]> jfr.im git - yt-dlp.git/blame - README.md
Add message when there are no subtitles/thumbnails
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ec2e44fc 1<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b31fdeed 2<div align="center">
3
e980017a 4[![YT-DLP](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master/.github/banner.svg)](#readme)
d9d045e2 5
2fa669f7 6[![Release version](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?color=brightgreen&label=Download&style=for-the-badge)](#installation "Installation")
ae6a1b95 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")
46d09f87 15[![Last Commit](https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master?label=&style=for-the-badge&display_timestamp=committer)](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)
deae7c17 28 * [Detailed instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation)
17fa3ee2 29 * [Update](#update)
0e5927ee 30 * [Release Files](#release-files)
cf59cd4d 31 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
17fa3ee2 32 * [Compile](#compile)
b31fdeed 33* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
34 * [General Options](#general-options)
50865ca8 35 * [Network Options](#network-options)
b31fdeed 36 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
50865ca8 37 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
38 * [Download Options](#download-options)
39 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
b31fdeed 40 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
50865ca8 41 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
0744a815 42 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
50865ca8 43 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
44 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
45 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
46 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
50865ca8 47 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
7a340e0d 48 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
50865ca8 49 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 50* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
304ad45a 51 * [Configuration file encoding](#configuration-file-encoding)
50865ca8 52 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
878eac3e 53 * [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
c76eb41b 54* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 55 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 56* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 57 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
58 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
59 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
73cd218f 60* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
61 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
5d3a0e79 62* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
f74980cb 63* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
8e40b9d1
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64 * [Installing Plugins](#installing-plugins)
65 * [Developing Plugins](#developing-plugins)
8c6f4daa 66* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
43cc91ad 67 * [Embedding examples](#embedding-examples)
e167860c 68* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
8c6f4daa 69* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
70 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
71 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
17ffed18 72* [WIKI](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki)
deae7c17 73 * [FAQ](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ)
ec2e44fc 74<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
50865ca8 75
76
034b6215 77# NEW FEATURES
91f071af 78
8b644025 79* Merged with **youtube-dl v2021.12.17+ [commit/de39d12](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/de39d128)** <!--([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 80
304ad45a 81* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in YouTube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
034b6215 82
7581d246 83* **[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 84
ae6a1b95 85* **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 86
ae61d108 87* **YouTube improvements**:
88 * 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`)
89 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326) **\***
90 * Supports some (but not all) age-gated content without cookies
91 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start` (*experimental*)
92 * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from YouTube Music when premium cookies are given
86973308 93 * Channel URLs download all uploads of the channel, including shorts and live
f20f5fe5 94
304ad45a 95* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]`
245524e6 96
5ec1b6b7 97* **Download time range**: Videos can be downloaded partially based on either timestamps or chapters using `--download-sections`
98
597c1866 99* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
100
b31fdeed 101* **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 102
b31fdeed 103* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
f20f5fe5 104
e75bb0d6 105* **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 106
56ba69e4 107* **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN etc.
fac98805 108
3de7c2ce 109* **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 110
597c1866 111* **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 112
d4ada357 113* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for details
0bc0a322 114
418964fa 115* **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 116
8a82af35 117* **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 118
08d30158 119* **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 120
86c1a8aa 121* **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
b31fdeed 122
7a5c1cfe 123* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
aa837ddf 124
7a5c1cfe 125See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 126
ae61d108 127Features marked with a **\*** have been back-ported to youtube-dl
128
53ed7066 129### Differences in default behavior
130
0930b11f 131Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
53ed7066 132
96565c7e 133* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
b69fd25c 134* `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
d4ada357 135* yt-dlp stores config files in slightly different locations to youtube-dl. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for a list of correct locations
96565c7e 136* 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 137* 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 138* 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 139* 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 140* `--no-abort-on-error` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
28b0eb0f 141* 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 142* `--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 143* 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 144* `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
145* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
b79f9e30 146* 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
86973308 147* YouTube channel URLs download all uploads of the channel. To download only the videos in a specific tab, pass the tab's URL. 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
304ad45a 148* Unavailable videos are also listed for YouTube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
1ff88b7a 149* 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 150* 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 151* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
e4f02757 152* 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 153* 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 154* `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 155* 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 156
157For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
3d3bb168 158
8a82af35 159* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options (Do NOT use)
28b0eb0f 160* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
161* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
53ed7066 162
f20f5fe5 163
d19bb9c0 164# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 165
fc5fa964 166<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
167[![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)
17ffed18 168[![Unix](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)
24146491 169[![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)
17ffed18 170[![PyPi](https://img.shields.io/badge/-PyPi-blue.svg?logo=pypi&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
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
17ffed18 176You can install yt-dlp using [the binaries](#release-files), [PIP](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) or one using a third-party package manager. See [the wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation) for detailed instructions
0930b11f 177
b8773e63 178
a4211baf 179## UPDATE
17ffed18 180You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are [using the release binaries](#release-files)
181
182If you [installed with PIP](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
0930b11f 183
17ffed18 184For other third-party package managers, see [the wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation) or refer their documentation
0930b11f 185
cf59cd4d 186
ec2e44fc 187<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
a4211baf 188## RELEASE FILES
0e5927ee 189
733d8e8f 190#### Recommended
191
192File|Description
193:---|:---
962ffcf8 194[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 195[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 196[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 197
198#### Alternatives
199
0e5927ee
R
200File|Description
201:---|:---
0930b11f 202[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 203[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 204[yt-dlp_linux](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux)|Linux standalone x64 binary
205[yt-dlp_linux.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux.zip)|Unpackaged Linux executable (no auto-update)
17fc3dc4
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206[yt-dlp_linux_armv7l](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_armv7l)|Linux standalone armv7l (32-bit) binary
207[yt-dlp_linux_aarch64](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_aarch64)|Linux standalone aarch64 (64-bit) binary
0930b11f 208[yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
209[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 210[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 211
212#### Misc
213
214File|Description
215:---|:---
17ffed18 216[yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball
0e5927ee
R
217[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
218[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
ec2e44fc 219<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
0e5927ee 220
17ffed18 221
222Note: 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)
223
a4211baf 224## DEPENDENCIES
eff42759 225Python versions 3.7+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
b31fdeed 226
c9652aa4 227<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
228<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
cf59cd4d 229On 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 230-->
fac98805 231
e75bb0d6 232While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
ec2e44fc 233
8aa0e7cd 234### Strongly recommended
235
b69fd25c 236* [**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 237
238 <!-- TODO: ffmpeg has merged this patch. Remove this note once there is new release -->
239 **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
240
241### Networking
d5820461 242* [**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 243* [**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>
244* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets)\* - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
245
246### Metadata
247
248* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen)\* - For `--embed-thumbnail` in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
249* [**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)
250* [**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
251
252### Misc
253
254* [**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 255* [**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 256* [**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 257* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
b31fdeed 258
deae7c17 259### Deprecated
8aa0e7cd 260
261* [**avconv** and **avprobe**](https://www.libav.org) - Now **deprecated** alternative to ffmpeg. License [depends on the build](https://libav.org/legal)
262* [**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 263* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
264* [**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 265
cf59cd4d 266To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
267
f2df4071 268The standalone release binaries are built with the Python interpreter and the packages marked with **\*** included.
d710cc6d 269
8aa0e7cd 270If 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 271
5f326cf5 272
a4211baf 273## COMPILE
5f326cf5 274
8aa0e7cd 275### Standalone PyInstaller Builds
115add43 276To 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 277
8aa0e7cd 278 python3 -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
279 python3 devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
280 python3 pyinst.py
281
282On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`.
283
73ac0e6b 284`pyinst.py` accepts any arguments that can be passed to `pyinstaller`, such as `--onefile/-F` or `--onedir/-D`, which is further [documented here](https://pyinstaller.org/en/stable/usage.html#what-to-generate).
285
d2c8aadf 286Note that pyinstaller with versions below 4.4 [do not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment.
8aa0e7cd 287
288**Important**: Running `pyinstaller` directly **without** using `pyinst.py` is **not** officially supported. This may or may not work correctly.
7581d246 289
8aa0e7cd 290### Platform-independent Binary (UNIX)
deae7c17 291You will need the build tools `python` (3.7+), `zip`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`\* and `pytest`\*.
b96a939b 292
8aa0e7cd 293After installing these, simply run `make`.
5f326cf5 294
a831c2ea 295You 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 296
8aa0e7cd 297### Standalone Py2Exe Builds (Windows)
298
299While 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.
300
301If you wish to build it anyway, install Python and py2exe, and then simply run `setup.py py2exe`
302
303 py -m pip install -U py2exe -r requirements.txt
304 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
305 py setup.py py2exe
306
307### Related scripts
308
70b23409 309* **`devscripts/update-version.py [revision]`** - Update the version number based on current date
310* **`devscripts/set-variant.py variant [-M update_message]`** - Set the build variant of the executable
8aa0e7cd 311* **`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.
312
304ad45a 313You 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 314
b31fdeed 315# USAGE AND OPTIONS
6bcd846b 316
ec2e44fc 317<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
7a5c1cfe 318 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 319
c2b5f311 320`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
ec2e44fc 321<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c2b5f311 322
ec2e44fc 323<!-- Auto generated -->
c76eb41b 324## General Options:
2dd5a2e3 325 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
326 --version Print program version and exit
70b23409 327 -U, --update Update this program to the latest version
328 --no-update Do not check for updates (default)
2dd5a2e3 329 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
330 The download will be considered successful
331 even if the postprocessing fails
332 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download errors;
333 e.g. to skip unavailable videos in a
334 playlist (default)
335 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
336 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
337 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
338 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
339 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
340 extractors and exit
2516cafb 341 --use-extractors NAMES Extractor names to use separated by commas.
fe7866d0 342 You can also use regexes, "all", "default"
343 and "end" (end URL matching); e.g. --ies
344 "holodex.*,end,youtube". Prefix the name
345 with a "-" to exclude it, e.g. --ies
346 default,-generic. Use --list-extractors for
2516cafb 347 a list of extractor names. (Alias: --ies)
62b58c09 348 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 349 "gvsearch2:python" downloads two videos from
350 google videos for the search term "python".
351 Use the value "auto" to let yt-dlp guess
352 ("auto_warning" to emit a warning when
353 guessing). "error" just throws an error. The
354 default value "fixup_error" repairs broken
355 URLs, but emits an error if this is not
356 possible instead of searching
357 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
358 except those given by --config-locations.
359 For backward compatibility, if this option
360 is found inside the system configuration
361 file, the user configuration is not loaded.
362 (Alias: --no-config)
363 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
364 (default). When given inside a configuration
365 file, ignore all previous --config-locations
366 defined in the current file
367 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
368 either the path to the config or its
6b9e832d 369 containing directory ("-" for stdin). Can be
370 used multiple times and inside other
371 configuration files
2dd5a2e3 372 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
373 only list them
374 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
375 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
376 Currently only supported for YouTube
377 (Experimental)
378 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
379 (default)
380 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
381 available. Pass the minimum number of
382 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
383 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
384 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate)
385 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
f2df4071 386 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output (Alias:
387 --no-colours)
2dd5a2e3 388 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
389 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
390 configurations by reverting some of the
391 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
392 default behavior" for details
393 --alias ALIASES OPTIONS Create aliases for an option string. Unless
394 an alias starts with a dash "-", it is
395 prefixed with "--". Arguments are parsed
396 according to the Python string formatting
62b58c09 397 mini-language. E.g. --alias get-audio,-X
2dd5a2e3 398 "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}"
399 creates options "--get-audio" and "-X" that
400 takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to
401 "-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0".
402 All defined aliases are listed in the --help
403 output. Alias options can trigger more
962ffcf8 404 aliases; so be careful to avoid defining
2dd5a2e3 405 recursive options. As a safety measure, each
406 alias may be triggered a maximum of 100
64fa820c 407 times. This option can be used multiple times
08c1d0d3 408
149f05c7 409## Network Options:
2dd5a2e3 410 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy. To
62b58c09
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411 enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper scheme,
412 e.g. socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/.
413 Pass in an empty string (--proxy "") for
414 direct connection
2dd5a2e3 415 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
416 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
417 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
418 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
8c6c88c7 419
b31fdeed 420## Geo-restriction:
2dd5a2e3 421 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
422 some geo-restricted sites. The default proxy
423 specified by --proxy (or none, if the option
424 is not present) is used for the actual
425 downloading
426 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
427 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header (default)
428 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
429 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
430 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
431 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
432 country code
433 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
64fa820c 434 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR notation
149f05c7 435
cfcec693 436## Video Selection:
71df9b7f 437 -I, --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Comma separated playlist_index of the items
7e88d7d7 438 to download. You can specify a range using
439 "[START]:[STOP][:STEP]". For backward
440 compatibility, START-STOP is also supported.
441 Use negative indices to count from the right
442 and negative STEP to download in reverse
62b58c09 443 order. E.g. "-I 1:3,7,-5::2" used on a
71df9b7f 444 playlist of size 15 will download the items
7e88d7d7 445 at index 1,2,3,7,11,13,15
71df9b7f 446 --min-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is smaller than
447 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
448 --max-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is larger than
62b58c09 449 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
2dd5a2e3 450 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
451 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
452 [now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]].
62b58c09 453 E.g. --date today-2weeks
2dd5a2e3 454 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
455 this date. The date formats accepted is the
456 same as --date
457 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
458 this date. The date formats accepted is the
459 same as --date
460 --match-filters FILTER Generic video filter. Any "OUTPUT TEMPLATE"
461 field can be compared with a number or a
462 string using the operators defined in
d4ada357 463 "Filtering Formats". You can also simply
2dd5a2e3 464 specify a field to match if the field is
465 present, use "!field" to check if the field
466 is not present, and "&" to check multiple
467 conditions. Use a "\" to escape "&" or
468 quotes if needed. If used multiple times,
469 the filter matches if atleast one of the
62b58c09 470 conditions are met. E.g. --match-filter
2dd5a2e3 471 !is_live --match-filter "like_count>?100 &
472 description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'" matches
473 only videos that are not live OR those that
474 have a like count more than 100 (or the like
475 field is not available) and also has a
476 description that contains the phrase "cats &
477 dogs" (caseless). Use "--match-filter -" to
478 interactively ask whether to download each
479 video
480 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
481 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
482 to a video and a playlist
483 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
484 a video and a playlist
485 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
486 age
487 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
488 archive file. Record the IDs of all
489 downloaded videos in it
490 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
491 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
492 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
493 a file that is in the archive
494 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
495 a file that has been filtered out
71df9b7f 496 --break-per-input Alters --max-downloads, --break-on-existing,
497 --break-on-reject, and autonumber to reset
498 per input URL
2dd5a2e3 499 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and similar options
500 terminates the entire download queue
501 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest of
502 the playlist is skipped
6bcd846b 503
d5a62e4f 504## Download Options:
2dd5a2e3 505 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
506 video that should be downloaded concurrently
507 (default is 1)
62b58c09
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508 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
509 e.g. 50K or 4.2M
2dd5a2e3 510 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
511 below which throttling is assumed and the
62b58c09 512 video data is re-extracted, e.g. 100K
2dd5a2e3 513 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
514 "infinite"
515 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
516 error (default is 3), or "infinite"
517 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default is
518 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and ISM)
be5c1ae8 519 --retry-sleep [TYPE:]EXPR Time to sleep between retries in seconds
520 (optionally) prefixed by the type of retry
521 (http (default), fragment, file_access,
522 extractor) to apply the sleep to. EXPR can
523 be a number, linear=START[:END[:STEP=1]] or
524 exp=START[:END[:BASE=2]]. This option can be
525 used multiple times to set the sleep for the
62b58c09 526 different retry types, e.g. --retry-sleep
2dd5a2e3 527 linear=1::2 --retry-sleep fragment:exp=1:20
528 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
529 hlsnative and ISM downloads (default)
530 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
531 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment
532 Abort download if a fragment is unavailable
533 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
534 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
535 downloading is finished
536 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
537 downloading is finished (default)
62b58c09 538 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer, e.g. 1024 or 16K
2dd5a2e3 539 (default is 1024)
540 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
541 from an initial value of --buffer-size
542 (default)
543 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
544 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
62b58c09 545 downloading, e.g. 10485760 or 10M (default
2dd5a2e3 546 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
547 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
548 (experimental)
2dd5a2e3 549 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
7e9a6125 550 --lazy-playlist Process entries in the playlist as they are
551 received. This disables n_entries,
552 --playlist-random and --playlist-reverse
553 --no-lazy-playlist Process videos in the playlist only after
554 the entire playlist is parsed (default)
2dd5a2e3 555 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
556 expected file size
557 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
558 allowing some players to play the video
559 while downloading, and reducing the chance
560 of file corruption if download is
561 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
562 live streams
563 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
564 videos. This is default when not downloading
565 live streams
5ec1b6b7 566 --download-sections REGEX Download only chapters whose title matches
567 the given regular expression. Time ranges
568 prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
569 of chapters to download the specified range.
62b58c09
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570 Needs ffmpeg. This option can be used
571 multiple times to download multiple
572 sections, e.g. --download-sections
2fa669f7 573 "*10:15-inf" --download-sections "intro"
2dd5a2e3 574 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
575 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
576 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
577 use it for. Currently supports native,
578 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
579 wget. You can use this option multiple times
580 to set different downloaders for different
62b58c09 581 protocols. E.g. --downloader aria2c
2dd5a2e3 582 --downloader "dash,m3u8:native" will use
583 aria2c for http/ftp downloads, and the
584 native downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
585 (Alias: --external-downloader)
586 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
587 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
588 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
589 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to different
590 positions using the same syntax as
591 --postprocessor-args. You can use this
592 option multiple times to give different
593 arguments to different downloaders (Alias:
594 --external-downloader-args)
d5a62e4f 595
cfcec693 596## Filesystem Options:
2dd5a2e3 597 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
598 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
599 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
600 comments and ignored
601 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
602 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
603 downloaded. Specify the type of file and the
604 path separated by a colon ":". All the same
605 TYPES as --output are supported.
606 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
607 (default) and "temp" paths. All intermediary
608 files are first downloaded to the temp path
609 and then the final files are moved over to
610 the home path after download is finished.
611 This option is ignored if --output is an
612 absolute path
613 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
614 TEMPLATE" for details
615 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder for unavailable fields in
616 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" (default: "NA")
617 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters,
618 and avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
619 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
620 filenames (default)
621 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
622 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
623 using Windows (default)
624 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
625 extension) to the specified number of
626 characters
627 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
628 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files. This
629 option includes --no-continue
630 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
631 related files (default)
632 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
633 (default)
634 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
635 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
636 restart download of the entire file
637 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
638 into output file (default)
639 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly into
640 output file
641 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the file
642 modification time (default)
643 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
644 the file modification time
64fa820c 645 --write-description Write video description to a .description file
2dd5a2e3 646 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
647 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
648 (this may contain personal information)
649 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
650 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
651 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
652 --write-description etc. (default)
653 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
654 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
655 --clean-info-json Remove some private fields such as filenames
656 from the infojson. Note that it could still
657 contain some personal information (default)
658 --no-clean-info-json Write all fields to the infojson
659 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
660 infojson. The comments are fetched even
661 without this option if the extraction is
662 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
663 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
664 extraction is known to be quick (Alias:
665 --no-get-comments)
666 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
64fa820c 667 (created with the "--write-info-json" option)
2dd5a2e3 668 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies from
669 and dump cookie jar in
670 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
671 (default)
825d3ce3 672 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]
673 The name of the browser to load cookies
674 from. Currently supported browsers are:
675 brave, chrome, chromium, edge, firefox,
676 opera, safari, vivaldi. Optionally, the
677 KEYRING used for decrypting Chromium cookies
678 on Linux, the name/path of the PROFILE to
679 load cookies from, and the CONTAINER name
680 (if Firefox) ("none" for no container) can
681 be given with their respective seperators.
682 By default, all containers of the most
683 recently accessed profile are used.
684 Currently supported keyrings are: basictext,
685 gnomekeyring, kwallet
2dd5a2e3 686 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
17ffed18 687 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where yt-dlp can
688 store some downloaded information (such as
689 client ids and signatures) permanently. By
878eac3e 690 default ${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/yt-dlp
2dd5a2e3 691 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
692 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 693
b31fdeed 694## Thumbnail Options:
2dd5a2e3 695 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
64fa820c 696 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk (default)
2dd5a2e3 697 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
698 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
699 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
2b1bd292 700
732044af 701## Internet Shortcut Options:
2dd5a2e3 702 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
703 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
704 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
705 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
706 OS caches the URL based on the file path
707 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
708 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
732044af 709
0744a815 710## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
2dd5a2e3 711 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with --verbose,
712 print the log to stderr
713 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
714 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
715 anything to disk
716 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
717 options are used
718 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
719 extracting metadata even if the videos are
720 not actually available for download
721 (experimental)
722 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
723 formats are found (default)
724 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
725 related files (Alias: --no-download)
726 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
727 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
728 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
729 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
119e40ef 730 --use-postprocessor (default: video).
2dd5a2e3 731 Implies --quiet. Implies --simulate unless
732 --no-simulate or later stages of WHEN are
733 used. This option can be used multiple times
bb66c247 734 --print-to-file [WHEN:]TEMPLATE FILE
2dd5a2e3 735 Append given template to the file. The
736 values of WHEN and TEMPLATE are same as that
737 of --print. FILE uses the same syntax as the
738 output template. This option can be used
739 multiple times
740 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
741 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
742 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
743 description of available keys
744 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
745 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
746 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
747 a playlist, the whole playlist information
748 is dumped in a single line
749 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
750 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
751 another simulation option is used (Alias:
752 --force-download-archive)
753 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
754 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
755 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
756 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
819e0531 757 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
2dd5a2e3 758 Template for progress outputs, optionally
759 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
760 "download-title:" (the console title),
761 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
762 The video's fields are accessible under the
763 "info" key and the progress attributes are
62b58c09 764 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 765 --console-title --progress-template
766 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
767 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
768 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
769 to debug problems (very verbose)
770 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to files
771 in the current directory to debug problems
772 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 773
36f35428 774## Workarounds:
2dd5a2e3 775 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
776 --legacy-server-connect Explicitly allow HTTPS connection to servers
777 that do not support RFC 5746 secure
778 renegotiation
779 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
780 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
781 information about the video (Currently
782 supported only for YouTube)
783 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
784 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
785 option multiple times
786 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
787 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
788 or fribidi executable in PATH
789 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
790 during data extraction
791 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
792 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
793 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
794 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
795 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can only
796 be used along with --min-sleep-interval
797 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
798 subtitle download
36f35428 799
cfcec693 800## Video Format Options:
2dd5a2e3 801 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
802 for more details
803 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
804 "Sorting Formats" for more details
805 --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
806 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
807 Formats" for more details (Alias: --S-force)
808 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
809 specified sort order (default)
810 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
811 into a single file
812 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for each
813 output file (default)
814 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
815 into a single file
816 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for each
817 output file (default)
818 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
819 over non-free ones of same quality. Use with
820 "-S ext" to strictly prefer free containers
821 irrespective of quality
822 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
823 containers (default)
824 --check-formats Make sure formats are selected only from
825 those that are actually downloadable
826 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
827 actually downloadable
828 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
829 downloadable
830 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
831 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
fc61aff4 832 --merge-output-format FORMAT Containers that may be used when merging
62b58c09 833 formats, separated by "/", e.g. "mp4/mkv".
fc61aff4
LL
834 Ignored if no merge is required. (currently
835 supported: avi, flv, mkv, mov, mp4, webm)
8ae7be3e
PH
836
837## Subtitle Options:
2dd5a2e3 838 --write-subs Write subtitle file
839 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
840 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
841 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
842 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
843 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
844 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
845 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
846 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format; accepts formats preference,
62b58c09 847 e.g. "srt" or "ass/srt/best"
2dd5a2e3 848 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
62b58c09
L
849 be regex) or "all" separated by commas, e.g.
850 --sub-langs "en.*,ja". You can prefix the
2dd5a2e3 851 language code with a "-" to exclude it from
62b58c09
L
852 the requested languages, e.g. --sub-langs
853 all,-live_chat. Use --list-subs for a list
2dd5a2e3 854 of available language tags
6bcd846b 855
cfcec693 856## Authentication Options:
2dd5a2e3 857 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
858 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
859 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
860 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
861 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
862 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
863 either the path or its containing directory.
864 Defaults to ~/.netrc
865 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
866 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
867 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
868 a list of available MSOs
869 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
870 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
871 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
872 interactively
873 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system operators
874 --client-certificate CERTFILE Path to client certificate file in PEM
875 format. May include the private key
876 --client-certificate-key KEYFILE
877 Path to private key file for client
878 certificate
bb58c9ed 879 --client-certificate-password PASSWORD
2dd5a2e3 880 Password for client certificate private key,
881 if encrypted. If not provided, and the key
882 is encrypted, yt-dlp will ask interactively
f5e008d1 883
c76eb41b 884## Post-Processing Options:
2dd5a2e3 885 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
886 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
35faefee 887 --audio-format FORMAT Format to convert the audio to when -x is
888 used. (currently supported: best (default),
8dc59305 889 aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis,
e0ab9854 890 wav). You can specify multiple rules using
891 similar syntax as --remux-video
2dd5a2e3 892 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality to use when
893 converting the audio with -x. Insert a value
894 between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for VBR or a
895 specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
896 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
8dc59305 897 necessary (currently supported: avi, flv,
69f5fe45 898 gif, mkv, mov, mp4, webm, aac, aiff, alac,
899 flac, m4a, mka, mp3, ogg, opus, vorbis,
900 wav). If target container does not support
901 the video/audio codec, remuxing will fail.
902 You can specify multiple rules; e.g.
2dd5a2e3 903 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to m4a,
35faefee 904 mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv
2dd5a2e3 905 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
906 necessary. The syntax and supported formats
907 are the same as --remux-video
908 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
909 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
910 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
911 to give the argument to the specified
912 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
913 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
914 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
915 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
916 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
917 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
918 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
919 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
920 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
921 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
922 specified executable only when being used by
923 the specified postprocessor. Additionally,
924 for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be
925 appended to the prefix optionally followed
926 by a number to pass the argument before the
62b58c09 927 specified input/output file, e.g. --ppa
2dd5a2e3 928 "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
929 this option multiple times to give different
930 arguments to different postprocessors.
931 (Alias: --ppa)
932 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
933 after post-processing
934 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
935 post-processing (default)
936 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
937 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
938 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
939 webm and mkv videos)
940 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
941 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
942 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
943 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
944 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
945 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json are
946 used (Alias: --add-metadata)
947 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
948 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
949 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
950 (Alias: --add-chapters)
951 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default) (Alias:
952 --no-add-chapters)
953 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
954 mkv/mka video files
955 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
956 to the video file
fe74d5b5 957 --parse-metadata [WHEN:]FROM:TO
958 Parse additional metadata like title/artist
2dd5a2e3 959 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
fe74d5b5 960 for details. Supported values of "WHEN" are
961 the same as that of --use-postprocessor
962 (default: pre_process)
963 --replace-in-metadata [WHEN:]FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
2dd5a2e3 964 Replace text in a metadata field using the
965 given regex. This option can be used
fe74d5b5 966 multiple times. Supported values of "WHEN"
967 are the same as that of --use-postprocessor
968 (default: pre_process)
2dd5a2e3 969 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
970 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
971 --concat-playlist POLICY Concatenate videos in a playlist. One of
972 "never", "always", or "multi_video"
973 (default; only when the videos form a single
974 show). All the video files must have same
975 codecs and number of streams to be
976 concatable. The "pl_video:" prefix can be
977 used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
978 the output filename for the concatenated
979 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
980 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
981 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
982 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
983 default; fix file if we can, warn
984 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
985 already exists)
986 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
64fa820c 987 path to the binary or its containing directory
2dd5a2e3 988 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
119e40ef 989 when to execute it, separated by a ":".
990 Supported values of "WHEN" are the same as
991 that of --use-postprocessor (default:
992 after_move). Same syntax as the output
993 template can be used to pass any field as
994 arguments to the command. After download, an
995 additional field "filepath" that contains
996 the final path of the downloaded file is
997 also available, and if no fields are passed,
998 %(filepath)q is appended to the end of the
999 command. This option can be used multiple
1000 times
2dd5a2e3 1001 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
1002 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
8dc59305 1003 (currently supported: ass, lrc, srt, vtt)
2dd5a2e3 1004 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
1005 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
00bbc5f1 1006 (currently supported: jpg, png, webp). You
1007 can specify multiple rules using similar
1008 syntax as --remux-video
2dd5a2e3 1009 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
1010 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix can
1011 be used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1012 the output filename for the split files. See
1013 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
64fa820c 1014 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters (default)
2dd5a2e3 1015 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
5ec1b6b7 1016 given regular expression. The syntax is the
1017 same as --download-sections. This option can
2dd5a2e3 1018 be used multiple times
1019 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
1020 (default)
5ec1b6b7 1021 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes at cuts when
1022 downloading/splitting/removing sections.
1023 This is slow due to needing a re-encode, but
1024 the resulting video may have fewer artifacts
1025 around the cuts
2dd5a2e3 1026 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
1027 when cutting/splitting (default)
1028 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS]
1029 The (case sensitive) name of plugin
1030 postprocessors to be enabled, and
1031 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
1032 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
1033 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
1034 The "when" argument determines when the
1035 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
1036 "pre_process" (after video extraction),
1037 "after_filter" (after video passes filter),
119e40ef 1038 "video" (after --format; before
1039 --print/--output), "before_dl" (before each
1040 video download), "post_process" (after each
1041 video download; default), "after_move"
1042 (after moving video file to it's final
1043 locations), "after_video" (after downloading
1044 and processing all formats of a video), or
1045 "playlist" (at end of playlist). This option
1046 can be used multiple times to add different
1047 postprocessors
7a340e0d
NA
1048
1049## SponsorBlock Options:
1050Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
1051 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
8a51f564 1052 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
1053
2dd5a2e3 1054 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
1055 for, separated by commas. Available
1056 categories are sponsor, intro, outro,
1057 selfpromo, preview, filler, interaction,
71df9b7f 1058 music_offtopic, poi_highlight, chapter, all
1059 and default (=all). You can prefix the
1060 category with a "-" to exclude it. See [1]
1061 for description of the categories. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 1062 --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
1063 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
1064 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
1065 the video file, separated by commas. If a
1066 category is present in both mark and remove,
1067 remove takes precedence. The syntax and
1068 available categories are the same as for
1069 --sponsorblock-mark except that "default"
71df9b7f 1070 refers to "all,-filler" and poi_highlight,
63c547d7 1071 chapter are not available
7a340e0d 1072 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
2dd5a2e3 1073 An output template for the title of the
1074 SponsorBlock chapters created by
1075 --sponsorblock-mark. The only available
1076 fields are start_time, end_time, category,
1077 categories, name, category_names. Defaults
1078 to "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
1079 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
1080 --sponsorblock-remove
1081 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
1082 https://sponsor.ajay.app
a9e7f546 1083
78895bd3 1084## Extractor Options:
2dd5a2e3 1085 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor errors
1086 (default is 3), or "infinite"
1087 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
1088 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1089 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1090 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
1091 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1092 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1093 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1094 formats at discontinuities such as ad breaks
1095 (default)
2fa669f7 1096 --extractor-args IE_KEY:ARGS Pass ARGS arguments to the IE_KEY extractor.
1097 See "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You
1098 can use this option multiple times to give
2dd5a2e3 1099 arguments for different extractors
17cb02d0 1100
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1101# CONFIGURATION
1102
7a5c1cfe 1103You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
e2e43aea 1104
878eac3e 11051. **Main Configuration**:
1106 * The file given by `--config-location`
11071. **Portable Configuration**: (Recommended for portable installations)
1108 * If using a binary, `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the binary
1109 * If running from source-code, `yt-dlp.conf` in the parent directory of `yt_dlp`
11101. **Home Configuration**:
1111 * `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P`
1112 * If `-P` is not given, the current directory is searched
e2e43aea 11131. **User Configuration**:
878eac3e 1114 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
8e40b9d1 1115 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
878eac3e 1116 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp.conf`
1117 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1118 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
e2e43aea 1119 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1120 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
8e40b9d1
M
1121 * `~/.yt-dlp/config`
1122 * `~/.yt-dlp/config.txt`
3d3bb168 1123
878eac3e 1124 See also: [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
11251. **System Configuration**:
1126 * `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
8e40b9d1
M
1127 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config`
1128 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config.txt`
b7770046 1129
62b58c09 1130E.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
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1131```
1132# Lines starting with # are comments
1133
1134# Always extract audio
1135-x
1136
1137# Do not copy the mtime
1138--no-mtime
1139
1140# Use this proxy
1141--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1142
298f597b 1143# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1144-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
b7770046
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1145```
1146
2fa669f7 1147Note 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`. They must also be quoted when necessary as-if it were a UNIX shell.
b7770046 1148
a4211baf 1149You 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 1150
304ad45a 1151### Configuration file encoding
a904a7f8 1152
304ad45a 1153The configuration files are decoded according to the UTF BOM if present, and in the encoding from system locale otherwise.
a904a7f8 1154
88f60feb 1155If 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 1156
b7770046
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1157### Authentication with `.netrc` file
1158
304ad45a 1159You 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 1160```
878eac3e 1161touch ${HOME}/.netrc
1162chmod a-rwx,u+rw ${HOME}/.netrc
b7770046
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1163```
1164After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1165```
0001fcb5 1166machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
b7770046 1167```
62b58c09 1168E.g.
b7770046
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1169```
1170machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1171machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1172```
7a5c1cfe 1173To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
b7770046 1174
878eac3e 1175The default location of the .netrc file is `~` (see below).
1176
1177### Notes about environment variables
1178* Environment variables are normally specified as `${VARIABLE}`/`$VARIABLE` on UNIX and `%VARIABLE%` on Windows; but is always shown as `${VARIABLE}` in this documentation
1179* yt-dlp also allow using UNIX-style variables on Windows for path-like options; e.g. `--output`, `--config-location`
1180* If unset, `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}` defaults to `~/.config` and `${XDG_CACHE_HOME}` to `~/.cache`
1181* On Windows, `~` points to `${HOME}` if present; or, `${USERPROFILE}` or `${HOMEDRIVE}${HOMEPATH}` otherwise
1182* On Windows, `${USERPROFILE}` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>` and `${APPDATA}` to `${USERPROFILE}\AppData\Roaming`
b7770046
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1183
1184# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1185
0202b52a 1186The `-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 1187
ec2e44fc 1188<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1189**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
ec2e44fc 1190<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1191
e58c22a0 1192The 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 1193
62b58c09 1194It 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 1195
1196The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
3d3bb168 1197
07a1250e 11981. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a dot `.` separator; e.g. `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`. You can do Python slicing with colon `:`; E.g. `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. Curly braces `{}` can be used to build dictionaries with only specific keys; e.g. `%(formats.:.{format_id,height})#j`. An empty field name `%()s` refers to the entire infodict; e.g. `%(.{id,title})s`. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
ec2e44fc 1199
62b58c09 12001. **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 1201
62b58c09 12021. **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 1203
62b58c09 12041. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. E.g. `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1205
304ad45a 12061. **Replacement**: A replacement value can be 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.
e978789f 1207
17ffed18 12081. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` separator. This overrides `--output-na-placeholder`. E.g. `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1209
9b9dad11 12101. **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, `+` for Unicode), `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 1211
d5d1df8a 12121. **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 1213
1214To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1215```
e978789f 1216%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
a439a3a4 1217```
de6000d9 1218
62b58c09 1219Additionally, 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 1220
7aaf4cd2
RG
1221<a id="outtmpl-postprocess-note"></a>
1222
1223Note: Due to post-processing (i.e. merging etc.), the actual output filename might differ. Use `--print after_move:filepath` to get the name after all post-processing is complete.
1224
e29663c6 1225The available fields are:
b7770046
U
1226
1227 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1228 - `title` (string): Video title
455a15e2 1229 - `fulltitle` (string): Video title ignoring live timestamp and generic title
b7770046
U
1230 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1231 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
597c1866 1232 - `description` (string): The description of the video
b7770046
U
1233 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1234 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1235 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1236 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
b7770046 1237 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
ae6a1b95 1238 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date in UTC (YYYYMMDD)
e6f21b3d 1239 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
ae6a1b95 1240 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released in UTC
f0d785d3 1241 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
ae6a1b95 1242 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified in UTC
b7770046
U
1243 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1244 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1245 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
6c73052c 1246 - `channel_follower_count` (numeric): Number of followers of the channel
b7770046
U
1247 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1248 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
53c18592 1249 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
b7770046 1250 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
867c66ff 1251 - `concurrent_view_count` (numeric): How many users are currently watching the video on the platform.
b7770046
U
1252 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1253 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1254 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1255 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
277d6ff5 1256 - `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 1257 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
e325a21a 1258 - `live_status` (string): One of "not_live", "is_live", "is_upcoming", "was_live", "post_live" (was live, but VOD is not yet processed)
b7770046 1259 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
f76ede8e 1260 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
6cfda058 1261 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
940a67a3 1262 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
b7770046
U
1263 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1264 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
b7770046
U
1265 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1266 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
455a15e2 1267 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch of when the information extraction was completed
b7770046 1268 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
9c906919 1269 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
e6f21b3d 1270 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
455a15e2 1271 - `playlist_id` (string): Identifier of the playlist that contains the video
1272 - `playlist_title` (string): Name of the playlist that contains the video
1273 - `playlist` (string): `playlist_id` or `playlist_title`
f0d785d3 1274 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
e6f21b3d 1275 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1276 - `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
1277 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1278 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
bd99f6e6 1279 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
0bb322b9 1280 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1281 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
bd99f6e6 1282 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
d2c8aadf 1283
1284All the fields in [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats) can also be used
b7770046
U
1285
1286Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1287
1288 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1289 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1290 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1291
1292Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1293
1294 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1295 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1296 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1297 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1298 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1299 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1300 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1301
1302Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1303
1304 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1305 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1306 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1307 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1308 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1309 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1310 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1311 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1312 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1313 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1314
5ec1b6b7 1315Available only when using `--download-sections` and for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
72755351 1316
1317 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1318 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1319 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1320 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1321
53c18592 1322Available only when used in `--print`:
1323
1324 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
7aaf4cd2 1325 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the [actual filename may differ](#outtmpl-postprocess-note)
ed5835b4 1326 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1327 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1328 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1329 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1330
7a340e0d
NA
1331
1332Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1333
1334 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1335 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1338ae3b 1336 - `categories` (list): The [SponsorBlock categories](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Category) the chapter belongs to
7a340e0d
NA
1337 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1338 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1339 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
1338ae3b 1340 - `type` (string): The [SponsorBlock action type](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Action_Type) of the chapter
53c18592 1341
62b58c09 1342Each 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 1343
1344Note 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 1345
0930b11f 1346**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
b7770046 1347
62b58c09 1348For 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 1349
940a67a3 1350Output 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
1351
1352To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1353
91ebc640 1354The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
b7770046 1355
f304da8a 1356In 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 1357
b7770046
U
1358#### Output template examples
1359
b7770046 1360```bash
d2c8aadf 1361$ yt-dlp --print filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1362test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1363
d2c8aadf 1364$ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1365youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
b7770046 1366
d2c8aadf 1367$ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
9222c381 1368youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
b7770046
U
1369
1370# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
940a67a3 1371$ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
b7770046 1372
b050d210 1373# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
940a67a3 1374$ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
e29663c6 1375
e978789f 1376# Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
6a34813a 1377$ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist_index|)s%(playlist_index& - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
e978789f 1378
b7770046 1379# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
940a67a3 1380$ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
b7770046
U
1381
1382# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
940a67a3 1383$ 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
1384
1385# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
940a67a3 1386$ 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 1387
6a34813a 1388# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1389# and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1390$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1391
1392# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1393$ 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
1394
b7770046 1395# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
7a5c1cfe 1396$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
b7770046
U
1397```
1398
1399# FORMAT SELECTION
1400
7a5c1cfe
P
1401By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1402This 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 1403
c111cefa 1404**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.
1405
eff63539 1406The 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 1407
ec2e44fc 1408<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1409**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
ec2e44fc 1410<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1411
62b58c09 1412The 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
1413
1414You 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.
1415
fa9f30b8 1416You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1417
b7770046
U
1418You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1419
59a7a13e 1420 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1421 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
30389593 1422 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio or both (ie; `vcodec!=none or acodec!=none`)
59a7a13e 1423 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1424 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1425 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1426 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
ae6a1b95 1427 - `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 1428 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
909d24dd 1429 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1430 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 1431 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1432 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 1433 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
b7770046 1434
d4ada357 1435For 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 1436
1437You 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 1438
304ad45a 1439If 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
1440
1441If 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`.
1442
62b58c09 1443You 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 1444
1445**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
1446
304ad45a 1447Unless `--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 only `best` while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
eb8a4433 1448
1449## Filtering Formats
1450
b7770046
U
1451You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1452
1453The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1454
1455 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
d2c8aadf 1456 - `filesize_approx`: An estimate for the number of bytes
b7770046
U
1457 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1458 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
105bfd90 1459 - `aspect_ratio`: Aspect ratio of the video, if known
b7770046
U
1460 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1461 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1462 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1463 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1464 - `fps`: Frame rate
d2c8aadf 1465 - `audio_channels`: The number of audio channels
1466 - `stretched_ratio`: `width:height` of the video's pixels, if not square
b7770046 1467
1ce9a3cb 1468Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains), `~=` (matches regex) and following string meta fields:
b7770046 1469
d2c8aadf 1470 - `url`: Video URL
b7770046
U
1471 - `ext`: File extension
1472 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1473 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1474 - `container`: Name of the container format
1475 - `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`)
29f7c58a 1476 - `language`: Language code
d2c8aadf 1477 - `dynamic_range`: The dynamic range of the video
1478 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
1479 - `format`: A human-readable description of the format
1480 - `format_note`: Additional info about the format
1481 - `resolution`: Textual description of width and height
b7770046 1482
1ce9a3cb 1483Any 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 1484
e58c22a0 1485Note 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 1486
62b58c09 1487Formats 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 1488
62b58c09 1489Format 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 1490
eb8a4433 1491## Sorting Formats
1492
2e7781a9 1493You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1494
1495The available fields are:
eb8a4433 1496
304ad45a 1497 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that have a video stream
1498 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that have an audio stream
ed8d87f9 1499 - `ie_pref`: The format preference
1500 - `lang`: The language preference
1501 - `quality`: The quality of the format
1502 - `source`: The preference of the source
d80d98e7 1503 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1504 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
71082216 1505 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` `ac4` > > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
eb8a4433 1506 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
29ca4082 1507 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `mov` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
f2e9fa3e 1508 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > `mp3` > `m4a` > `aac`
63be1aab 1509 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
0930b11f 1510 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
63be1aab 1511 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1512 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
eb8a4433 1513 - `height`: Height of video
1514 - `width`: Width of video
63be1aab 1515 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1516 - `fps`: Framerate of video
49a57e70 1517 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
b8ed0f15 1518 - `channels`: The number of audio channels
63be1aab 1519 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1520 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1521 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1522 - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
1523 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
d806c9fd 1524
1525**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 1526
62b58c09 1527All 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 1528
7e798d72 1529The 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 1530
7e798d72 1531Note 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 1532
e58c22a0 1533If 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 1534
1535**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1536
eb8a4433 1537## Format Selection examples
b7770046 1538
b7770046 1539```bash
e58c22a0 1540# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
909d24dd 1541# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
940a67a3 1542$ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
909d24dd 1543
1544# Download best format that contains video,
1545# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
940a67a3 1546$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
2af884ff 1547
1548# Same as above
7a5c1cfe 1549$ yt-dlp
909d24dd 1550
6fd35a11 1551# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1552# For this case, an output template should be used since
1553# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
940a67a3 1554$ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
909d24dd 1555
f8d4ad9a 1556# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1557# and all audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1558$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
f8d4ad9a 1559
1560# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1561# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1562$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
909d24dd 1563
6fd35a11 1564
1565# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
f8d4ad9a 1566# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
6fd35a11 1567
1568# Download the worst video available (old method)
940a67a3 1569$ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
eb8a4433 1570
1571# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
940a67a3 1572$ yt-dlp -S "+res"
eb8a4433 1573
1574# Download the smallest video available
940a67a3 1575$ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
eb8a4433 1576
1577
909d24dd 1578
eb8a4433 1579# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
940a67a3 1580$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
eb8a4433 1581
1582# Download the best video with the best extension
29ca4082 1583# (For video, mp4 > mov > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
940a67a3 1584$ yt-dlp -S "ext"
eb8a4433 1585
1586
909d24dd 1587
eb8a4433 1588# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1589# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1590$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
b7770046 1591
eb8a4433 1592# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1593# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1594$ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
b7770046 1595
eb8a4433 1596# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1597# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1598# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1599# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
940a67a3 1600$ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
b7770046 1601
b7770046 1602
909d24dd 1603
eb8a4433 1604# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1605# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1606$ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
eb8a4433 1607
1608# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1609# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1610$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
eb8a4433 1611
1612# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
940a67a3 1613$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
eb8a4433 1614
1615
909d24dd 1616
eb8a4433 1617# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1618# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
940a67a3 1619$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1620
1621# Download best video available via the best protocol
1622# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
940a67a3 1623$ yt-dlp -S "proto"
eb8a4433 1624
1625
909d24dd 1626
1ce9a3cb
LF
1627# Download the best video with either h264 or h265 codec,
1628# or the best video if there is no such video
1629$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*[vcodec~='^((he|a)vc|h26[45])']+ba) / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1630
1631# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1632# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1633$ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1634
1635# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1636# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1637$ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1638
1639
1640
1641# More complex examples
1642
e58c22a0 1643# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1644# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
940a67a3 1645$ 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 1646
1647# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
f8d4ad9a 1648# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1649# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
940a67a3 1650$ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
eb8a4433 1651
1652
909d24dd 1653
eb8a4433 1654# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1655# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1656# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
940a67a3 1657$ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
b7770046 1658```
eb8a4433 1659
73cd218f 1660# MODIFYING METADATA
1661
a4211baf 1662The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
e9f4ccd1 1663
418964fa 1664`--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 1665
46d09f87 1666The 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, a single field name, 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 1667
46d09f87 1668Note that these options preserve their relative order, allowing replacements to be made in parsed fields and viceversa. Also, any field thus created can be used in the [output template](#output-template) and will also affect the media file's metadata added when using `--embed-metadata`.
73cd218f 1669
9c2b75b5 1670This option also has a few special uses:
3d3bb168 1671
62b58c09 1672* 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 1673
62b58c09 1674* 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 1675
08d30158 1676**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.
1677
c31be5b0 1678For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1679
08d30158 1680Metadata fields | From
1681:--------------------------|:------------------------------------------------
1682`title` | `track` or `title`
1683`date` | `upload_date`
1684`description`, `synopsis` | `description`
1685`purl`, `comment` | `webpage_url`
1686`track` | `track_number`
1687`artist` | `artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1688`genre` | `genre`
1689`album` | `album`
1690`album_artist` | `album_artist`
1691`disc` | `disc_number`
1692`show` | `series`
1693`season_number` | `season_number`
1694`episode_id` | `episode` or `episode_id`
1695`episode_sort` | `episode_number`
1696`language` of each stream | the format's `language`
1697
c31be5b0 1698**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1699
73cd218f 1700
1701## Modifying metadata examples
1702
73cd218f 1703```bash
1704# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
940a67a3 1705$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
73cd218f 1706
1707# Regex example
940a67a3 1708$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
73cd218f 1709
1710# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
940a67a3 1711$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
73cd218f 1712
a44ca5a4 1713# Prioritize uploader as the "artist" field in video metadata
2fa669f7 1714$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" --embed-metadata
a44ca5a4 1715
1716# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url,
1717# handling multiple lines correctly
2fa669f7 1718$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --embed-metadata
73cd218f 1719
8aa0e7cd 1720# Do not set any "synopsis" in the video metadata
1721$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<meta_synopsis>)"
1722
0930b11f 1723# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
940a67a3 1724$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<formats>)" -j
0930b11f 1725
e9f4ccd1 1726# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
940a67a3 1727$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
e9f4ccd1 1728
73cd218f 1729```
1730
5d3a0e79 1731# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1732
62b58c09 1733Some 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 1734
1735The following extractors use this feature:
96565c7e 1736
1737#### youtube
2fa669f7 1738* `lang`: Language code to prefer translated metadata of this language (case-sensitive). By default, the video primary language metadata is preferred, with a fallback to `en` translated. See [youtube.py](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c26f9b991a0681fd3ea548d535919cec1fbbd430/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py#L381-L390) for list of supported content language codes
8aa0e7cd 1739* `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
304ad45a 1740* `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 1741* `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
96565c7e 1742* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
a44ca5a4 1743* `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`
1744 * 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
4d37720a 1745* `include_incomplete_formats`: Extract formats that cannot be downloaded completely (live dash and post-live m3u8)
1e4fca9a 1746* `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 1747* `innertube_key`: Innertube API key to use for all API requests
96565c7e 1748
1749#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1750* `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)
5225df50 1751* `approximate_date`: Extract approximate `upload_date` and `timestamp` in flat-playlist. This may cause date-based filters to be slightly off
96565c7e 1752
3b021eac 1753#### generic
1754* `fragment_query`: Passthrough any query in mpd/m3u8 manifest URLs to their fragments. Does not apply to ffmpeg
1755
96565c7e 1756#### funimation
304ad45a 1757* `language`: Audio languages to extract, e.g. `funimation:language=english,japanese`
96565c7e 1758* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1759
cb1553e9 1760#### crunchyrollbeta (Crunchyroll)
62b58c09 1761* `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`
dfea94f8 1762* `hardsub`: Preference order for which hardsub versions to extract, or `all` (default: `None` = no hardsubs), e.g. `crunchyrollbeta:hardsub=en-US,None`
706dfe44 1763
96565c7e 1764#### vikichannel
1765* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
73d829c1 1766
7bdcb4a4
LNO
1767#### niconico
1768* `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.**
1769
aa4b0545 1770#### youtubewebarchive
1771* `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1772
d43de682
M
1773#### gamejolt
1774* `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1775
26f2aa3d
AG
1776#### hotstar
1777* `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1778* `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1779* `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1780
046cab39 1781#### tiktok
c4cbd3be 1782* `api_hostname`: Hostname to use for mobile API requests, e.g. `api-h2.tiktokv.com`
62b58c09
L
1783* `app_version`: App version to call mobile APIs with - should be set along with `manifest_app_version`, e.g. `20.2.1`
1784* `manifest_app_version`: Numeric app version to call mobile APIs with, e.g. `221`
046cab39 1785
7eaf7f9a 1786#### rokfinchannel
62b58c09 1787* `tab`: Which tab to download - one of `new`, `top`, `videos`, `podcasts`, `streams`, `stacks`
7eaf7f9a 1788
7a26ce26
SS
1789#### twitter
1790* `force_graphql`: Force usage of the GraphQL API. By default it will only be used if login cookies are provided
7eaf7f9a 1791
bc97cdae 1792NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
5d3a0e79 1793
ec2e44fc 1794<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1795
3acf6d38 1796
f74980cb 1797# PLUGINS
b7770046 1798
8e40b9d1 1799Note 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!**
3ae5e797 1800
8e40b9d1
M
1801Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`.
1802- Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it.
1803- Extractor plugins take priority over builtin extractors.
1804- Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
3ae5e797 1805
3ae5e797 1806
8e40b9d1 1807Plugins are loaded from the namespace packages `yt_dlp_plugins.extractor` and `yt_dlp_plugins.postprocessor`.
3ae5e797 1808
8e40b9d1
M
1809In other words, the file structure on the disk looks something like:
1810
1811 yt_dlp_plugins/
1812 extractor/
1813 myplugin.py
1814 postprocessor/
1815 myplugin.py
1816
1817yt-dlp looks for these `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folders in many locations (see below) and loads in plugins from **all** of them.
b7770046 1818
deae7c17 1819See the [wiki for some known plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Plugins)
1820
8e40b9d1
M
1821## Installing Plugins
1822
1823Plugins can be installed using various methods and locations.
1824
18251. **Configuration directories**:
1826 Plugin packages (containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder) can be dropped into the following standard [configuration locations](#configuration):
1827 * **User Plugins**
1828 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1829 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1830 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Windows)
1831 * `~/.yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1832 * `~/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1833 * **System Plugins**
1834 * `/etc/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1835 * `/etc/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
18362. **Executable location**: Plugin packages can similarly be installed in a `yt-dlp-plugins` directory under the executable location:
1837 * Binary: where `<root-dir>/yt-dlp.exe`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1838 * Source: where `<root-dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1839
18403. **pip and other locations in `PYTHONPATH`**
1841 * Plugin packages can be installed and managed using `pip`. See [ytdlp-sample-plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-sample-plugins) for an example.
1842 * Note: plugin files between plugin packages installed with pip must have unique filenames
1843 * Any path in `PYTHONPATH` is searched in for the `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder.
1844 * Note: This does not apply for Pyinstaller/py2exe builds.
1845
1846
1847.zip, .egg and .whl archives containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder in their root are also supported. These can be placed in the same locations `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folders can be found.
1848- e.g. `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/mypluginpkg.zip` where `mypluginpkg.zip` contains `yt_dlp_plugins/<type>/myplugin.py`
1849
1850Run yt-dlp with `--verbose`/`-v` to check if the plugin has been loaded.
1851
1852## Developing Plugins
1853
1854See [ytdlp-sample-plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-sample-plugins) for a sample plugin package with instructions on how to set up an environment for plugin development.
1855
1856All public classes with a name ending in `IE` are imported from each file. This respects underscore prefix (e.g. `_MyBasePluginIE` is private) and `__all__`. Modules can similarly be excluded by prefixing the module name with an underscore (e.g. `_myplugin.py`)
1857
1858If you are a plugin author, add [yt-dlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/yt-dlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
b7770046 1859
8e40b9d1 1860See the [Developer Instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions) on how to write and test an extractor.
8c6f4daa 1861
1862# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1863
1864yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1865
1866Your 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.
1867
1868From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1869
1870```python
59a7a13e 1871from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1872
3d3bb168 1873URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1874with YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1875 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 1876```
1877
1890fc63 1878Most 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 1879
43cc91ad 1880**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 1881
1882## Embedding examples
1883
43cc91ad 1884#### Extracting information
8c6f4daa 1885
1886```python
1887import json
8c6f4daa 1888import yt_dlp
8c6f4daa 1889
3d3bb168 1890URL = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1891
1892# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL) for a list of available options and public functions
1893ydl_opts = {}
1894with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1895 info = ydl.extract_info(URL, download=False)
1896
1897 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1898 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1899```
43cc91ad 1900#### Download using an info-json
3d3bb168 1901
1902```python
1903import yt_dlp
1904
1905INFO_FILE = 'path/to/video.info.json'
1906
1907with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1908 error_code = ydl.download_with_info_file(INFO_FILE)
1909
1910print('Some videos failed to download' if error_code
1911 else 'All videos successfully downloaded')
1912```
1913
43cc91ad 1914#### Extract audio
3d3bb168 1915
1916```python
1917import yt_dlp
1918
1919URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1920
1921ydl_opts = {
0a41f331 1922 'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
3d3bb168 1923 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor) for a list of available Postprocessors and their arguments
1924 'postprocessors': [{ # Extract audio using ffmpeg
1925 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
1926 'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
1927 }]
1928}
1929
1930with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1931 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1932```
0a41f331 1933
1934#### Filter videos
1935
1936```python
1937import yt_dlp
1938
1939URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1940
1941def longer_than_a_minute(info, *, incomplete):
1942 """Download only videos longer than a minute (or with unknown duration)"""
1943 duration = info.get('duration')
1944 if duration and duration < 60:
1945 return 'The video is too short'
1946
1947ydl_opts = {
1948 'match_filter': longer_than_a_minute,
1949}
1950
1951with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1952 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1953```
1954
43cc91ad 1955#### Adding logger and progress hook
3d3bb168 1956
1957```python
1958import yt_dlp
1959
1960URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
8c6f4daa 1961
1962class MyLogger:
1963 def debug(self, msg):
e75bb0d6 1964 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
8c6f4daa 1965 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
1966 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
1967 pass
1968 else:
1969 self.info(msg)
1970
1971 def info(self, msg):
1972 pass
1973
1974 def warning(self, msg):
1975 pass
1976
1977 def error(self, msg):
1978 print(msg)
1979
1980
3d3bb168 1981# ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)
1982def my_hook(d):
1983 if d['status'] == 'finished':
1984 print('Done downloading, now post-processing ...')
1985
1986
1987ydl_opts = {
1988 'logger': MyLogger(),
1989 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
1990}
1991
1992with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1993 ydl.download(URLS)
1994```
1995
43cc91ad 1996#### Add a custom PostProcessor
3d3bb168 1997
1998```python
1999import yt_dlp
2000
2001URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2002
2003# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor)
59a7a13e 2004class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
8c6f4daa 2005 def run(self, info):
2006 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
2007 return [], info
2008
2009
3d3bb168 2010with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
8aa0e7cd 2011 # ℹ️ "when" can take any value in yt_dlp.utils.POSTPROCESS_WHEN
2012 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP(), when='pre_process')
3d3bb168 2013 ydl.download(URLS)
2014```
8c6f4daa 2015
2016
43cc91ad 2017#### Use a custom format selector
3d3bb168 2018
2019```python
2020import yt_dlp
2021
2022URL = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2023
093a1710 2024def format_selector(ctx):
2025 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
3d3bb168 2026 NOTE: This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
093a1710 2027
2028 # formats are already sorted worst to best
2029 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
2030
2031 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
2032 best_video = next(f for f in formats
2033 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
2034
2035 # find compatible audio extension
2036 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
2037 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
2038 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
2039 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
2040
3d3bb168 2041 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
093a1710 2042 yield {
093a1710 2043 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
2044 'ext': best_video['ext'],
2045 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
e75bb0d6 2046 # Must be + separated list of protocols
093a1710 2047 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
2048 }
2049
2050
8c6f4daa 2051ydl_opts = {
093a1710 2052 'format': format_selector,
8c6f4daa 2053}
2054
2055with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
3d3bb168 2056 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 2057```
2058
ec2e44fc 2059<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "NEW FEATURES" SECTION HERE -->
2060
e167860c 2061# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
2062
2063These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
2064
8130779d 2065#### Almost redundant options
2066While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
2067
2068 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
2069 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
0bfc53d0 2070 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table --print playlist:thumbnails_table
8130779d 2071 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
2072
6ccf351a 2073#### Redundant options
2074While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
f4536226 2075
53c18592 2076 --get-description --print description
2077 --get-duration --print duration_string
2078 --get-filename --print filename
2079 --get-format --print format
2080 --get-id --print id
2081 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
2082 -e, --get-title --print title
2083 -g, --get-url --print urls
8f18aca8 2084 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
2085 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
2086 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
2087 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
8b7539d2 2088 --user-agent UA --add-header "User-Agent:UA"
2089 --referer URL --add-header "Referer:URL"
7e88d7d7 2090 --playlist-start NUMBER -I NUMBER:
2091 --playlist-end NUMBER -I :NUMBER
2092 --playlist-reverse -I ::-1
2093 --no-playlist-reverse Default
6ccf351a 2094
2095
2096#### Not recommended
2097While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
2098
fe7866d0 2099 --force-generic-extractor --ies generic,default
1e43a6f7 2100 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
2101 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
d9aa2332 2102 --all-formats -f all
c32b0aab 2103 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
b7b04c78 2104 --print-json -j --no-simulate
62b58c09 2105 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting, e.g. %(autonumber)03d
a439a3a4 2106 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
19b824f6 2107 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
73cd218f 2108 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
52a8a1e1 2109 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
2110 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
53ed7066 2111 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
2112 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
5d3a0e79 2113 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
2114 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
2115 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
2116 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
6ccf351a 2117
2118
2119#### Developer options
2120These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
2121
34488702 2122 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
f95b9dee 2123 --load-pages Load pages dumped by --write-pages
6ccf351a 2124 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
88acdbc2 2125 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
2126 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
f4536226 2127
2128
2129#### Old aliases
2130These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
2131
2132 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
3856407a 2133 --clean-infojson --clean-info-json
f4536226 2134 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
2135 --dump-headers --print-traffic
2136 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
2137 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
2138 --load-info --load-info-json
3856407a 2139 --no-clean-infojson --no-clean-info-json
f4536226 2140 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
e167860c 2141 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
e167860c 2142 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
2143 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
f4536226 2144 --split-tracks --split-chapters
2145 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
e167860c 2146 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
f4536226 2147 --write-srt --write-subs
e167860c 2148 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
f4536226 2149
7a340e0d 2150#### Sponskrub Options
f304da8a 2151Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
7a340e0d
NA
2152
2153 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
2154 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
2155 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
2156 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
2157 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
2158 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
2159 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
2160 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
2161
f4536226 2162#### No longer supported
2163These options may no longer work as intended
2164
2165 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
2166 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
2167 -C, --call-home Not implemented
2168 --no-call-home Default
2169 --include-ads No longer supported
2170 --no-include-ads Default
0bb1bc1b 2171 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
2172 --no-write-annotations Default
1e8fe57e 2173 --compat-options seperate-video-versions No longer needed
486fb179 2174
2175#### Removed
2176These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
2177
f4536226 2178 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
3d3bb168 2179 -t, -l, --title, --literal -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
f4536226 2180
8c6f4daa 2181# CONTRIBUTING
2182See [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 2183
17ffed18 2184# WIKI
2185See the [Wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki) for more information