]> jfr.im git - yt-dlp.git/blame - README.md
[build] `make tar' should not follow `DESTDIR` (#4790)
[yt-dlp.git] / README.md
CommitLineData
ec2e44fc 1<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b31fdeed 2<div align="center">
3
e980017a 4[![YT-DLP](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master/.github/banner.svg)](#readme)
d9d045e2 5
ae6a1b95 6[![Release version](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?color=brightgreen&label=Download&style=for-the-badge)](#release-files "Release")
7[![PyPi](https://img.shields.io/badge/-PyPi-blue.svg?logo=pypi&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp "PyPi")
fc5fa964 8[![Donate](https://img.shields.io/badge/_-Donate-red.svg?logo=githubsponsors&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](Collaborators.md#collaborators "Donate")
ae6a1b95 9[![Matrix](https://img.shields.io/matrix/yt-dlp:matrix.org?color=brightgreen&labelColor=555555&label=&logo=element&style=for-the-badge)](https://matrix.to/#/#yt-dlp:matrix.org "Matrix")
10[![Discord](https://img.shields.io/discord/807245652072857610?color=blue&labelColor=555555&label=&logo=discord&style=for-the-badge)](https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r "Discord")
fc5fa964 11[![Supported Sites](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Supported_Sites-brightgreen.svg?style=for-the-badge)](supportedsites.md "Supported Sites")
ae6a1b95 12[![License: Unlicense](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Unlicense-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge)](LICENSE "License")
fc5fa964 13[![CI Status](https://img.shields.io/github/workflow/status/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/Core%20Tests/master?label=Tests&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/actions "CI Status")
fc5fa964 14[![Commits](https://img.shields.io/github/commit-activity/m/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?label=commits&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits "Commit History")
15[![Last Commit](https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master?label=&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits "Commit History")
c76eb41b 16
b31fdeed 17</div>
ec2e44fc 18<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c76eb41b 19
b31fdeed 20yt-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 21
ec2e44fc 22<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "USAGE AND OPTIONS" SECTION HERE -->
23
24<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
034b6215 25* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
53ed7066 26 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
c76eb41b 27* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
17fa3ee2 28 * [Update](#update)
0e5927ee 29 * [Release Files](#release-files)
cf59cd4d 30 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
17fa3ee2 31 * [Compile](#compile)
b31fdeed 32* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
33 * [General Options](#general-options)
50865ca8 34 * [Network Options](#network-options)
b31fdeed 35 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
50865ca8 36 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
37 * [Download Options](#download-options)
38 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
b31fdeed 39 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
50865ca8 40 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
0744a815 41 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
50865ca8 42 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
43 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
44 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
45 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
50865ca8 46 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
7a340e0d 47 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
50865ca8 48 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 49* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
50865ca8 50 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
c76eb41b 51* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 52 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
53 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 54* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 55 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
56 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
57 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
73cd218f 58* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
59 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
5d3a0e79 60* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
f74980cb 61* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
8c6f4daa 62* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
43cc91ad 63 * [Embedding examples](#embedding-examples)
e167860c 64* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
8c6f4daa 65* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
66 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
67 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
c76eb41b 68* [MORE](#more)
ec2e44fc 69<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
50865ca8 70
71
034b6215 72# NEW FEATURES
91f071af 73
48c88e08 74* Merged with **youtube-dl v2021.12.17+ [commit/b0a60ce](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/b0a60ce2032172aeaaf27fe3866ab72768f10cb2)**<!--([exceptions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/21))--> and **youtube-dlc v2020.11.11-3+ [commit/f9401f2](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee)**: You get all the features and patches of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) in addition to the latest [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
034b6215 75
7a340e0d 76* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
034b6215 77
7581d246 78* **[Format Sorting](#sorting-formats)**: The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now preferred instead of simply using larger bitrate. Furthermore, you can now specify the sort order using `-S`. This allows for much easier format selection than what is possible by simply using `--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
034b6215 79
ae6a1b95 80* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--write-comments`, `BiliBiliSearch`, `BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico livestreams are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
29b6000e 81
ae61d108 82* **YouTube improvements**:
83 * Supports Clips, Stories (`ytstories:<channel UCID>`), Search (including filters)**\***, YouTube Music Search, Channel-specific search, Search prefixes (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`)**\***, Mixes, YouTube Music Albums/Channels ([except self-uploaded music](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/723)), and Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`, `:ytnotif`)
84 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326) **\***
85 * Supports some (but not all) age-gated content without cookies
86 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start` (*experimental*)
87 * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from YouTube Music when premium cookies are given
f20f5fe5 88 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
89
f59f5ef8 90* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]`
245524e6 91
5ec1b6b7 92* **Download time range**: Videos can be downloaded partially based on either timestamps or chapters using `--download-sections`
93
597c1866 94* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
95
b31fdeed 96* **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 97
b31fdeed 98* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
f20f5fe5 99
e75bb0d6 100* **New and fixed extractors**: Many new extractors have been added and a lot of existing ones have been fixed. See the [changelog](Changelog.md) or the [list of supported sites](supportedsites.md)
86c1a8aa 101
56ba69e4 102* **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN etc.
fac98805 103
3de7c2ce 104* **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 105
597c1866 106* **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 107
d4ada357 108* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for details
0bc0a322 109
418964fa 110* **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 111
8a82af35 112* **Other new options**: Many new options have been added such as `--alias`, `--print`, `--concat-playlist`, `--wait-for-video`, `--retry-sleep`, `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-on-reject` etc
0bc0a322 113
08d30158 114* **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--format`/`--match-filter`, multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection), merge multi-video/audio, multiple `--config-locations`, `--exec` at different stages, etc
c69911e4 115
86c1a8aa 116* **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
b31fdeed 117
7a5c1cfe 118* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
aa837ddf 119
7a5c1cfe 120See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 121
ae61d108 122Features marked with a **\*** have been back-ported to youtube-dl
123
53ed7066 124### Differences in default behavior
125
0930b11f 126Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
53ed7066 127
96565c7e 128* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
b69fd25c 129* `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
d4ada357 130* yt-dlp stores config files in slightly different locations to youtube-dl. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for a list of correct locations
96565c7e 131* 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 132* The default [format sorting](#sorting-formats) is different from youtube-dl and prefers higher resolution and better codecs rather than higher bitrates. You can use the `--format-sort` option to change this to any order you prefer, or use `--compat-options format-sort` to use youtube-dl's sorting order
e75bb0d6 133* The default format selector is `bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be preferred. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
28b0eb0f 134* 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
08d30158 135* `--no-abort-on-error` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
28b0eb0f 136* When writing metadata files such as thumbnails, description or infojson, the same information (if available) is also written for playlists. Use `--no-write-playlist-metafiles` or `--compat-options no-playlist-metafiles` to not write these files
9222c381 137* `--add-metadata` attaches the `infojson` to `mkv` files in addition to writing the metadata when used with `--write-info-json`. Use `--no-embed-info-json` or `--compat-options no-attach-info-json` to revert this
9e907ebd 138* Some metadata are embedded into different fields when using `--add-metadata` as compared to youtube-dl. Most notably, `comment` field contains the `webpage_url` and `synopsis` contains the `description`. You can [use `--parse-metadata`](#modifying-metadata) to modify this to your liking or use `--compat-options embed-metadata` to revert this
28b0eb0f 139* `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
140* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
b79f9e30 141* Live chats (if available) are considered as subtitles. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent any live chat/danmaku from downloading
64f36541 142* 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. For all other tabs, if the channel does not show the requested tab, an error will be raised. 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 143* Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
1ff88b7a 144* The upload dates extracted from YouTube are in UTC [when available](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/89e4d86171c7b7c997c77d4714542e0383bf0db0/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py#L3898-L3900). Use `--compat-options no-youtube-prefer-utc-upload-date` to prefer the non-UTC upload date.
18e674b4 145* 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 146* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
e4f02757 147* Some private fields such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use `--no-clean-infojson` or `--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
e75bb0d6 148* When `--embed-subs` and `--write-subs` are used together, the subtitles are written to disk and also embedded in the media file. You can use just `--embed-subs` to embed the subs and automatically delete the separate file. See [#630 (comment)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/630#issuecomment-893659460) for more info. `--compat-options no-keep-subs` can be used to revert this
168bbc4f 149* `certifi` will be used for SSL root certificates, if installed. If you want to use system certificates (e.g. self-signed), use `--compat-options no-certifi`
1e4fca9a 150* yt-dlp's sanitization of invalid characters in filenames is different/smarter than in youtube-dl. You can use `--compat-options filename-sanitization` to revert to youtube-dl's behavior
53ed7066 151
152For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
3d3bb168 153
8a82af35 154* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options (Do NOT use)
28b0eb0f 155* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
156* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
53ed7066 157
f20f5fe5 158
d19bb9c0 159# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 160
7bc877a2 161You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
a61f4b28 162
a4211baf 163### Using the release binary
0930b11f 164
fc5fa964 165You can simply download the [correct binary file](#release-files) for your OS
5f326cf5 166
fc5fa964 167<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
168[![Windows](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Windows_x64-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=windows)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)
24146491 169[![Linux](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Linux/BSD-red.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=linux)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)
170[![MacOS](https://img.shields.io/badge/-MacOS-lightblue.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=apple)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)
fc5fa964 171[![Source Tarball](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Source_tar-green.svg?style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
172[![Other variants](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Other-grey.svg?style=for-the-badge)](#release-files)
3d3bb168 173[![All versions](https://img.shields.io/badge/-All_Versions-lightgrey.svg?style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases)
fc5fa964 174<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
175
176Note: The manpages, shell completion files etc. are available in the [source tarball](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
177
178<!-- TODO: Move to Wiki -->
0930b11f 179In UNIX-like OSes (MacOS, Linux, BSD), you can also install the same in one of the following ways:
5ba4a0b6
A
180
181```
182sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
183sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
184```
185
186```
187sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
188sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
189```
190
191```
b69fd25c 192sudo aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp --dir /usr/local/bin -o yt-dlp
5ba4a0b6
A
193sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
194```
195
0930b11f 196
a4211baf 197### With [PIP](https://pypi.org/project/pip)
0930b11f 198
199You can install the [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) with:
200```
201python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp
202```
203
86c1a8aa 204You can install without any of the optional dependencies using:
0930b11f 205```
206python3 -m pip install --no-deps -U yt-dlp
207```
208
86c1a8aa 209If you want to be on the cutting edge, you can also install the master branch with:
0930b11f 210```
ae6a1b95 211python3 -m pip install --force-reinstall https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/archive/master.tar.gz
0930b11f 212```
213
8aa0e7cd 214On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
0930b11f 215
fc5fa964 216<!-- TODO: Add to Wiki, Remove Taps -->
a4211baf 217### With [Homebrew](https://brew.sh)
0930b11f 218
219macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew can also install it by:
b8773e63
THD
220
221```
222brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp
223```
224
a4211baf 225## UPDATE
0930b11f 226You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are [using the provided release](#using-the-release-binary)
227
228If you [installed with pip](#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
229
230If you [installed using Homebrew](#with-homebrew), run `brew upgrade yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
cf59cd4d 231
ec2e44fc 232<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
a4211baf 233## RELEASE FILES
0e5927ee 234
733d8e8f 235#### Recommended
236
237File|Description
238:---|:---
962ffcf8 239[yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independent [zipimport](https://docs.python.org/3/library/zipimport.html) binary. Needs Python (recommended for **Linux/BSD**)
0930b11f 240[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**)
f2df4071 241[yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|Universal MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable (recommended for **MacOS**)
733d8e8f 242
243#### Alternatives
244
0e5927ee
R
245File|Description
246:---|:---
0930b11f 247[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
8aa0e7cd 248[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/> ([Not recommended](#standalone-py2exe-builds-windows))
f2df4071 249[yt-dlp_linux](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux)|Linux standalone x64 binary
250[yt-dlp_linux.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux.zip)|Unpackaged Linux executable (no auto-update)
0930b11f 251[yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
252[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)
6d916fe7 253[yt-dlp_macos_legacy](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos_legacy)|MacOS (10.9+) standalone x64 executable
733d8e8f 254
255#### Misc
256
257File|Description
258:---|:---
0e5927ee
R
259[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
260[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
261[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
ec2e44fc 262<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
0e5927ee 263
a4211baf 264## DEPENDENCIES
eff42759 265Python versions 3.7+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
b31fdeed 266
c9652aa4 267<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
268<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
cf59cd4d 269On 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 270-->
fac98805 271
e75bb0d6 272While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
ec2e44fc 273
8aa0e7cd 274### Strongly recommended
275
b69fd25c 276* [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for [merging separate video and audio files](#format-selection) as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. License [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
8aa0e7cd 277
278 <!-- TODO: ffmpeg has merged this patch. Remove this note once there is new release -->
279 **Note**: There are some regressions in newer ffmpeg versions that causes various issues when used alongside yt-dlp. Since ffmpeg is such an important dependency, we provide [custom builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#ffmpeg-static-auto-builds) with patches for these issues at [yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds). See [the readme](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#patches-applied) for details on the specific issues solved by these builds
280
281### Networking
d5820461 282* [**certifi**](https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi)\* - Provides Mozilla's root certificate bundle. Licensed under [MPLv2](https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi/blob/master/LICENSE)
8aa0e7cd 283* [**brotli**](https://github.com/google/brotli)\* or [**brotlicffi**](https://github.com/python-hyper/brotlicffi) - [Brotli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotli) content encoding support. Both licensed under MIT <sup>[1](https://github.com/google/brotli/blob/master/LICENSE) [2](https://github.com/python-hyper/brotlicffi/blob/master/LICENSE) </sup>
284* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets)\* - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
285
286### Metadata
287
288* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen)\* - For `--embed-thumbnail` in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
289* [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For `--embed-thumbnail` in `mp4`/`m4a` files when `mutagen`/`ffmpeg` cannot. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
290* [**xattr**](https://github.com/xattr/xattr), [**pyxattr**](https://github.com/iustin/pyxattr) or [**setfattr**](http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/attr) - For writing xattr metadata (`--xattr`) on **Linux**. Licensed under [MIT](https://github.com/xattr/xattr/blob/master/LICENSE.txt), [LGPL2.1](https://github.com/iustin/pyxattr/blob/master/COPYING) and [GPLv2+](http://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/attr.git/tree/doc/COPYING) respectively
291
292### Misc
293
294* [**pycryptodomex**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome)\* - For decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data. Licensed under [BSD-2-Clause](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
5d0aeac0 295* [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
8aa0e7cd 296* [**secretstorage**](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage) - For `--cookies-from-browser` to access the **Gnome** keyring while decrypting cookies of **Chromium**-based browsers on **Linux**. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage/blob/master/LICENSE)
cf59cd4d 297* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
b31fdeed 298
8aa0e7cd 299#### Deprecated
300
301* [**avconv** and **avprobe**](https://www.libav.org) - Now **deprecated** alternative to ffmpeg. License [depends on the build](https://libav.org/legal)
302* [**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)
998a3cae 303* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
304* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp`/`mms` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
8aa0e7cd 305
cf59cd4d 306To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
307
f2df4071 308The standalone release binaries are built with the Python interpreter and the packages marked with **\*** included.
d710cc6d 309
8aa0e7cd 310If you do not have the necessary dependencies for a task you are attempting, yt-dlp will warn you. All the currently available dependencies are visible at the top of the `--verbose` output
d710cc6d 311
5f326cf5 312
a4211baf 313## COMPILE
5f326cf5 314
8aa0e7cd 315### Standalone PyInstaller Builds
115add43 316To build the standalone executable, you must have Python and `pyinstaller` (plus any of yt-dlp's [optional dependencies](#dependencies) if needed). Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, simply run `pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (x86/ARM, 32/64 bit) as the Python used.
e38df8f9 317
8aa0e7cd 318 python3 -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
319 python3 devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
320 python3 pyinst.py
321
322On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`.
323
324Note 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.
325
326**Important**: Running `pyinstaller` directly **without** using `pyinst.py` is **not** officially supported. This may or may not work correctly.
7581d246 327
8aa0e7cd 328### Platform-independent Binary (UNIX)
329You will need the build tools `python` (3.6+), `zip`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`\* and `pytest`\*.
b96a939b 330
8aa0e7cd 331After installing these, simply run `make`.
5f326cf5 332
a831c2ea 333You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files. (The build tools marked with **\*** are not needed for this)
d19bb9c0 334
8aa0e7cd 335### Standalone Py2Exe Builds (Windows)
336
337While we provide the option to build with [py2exe](https://www.py2exe.org), it is recommended to build [using PyInstaller](#standalone-pyinstaller-builds) instead since the py2exe builds **cannot contain `pycryptodomex`/`certifi` and needs VC++14** on the target computer to run.
338
339If you wish to build it anyway, install Python and py2exe, and then simply run `setup.py py2exe`
340
341 py -m pip install -U py2exe -r requirements.txt
342 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
343 py setup.py py2exe
344
345### Related scripts
346
70b23409 347* **`devscripts/update-version.py [revision]`** - Update the version number based on current date
348* **`devscripts/set-variant.py variant [-M update_message]`** - Set the build variant of the executable
8aa0e7cd 349* **`devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py`** - Create lazy extractors. Running this before building the binaries (any variant) will improve their startup performance. Set the environment variable `YTDLP_NO_LAZY_EXTRACTORS=1` if you wish to forcefully disable lazy extractor loading.
350
351You can also fork the project on github and run your fork's [build workflow](.github/workflows/build.yml) to automatically build a full release
59a7a13e 352
b31fdeed 353# USAGE AND OPTIONS
6bcd846b 354
ec2e44fc 355<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
7a5c1cfe 356 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 357
c2b5f311 358`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
ec2e44fc 359<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c2b5f311 360
ec2e44fc 361<!-- Auto generated -->
c76eb41b 362## General Options:
2dd5a2e3 363 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
364 --version Print program version and exit
70b23409 365 -U, --update Update this program to the latest version
366 --no-update Do not check for updates (default)
2dd5a2e3 367 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
368 The download will be considered successful
369 even if the postprocessing fails
370 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download errors;
371 e.g. to skip unavailable videos in a
372 playlist (default)
373 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
374 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
375 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
376 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
377 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
378 extractors and exit
2516cafb 379 --use-extractors NAMES Extractor names to use separated by commas.
fe7866d0 380 You can also use regexes, "all", "default"
381 and "end" (end URL matching); e.g. --ies
382 "holodex.*,end,youtube". Prefix the name
383 with a "-" to exclude it, e.g. --ies
384 default,-generic. Use --list-extractors for
2516cafb 385 a list of extractor names. (Alias: --ies)
62b58c09 386 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 387 "gvsearch2:python" downloads two videos from
388 google videos for the search term "python".
389 Use the value "auto" to let yt-dlp guess
390 ("auto_warning" to emit a warning when
391 guessing). "error" just throws an error. The
392 default value "fixup_error" repairs broken
393 URLs, but emits an error if this is not
394 possible instead of searching
395 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
396 except those given by --config-locations.
397 For backward compatibility, if this option
398 is found inside the system configuration
399 file, the user configuration is not loaded.
400 (Alias: --no-config)
401 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
402 (default). When given inside a configuration
403 file, ignore all previous --config-locations
404 defined in the current file
405 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
406 either the path to the config or its
6b9e832d 407 containing directory ("-" for stdin). Can be
408 used multiple times and inside other
409 configuration files
2dd5a2e3 410 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
411 only list them
412 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
413 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
414 Currently only supported for YouTube
415 (Experimental)
416 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
417 (default)
418 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
419 available. Pass the minimum number of
420 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
421 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
422 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate)
423 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
f2df4071 424 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output (Alias:
425 --no-colours)
2dd5a2e3 426 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
427 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
428 configurations by reverting some of the
429 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
430 default behavior" for details
431 --alias ALIASES OPTIONS Create aliases for an option string. Unless
432 an alias starts with a dash "-", it is
433 prefixed with "--". Arguments are parsed
434 according to the Python string formatting
62b58c09 435 mini-language. E.g. --alias get-audio,-X
2dd5a2e3 436 "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}"
437 creates options "--get-audio" and "-X" that
438 takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to
439 "-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0".
440 All defined aliases are listed in the --help
441 output. Alias options can trigger more
962ffcf8 442 aliases; so be careful to avoid defining
2dd5a2e3 443 recursive options. As a safety measure, each
444 alias may be triggered a maximum of 100
64fa820c 445 times. This option can be used multiple times
08c1d0d3 446
149f05c7 447## Network Options:
2dd5a2e3 448 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy. To
62b58c09
L
449 enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper scheme,
450 e.g. socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/.
451 Pass in an empty string (--proxy "") for
452 direct connection
2dd5a2e3 453 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
454 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
455 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
456 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
8c6c88c7 457
b31fdeed 458## Geo-restriction:
2dd5a2e3 459 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
460 some geo-restricted sites. The default proxy
461 specified by --proxy (or none, if the option
462 is not present) is used for the actual
463 downloading
464 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
465 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header (default)
466 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
467 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
468 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
469 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
470 country code
471 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
64fa820c 472 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR notation
149f05c7 473
cfcec693 474## Video Selection:
962ffcf8 475 -I, --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Comma separated playlist_index of the videos
7e88d7d7 476 to download. You can specify a range using
477 "[START]:[STOP][:STEP]". For backward
478 compatibility, START-STOP is also supported.
479 Use negative indices to count from the right
480 and negative STEP to download in reverse
62b58c09 481 order. E.g. "-I 1:3,7,-5::2" used on a
7e88d7d7 482 playlist of size 15 will download the videos
483 at index 1,2,3,7,11,13,15
62b58c09
L
484 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
485 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
486 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE,
487 e.g. 50k or 44.6M
2dd5a2e3 488 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
489 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
490 [now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]].
62b58c09 491 E.g. --date today-2weeks
2dd5a2e3 492 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
493 this date. The date formats accepted is the
494 same as --date
495 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
496 this date. The date formats accepted is the
497 same as --date
498 --match-filters FILTER Generic video filter. Any "OUTPUT TEMPLATE"
499 field can be compared with a number or a
500 string using the operators defined in
d4ada357 501 "Filtering Formats". You can also simply
2dd5a2e3 502 specify a field to match if the field is
503 present, use "!field" to check if the field
504 is not present, and "&" to check multiple
505 conditions. Use a "\" to escape "&" or
506 quotes if needed. If used multiple times,
507 the filter matches if atleast one of the
62b58c09 508 conditions are met. E.g. --match-filter
2dd5a2e3 509 !is_live --match-filter "like_count>?100 &
510 description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'" matches
511 only videos that are not live OR those that
512 have a like count more than 100 (or the like
513 field is not available) and also has a
514 description that contains the phrase "cats &
515 dogs" (caseless). Use "--match-filter -" to
516 interactively ask whether to download each
517 video
518 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
519 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
520 to a video and a playlist
521 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
522 a video and a playlist
523 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
524 age
525 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
526 archive file. Record the IDs of all
527 downloaded videos in it
528 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
529 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
530 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
531 a file that is in the archive
532 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
533 a file that has been filtered out
fd404bec 534 --break-per-input Make --break-on-existing, --break-on-reject,
535 --max-downloads and autonumber reset per
2dd5a2e3 536 input URL
537 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and similar options
538 terminates the entire download queue
539 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest of
540 the playlist is skipped
6bcd846b 541
d5a62e4f 542## Download Options:
2dd5a2e3 543 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
544 video that should be downloaded concurrently
545 (default is 1)
62b58c09
L
546 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
547 e.g. 50K or 4.2M
2dd5a2e3 548 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
549 below which throttling is assumed and the
62b58c09 550 video data is re-extracted, e.g. 100K
2dd5a2e3 551 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
552 "infinite"
553 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
554 error (default is 3), or "infinite"
555 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default is
556 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and ISM)
be5c1ae8 557 --retry-sleep [TYPE:]EXPR Time to sleep between retries in seconds
558 (optionally) prefixed by the type of retry
559 (http (default), fragment, file_access,
560 extractor) to apply the sleep to. EXPR can
561 be a number, linear=START[:END[:STEP=1]] or
562 exp=START[:END[:BASE=2]]. This option can be
563 used multiple times to set the sleep for the
62b58c09 564 different retry types, e.g. --retry-sleep
2dd5a2e3 565 linear=1::2 --retry-sleep fragment:exp=1:20
566 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
567 hlsnative and ISM downloads (default)
568 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
569 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment
570 Abort download if a fragment is unavailable
571 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
572 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
573 downloading is finished
574 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
575 downloading is finished (default)
62b58c09 576 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer, e.g. 1024 or 16K
2dd5a2e3 577 (default is 1024)
578 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
579 from an initial value of --buffer-size
580 (default)
581 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
582 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
62b58c09 583 downloading, e.g. 10485760 or 10M (default
2dd5a2e3 584 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
585 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
586 (experimental)
2dd5a2e3 587 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
7e9a6125 588 --lazy-playlist Process entries in the playlist as they are
589 received. This disables n_entries,
590 --playlist-random and --playlist-reverse
591 --no-lazy-playlist Process videos in the playlist only after
592 the entire playlist is parsed (default)
2dd5a2e3 593 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
594 expected file size
595 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
596 allowing some players to play the video
597 while downloading, and reducing the chance
598 of file corruption if download is
599 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
600 live streams
601 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
602 videos. This is default when not downloading
603 live streams
5ec1b6b7 604 --download-sections REGEX Download only chapters whose title matches
605 the given regular expression. Time ranges
606 prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
607 of chapters to download the specified range.
62b58c09
L
608 Needs ffmpeg. This option can be used
609 multiple times to download multiple
610 sections, e.g. --download-sections
611 "*10:15-15:00" --download-sections "intro"
2dd5a2e3 612 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
613 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
614 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
615 use it for. Currently supports native,
616 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
617 wget. You can use this option multiple times
618 to set different downloaders for different
62b58c09 619 protocols. E.g. --downloader aria2c
2dd5a2e3 620 --downloader "dash,m3u8:native" will use
621 aria2c for http/ftp downloads, and the
622 native downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
623 (Alias: --external-downloader)
624 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
625 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
626 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
627 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to different
628 positions using the same syntax as
629 --postprocessor-args. You can use this
630 option multiple times to give different
631 arguments to different downloaders (Alias:
632 --external-downloader-args)
d5a62e4f 633
cfcec693 634## Filesystem Options:
2dd5a2e3 635 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
636 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
637 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
638 comments and ignored
639 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
640 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
641 downloaded. Specify the type of file and the
642 path separated by a colon ":". All the same
643 TYPES as --output are supported.
644 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
645 (default) and "temp" paths. All intermediary
646 files are first downloaded to the temp path
647 and then the final files are moved over to
648 the home path after download is finished.
649 This option is ignored if --output is an
650 absolute path
651 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
652 TEMPLATE" for details
653 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder for unavailable fields in
654 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" (default: "NA")
655 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters,
656 and avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
657 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
658 filenames (default)
659 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
660 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
661 using Windows (default)
662 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
663 extension) to the specified number of
664 characters
665 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
666 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files. This
667 option includes --no-continue
668 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
669 related files (default)
670 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
671 (default)
672 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
673 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
674 restart download of the entire file
675 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
676 into output file (default)
677 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly into
678 output file
679 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the file
680 modification time (default)
681 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
682 the file modification time
64fa820c 683 --write-description Write video description to a .description file
2dd5a2e3 684 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
685 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
686 (this may contain personal information)
687 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
688 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
689 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
690 --write-description etc. (default)
691 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
692 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
693 --clean-info-json Remove some private fields such as filenames
694 from the infojson. Note that it could still
695 contain some personal information (default)
696 --no-clean-info-json Write all fields to the infojson
697 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
698 infojson. The comments are fetched even
699 without this option if the extraction is
700 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
701 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
702 extraction is known to be quick (Alias:
703 --no-get-comments)
704 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
64fa820c 705 (created with the "--write-info-json" option)
2dd5a2e3 706 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies from
707 and dump cookie jar in
708 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
709 (default)
825d3ce3 710 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]
711 The name of the browser to load cookies
712 from. Currently supported browsers are:
713 brave, chrome, chromium, edge, firefox,
714 opera, safari, vivaldi. Optionally, the
715 KEYRING used for decrypting Chromium cookies
716 on Linux, the name/path of the PROFILE to
717 load cookies from, and the CONTAINER name
718 (if Firefox) ("none" for no container) can
719 be given with their respective seperators.
720 By default, all containers of the most
721 recently accessed profile are used.
722 Currently supported keyrings are: basictext,
723 gnomekeyring, kwallet
2dd5a2e3 724 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
725 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
726 can store some downloaded information (such
727 as client ids and signatures) permanently.
728 By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/yt-dlp or
729 ~/.cache/yt-dlp
730 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
731 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 732
b31fdeed 733## Thumbnail Options:
2dd5a2e3 734 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
64fa820c 735 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk (default)
2dd5a2e3 736 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
737 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
738 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
2b1bd292 739
732044af 740## Internet Shortcut Options:
2dd5a2e3 741 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
742 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
743 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
744 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
745 OS caches the URL based on the file path
746 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
747 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
732044af 748
0744a815 749## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
2dd5a2e3 750 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with --verbose,
751 print the log to stderr
752 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
753 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
754 anything to disk
755 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
756 options are used
757 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
758 extracting metadata even if the videos are
759 not actually available for download
760 (experimental)
761 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
762 formats are found (default)
763 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
764 related files (Alias: --no-download)
765 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
766 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
767 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
768 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
769 --use-postprocessor, and "video" (default).
770 Implies --quiet. Implies --simulate unless
771 --no-simulate or later stages of WHEN are
772 used. This option can be used multiple times
bb66c247 773 --print-to-file [WHEN:]TEMPLATE FILE
2dd5a2e3 774 Append given template to the file. The
775 values of WHEN and TEMPLATE are same as that
776 of --print. FILE uses the same syntax as the
777 output template. This option can be used
778 multiple times
779 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
780 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
781 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
782 description of available keys
783 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
784 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
785 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
786 a playlist, the whole playlist information
787 is dumped in a single line
788 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
789 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
790 another simulation option is used (Alias:
791 --force-download-archive)
792 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
793 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
794 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
795 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
819e0531 796 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
2dd5a2e3 797 Template for progress outputs, optionally
798 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
799 "download-title:" (the console title),
800 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
801 The video's fields are accessible under the
802 "info" key and the progress attributes are
62b58c09 803 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 804 --console-title --progress-template
805 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
806 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
807 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
808 to debug problems (very verbose)
809 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to files
810 in the current directory to debug problems
811 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 812
36f35428 813## Workarounds:
2dd5a2e3 814 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
815 --legacy-server-connect Explicitly allow HTTPS connection to servers
816 that do not support RFC 5746 secure
817 renegotiation
818 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
819 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
820 information about the video (Currently
821 supported only for YouTube)
822 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
823 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
824 option multiple times
825 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
826 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
827 or fribidi executable in PATH
828 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
829 during data extraction
830 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
831 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
832 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
833 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
834 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can only
835 be used along with --min-sleep-interval
836 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
837 subtitle download
36f35428 838
cfcec693 839## Video Format Options:
2dd5a2e3 840 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
841 for more details
842 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
843 "Sorting Formats" for more details
844 --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
845 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
846 Formats" for more details (Alias: --S-force)
847 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
848 specified sort order (default)
849 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
850 into a single file
851 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for each
852 output file (default)
853 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
854 into a single file
855 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for each
856 output file (default)
857 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
858 over non-free ones of same quality. Use with
859 "-S ext" to strictly prefer free containers
860 irrespective of quality
861 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
862 containers (default)
863 --check-formats Make sure formats are selected only from
864 those that are actually downloadable
865 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
866 actually downloadable
867 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
868 downloadable
869 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
870 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
fc61aff4 871 --merge-output-format FORMAT Containers that may be used when merging
62b58c09 872 formats, separated by "/", e.g. "mp4/mkv".
fc61aff4
LL
873 Ignored if no merge is required. (currently
874 supported: avi, flv, mkv, mov, mp4, webm)
8ae7be3e
PH
875
876## Subtitle Options:
2dd5a2e3 877 --write-subs Write subtitle file
878 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
879 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
880 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
881 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
882 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
883 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
884 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
885 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format; accepts formats preference,
62b58c09 886 e.g. "srt" or "ass/srt/best"
2dd5a2e3 887 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
62b58c09
L
888 be regex) or "all" separated by commas, e.g.
889 --sub-langs "en.*,ja". You can prefix the
2dd5a2e3 890 language code with a "-" to exclude it from
62b58c09
L
891 the requested languages, e.g. --sub-langs
892 all,-live_chat. Use --list-subs for a list
2dd5a2e3 893 of available language tags
6bcd846b 894
cfcec693 895## Authentication Options:
2dd5a2e3 896 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
897 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
898 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
899 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
900 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
901 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
902 either the path or its containing directory.
903 Defaults to ~/.netrc
904 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
905 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
906 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
907 a list of available MSOs
908 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
909 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
910 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
911 interactively
912 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system operators
913 --client-certificate CERTFILE Path to client certificate file in PEM
914 format. May include the private key
915 --client-certificate-key KEYFILE
916 Path to private key file for client
917 certificate
bb58c9ed 918 --client-certificate-password PASSWORD
2dd5a2e3 919 Password for client certificate private key,
920 if encrypted. If not provided, and the key
921 is encrypted, yt-dlp will ask interactively
f5e008d1 922
c76eb41b 923## Post-Processing Options:
2dd5a2e3 924 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
925 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
35faefee 926 --audio-format FORMAT Format to convert the audio to when -x is
927 used. (currently supported: best (default),
8dc59305 928 aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis,
e0ab9854 929 wav). You can specify multiple rules using
930 similar syntax as --remux-video
2dd5a2e3 931 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality to use when
932 converting the audio with -x. Insert a value
933 between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for VBR or a
934 specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
935 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
8dc59305 936 necessary (currently supported: avi, flv,
937 mkv, mov, mp4, webm, aac, aiff, alac, flac,
938 m4a, mka, mp3, ogg, opus, vorbis, wav). If
2dd5a2e3 939 target container does not support the
940 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
62b58c09 941 can specify multiple rules; e.g.
2dd5a2e3 942 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to m4a,
35faefee 943 mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv
2dd5a2e3 944 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
945 necessary. The syntax and supported formats
946 are the same as --remux-video
947 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
948 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
949 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
950 to give the argument to the specified
951 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
952 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
953 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
954 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
955 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
956 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
957 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
958 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
959 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
960 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
961 specified executable only when being used by
962 the specified postprocessor. Additionally,
963 for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be
964 appended to the prefix optionally followed
965 by a number to pass the argument before the
62b58c09 966 specified input/output file, e.g. --ppa
2dd5a2e3 967 "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
968 this option multiple times to give different
969 arguments to different postprocessors.
970 (Alias: --ppa)
971 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
972 after post-processing
973 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
974 post-processing (default)
975 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
976 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
977 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
978 webm and mkv videos)
979 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
980 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
981 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
982 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
983 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
984 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json are
985 used (Alias: --add-metadata)
986 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
987 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
988 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
989 (Alias: --add-chapters)
990 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default) (Alias:
991 --no-add-chapters)
992 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
993 mkv/mka video files
994 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
995 to the video file
996 --parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
997 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
998 for details
e9f4ccd1 999 --replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
2dd5a2e3 1000 Replace text in a metadata field using the
1001 given regex. This option can be used
1002 multiple times
1003 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
1004 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
1005 --concat-playlist POLICY Concatenate videos in a playlist. One of
1006 "never", "always", or "multi_video"
1007 (default; only when the videos form a single
1008 show). All the video files must have same
1009 codecs and number of streams to be
1010 concatable. The "pl_video:" prefix can be
1011 used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1012 the output filename for the concatenated
1013 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
1014 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
1015 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
1016 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
1017 default; fix file if we can, warn
1018 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
1019 already exists)
1020 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
64fa820c 1021 path to the binary or its containing directory
2dd5a2e3 1022 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
1023 when to execute it (after_move if
1024 unspecified), separated by a ":". Supported
1025 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
1026 --use-postprocessor. Same syntax as the
1027 output template can be used to pass any
1028 field as arguments to the command. After
1029 download, an additional field "filepath"
1030 that contains the final path of the
1031 downloaded file is also available, and if no
1032 fields are passed, %(filepath)q is appended
1033 to the end of the command. This option can
1034 be used multiple times
1035 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
1036 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
8dc59305 1037 (currently supported: ass, lrc, srt, vtt)
2dd5a2e3 1038 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
1039 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
00bbc5f1 1040 (currently supported: jpg, png, webp). You
1041 can specify multiple rules using similar
1042 syntax as --remux-video
2dd5a2e3 1043 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
1044 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix can
1045 be used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1046 the output filename for the split files. See
1047 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
64fa820c 1048 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters (default)
2dd5a2e3 1049 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
5ec1b6b7 1050 given regular expression. The syntax is the
1051 same as --download-sections. This option can
2dd5a2e3 1052 be used multiple times
1053 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
1054 (default)
5ec1b6b7 1055 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes at cuts when
1056 downloading/splitting/removing sections.
1057 This is slow due to needing a re-encode, but
1058 the resulting video may have fewer artifacts
1059 around the cuts
2dd5a2e3 1060 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
1061 when cutting/splitting (default)
1062 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS]
1063 The (case sensitive) name of plugin
1064 postprocessors to be enabled, and
1065 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
1066 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
1067 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
1068 The "when" argument determines when the
1069 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
1070 "pre_process" (after video extraction),
1071 "after_filter" (after video passes filter),
1072 "before_dl" (before each video download),
1073 "post_process" (after each video download;
1074 default), "after_move" (after moving video
1075 file to it's final locations), "after_video"
1076 (after downloading and processing all
1077 formats of a video), or "playlist" (at end
1078 of playlist). This option can be used
64fa820c 1079 multiple times to add different postprocessors
7a340e0d
NA
1080
1081## SponsorBlock Options:
1082Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
1083 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
8a51f564 1084 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
1085
2dd5a2e3 1086 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
1087 for, separated by commas. Available
1088 categories are sponsor, intro, outro,
1089 selfpromo, preview, filler, interaction,
1090 music_offtopic, poi_highlight, all and
1091 default (=all). You can prefix the category
1092 with a "-" to exclude it. See [1] for
62b58c09 1093 description of the categories. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 1094 --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
1095 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
1096 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
1097 the video file, separated by commas. If a
1098 category is present in both mark and remove,
1099 remove takes precedence. The syntax and
1100 available categories are the same as for
1101 --sponsorblock-mark except that "default"
1102 refers to "all,-filler" and poi_highlight is
1103 not available
7a340e0d 1104 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
2dd5a2e3 1105 An output template for the title of the
1106 SponsorBlock chapters created by
1107 --sponsorblock-mark. The only available
1108 fields are start_time, end_time, category,
1109 categories, name, category_names. Defaults
1110 to "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
1111 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
1112 --sponsorblock-remove
1113 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
1114 https://sponsor.ajay.app
a9e7f546 1115
78895bd3 1116## Extractor Options:
2dd5a2e3 1117 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor errors
1118 (default is 3), or "infinite"
1119 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
1120 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1121 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1122 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
1123 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1124 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1125 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1126 formats at discontinuities such as ad breaks
1127 (default)
1128 --extractor-args KEY:ARGS Pass these arguments to the extractor. See
1129 "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You can
1130 use this option multiple times to give
1131 arguments for different extractors
17cb02d0 1132
b7770046
U
1133# CONFIGURATION
1134
7a5c1cfe 1135You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
e2e43aea 1136
0202b52a 11371. **Main Configuration**: The file given by `--config-location`
7a5c1cfe 11381. **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.
88f23a18 11391. **Home Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
e2e43aea 11401. **User Configuration**:
1141 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1142 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
1143 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1144 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1145 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1146 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
3d3bb168 1147
ec2e44fc 1148 `%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%`
3d3bb168 1149
07cce701 11501. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
b7770046 1151
62b58c09 1152E.g. 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
1153```
1154# Lines starting with # are comments
1155
1156# Always extract audio
1157-x
1158
1159# Do not copy the mtime
1160--no-mtime
1161
1162# Use this proxy
1163--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1164
298f597b 1165# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1166-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
b7770046
U
1167```
1168
e2e43aea 1169Note 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 1170
a4211baf 1171You 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 1172
88f60feb 1173### Config file encoding
a904a7f8 1174
88f60feb 1175The config files are decoded according to the UTF BOM if present, and in the encoding from system locale otherwise.
a904a7f8 1176
88f60feb 1177If you want your file to be decoded differently, add `# coding: ENCODING` to the beginning of the file (e.g. `# coding: shift-jis`). There must be no characters before that, even spaces or BOM.
a904a7f8 1178
b7770046
U
1179### Authentication with `.netrc` file
1180
0001fcb5 1181You 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
1182```
1183touch $HOME/.netrc
1184chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
1185```
1186After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1187```
0001fcb5 1188machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
b7770046 1189```
62b58c09 1190E.g.
b7770046
U
1191```
1192machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1193machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1194```
7a5c1cfe 1195To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
b7770046 1196
0001fcb5 1197The default location of the .netrc file is `$HOME` (`~`) in UNIX. On Windows, it is `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
b7770046
U
1198
1199# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1200
0202b52a 1201The `-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 1202
ec2e44fc 1203<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1204**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
ec2e44fc 1205<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1206
e58c22a0 1207The 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 1208
62b58c09 1209It 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), e.g. `%(NAME)s` or `%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations.
a439a3a4 1210
1211The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
3d3bb168 1212
62b58c09 12131. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using `:`. E.g. `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. `%()s` refers to the entire infodict. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
ec2e44fc 1214
62b58c09 12151. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. E.g. `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
ec2e44fc 1216
62b58c09 12171. **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 `>`. E.g. `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
ec2e44fc 1218
62b58c09 12191. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. E.g. `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1220
e978789f
P
12211. **Replacement**: A replacement value can specified using a `&` separator. If the field is *not* empty, this replacement value will be used instead of the actual field content. This is done after alternate fields are considered; thus the replacement is used if *any* of the alternative fields is *not* empty.
1222
62b58c09 12231. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` separator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. E.g. `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1224
62b58c09 12251. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, yt-dlp additionally supports converting to `B` = **B**ytes, `j` = **j**son (flag `#` for pretty-printing), `h` = HTML escaping, `l` = a comma separated **l**ist (flag `#` for `\n` newline-separated), `q` = a string **q**uoted for the terminal (flag `#` to split a list into different arguments), `D` = add **D**ecimal suffixes (e.g. 10M) (flag `#` to use 1024 as factor), and `S` = **S**anitize as filename (flag `#` for restricted)
ec2e44fc 1226
62b58c09 12271. **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. E.g. `%(title)+.100U` is NFKC
a439a3a4 1228
1229To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1230```
e978789f 1231%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
a439a3a4 1232```
de6000d9 1233
62b58c09 1234Additionally, 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`, `pl_video`. E.g. `-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 is empty, that type of file will not be written. E.g. `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
e29663c6 1235
1236The available fields are:
b7770046
U
1237
1238 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1239 - `title` (string): Video title
455a15e2 1240 - `fulltitle` (string): Video title ignoring live timestamp and generic title
b7770046
U
1241 - `url` (string): Video URL
1242 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1243 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
597c1866 1244 - `description` (string): The description of the video
b7770046
U
1245 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1246 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1247 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1248 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
b7770046 1249 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
ae6a1b95 1250 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date in UTC (YYYYMMDD)
e6f21b3d 1251 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
ae6a1b95 1252 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released in UTC
f0d785d3 1253 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
ae6a1b95 1254 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified in UTC
b7770046
U
1255 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1256 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1257 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
6c73052c 1258 - `channel_follower_count` (numeric): Number of followers of the channel
b7770046
U
1259 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1260 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
53c18592 1261 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
b7770046
U
1262 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1263 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1264 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1265 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1266 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
277d6ff5 1267 - `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 1268 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
e325a21a 1269 - `live_status` (string): One of "not_live", "is_live", "is_upcoming", "was_live", "post_live" (was live, but VOD is not yet processed)
b7770046 1270 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
f76ede8e 1271 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
6cfda058 1272 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
940a67a3 1273 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
b7770046
U
1274 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1275 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
29b6000e 1276 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
b7770046
U
1277 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
1278 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
1279 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
1280 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
1281 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
1282 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1283 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1284 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
1285 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1286 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1287 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
176f1866 1288 - `dynamic_range` (string): The dynamic range of the video
b8ed0f15 1289 - `audio_channels` (numeric): The number of audio channels
8aa0e7cd 1290 - `stretched_ratio` (float): `width:height` of the video's pixels, if not square
b7770046
U
1291 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
1292 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
1293 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
1294 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
1295 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
1296 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1297 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
455a15e2 1298 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch of when the information extraction was completed
b7770046 1299 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
9c906919 1300 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
e6f21b3d 1301 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
455a15e2 1302 - `playlist_id` (string): Identifier of the playlist that contains the video
1303 - `playlist_title` (string): Name of the playlist that contains the video
1304 - `playlist` (string): `playlist_id` or `playlist_title`
f0d785d3 1305 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
e6f21b3d 1306 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1307 - `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
1308 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1309 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
bd99f6e6 1310 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
0bb322b9 1311 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1312 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
bd99f6e6 1313 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
b7770046
U
1314
1315Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1316
1317 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1318 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1319 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1320
1321Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1322
1323 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1324 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1325 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1326 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1327 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1328 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1329 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1330
1331Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1332
1333 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1334 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1335 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1336 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1337 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1338 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1339 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1340 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1341 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1342 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1343
5ec1b6b7 1344Available only when using `--download-sections` and for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
72755351 1345
1346 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1347 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1348 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1349 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1350
53c18592 1351Available only when used in `--print`:
1352
1353 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1354 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the actual filename may be different due to post-processing. Use `--exec echo` to get the name after all postprocessing is complete
ed5835b4 1355 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1356 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1357 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1358 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1359
7a340e0d
NA
1360
1361Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1362
1363 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1364 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1365 - `categories` (list): The SponsorBlock categories the chapter belongs to
1366 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1367 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1368 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
53c18592 1369
62b58c09 1370Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. E.g. 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.
49a57e70 1371
1372Note 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 1373
0930b11f 1374**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
b7770046 1375
62b58c09 1376For numeric sequences you can use [numeric related formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting); e.g. `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
b7770046 1377
940a67a3 1378Output 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.
b7770046
U
1379
1380To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1381
91ebc640 1382The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
b7770046 1383
f304da8a 1384In some cases, you don't want special characters such as 中, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the `--restrict-filenames` flag to get a shorter title.
b7770046 1385
ec2e44fc 1386<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046
U
1387#### Output template and Windows batch files
1388
1389If you are using an output template inside a Windows batch file then you must escape plain percent characters (`%`) by doubling, so that `-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"` should become `-o "%%(title)s-%%(id)s.%%(ext)s"`. However you should not touch `%`'s that are not plain characters, e.g. environment variables for expansion should stay intact: `-o "C:\%HOMEPATH%\Desktop\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"`.
ec2e44fc 1390<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046
U
1391
1392#### Output template examples
1393
b7770046 1394```bash
940a67a3 1395$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1396test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1397
940a67a3 1398$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1399youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
b7770046 1400
940a67a3 1401$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
9222c381 1402youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
b7770046
U
1403
1404# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
940a67a3 1405$ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
b7770046 1406
b050d210 1407# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
940a67a3 1408$ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
e29663c6 1409
e978789f 1410# Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
6a34813a 1411$ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist_index|)s%(playlist_index& - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
e978789f 1412
b7770046 1413# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
940a67a3 1414$ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
b7770046
U
1415
1416# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
940a67a3 1417$ 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
1418
1419# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
940a67a3 1420$ 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 1421
6a34813a 1422# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1423# and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1424$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1425
1426# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1427$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "subtitle:%(uploader)s/subs/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --write-subs
1428
b7770046 1429# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
7a5c1cfe 1430$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
b7770046
U
1431```
1432
1433# FORMAT SELECTION
1434
7a5c1cfe
P
1435By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1436This 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 1437
c111cefa 1438**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.
1439
eff63539 1440The 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 1441
ec2e44fc 1442<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1443**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
ec2e44fc 1444<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1445
62b58c09 1446The simplest case is requesting a specific format; e.g. 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
1447
1448You 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.
1449
fa9f30b8 1450You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1451
b7770046
U
1452You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1453
59a7a13e 1454 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1455 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
30389593 1456 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio or both (ie; `vcodec!=none or acodec!=none`)
59a7a13e 1457 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1458 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1459 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1460 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
ae6a1b95 1461 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that **contains audio**. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]` ([Do not use!](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/979#issuecomment-919629354))
59a7a13e 1462 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
909d24dd 1463 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1464 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 1465 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1466 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 1467 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
b7770046 1468
d4ada357 1469For 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 `-S +size` or more rigorously, `-S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
eff63539 1470
1471You 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 1472
62b58c09 1473If 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; e.g. `-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
1474
1475If 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`.
1476
62b58c09 1477You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg installed); e.g. `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg.
d806c9fd 1478
1479**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
1480
62b58c09 1481Unless `--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. E.g. `-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 1482
1483## Filtering Formats
1484
b7770046
U
1485You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1486
1487The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1488
1489 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1490 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1491 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1492 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1493 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1494 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1495 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1496 - `fps`: Frame rate
1497
1ce9a3cb 1498Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains), `~=` (matches regex) and following string meta fields:
b7770046
U
1499
1500 - `ext`: File extension
1501 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1502 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1503 - `container`: Name of the container format
1504 - `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`)
1505 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
29f7c58a 1506 - `language`: Language code
b7770046 1507
1ce9a3cb 1508Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain). The comparand of a string comparison needs to be quoted with either double or single quotes if it contains spaces or special characters other than `._-`.
b7770046 1509
e58c22a0 1510Note 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 1511
62b58c09 1512Formats 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, e.g. `-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
b7770046 1513
62b58c09 1514Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses; e.g. `-f "(mp4,webm)[height<480]"` will download the best pre-merged mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480.
b7770046 1515
eb8a4433 1516## Sorting Formats
1517
2e7781a9 1518You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1519
1520The available fields are:
eb8a4433 1521
63be1aab 1522 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1523 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
ed8d87f9 1524 - `ie_pref`: The format preference
1525 - `lang`: The language preference
1526 - `quality`: The quality of the format
1527 - `source`: The preference of the source
d80d98e7 1528 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1529 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
1530 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
eb8a4433 1531 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
d80d98e7 1532 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
1533 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
63be1aab 1534 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
0930b11f 1535 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
63be1aab 1536 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1537 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
eb8a4433 1538 - `height`: Height of video
1539 - `width`: Width of video
63be1aab 1540 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1541 - `fps`: Framerate of video
49a57e70 1542 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
b8ed0f15 1543 - `channels`: The number of audio channels
63be1aab 1544 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1545 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1546 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1547 - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
1548 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
d806c9fd 1549
1550**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 1551
62b58c09 1552All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. E.g. `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a `:`. E.g. `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. E.g. `+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. E.g. `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
9ee4f0bb 1553
7e798d72 1554The 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,vcodec:vp9.2,channels,acodec,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. The extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
eb8a4433 1555
7e798d72 1556Note that the default has `vcodec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not preferred. Similarly, the default for hdr is `hdr:12`; i.e. dolby vision is not preferred. These choices are made since DV and AV1 formats are not yet fully compatible with most devices. This may be changed in the future as more devices become capable of smoothly playing back these formats.
eb8a4433 1557
e58c22a0 1558If 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 1559
1560**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1561
eb8a4433 1562## Format Selection examples
b7770046 1563
b7770046 1564```bash
e58c22a0 1565# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
909d24dd 1566# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
940a67a3 1567$ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
909d24dd 1568
1569# Download best format that contains video,
1570# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
940a67a3 1571$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
2af884ff 1572
1573# Same as above
7a5c1cfe 1574$ yt-dlp
909d24dd 1575
6fd35a11 1576# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1577# For this case, an output template should be used since
1578# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
940a67a3 1579$ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
909d24dd 1580
f8d4ad9a 1581# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1582# and all audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1583$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
f8d4ad9a 1584
1585# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1586# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1587$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
909d24dd 1588
6fd35a11 1589
1590# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
f8d4ad9a 1591# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
6fd35a11 1592
1593# Download the worst video available (old method)
940a67a3 1594$ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
eb8a4433 1595
1596# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
940a67a3 1597$ yt-dlp -S "+res"
eb8a4433 1598
1599# Download the smallest video available
940a67a3 1600$ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
eb8a4433 1601
1602
909d24dd 1603
eb8a4433 1604# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
940a67a3 1605$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
eb8a4433 1606
1607# Download the best video with the best extension
1608# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
940a67a3 1609$ yt-dlp -S "ext"
eb8a4433 1610
1611
909d24dd 1612
eb8a4433 1613# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1614# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1615$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
b7770046 1616
eb8a4433 1617# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1618# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1619$ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
b7770046 1620
eb8a4433 1621# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1622# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1623# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1624# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
940a67a3 1625$ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
b7770046 1626
b7770046 1627
909d24dd 1628
eb8a4433 1629# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1630# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1631$ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
eb8a4433 1632
1633# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1634# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1635$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
eb8a4433 1636
1637# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
940a67a3 1638$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
eb8a4433 1639
1640
909d24dd 1641
eb8a4433 1642# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1643# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
940a67a3 1644$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1645
1646# Download best video available via the best protocol
1647# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
940a67a3 1648$ yt-dlp -S "proto"
eb8a4433 1649
1650
909d24dd 1651
1ce9a3cb
LF
1652# Download the best video with either h264 or h265 codec,
1653# or the best video if there is no such video
1654$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*[vcodec~='^((he|a)vc|h26[45])']+ba) / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1655
1656# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1657# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1658$ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1659
1660# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1661# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1662$ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1663
1664
1665
1666# More complex examples
1667
e58c22a0 1668# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1669# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
940a67a3 1670$ 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 1671
1672# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
f8d4ad9a 1673# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1674# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
940a67a3 1675$ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
eb8a4433 1676
1677
909d24dd 1678
eb8a4433 1679# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1680# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1681# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
940a67a3 1682$ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
b7770046 1683```
eb8a4433 1684
73cd218f 1685# MODIFYING METADATA
1686
a4211baf 1687The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
e9f4ccd1 1688
418964fa 1689`--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 1690
2e7781a9 1691The 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 1692
1693Note 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`.
1694
9c2b75b5 1695This option also has a few special uses:
3d3bb168 1696
62b58c09 1697* 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. E.g. `--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
3d3bb168 1698
62b58c09 1699* 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 - you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis". To modify the metadata of individual streams, use the `meta<n>_` prefix (e.g. `meta1_language`). Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
c31be5b0 1700
08d30158 1701**Note**: Metadata modification happens before format selection, post-extraction and other post-processing operations. Some fields may be added or changed during these steps, overriding your changes.
1702
c31be5b0 1703For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1704
08d30158 1705Metadata fields | From
1706:--------------------------|:------------------------------------------------
1707`title` | `track` or `title`
1708`date` | `upload_date`
1709`description`, `synopsis` | `description`
1710`purl`, `comment` | `webpage_url`
1711`track` | `track_number`
1712`artist` | `artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1713`genre` | `genre`
1714`album` | `album`
1715`album_artist` | `album_artist`
1716`disc` | `disc_number`
1717`show` | `series`
1718`season_number` | `season_number`
1719`episode_id` | `episode` or `episode_id`
1720`episode_sort` | `episode_number`
1721`language` of each stream | the format's `language`
1722
c31be5b0 1723**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1724
73cd218f 1725
1726## Modifying metadata examples
1727
73cd218f 1728```bash
1729# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
940a67a3 1730$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
73cd218f 1731
1732# Regex example
940a67a3 1733$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
73cd218f 1734
1735# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
940a67a3 1736$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
73cd218f 1737
a44ca5a4 1738# Prioritize uploader as the "artist" field in video metadata
1739$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" --add-metadata
1740
1741# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url,
1742# handling multiple lines correctly
940a67a3 1743$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --add-metadata
73cd218f 1744
8aa0e7cd 1745# Do not set any "synopsis" in the video metadata
1746$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<meta_synopsis>)"
1747
0930b11f 1748# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
940a67a3 1749$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<formats>)" -j
0930b11f 1750
e9f4ccd1 1751# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
940a67a3 1752$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
e9f4ccd1 1753
73cd218f 1754```
1755
5d3a0e79 1756# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1757
62b58c09 1758Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) separated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. E.g. `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=android_embedded,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
5d3a0e79 1759
1760The following extractors use this feature:
96565c7e 1761
1762#### youtube
8aa0e7cd 1763* `skip`: One or more of `hls`, `dash` or `translated_subs` to skip extraction of the m3u8 manifests, dash manifests and [auto-translated subtitles](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/4090#issuecomment-1158102032) respectively
62b58c09 1764* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android` and `ios` with variants `_music`, `_embedded`, `_embedscreen`, `_creator` (e.g. `web_embedded`); and `mweb` and `tv_embedded` (agegate bypass) with no variants. By default, `android,web` is used, but `tv_embedded` and `creator` variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly the music variants are added for `music.youtube.com` urls. You can use `all` to use all the clients, and `default` for the default clients.
96565c7e 1765* `player_skip`: Skip some network requests that are generally needed for robust extraction. One or more of `configs` (skip client configs), `webpage` (skip initial webpage), `js` (skip js player). While these options can help reduce the number of requests needed or avoid some rate-limiting, they could cause some issues. See [#860](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/860) for more details
adbc4ec4 1766* `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats even without `--live-from-start` (These formats don't download properly)
96565c7e 1767* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
a44ca5a4 1768* `max_comments`: Limit the amount of comments to gather. Comma-separated list of integers representing `max-comments,max-parents,max-replies,max-replies-per-thread`. Default is `all,all,all,all`
1769 * E.g. `all,all,1000,10` will get a maximum of 1000 replies total, with up to 10 replies per thread. `1000,all,100` will get a maximum of 1000 comments, with a maximum of 100 replies total
1e4fca9a 1770* `innertube_host`: Innertube API host to use for all API requests; e.g. `studio.youtube.com`, `youtubei.googleapis.com`. Note that cookies exported from one subdomain will not work on others
2ae778b8 1771* `innertube_key`: Innertube API key to use for all API requests
96565c7e 1772
1773#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1774* `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)
a30a6ed3 1775* `approximate_date`: Extract approximate `upload_date` in flat-playlist. This may cause date-based filters to be slightly off
96565c7e 1776
1777#### funimation
62b58c09 1778* `language`: Languages to extract, e.g. `funimation:language=english,japanese`
96565c7e 1779* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1780
a9d4da60 1781#### crunchyroll
62b58c09
L
1782* `language`: Languages to extract, e.g. `crunchyroll:language=jaJp`
1783* `hardsub`: Which hard-sub versions to extract, e.g. `crunchyroll:hardsub=None,enUS`
a9d4da60 1784
ae6a1b95 1785#### crunchyrollbeta
62b58c09
L
1786* `format`: Which stream type(s) to extract (default: `adaptive_hls`). Potentially useful values include `adaptive_hls`, `adaptive_dash`, `vo_adaptive_hls`, `vo_adaptive_dash`, `download_hls`, `download_dash`, `multitrack_adaptive_hls_v2`
1787* `hardsub`: Preference order for which hardsub versions to extract (default: `None` = no hardsubs), e.g. `crunchyrollbeta:hardsub=en-US,None`
706dfe44 1788
96565c7e 1789#### vikichannel
1790* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
73d829c1 1791
7bdcb4a4
LNO
1792#### niconico
1793* `segment_duration`: Segment duration in milliseconds for HLS-DMC formats. Use it at your own risk since this feature **may result in your account termination.**
1794
aa4b0545 1795#### youtubewebarchive
1796* `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1797
d43de682
M
1798#### gamejolt
1799* `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1800
26f2aa3d
AG
1801#### hotstar
1802* `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1803* `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1804* `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1805
046cab39 1806#### tiktok
62b58c09
L
1807* `app_version`: App version to call mobile APIs with - should be set along with `manifest_app_version`, e.g. `20.2.1`
1808* `manifest_app_version`: Numeric app version to call mobile APIs with, e.g. `221`
046cab39 1809
7eaf7f9a 1810#### rokfinchannel
62b58c09 1811* `tab`: Which tab to download - one of `new`, `top`, `videos`, `podcasts`, `streams`, `stacks`
7eaf7f9a 1812
1813
bc97cdae 1814NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
5d3a0e79 1815
ec2e44fc 1816<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1817
3acf6d38 1818
f74980cb 1819# PLUGINS
b7770046 1820
3ae5e797 1821Plugins 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
1822
1823Plugins 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`.
1824
1825See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example plugins.
1826
1827Note 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
1828
1829If you are a plugin author, add [ytdlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/ytdlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
b7770046 1830
b7770046 1831
8c6f4daa 1832
1833# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1834
1835yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1836
1837Your 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.
1838
1839From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1840
1841```python
59a7a13e 1842from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1843
3d3bb168 1844URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1845with YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1846 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 1847```
1848
1890fc63 1849Most 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#L180).
8c6f4daa 1850
43cc91ad 1851**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 below](#extracting-information)
3d3bb168 1852
1853## Embedding examples
1854
43cc91ad 1855#### Extracting information
8c6f4daa 1856
1857```python
1858import json
8c6f4daa 1859import yt_dlp
8c6f4daa 1860
3d3bb168 1861URL = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1862
1863# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL) for a list of available options and public functions
1864ydl_opts = {}
1865with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1866 info = ydl.extract_info(URL, download=False)
1867
1868 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1869 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1870```
43cc91ad 1871#### Download using an info-json
3d3bb168 1872
1873```python
1874import yt_dlp
1875
1876INFO_FILE = 'path/to/video.info.json'
1877
1878with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1879 error_code = ydl.download_with_info_file(INFO_FILE)
1880
1881print('Some videos failed to download' if error_code
1882 else 'All videos successfully downloaded')
1883```
1884
43cc91ad 1885#### Extract audio
3d3bb168 1886
1887```python
1888import yt_dlp
1889
1890URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1891
1892ydl_opts = {
0a41f331 1893 'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
3d3bb168 1894 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor) for a list of available Postprocessors and their arguments
1895 'postprocessors': [{ # Extract audio using ffmpeg
1896 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
1897 'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
1898 }]
1899}
1900
1901with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1902 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1903```
0a41f331 1904
1905#### Filter videos
1906
1907```python
1908import yt_dlp
1909
1910URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1911
1912def longer_than_a_minute(info, *, incomplete):
1913 """Download only videos longer than a minute (or with unknown duration)"""
1914 duration = info.get('duration')
1915 if duration and duration < 60:
1916 return 'The video is too short'
1917
1918ydl_opts = {
1919 'match_filter': longer_than_a_minute,
1920}
1921
1922with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1923 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1924```
1925
43cc91ad 1926#### Adding logger and progress hook
3d3bb168 1927
1928```python
1929import yt_dlp
1930
1931URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
8c6f4daa 1932
1933class MyLogger:
1934 def debug(self, msg):
e75bb0d6 1935 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
8c6f4daa 1936 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
1937 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
1938 pass
1939 else:
1940 self.info(msg)
1941
1942 def info(self, msg):
1943 pass
1944
1945 def warning(self, msg):
1946 pass
1947
1948 def error(self, msg):
1949 print(msg)
1950
1951
3d3bb168 1952# ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)
1953def my_hook(d):
1954 if d['status'] == 'finished':
1955 print('Done downloading, now post-processing ...')
1956
1957
1958ydl_opts = {
1959 'logger': MyLogger(),
1960 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
1961}
1962
1963with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1964 ydl.download(URLS)
1965```
1966
43cc91ad 1967#### Add a custom PostProcessor
3d3bb168 1968
1969```python
1970import yt_dlp
1971
1972URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1973
1974# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor)
59a7a13e 1975class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
8c6f4daa 1976 def run(self, info):
1977 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
1978 return [], info
1979
1980
3d3bb168 1981with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
8aa0e7cd 1982 # ℹ️ "when" can take any value in yt_dlp.utils.POSTPROCESS_WHEN
1983 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP(), when='pre_process')
3d3bb168 1984 ydl.download(URLS)
1985```
8c6f4daa 1986
1987
43cc91ad 1988#### Use a custom format selector
3d3bb168 1989
1990```python
1991import yt_dlp
1992
1993URL = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1994
093a1710 1995def format_selector(ctx):
1996 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
3d3bb168 1997 NOTE: This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
093a1710 1998
1999 # formats are already sorted worst to best
2000 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
2001
2002 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
2003 best_video = next(f for f in formats
2004 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
2005
2006 # find compatible audio extension
2007 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
2008 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
2009 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
2010 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
2011
3d3bb168 2012 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
093a1710 2013 yield {
093a1710 2014 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
2015 'ext': best_video['ext'],
2016 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
e75bb0d6 2017 # Must be + separated list of protocols
093a1710 2018 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
2019 }
2020
2021
8c6f4daa 2022ydl_opts = {
093a1710 2023 'format': format_selector,
8c6f4daa 2024}
2025
2026with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
3d3bb168 2027 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 2028```
2029
ec2e44fc 2030<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "NEW FEATURES" SECTION HERE -->
2031
e167860c 2032# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
2033
2034These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
2035
8130779d 2036#### Almost redundant options
2037While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
2038
2039 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
2040 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
0bfc53d0 2041 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table --print playlist:thumbnails_table
8130779d 2042 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
2043
6ccf351a 2044#### Redundant options
2045While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
f4536226 2046
53c18592 2047 --get-description --print description
2048 --get-duration --print duration_string
2049 --get-filename --print filename
2050 --get-format --print format
2051 --get-id --print id
2052 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
2053 -e, --get-title --print title
2054 -g, --get-url --print urls
8f18aca8 2055 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
2056 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
2057 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
2058 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
8b7539d2 2059 --user-agent UA --add-header "User-Agent:UA"
2060 --referer URL --add-header "Referer:URL"
7e88d7d7 2061 --playlist-start NUMBER -I NUMBER:
2062 --playlist-end NUMBER -I :NUMBER
2063 --playlist-reverse -I ::-1
2064 --no-playlist-reverse Default
6ccf351a 2065
2066
2067#### Not recommended
2068While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
2069
fe7866d0 2070 --force-generic-extractor --ies generic,default
1e43a6f7 2071 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
2072 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
d9aa2332 2073 --all-formats -f all
c32b0aab 2074 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
b7b04c78 2075 --print-json -j --no-simulate
62b58c09 2076 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting, e.g. %(autonumber)03d
a439a3a4 2077 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
19b824f6 2078 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
73cd218f 2079 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
52a8a1e1 2080 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
2081 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
53ed7066 2082 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
2083 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
5d3a0e79 2084 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
2085 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
2086 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
2087 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
6ccf351a 2088
2089
2090#### Developer options
2091These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
2092
34488702 2093 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
f95b9dee 2094 --load-pages Load pages dumped by --write-pages
6ccf351a 2095 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
88acdbc2 2096 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
2097 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
f4536226 2098
2099
2100#### Old aliases
2101These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
2102
2103 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
3856407a 2104 --clean-infojson --clean-info-json
f4536226 2105 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
2106 --dump-headers --print-traffic
2107 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
2108 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
2109 --load-info --load-info-json
3856407a 2110 --no-clean-infojson --no-clean-info-json
f4536226 2111 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
e167860c 2112 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
e167860c 2113 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
2114 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
f4536226 2115 --split-tracks --split-chapters
2116 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
e167860c 2117 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
f4536226 2118 --write-srt --write-subs
e167860c 2119 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
f4536226 2120
7a340e0d 2121#### Sponskrub Options
f304da8a 2122Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
7a340e0d
NA
2123
2124 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
2125 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
2126 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
2127 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
2128 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
2129 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
2130 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
2131 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
2132
f4536226 2133#### No longer supported
2134These options may no longer work as intended
2135
2136 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
2137 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
2138 -C, --call-home Not implemented
2139 --no-call-home Default
2140 --include-ads No longer supported
2141 --no-include-ads Default
0bb1bc1b 2142 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
2143 --no-write-annotations Default
1e8fe57e 2144 --compat-options seperate-video-versions No longer needed
486fb179 2145
2146#### Removed
2147These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
2148
f4536226 2149 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
3d3bb168 2150 -t, -l, --title, --literal -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
f4536226 2151
8c6f4daa 2152# CONTRIBUTING
2153See [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 2154
c2b5f311 2155# MORE
8c6f4daa 2156For FAQ see the [youtube-dl README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)