[yt-dlp.git] / README.md

# youtube-dl

## USAGE
youtube-dl [options] url [url...]

## DESCRIPTION
**youtube-dl** is a small command-line program to download videos from
YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version
2.x (x being at least 5), and it is not platform specific. It should work in
your Unix box, in Windows or in Mac OS X. It is released to the public domain,
which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.

## OPTIONS
    -h, --help               print this help text and exit
    -v, --version            print program version and exit
    -U, --update             update this program to latest version
    -i, --ignore-errors      continue on download errors
    -r, --rate-limit LIMIT   download rate limit (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
    -R, --retries RETRIES    number of retries (default is 10)
    --dump-user-agent        display the current browser identification
    --list-extractors        List all supported extractors and the URLs they
                             would handle

### Video Selection:
    --playlist-start NUMBER  playlist video to start at (default is 1)
    --playlist-end NUMBER    playlist video to end at (default is last)
    --match-title REGEX      download only matching titles (regex or caseless
                             sub-string)
    --reject-title REGEX     skip download for matching titles (regex or
                             caseless sub-string)

### Filesystem Options:
    -t, --title              use title in file name
    -l, --literal            use literal title in file name
    -A, --auto-number        number downloaded files starting from 00000
    -o, --output TEMPLATE    output filename template. Use %(stitle)s to get the
                             title, %(uploader)s for the uploader name,
                             %(autonumber)s to get an automatically incremented
                             number, %(ext)s for the filename extension, and %%
                             for a literal percent
    -a, --batch-file FILE    file containing URLs to download ('-' for stdin)
    -w, --no-overwrites      do not overwrite files
    -c, --continue           resume partially downloaded files
    --no-continue            do not resume partially downloaded files (restart
                             from beginning)
    --cookies FILE           file to read cookies from and dump cookie jar in
    --no-part                do not use .part files
    --no-mtime               do not use the Last-modified header to set the file
                             modification time
    --write-description      write video description to a .description file
    --write-info-json        write video metadata to a .info.json file

### Verbosity / Simulation Options:
    -q, --quiet              activates quiet mode
    -s, --simulate           do not download the video and do not write anything
                             to disk
    --skip-download          do not download the video
    -g, --get-url            simulate, quiet but print URL
    -e, --get-title          simulate, quiet but print title
    --get-thumbnail          simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
    --get-description        simulate, quiet but print video description
    --get-filename           simulate, quiet but print output filename
    --get-format             simulate, quiet but print output format
    --no-progress            do not print progress bar
    --console-title          display progress in console titlebar

### Video Format Options:
    -f, --format FORMAT      video format code
    --all-formats            download all available video formats
    --max-quality FORMAT     highest quality format to download

### Authentication Options:
    -u, --username USERNAME  account username
    -p, --password PASSWORD  account password
    -n, --netrc              use .netrc authentication data

### Post-processing Options:
    --extract-audio          convert video files to audio-only files (requires
                             ffmpeg and ffprobe)
    --audio-format FORMAT    "best", "aac", "vorbis" or "mp3"; best by default
    --audio-quality QUALITY  ffmpeg audio bitrate specification, 128k by default
    -k, --keep-video         keeps the video file on disk after the post-
                             processing; the video is erased by default

## FAQ

### Can you please put the -b option back?

Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube-dl now defaults to downloading the highest available quality as reported by YouTube, which will be 1080p or 720p in some cases, so you no longer need the -b option. For some specific videos, maybe YouTube does not report them to be available in a specific high quality format you''re interested in. In that case, simply request it with the -f option and youtube-dl will try to download it.

### I get HTTP error 402 when trying to download a video. What's this?

Apparently YouTube requires you to pass a CAPTCHA test if you download too much. We''re [considering to provide a way to let you solve the CAPTCHA](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/154), but at the moment, your best course of action is pointing a webbrowser to the youtube URL, solving the CAPTCHA, and restart youtube-dl.

### I have downloaded a video but how can I play it?

Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such as [vlc](http://www.videolan.org) or [mplayer](http://www.mplayerhq.hu/).

### The links provided by youtube-dl -g are not working anymore

The URLs youtube-dl outputs require the downloader to have the correct cookies. Use the `--cookies` option to write the required cookies into a file, and advise your downloader to read cookies from that file.

### ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info

youtube has switched to a new video info format in July 2011 which is not supported by old versions of youtube-dl. You can update youtube-dl with `sudo youtube-dl --update`.

## COPYRIGHT

youtube-dl is released into the public domain by the copyright holders.

This README file was originally written by Daniel Bolton (<https://github.com/dbbolton>) and is likewise released into the public domain.

## BUGS

Bugs and suggestions should be reported at: <https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues>

Please include:

* Your exact command line, like `youtube-dl -t "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHlDtZ6Oc3s&feature=channel_video_title"`. A common mistake is not to escape the `&`. Putting URLs in quotes should solve this problem.
* The output of `youtube-dl --version`
* The output of `python --version`
* The name and version of your Operating System ("Ubuntu 11.04 x64" or "Windows 7 x64" is usually enough).
Commit	Line	Data
6bcd846b DB	1	# youtube-dl
	2
	3	## USAGE
1d2e86ae	4	youtube-dl [options] url [url...]
6bcd846b DB	5
6bcd846b DB	6	## DESCRIPTION
6bcd846b DB	7	youtube-dl is a small command-line program to download videos from
	8	YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version
	9	2.x (x being at least 5), and it is not platform specific. It should work in
	10	your Unix box, in Windows or in Mac OS X. It is released to the public domain,
	11	which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
	12
	13	## OPTIONS
4618f3da PH	14	-h, --help print this help text and exit
4618f3da PH	15	-v, --version print program version and exit
8f88eb1f	16	-U, --update update this program to latest version
4618f3da PH	17	-i, --ignore-errors continue on download errors
	18	-r, --rate-limit LIMIT download rate limit (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
	19	-R, --retries RETRIES number of retries (default is 10)
08c1d0d3	20	--dump-user-agent display the current browser identification
6a1ca41e PH	21	--list-extractors List all supported extractors and the URLs they
6a1ca41e PH	22	would handle
08c1d0d3 PH	23
08c1d0d3 PH	24	### Video Selection:
4618f3da PH	25	--playlist-start NUMBER playlist video to start at (default is 1)
4618f3da PH	26	--playlist-end NUMBER playlist video to end at (default is last)
08c1d0d3 PH	27	--match-title REGEX download only matching titles (regex or caseless
	28	sub-string)
	29	--reject-title REGEX skip download for matching titles (regex or
	30	caseless sub-string)
6bcd846b	31
4618f3da PH	32	### Filesystem Options:
	33	-t, --title use title in file name
	34	-l, --literal use literal title in file name
	35	-A, --auto-number number downloaded files starting from 00000
9baa2ef5 PH	36	-o, --output TEMPLATE output filename template. Use %(stitle)s to get the
	37	title, %(uploader)s for the uploader name,
	38	%(autonumber)s to get an automatically incremented
	39	number, %(ext)s for the filename extension, and %%
	40	for a literal percent
4618f3da PH	41	-a, --batch-file FILE file containing URLs to download ('-' for stdin)
	42	-w, --no-overwrites do not overwrite files
	43	-c, --continue resume partially downloaded files
eca1b76f PH	44	--no-continue do not resume partially downloaded files (restart
eca1b76f PH	45	from beginning)
3ce59dae	46	--cookies FILE file to read cookies from and dump cookie jar in
4618f3da PH	47	--no-part do not use .part files
	48	--no-mtime do not use the Last-modified header to set the file
	49	modification time
	50	--write-description write video description to a .description file
	51	--write-info-json write video metadata to a .info.json file
6bcd846b	52
4618f3da PH	53	### Verbosity / Simulation Options:
4618f3da PH	54	-q, --quiet activates quiet mode
6a1ca41e PH	55	-s, --simulate do not download the video and do not write anything
	56	to disk
	57	--skip-download do not download the video
4618f3da PH	58	-g, --get-url simulate, quiet but print URL
	59	-e, --get-title simulate, quiet but print title
	60	--get-thumbnail simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
	61	--get-description simulate, quiet but print video description
	62	--get-filename simulate, quiet but print output filename
6a1ca41e	63	--get-format simulate, quiet but print output format
4618f3da PH	64	--no-progress do not print progress bar
4618f3da PH	65	--console-title display progress in console titlebar
6bcd846b	66
4618f3da PH	67	### Video Format Options:
	68	-f, --format FORMAT video format code
	69	--all-formats download all available video formats
	70	--max-quality FORMAT highest quality format to download
6bcd846b	71
4618f3da PH	72	### Authentication Options:
	73	-u, --username USERNAME account username
	74	-p, --password PASSWORD account password
	75	-n, --netrc use .netrc authentication data
6bcd846b DB	76
6bcd846b DB	77	### Post-processing Options:
4618f3da PH	78	--extract-audio convert video files to audio-only files (requires
4618f3da PH	79	ffmpeg and ffprobe)
3ce59dae	80	--audio-format FORMAT "best", "aac", "vorbis" or "mp3"; best by default
6a1ca41e PH	81	--audio-quality QUALITY ffmpeg audio bitrate specification, 128k by default
	82	-k, --keep-video keeps the video file on disk after the post-
	83	processing; the video is erased by default
6bcd846b	84
447b1d71 PH	85	## FAQ
	86
	87	### Can you please put the -b option back?
	88
	89	Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube-dl now defaults to downloading the highest available quality as reported by YouTube, which will be 1080p or 720p in some cases, so you no longer need the -b option. For some specific videos, maybe YouTube does not report them to be available in a specific high quality format you''re interested in. In that case, simply request it with the -f option and youtube-dl will try to download it.
	90
f2a3a352	91	### I get HTTP error 402 when trying to download a video. What's this?
447b1d71	92
8236e851	93	Apparently YouTube requires you to pass a CAPTCHA test if you download too much. We''re [considering to provide a way to let you solve the CAPTCHA](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/154), but at the moment, your best course of action is pointing a webbrowser to the youtube URL, solving the CAPTCHA, and restart youtube-dl.
447b1d71 PH	94
	95	### I have downloaded a video but how can I play it?
	96
	97	Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such as [vlc](http://www.videolan.org) or [mplayer](http://www.mplayerhq.hu/).
	98
	99	### The links provided by youtube-dl -g are not working anymore
	100
	101	The URLs youtube-dl outputs require the downloader to have the correct cookies. Use the `--cookies` option to write the required cookies into a file, and advise your downloader to read cookies from that file.
	102
454d6691 PH	103	### ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info
454d6691 PH	104
5a2ba45e	105	youtube has switched to a new video info format in July 2011 which is not supported by old versions of youtube-dl. You can update youtube-dl with `sudo youtube-dl --update`.
454d6691	106
6bcd846b	107	## COPYRIGHT
803abae2 PH	108
	109	youtube-dl is released into the public domain by the copyright holders.
	110
	111	This README file was originally written by Daniel Bolton (<https://github.com/dbbolton>) and is likewise released into the public domain.
6bcd846b DB	112
6bcd846b DB	113	## BUGS
e133e121	114
8236e851	115	Bugs and suggestions should be reported at: <https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues>
e133e121 PH	116
	117	Please include:
	118
	119	* Your exact command line, like `youtube-dl -t "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHlDtZ6Oc3s&feature=channel_video_title"`. A common mistake is not to escape the `&`. Putting URLs in quotes should solve this problem.
	120	* The output of `youtube-dl --version`
	121	* The output of `python --version`
	122	* The name and version of your Operating System ("Ubuntu 11.04 x64" or "Windows 7 x64" is usually enough).