!field" to check if
412 the field is not present. In addition,
413 Python style regular expression matching
414 can be done using "~=", and multiple
415 filters can be checked with "&". Use a "\"
416 to escape "&" or quotes if needed. Eg:
417 --match-filter "!is_live & like_count>?100
2e7781a9 418 & description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'"
a047eeb6 419 matches only videos that are not live, has
420 a like count more than 100 (or the like
77b87f05 421 field is not available), and also has a
a047eeb6 422 description that contains the phrase "cats
423 & dogs" (ignoring case)
c76eb41b 424 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
c4af7684 425 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
8a51f564 426 to a video and a playlist
c4af7684 427 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
8a51f564 428 a video and a playlist
c4af7684
PH		 429 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
430 age
431 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
432 archive file. Record the IDs of all
8a51f564 433 downloaded videos in it
8b0d7497 434 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
8a51f564 435 a file that is in the archive
8b0d7497 436 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
8a51f564 437 a file that has been filtered out
26e2805c 438 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest
439 of the playlist is skipped
c76eb41b 440 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
6bcd846b 441
d5a62e4f 442## Download Options:
b31fdeed 443 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
444 video that should be download concurrently
445 (default is 1)
5e3856a2 446 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
c4af7684 447 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
6aecd871 448 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
449 below which throttling is assumed and the
450 video data is re-extracted (e.g. 100K)
c4af7684 451 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
8a51f564 452 "infinite"
0be8314d 453 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
b56e41a7
S		 454 is 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
455 ISM)
6623ac34 456 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
457 hlsnative and ISM (default)
8a51f564 458 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
6623ac34 459 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
8a51f564 460 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
a82f4184 461 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
6623ac34 462 downloading is finished
c76eb41b 463 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
464 downloading is finished (default)
c4af7684
PH		 465 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
466 (default is 1024)
c76eb41b 467 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
468 from an initial value of --buffer-size
469 (default)
470 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
db157d2a
S		 471 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
472 downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
473 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
474 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
475 (experimental)
2101f5d4 476 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
6623ac34 477 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
c76eb41b 478 (default)
31487eb9 479 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
c4af7684 480 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
0934c9d4 481 expected file size
9bd20204 482 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
483 allowing some players to play the video
484 while downloading, and reducing the chance
485 of file corruption if download is
486 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
487 live streams
488 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
489 videos. This is default when not
490 downloading live streams
52a8a1e1 491 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
492 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
493 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
494 use it for. Currently supports native,
495 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
496 wget (Recommended: aria2c). You can use
497 this option multiple times to set different
498 downloaders for different protocols. For
499 example, --downloader aria2c --downloader
500 "dash,m3u8:native" will use aria2c for
501 http/ftp downloads, and the native
502 downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
503 (Alias: --external-downloader)
46ee996e 504 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
505 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
330690a2 506 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
507 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to
508 different positions using the same syntax
509 as --postprocessor-args. You can use this
510 option multiple times to give different
511 arguments to different downloaders
29b6000e 512 (Alias: --external-downloader-args)
d5a62e4f 513
cfcec693 514## Filesystem Options:
c4af7684 515 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
e8dfecb3
S		 516 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
517 with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
8a51f564 518 comments and ignored
1e520b55 519 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
6ccf351a 520 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
0202b52a 521 downloaded. Specify the type of file and
de6000d9 522 the path separated by a colon ":". All the
523 same types as --output are supported.
524 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
6ccf351a 525 (default) and "temp" paths. All
526 intermediary files are first downloaded to
527 the temp path and then the final files are
528 moved over to the home path after download
529 is finished. This option is ignored if
530 --output is an absolute path
d818eb74 531 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
c76eb41b 532 TEMPLATE" for details
0bc0a322 533 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder value for unavailable meta
534 fields in output filename template
535 (default: "NA")
c4af7684
PH		 536 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
537 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
538 filenames
c76eb41b 539 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
540 filenames (default)
0930b11f 541 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
542 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
543 using Windows (default)
c2934512 544 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
545 extension) to the specified number of
546 characters
9b45b9f5 547 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
548 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files.
549 This option includes --no-continue
550 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
551 related files (default)
c25228e5 552 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
553 (default)
554 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
e58c22a0 555 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
c25228e5 556 restart download of the entire file
c76eb41b 557 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
6623ac34 558 into output file (default)
c4af7684
PH		 559 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
560 into output file
c76eb41b 561 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
562 file modification time (default)
c4af7684
PH		 563 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
564 the file modification time
565 --write-description Write video description to a .description
566 file
6623ac34 567 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
1dc2726f 568 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
c25228e5 569 (this may contain personal information)
6623ac34 570 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
cac96421 571 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
572 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
573 --write-description etc. (default)
574 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
575 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
75d43ca0 576 --clean-infojson Remove some private fields such as
577 filenames from the infojson. Note that it
578 could still contain some personal
579 information (default)
580 --no-clean-infojson Write all fields to the infojson
2305e2e5 581 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
582 infojson. The comments are fetched even
583 without this option if the extraction is
584 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
585 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
586 extraction is known to be quick
587 (Alias: --no-get-comments)
d845622b 588 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
c4af7684
PH		 589 (created with the "--write-info-json"
590 option)
591 --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
592 jar in
982ee69a
MB		 593 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
594 (default)
595 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[:PROFILE]
596 Load cookies from a user profile of the
597 given web browser. Currently supported
0ef787d7 598 browsers are: brave, chrome, chromium,
599 edge, firefox, opera, safari, vivaldi. You
600 can specify the user profile name or
601 directory using "BROWSER:PROFILE_NAME" or
982ee69a
MB		 602 "BROWSER:PROFILE_PATH". If no profile is
603 given, the most recently accessed one is
604 used
605 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
6623ac34 606 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
3b1fe47d 607 can store some downloaded information (such
608 as client ids and signatures) permanently.
9ee4f0bb 609 By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/yt-dlp or
610 ~/.cache/yt-dlp
36f35428
PH		 611 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
612 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 613
b31fdeed 614## Thumbnail Options:
1dc2726f 615 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
6623ac34 616 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
c76eb41b 617 (default)
1dc2726f 618 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
34488702 619 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
620 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
2b1bd292 621
732044af 622## Internet Shortcut Options:
8a51f564 623 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
624 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
625 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
626 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
627 OS caches the URL based on the file path
628 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
629 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
732044af 630
0744a815 631## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
34488702 632 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with
633 --verbose, print the log to stderr
6c072e7d 634 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
c4af7684
PH		 635 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
636 anything to disk
34488702 637 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
638 options are used
0930b11f 639 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
640 extracting metadata even if the videos are
641 not actually available for download
0cf05715 642 (experimental)
643 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
644 formats are found (default)
e167860c 645 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
646 related files (Alias: --no-download)
34488702 647 -O, --print TEMPLATE Quiet, but print the given fields for each
648 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
649 used. Either a field name or same syntax as
650 the output template can be used
651 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
652 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
653 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
654 description of available keys
655 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
656 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
657 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
658 a playlist, the whole playlist information
659 is dumped in a single line
8a51f564 660 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
e58c22a0 661 written as far as no errors occur, even if
662 -s or another simulation option is used
8a51f564 663 (Alias: --force-download-archive)
1dc2726f
PH		 664 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
665 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
819e0531 666 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
1dc2726f 667 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
819e0531 668 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
669 Template for progress outputs, optionally
670 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
671 "download-title:" (the console title),
672 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
673 The video's fields are accessible under the
674 "info" key and the progress attributes are
0930b11f 675 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.:
819e0531 676 --console-title --progress-template
677 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
1dc2726f 678 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
c4af7684
PH		 679 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
680 to debug problems (very verbose)
681 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
682 files in the current directory to debug
683 problems
780083db 684 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 685
36f35428
PH		 686## Workarounds:
687 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
0930b11f 688 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
c4af7684 689 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
e167860c 690 information about the video (Currently
05a7ffb1 691 supported only for YouTube)
1dc2726f 692 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
c4af7684
PH		 693 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
694 access is restricted to one domain
695 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
45016689 696 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
c4af7684
PH		 697 option multiple times
698 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
699 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
700 or fribidi executable in PATH
1cf376f5 701 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
702 during data extraction
c4af7684 703 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
e167860c 704 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
705 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
706 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
707 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can
708 only be used along with --min-sleep-interval
1cf376f5 709 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
710 subtitle download
36f35428 711
cfcec693 712## Video Format Options:
eb8a4433 713 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
714 for more details
715 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
716 "Sorting Formats" for more details
8a51f564 717 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
718 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
eb8a4433 719 Formats" for more details
720 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
c76eb41b 721 specified sort order (default), see
722 "Sorting Formats" for more details
723 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
724 into a single file
725 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
726 each output file (default)
727 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
728 into a single file
729 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
730 each output file (default)
da9be05e 731 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
732 over non-free ones of same quality. Use
733 with "-S ext" to strictly prefer free
734 containers irrespective of quality
735 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
736 containers (default)
0930b11f 737 --check-formats Check that the selected formats are
0ba692ac 738 actually downloadable
0930b11f 739 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
0ba692ac 740 actually downloadable
0930b11f 741 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
742 downloadable
34488702 743 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
744 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
c4af7684
PH		 745 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
746 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
747 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
748 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
8ae7be3e
PH		 749
750## Subtitle Options:
c76eb41b 751 --write-subs Write subtitle file
752 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
753 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
e167860c 754 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
755 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
756 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
34488702 757 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
758 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
c4af7684
PH		 759 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
760 preference, for example: "srt" or
761 "ass/srt/best"
c32b0aab 762 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
763 be regex) or "all" separated by commas.
a4211baf 764 (Eg: --sub-langs "en.*,ja") You can prefix
c32b0aab 765 the language code with a "-" to exempt it
766 from the requested languages. (Eg: --sub-
767 langs all,-live_chat) Use --list-subs for a
768 list of available language tags
6bcd846b 769
cfcec693 770## Authentication Options:
1dc2726f 771 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
c4af7684 772 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
7a5c1cfe 773 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
dc48a354 774 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
1dc2726f 775 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
0001fcb5 776 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
777 either the path or its containing
778 directory. Defaults to ~/.netrc
29f7c58a 779 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
f5e008d1 780 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
909d24dd 781 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
782 a list of available MSOs
f5e008d1
S		 783 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
784 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
c74d1aa3 785 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
786 interactively
f5e008d1
S		 787 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
788 operators
789
c76eb41b 790## Post-Processing Options:
c4af7684 791 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
e4172ac9 792 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
3de7c2ce 793 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format to convert the audio
794 to when -x is used. Currently supported
795 formats are: best (default) or one of
34488702 796 best|aac|flac|mp3|m4a|opus|vorbis|wav
e4172ac9 797 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality, insert a
86c1a8aa 798 value between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for
e4172ac9 799 VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
c4af7684 800 (default 5)
c76eb41b 801 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
29b6000e 802 necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv|flv
803 |webm|mov|avi|mp3|mka|m4a|ogg|opus). If
804 target container does not support the
06167fbb 805 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
3de7c2ce 806 can specify multiple rules; Eg.
06167fbb 807 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to
808 m4a, mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv.
c76eb41b 809 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
3de7c2ce 810 re-encoding is necessary. The syntax and
811 supported formats are the same as --remux-video
1b77b347 812 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
43820c03 813 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
45016689 814 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
815 to give the argument to the specified
8fa43c73 816 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
7a340e0d
NA		 817 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
818 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
8fa43c73 819 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
820 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
6aecd871 821 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
822 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
8fa43c73 823 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
9ee4f0bb 824 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
7a340e0d
NA		 825 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
826 specified executable only when being used
827 by the specified postprocessor.
828 Additionally, for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o"
829 can be appended to the prefix optionally
830 followed by a number to pass the argument
831 before the specified input/output file. Eg:
832 --ppa "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can
833 use this option multiple times to give
e4172ac9 834 different arguments to different
5b1ecbb3 835 postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
c76eb41b 836 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
6623ac34 837 after post-processing
c76eb41b 838 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
6623ac34 839 post-processing (default)
840 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
841 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
0be8314d
PH		 842 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
843 webm and mkv videos)
c76eb41b 844 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
6aecd871 845 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
6623ac34 846 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
7a340e0d
NA		 847 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also adds
848 chapters to file unless --no-add-chapters
849 is used (Alias: --add-metadata)
850 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
6aecd871 851 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
7a340e0d
NA		 852 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
853 (Alias: --add-chapters)
854 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default)
855 (Alias: --no-add-chapters)
73cd218f 856 --parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
857 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
858 for details
e9f4ccd1 859 --replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
860 Replace text in a metadata field using the
861 given regex. This option can be used
862 multiple times
c4af7684
PH		 863 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
864 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
865 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
866 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
867 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
868 default; fix file if we can, warn
6aecd871 869 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
870 already exists
e4172ac9 871 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
872 path to the binary or its containing
873 directory
c4af7684 874 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
34488702 875 downloading and post-processing. Same
876 syntax as the output template can be used
9de3ea31 877 to pass any field as arguments to the
878 command. An additional field "filepath"
879 that contains the final path of the
880 downloaded file is also available. If no
7d1eb38a 881 fields are passed, %(filepath)q is appended
34488702 882 to the end of the command. This option can
883 be used multiple times
884 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
5520aa2d 885 --exec-before-download CMD Execute a command before the actual
886 download. The syntax is the same as --exec
34488702 887 but "filepath" is not available. This
888 option can be used multiple times
889 --no-exec-before-download Remove any previously defined
890 --exec-before-download
e167860c 891 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
3de7c2ce 892 (currently supported: srt|vtt|ass|lrc)
e167860c 893 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
8fa43c73 894 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
3de7c2ce 895 (currently supported: jpg|png)
72755351 896 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
897 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix
898 can be used with "--paths" and "--output"
899 to set the output filename for the split
900 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
901 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters
902 (default)
7a340e0d 903 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
2d9ec704 904 given regular expression. Time ranges
905 prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
906 of chapters to remove the specified range.
907 Eg: --remove-chapters "*10:15-15:00"
908 --remove-chapters "intro". This option can
7a340e0d 909 be used multiple times
9ee4f0bb 910 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
911 (default)
7a340e0d
NA		 912 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes around the chapters before
913 removing/splitting them. Requires a
914 reencode and thus is very slow, but the
915 resulting video may have fewer artifacts
916 around the cuts
917 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
918 when cutting/splitting (default)
3ae5e797 919 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS] The (case sensitive) name of plugin
920 postprocessors to be enabled, and
921 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
922 seperated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
923 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
924 The "when" argument determines when the
925 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
926 "pre_process" (after extraction),
927 "before_dl" (before video download),
928 "post_process" (after video download;
929 default) or "after_move" (after moving file
930 to their final locations). This option can
931 be used multiple times to add different
932 postprocessors
7a340e0d
NA		 933
934## SponsorBlock Options:
935Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
936 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
8a51f564 937 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
938
7a340e0d
NA		 939 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
940 for, separated by commas. Available
941 categories are all, sponsor, intro, outro,
942 selfpromo, interaction, preview,
943 music_offtopic. You can prefix the category
944 with a "-" to exempt it. See
945 https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/index.php/Segment_Categories
946 for description of the categories. Eg:
947 --sponsorblock-query all,-preview
948 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
949 the video file, separated by commas. If a
950 category is present in both mark and
951 remove, remove takes precedence. The syntax
952 and available categories are the same as
953 for --sponsorblock-mark
954 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
955 The title template for SponsorBlock
956 chapters created by --sponsorblock-mark.
957 The same syntax as the output template is
958 used, but the only available fields are
959 start_time, end_time, category, categories,
960 name, category_names. Defaults to
961 "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
962 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
963 --sponsorblock-remove
964 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
965 https://sponsor.ajay.app
a9e7f546 966
78895bd3 967## Extractor Options:
5ef7d9bd 968 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor
d6e51845 969 errors (default is 3), or "infinite"
6623ac34 970 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
8a51f564 971 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
972 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
973 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
e409895f 974 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
975 discontinuities such as ad breaks
976 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
977 formats at discontinuities such as ad
978 breaks (default)
5d3a0e79 979 --extractor-args KEY:ARGS Pass these arguments to the extractor. See
980 "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You can
981 use this option multiple times to give
245524e6 982 arguments for different extractors
17cb02d0 983
b7770046
U		 984# CONFIGURATION
985
7a5c1cfe 986You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
e2e43aea 987
0202b52a 9881. **Main Configuration**: The file given by `--config-location`
7a5c1cfe
P		 9891. **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.
9901. **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 9911. **User Configuration**:
992 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
993 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
994 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
995 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
996 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
997 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
998
a4211baf 999 `%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 10001. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
b7770046 1001
7a5c1cfe 1002For 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:
b7770046
U		 1003```
1004# Lines starting with # are comments
1005
1006# Always extract audio
1007-x
1008
1009# Do not copy the mtime
1010--no-mtime
1011
1012# Use this proxy
1013--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1014
298f597b 1015# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1016-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
b7770046
U		 1017```
1018
e2e43aea 1019Note 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 1020
a4211baf 1021You 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.
b7770046
U		 1022
1023### Authentication with `.netrc` file
1024
0001fcb5 1025You 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:
b7770046
U		 1026```
1027touch $HOME/.netrc
1028chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
1029```
1030After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1031```
0001fcb5 1032machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
b7770046
U		 1033```
1034For example:
1035```
1036machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1037machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1038```
7a5c1cfe 1039To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
b7770046 1040
0001fcb5 1041The default location of the .netrc file is `$HOME` (`~`) in UNIX. On Windows, it is `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
b7770046
U		 1042
1043# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1044
0202b52a 1045The `-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
U		 1046
1047**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
1048
e58c22a0 1049The 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 1050
0930b11f 1051It 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 1052
1053The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
2b8a2973 10541. **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
e625be0d 10551. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
10561. **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`
7c37ff97 10571. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified seperated with a `,`. Eg: `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
10581. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` seperator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
4476d2c7 10591. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, `B`, `j`, `l`, `q` can be used for converting to **B**ytes, **j**son (flag `#` for pretty-printing), a comma seperated **l**ist (flag `#` for `\n` newline-seperated) and a string **q**uoted for the terminal (flag `#` to split a list into different arguments), respectively
524e2e4f 10601. **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 1061
1062To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1063```
7c37ff97 1064%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
a439a3a4 1065```
de6000d9 1066
08438d2c 1067Additionally, 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 1068
1069The available fields are:
b7770046
U		 1070
1071 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1072 - `title` (string): Video title
1073 - `url` (string): Video URL
1074 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1075 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
597c1866 1076 - `description` (string): The description of the video
b7770046
U		 1077 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1078 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1079 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1080 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
b7770046
U		 1081 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
1082 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
e6f21b3d 1083 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
1084 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
b7770046
U		 1085 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1086 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1087 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
1088 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1089 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
53c18592 1090 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
b7770046
U		 1091 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1092 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1093 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1094 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1095 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
277d6ff5 1096 - `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 1097 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
3dbb2a9d 1098 - `live_status` (string): One of 'is_live', 'was_live', 'is_upcoming', 'not_live'
b7770046 1099 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
f76ede8e 1100 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
6cfda058 1101 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
c224251a 1102 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is 'private', 'premium_only', 'subscriber_only', 'needs_auth', 'unlisted' or 'public'
b7770046
U		 1103 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1104 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
29b6000e 1105 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
b7770046
U		 1106 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
1107 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
1108 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
1109 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
1110 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
1111 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1112 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1113 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
1114 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1115 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1116 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
176f1866 1117 - `dynamic_range` (string): The dynamic range of the video
b7770046
U		 1118 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
1119 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
1120 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
1121 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
1122 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
1123 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1124 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
1125 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
1126 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
e6f21b3d 1127 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
b7770046 1128 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
e6f21b3d 1129 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1130 - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
b7770046
U		 1131 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
1132 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
1133 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1134 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
bd99f6e6 1135 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
1136 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
b7770046
U		 1137
1138Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1139
1140 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1141 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1142 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1143
1144Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1145
1146 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1147 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1148 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1149 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1150 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1151 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1152 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1153
1154Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1155
1156 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1157 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1158 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1159 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1160 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1161 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1162 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1163 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1164 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1165 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1166
b050d210 1167Available for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
72755351 1168
1169 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1170 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1171 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1172 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1173
53c18592 1174Available only when used in `--print`:
1175
1176 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1177 - `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
7a340e0d
NA		 1178
1179Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1180
1181 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1182 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1183 - `categories` (list): The SponsorBlock categories the chapter belongs to
1184 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1185 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1186 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
53c18592 1187
49a57e70 1188Each 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.
1189
1190Note 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 1191
0930b11f 1192**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
b7770046 1193
49a57e70 1194For 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
U		 1195
1196Output 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.
1197
1198To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1199
91ebc640 1200The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
b7770046
U		 1201
1202In 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:
1203
1204#### Output template and Windows batch files
1205
1206If 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"`.
1207
1208#### Output template examples
1209
de6000d9 1210Note that on Windows you need to use double quotes instead of single.
b7770046
U		 1211
1212```bash
7a5c1cfe
P		 1213$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc
1214youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
b7770046 1215
7a5c1cfe
P		 1216$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
1217youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
b7770046
U		 1218
1219# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
7a5c1cfe 1220$ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
b7770046 1221
b050d210 1222# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
7a5c1cfe 1223$ yt-dlp -o '%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
e29663c6 1224
b7770046 1225# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
7a5c1cfe 1226$ yt-dlp -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists
b7770046
U		 1227
1228# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
7a5c1cfe 1229$ 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/
b7770046
U		 1230
1231# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
7a5c1cfe 1232$ 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
U		 1233
1234# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
7a5c1cfe 1235$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
b7770046
U		 1236```
1237
1238# FORMAT SELECTION
1239
7a5c1cfe
P		 1240By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1241This 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 1242
c111cefa 1243**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.
1244
eff63539 1245The 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
U		 1246
1247**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
1248
a439a3a4 1249The 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.
b7770046
U		 1250
1251You 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.
1252
1253You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1254
59a7a13e 1255 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1256 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1257 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio
1258 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1259 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1260 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1261 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
1262 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that **contains audio**. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]`
1263 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
909d24dd 1264 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1265 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 1266 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1267 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 1268 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
b7770046 1269
e58c22a0 1270For 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 1271
1272You 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 1273
eb8a4433 1274If 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.
b7770046
U		 1275
1276If 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`.
1277
d806c9fd 1278You 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.
1279
1280**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
1281
1282Unless `--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 1283
1284## Filtering Formats
1285
b7770046
U		 1286You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1287
1288The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1289
1290 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1291 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1292 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1293 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1294 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1295 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1296 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1297 - `fps`: Frame rate
1298
1299Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
1300
1301 - `ext`: File extension
1302 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1303 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1304 - `container`: Name of the container format
1305 - `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`)
1306 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
29f7c58a 1307 - `language`: Language code
b7770046
U		 1308
1309Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain).
1310
e58c22a0 1311Note 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 1312
e094cec1 1313Formats 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 1314
b7770046
U		 1315Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses, for example if you want to download the best mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480 you can use `-f '(mp4,webm)[height<480]'`.
1316
eb8a4433 1317## Sorting Formats
1318
2e7781a9 1319You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1320
1321The available fields are:
eb8a4433 1322
63be1aab 1323 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1324 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
1325 - `ie_pref`: The format preference as given by the extractor
1326 - `lang`: Language preference as given by the extractor
dca3ff4a 1327 - `quality`: The quality of the format as given by the extractor
63be1aab 1328 - `source`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
e36d50c5 1329 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > other > `mms`/`rtsp` > unknown > `f4f`/`f4m`)
155d2b48 1330 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other > unknown)
aeb2a9ad 1331 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other > unknown)
eb8a4433 1332 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
63be1aab 1333 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is prefered.
1334 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
1335 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
0930b11f 1336 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
63be1aab 1337 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1338 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
eb8a4433 1339 - `height`: Height of video
1340 - `width`: Width of video
63be1aab 1341 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1342 - `fps`: Framerate of video
49a57e70 1343 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
63be1aab 1344 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1345 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1346 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1347 - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
1348 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
d806c9fd 1349
1350**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 1351
9ee4f0bb 1352All 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.
1353
176f1866 1354The 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 1355
176f1866 1356Note that the default has `codec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not prefered. Similarly, the default for hdr is `hdr:12`; i.e. dolby vision is not prefered. 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 1357
e58c22a0 1358If 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 1359
1360**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1361
eb8a4433 1362## Format Selection examples
b7770046
U		 1363
1364Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
1365
1366```bash
e58c22a0 1367# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
909d24dd 1368# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
7a5c1cfe 1369$ yt-dlp -f 'bv+ba/b'
909d24dd 1370
1371# Download best format that contains video,
1372# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
7a5c1cfe 1373$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+ba/b'
2af884ff 1374
1375# Same as above
7a5c1cfe 1376$ yt-dlp
909d24dd 1377
6fd35a11 1378# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1379# For this case, an output template should be used since
1380# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
7a5c1cfe 1381$ yt-dlp -f 'bv,ba' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
909d24dd 1382
f8d4ad9a 1383# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1384# and all audio-only formats into one file
1385$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]' --audio-multistreams
1386
1387# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1388# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
1389$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+ba+ba.2' --audio-multistreams
909d24dd 1390
6fd35a11 1391
1392# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
f8d4ad9a 1393# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
6fd35a11 1394
1395# Download the worst video available (old method)
7a5c1cfe 1396$ yt-dlp -f 'wv*+wa/w'
eb8a4433 1397
1398# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
7a5c1cfe 1399$ yt-dlp -S '+res'
eb8a4433 1400
1401# Download the smallest video available
7a5c1cfe 1402$ yt-dlp -S '+size,+br'
eb8a4433 1403
1404
909d24dd 1405
eb8a4433 1406# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
7a5c1cfe 1407$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b'
eb8a4433 1408
1409# Download the best video with the best extension
1410# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
7a5c1cfe 1411$ yt-dlp -S 'ext'
eb8a4433 1412
1413
909d24dd 1414
eb8a4433 1415# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1416# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
7a5c1cfe 1417$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w'
b7770046 1418
eb8a4433 1419# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1420# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
7a5c1cfe 1421$ yt-dlp -S 'height:480'
b7770046 1422
eb8a4433 1423# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1424# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1425# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1426# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
7a5c1cfe 1427$ yt-dlp -S 'res:480'
b7770046 1428
b7770046 1429
909d24dd 1430
eb8a4433 1431# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1432# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
7a5c1cfe 1433$ yt-dlp -f 'b[filesize<50M] / w'
eb8a4433 1434
1435# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1436# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
7a5c1cfe 1437$ yt-dlp -f 'b' -S 'filesize:50M'
eb8a4433 1438
1439# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
7a5c1cfe 1440$ yt-dlp -f 'b' -S 'filesize~50M'
eb8a4433 1441
1442
909d24dd 1443
eb8a4433 1444# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1445# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1446$ yt-dlp -f '(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)'
eb8a4433 1447
1448# Download best video available via the best protocol
1449# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
7a5c1cfe 1450$ yt-dlp -S 'proto'
eb8a4433 1451
1452
909d24dd 1453
eb8a4433 1454# Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1455$ yt-dlp -f '(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)'
eb8a4433 1456
1457# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1458# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1459$ yt-dlp -S 'codec:h264'
eb8a4433 1460
1461# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1462# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1463$ yt-dlp -S '+codec:h264'
eb8a4433 1464
1465
1466
1467# More complex examples
1468
e58c22a0 1469# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1470# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1471$ 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 1472
1473# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
f8d4ad9a 1474# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1475# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
7a5c1cfe 1476$ yt-dlp -S 'res:720,fps'
eb8a4433 1477
1478
909d24dd 1479
eb8a4433 1480# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1481# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1482# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
7a5c1cfe 1483$ yt-dlp -S '+res:480,codec,br'
b7770046 1484```
eb8a4433 1485
73cd218f 1486# MODIFYING METADATA
1487
a4211baf 1488The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
e9f4ccd1 1489
418964fa 1490`--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 1491
2e7781a9 1492The 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 1493
1494Note 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`.
1495
9c2b75b5 1496This option also has a few special uses:
28b0eb0f 1497* 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
b11d2101 1498* 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". Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
c31be5b0 1499
1500For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1501
1502Metadata fields|From
1503:---|:---
1504`title`|`track` or `title`
1505`date`|`upload_date`
1506`description`, `synopsis`|`description`
1507`purl`, `comment`|`webpage_url`
1508`track`|`track_number`
1509`artist`|`artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1510`genre`|`genre`
1511`album`|`album`
1512`album_artist`|`album_artist`
1513`disc`|`disc_number`
1514`show`|`series`
1515`season_number`|`season_number`
1516`episode_id`|`episode` or `episode_id`
1517`episode_sort`|`episode_number`
1518`language` of each stream|From the format's `language`
1519**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1520
73cd218f 1521
1522## Modifying metadata examples
1523
1524Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
1525
1526```bash
1527# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
02aabd45 1528$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'title:%(artist)s - %(title)s'
73cd218f 1529
1530# Regex example
02aabd45 1531$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)'
73cd218f 1532
1533# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
02aabd45 1534$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata '%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s'
73cd218f 1535
1536# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url
02aabd45 1537$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)' --add-metadata
73cd218f 1538
0930b11f 1539# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
1540$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ':(?P<formats>)' -j
1541
e9f4ccd1 1542# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
1543$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata 'title,uploader' '[ _]' '-'
1544
73cd218f 1545```
1546
5d3a0e79 1547# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1548
59a7a13e 1549Some 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 1550
1551The following extractors use this feature:
96565c7e 1552
1553#### youtube
1554* `skip`: `hls` or `dash` (or both) to skip download of the respective manifests
d0d012d4 1555* `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 1556* `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
1557* `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats (These formats don't download properly)
1558* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
1559* `max_comments`: Maximum amount of comments to download (default all)
1560* `max_comment_depth`: Maximum depth for nested comments. YouTube supports depths 1 or 2 (default)
1561
1562#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1563* `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)
1564
1565#### funimation
1566* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1567* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1568
a9d4da60 1569#### crunchyroll
1570* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:language=jaJp`
1571* `hardsub`: Which hard-sub versions to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:hardsub=None,enUS`
1572
96565c7e 1573#### vikichannel
1574* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
73d829c1 1575
bc97cdae 1576NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
5d3a0e79 1577
3acf6d38 1578
f74980cb 1579# PLUGINS
b7770046 1580
3ae5e797 1581Plugins 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
1582
1583Plugins 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`.
1584
1585See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example plugins.
1586
1587Note 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
1588
1589If you are a plugin author, add [ytdlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/ytdlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
b7770046 1590
b7770046 1591
8c6f4daa 1592
1593# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1594
1595yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1596
1597Your 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.
1598
1599From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1600
1601```python
59a7a13e 1602from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1603
093a1710 1604ydl_opts = {'format': 'bestaudio'}
59a7a13e 1605with YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
8c6f4daa 1606 ydl.download(['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'])
1607```
1608
1609Most 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#L154-L452).
1610
093a1710 1611Here's a more complete example demonstrating various functionality:
8c6f4daa 1612
1613```python
1614import json
8c6f4daa 1615import yt_dlp
8c6f4daa 1616
1617
1618class MyLogger:
1619 def debug(self, msg):
1620 # For compatability with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
1621 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
1622 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
1623 pass
1624 else:
1625 self.info(msg)
1626
1627 def info(self, msg):
1628 pass
1629
1630 def warning(self, msg):
1631 pass
1632
1633 def error(self, msg):
1634 print(msg)
1635
1636
093a1710 1637# ℹ️ See the docstring of yt_dlp.postprocessor.common.PostProcessor
59a7a13e 1638class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
093a1710 1639 # ℹ️ See docstring of yt_dlp.postprocessor.common.PostProcessor.run
8c6f4daa 1640 def run(self, info):
1641 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
1642 return [], info
1643
1644
093a1710 1645# ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in the docstring of yt_dlp.YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1646def my_hook(d):
1647 if d['status'] == 'finished':
1648 print('Done downloading, now converting ...')
1649
1650
093a1710 1651def format_selector(ctx):
1652 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
1653 This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
1654
1655 # formats are already sorted worst to best
1656 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
1657
1658 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
1659 best_video = next(f for f in formats
1660 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
1661
1662 # find compatible audio extension
1663 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
1664 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
1665 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
1666 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
1667
1668 yield {
1669 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
1670 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
1671 'ext': best_video['ext'],
1672 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
1673 # Must be + seperated list of protocols
1674 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
1675 }
1676
1677
1678# ℹ️ See docstring of yt_dlp.YoutubeDL for a description of the options
8c6f4daa 1679ydl_opts = {
093a1710 1680 'format': format_selector,
8c6f4daa 1681 'postprocessors': [{
093a1710 1682 # Embed metadata in video using ffmpeg.
1683 # ℹ️ See yt_dlp.postprocessor.FFmpegMetadataPP for the arguments it accepts
1684 'key': 'FFmpegMetadata',
1685 'add_chapters': True,
1686 'add_metadata': True,
8c6f4daa 1687 }],
1688 'logger': MyLogger(),
1689 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
1690}
1691
59a7a13e 1692
1693# Add custom headers
1694yt_dlp.utils.std_headers.update({'Referer': 'https://www.google.com'})
1695
093a1710 1696# ℹ️ See the public functions in yt_dlp.YoutubeDL for for other available functions.
1697# Eg: "ydl.download", "ydl.download_with_info_file"
8c6f4daa 1698with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1699 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP())
1700 info = ydl.extract_info('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc')
093a1710 1701
1702 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
8c6f4daa 1703 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1704```
1705
49a57e70 1706**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
1707
8c6f4daa 1708
e167860c 1709# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
1710
1711These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
1712
6ccf351a 1713#### Redundant options
1714While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
f4536226 1715
53c18592 1716 --get-description --print description
1717 --get-duration --print duration_string
1718 --get-filename --print filename
1719 --get-format --print format
1720 --get-id --print id
1721 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
1722 -e, --get-title --print title
1723 -g, --get-url --print urls
2b8a2973 1724 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
8f18aca8 1725 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
1726 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
1727 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
1728 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
6ccf351a 1729
1730
1731#### Not recommended
1732While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
1733
d9aa2332 1734 --all-formats -f all
c32b0aab 1735 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
b7b04c78 1736 --print-json -j --no-simulate
e167860c 1737 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)03d
a439a3a4 1738 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
19b824f6 1739 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
73cd218f 1740 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
52a8a1e1 1741 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
1742 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
53ed7066 1743 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
1744 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
5d3a0e79 1745 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
1746 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
1747 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
1748 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
6ccf351a 1749
1750
1751#### Developer options
1752These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
1753
34488702 1754 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
6ccf351a 1755 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
88acdbc2 1756 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
1757 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
f4536226 1758
1759
1760#### Old aliases
1761These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
1762
1763 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
1764 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
1765 --dump-headers --print-traffic
1766 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
1767 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
1768 --load-info --load-info-json
1769 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
e167860c 1770 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
e167860c 1771 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
1772 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
f4536226 1773 --split-tracks --split-chapters
1774 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
e167860c 1775 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
f4536226 1776 --write-srt --write-subs
e167860c 1777 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
f4536226 1778
7a340e0d
NA		 1779#### Sponskrub Options
1780Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of `--sponsorblock`
1781
1782 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
1783 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
1784 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
1785 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
1786 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
1787 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
1788 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
1789 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
1790
f4536226 1791#### No longer supported
1792These options may no longer work as intended
1793
1794 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
1795 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
1796 -C, --call-home Not implemented
1797 --no-call-home Default
1798 --include-ads No longer supported
1799 --no-include-ads Default
0bb1bc1b 1800 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
1801 --no-write-annotations Default
486fb179 1802
1803#### Removed
1804These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
1805
f4536226 1806 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1807 -t, --title -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1808 -l, --literal -o accepts literal names
1809
8c6f4daa 1810# CONTRIBUTING
1811See [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 1812
c2b5f311 1813# MORE
8c6f4daa 1814For FAQ see the [youtube-dl README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)
fork of https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/