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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
ae6a1b95 6[![Release version](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?color=brightgreen&label=Download&style=for-the-badge)](#release-files "Release")
7[![PyPi](https://img.shields.io/badge/-PyPi-blue.svg?logo=pypi&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp "PyPi")
fc5fa964 8[![Donate](https://img.shields.io/badge/_-Donate-red.svg?logo=githubsponsors&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](Collaborators.md#collaborators "Donate")
ae6a1b95 9[![Matrix](https://img.shields.io/matrix/yt-dlp:matrix.org?color=brightgreen&labelColor=555555&label=&logo=element&style=for-the-badge)](https://matrix.to/#/#yt-dlp:matrix.org "Matrix")
10[![Discord](https://img.shields.io/discord/807245652072857610?color=blue&labelColor=555555&label=&logo=discord&style=for-the-badge)](https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r "Discord")
fc5fa964 11[![Supported Sites](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Supported_Sites-brightgreen.svg?style=for-the-badge)](supportedsites.md "Supported Sites")
ae6a1b95 12[![License: Unlicense](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Unlicense-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge)](LICENSE "License")
fc5fa964 13[![CI Status](https://img.shields.io/github/workflow/status/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/Core%20Tests/master?label=Tests&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/actions "CI Status")
fc5fa964 14[![Commits](https://img.shields.io/github/commit-activity/m/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?label=commits&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits "Commit History")
15[![Last Commit](https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master?label=&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits "Commit History")
c76eb41b 16
b31fdeed 17</div>
ec2e44fc 18<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c76eb41b 19
b31fdeed 20yt-dlp is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
5c0e5bc4 21
ec2e44fc 22<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "USAGE AND OPTIONS" SECTION HERE -->
23
24<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
034b6215 25* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
53ed7066 26 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
c76eb41b 27* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
17fa3ee2 28 * [Update](#update)
0e5927ee 29 * [Release Files](#release-files)
cf59cd4d 30 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
17fa3ee2 31 * [Compile](#compile)
b31fdeed 32* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
33 * [General Options](#general-options)
50865ca8 34 * [Network Options](#network-options)
b31fdeed 35 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
50865ca8 36 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
37 * [Download Options](#download-options)
38 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
b31fdeed 39 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
50865ca8 40 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
0744a815 41 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
50865ca8 42 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
43 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
44 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
45 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
50865ca8 46 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
7a340e0d 47 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
50865ca8 48 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 49* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
50865ca8 50 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
c76eb41b 51* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 52 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
53 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 54* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 55 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
56 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
57 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
73cd218f 58* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
59 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
5d3a0e79 60* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
f74980cb 61* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
8c6f4daa 62* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
43cc91ad 63 * [Embedding examples](#embedding-examples)
e167860c 64* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
8c6f4daa 65* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
66 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
67 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
c76eb41b 68* [MORE](#more)
ec2e44fc 69<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
50865ca8 70
71
034b6215 72# NEW FEATURES
91f071af 73
ebc7d3ff 74* Based on **youtube-dl 2021.12.17 [commit/6508688](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/6508688e88c83bb811653083db9351702cd39a6a)** ([exceptions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/21)) and **youtube-dlc 2020.11.11-3 [commit/f9401f2](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee)**: You get all the features and patches of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) in addition to the latest [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
034b6215 75
7a340e0d 76* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
034b6215 77
7581d246 78* **[Format Sorting](#sorting-formats)**: The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now preferred instead of simply using larger bitrate. Furthermore, you can now specify the sort order using `-S`. This allows for much easier format selection than what is possible by simply using `--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
034b6215 79
ae6a1b95 80* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--write-comments`, `BiliBiliSearch`, `BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico livestreams are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
29b6000e 81
f5546c0b 82* **Youtube improvements**:
ca5300c7 83 * All Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`, `:ytnotif`) and private playlists supports downloading multiple pages of content
0fdf490d 84 * Search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`), search URLs and in-channel search works
85 * Mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
86c1a8aa 86 * Some (but not all) age-gated content can be downloaded without cookies
a4211baf 87 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326)
f20f5fe5 88 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
e6f21b3d 89 * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from youtube music when premium cookies are given
9ee4f0bb 90 * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded ([except self-uploaded music](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/723))
144a3588 91 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start` (experimental)
6e634cbe 92 * Support for downloading stories (`ytstories:<channel UCID>`)
f20f5fe5 93
f59f5ef8 94* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]`
245524e6 95
5ec1b6b7 96* **Download time range**: Videos can be downloaded partially based on either timestamps or chapters using `--download-sections`
97
597c1866 98* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
99
b31fdeed 100* **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 101
b31fdeed 102* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
f20f5fe5 103
e75bb0d6 104* **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 105
56ba69e4 106* **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN etc.
fac98805 107
3de7c2ce 108* **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 109
597c1866 110* **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 111
112* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
113
418964fa 114* **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 115
8a82af35 116* **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 117
08d30158 118* **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 119
86c1a8aa 120* **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
b31fdeed 121
7a5c1cfe 122* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
aa837ddf 123
7a5c1cfe 124See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 125
53ed7066 126### Differences in default behavior
127
0930b11f 128Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
53ed7066 129
96565c7e 130* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
b69fd25c 131* `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
a44ca5a4 132* yt-dlp stores config files in slightly different locations to youtube-dl. See [configuration](#configuration) for a list of correct locations
96565c7e 133* The default [output template](#output-template) is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`. There is no real reason for this change. This was changed before yt-dlp was ever made public and now there are no plans to change it back to `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`. Instead, you may use `--compat-options filename`
e4f02757 134* The default [format sorting](#sorting-formats) is different from youtube-dl and prefers higher resolution and better codecs rather than higher bitrates. You can use the `--format-sort` option to change this to any order you prefer, or use `--compat-options format-sort` to use youtube-dl's sorting order
e75bb0d6 135* The default format selector is `bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be preferred. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
28b0eb0f 136* Unlike youtube-dlc, yt-dlp does not allow merging multiple audio/video streams into one file by default (since this conflicts with the use of `-f bv*+ba`). If needed, this feature must be enabled using `--audio-multistreams` and `--video-multistreams`. You can also use `--compat-options multistreams` to enable both
08d30158 137* `--no-abort-on-error` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
28b0eb0f 138* When writing metadata files such as thumbnails, description or infojson, the same information (if available) is also written for playlists. Use `--no-write-playlist-metafiles` or `--compat-options no-playlist-metafiles` to not write these files
9222c381 139* `--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 140* Some metadata are embedded into different fields when using `--add-metadata` as compared to youtube-dl. Most notably, `comment` field contains the `webpage_url` and `synopsis` contains the `description`. You can [use `--parse-metadata`](#modifying-metadata) to modify this to your liking or use `--compat-options embed-metadata` to revert this
28b0eb0f 141* `playlist_index` behaves differently when used with options like `--playlist-reverse` and `--playlist-items`. See [#302](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/302) for details. You can use `--compat-options playlist-index` if you want to keep the earlier behavior
142* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
3acf6d38 143* All *experiences* of a funimation episode are considered as a single video. This behavior breaks existing archives. Use `--compat-options seperate-video-versions` to extract information from only the default player
28b0eb0f 144* Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
64f36541 145* Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to `/video`. Append a `/featured` to the URL to download only the videos in the home page. If the channel does not have a videos tab, we try to download the equivalent `UU` playlist instead. For all other tabs, if the channel does not show the requested tab, an error will be raised. Also, `/live` URLs raise an error if there are no live videos instead of silently downloading the entire channel. You may use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to revert all these redirections
28b0eb0f 146* Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
18e674b4 147* If `ffmpeg` is used as the downloader, the downloading and merging of formats happen in a single step when possible. Use `--compat-options no-direct-merge` to revert this
e858a9d6 148* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
e4f02757 149* Some private fields such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use `--no-clean-infojson` or `--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
e75bb0d6 150* When `--embed-subs` and `--write-subs` are used together, the subtitles are written to disk and also embedded in the media file. You can use just `--embed-subs` to embed the subs and automatically delete the 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
0bf9dc1e 151* `certifi` will be used for SSL root certificates, if installed. If you want to use only system certificates, use `--compat-options no-certifi`
5c3895ff 152* youtube-dl tries to remove some superfluous punctuations from filenames. While this can sometimes be helpfull, it is often undesirable. So yt-dlp tries to keep the fields in the filenames as close to their original values as possible. You can use `--compat-options filename-sanitization` to revert to youtube-dl's behavior
53ed7066 153
154For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
3d3bb168 155
8a82af35 156* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options (Do NOT use)
28b0eb0f 157* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
158* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
53ed7066 159
f20f5fe5 160
d19bb9c0 161# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 162
7bc877a2 163You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
a61f4b28 164
a4211baf 165### Using the release binary
0930b11f 166
fc5fa964 167You can simply download the [correct binary file](#release-files) for your OS
5f326cf5 168
fc5fa964 169<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
170[![Windows](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Windows_x64-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=windows)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)
24146491 171[![Linux](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Linux/BSD-red.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=linux)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)
172[![MacOS](https://img.shields.io/badge/-MacOS-lightblue.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=apple)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)
fc5fa964 173[![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)
174[![Other variants](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Other-grey.svg?style=for-the-badge)](#release-files)
3d3bb168 175[![All versions](https://img.shields.io/badge/-All_Versions-lightgrey.svg?style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases)
fc5fa964 176<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
177
178Note: 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)
179
180<!-- TODO: Move to Wiki -->
0930b11f 181In UNIX-like OSes (MacOS, Linux, BSD), you can also install the same in one of the following ways:
5ba4a0b6
A
182
183```
184sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
185sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
186```
187
188```
189sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
190sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
191```
192
193```
b69fd25c 194sudo aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp --dir /usr/local/bin -o yt-dlp
5ba4a0b6
A
195sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
196```
197
0930b11f 198
a4211baf 199### With [PIP](https://pypi.org/project/pip)
0930b11f 200
201You can install the [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) with:
202```
203python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp
204```
205
86c1a8aa 206You can install without any of the optional dependencies using:
0930b11f 207```
208python3 -m pip install --no-deps -U yt-dlp
209```
210
86c1a8aa 211If you want to be on the cutting edge, you can also install the master branch with:
0930b11f 212```
ae6a1b95 213python3 -m pip install --force-reinstall https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/archive/master.tar.gz
0930b11f 214```
215
8aa0e7cd 216On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
0930b11f 217
fc5fa964 218<!-- TODO: Add to Wiki, Remove Taps -->
a4211baf 219### With [Homebrew](https://brew.sh)
0930b11f 220
221macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew can also install it by:
b8773e63
THD
222
223```
224brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp
225```
226
a4211baf 227## UPDATE
0930b11f 228You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are [using the provided release](#using-the-release-binary)
229
230If you [installed with pip](#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
231
232If you [installed using Homebrew](#with-homebrew), run `brew upgrade yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
cf59cd4d 233
ec2e44fc 234<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
a4211baf 235## RELEASE FILES
0e5927ee 236
733d8e8f 237#### Recommended
238
239File|Description
240:---|:---
8aa0e7cd 241[yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independant [zipimport](https://docs.python.org/3/library/zipimport.html) binary. Needs Python (recommended for **Linux/BSD**)
0930b11f 242[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**)
ae6a1b95 243[yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable (recommended for **MacOS**)
733d8e8f 244
245#### Alternatives
246
0e5927ee
R
247File|Description
248:---|:---
0930b11f 249[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 250[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))
0930b11f 251[yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
252[yt-dlp_macos.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos.zip)|Unpackaged MacOS (10.15+) executable (no auto-update)
733d8e8f 253
254#### Misc
255
256File|Description
257:---|:---
0e5927ee
R
258[yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball. Also contains manpages, completions, etc
259[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
260[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
ec2e44fc 261<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
0e5927ee 262
a4211baf 263## DEPENDENCIES
cf59cd4d 264Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
b31fdeed 265
c9652aa4 266<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
267<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
cf59cd4d 268On 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 269-->
fac98805 270
e75bb0d6 271While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
ec2e44fc 272
8aa0e7cd 273### Strongly recommended
274
b69fd25c 275* [**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 276
277 <!-- TODO: ffmpeg has merged this patch. Remove this note once there is new release -->
278 **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
279
280### Networking
d5820461 281* [**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 282* [**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>
283* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets)\* - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
284
285### Metadata
286
287* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen)\* - For `--embed-thumbnail` in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
288* [**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)
289* [**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
290
291### Misc
292
293* [**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 294* [**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 295* [**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 296* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
b31fdeed 297
8aa0e7cd 298#### Deprecated
299
300* [**avconv** and **avprobe**](https://www.libav.org) - Now **deprecated** alternative to ffmpeg. License [depends on the build](https://libav.org/legal)
301* [**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)
302* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
303* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
304
cf59cd4d 305To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
306
8aa0e7cd 307The Windows and MacOS standalone release binaries are built with the Python interpreter and the packages marked with **\*** included.
d710cc6d 308
8aa0e7cd 309If 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 310
5f326cf5 311
a4211baf 312## COMPILE
5f326cf5 313
8aa0e7cd 314### Standalone PyInstaller Builds
315To build the Windows/MacOS 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 (32/64 bit) as the Python used.
e38df8f9 316
8aa0e7cd 317 python3 -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
318 python3 devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
319 python3 pyinst.py
320
321On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`.
322
323Note that pyinstaller [does not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment.
324
325**Important**: Running `pyinstaller` directly **without** using `pyinst.py` is **not** officially supported. This may or may not work correctly.
7581d246 326
8aa0e7cd 327### Platform-independent Binary (UNIX)
328You will need the build tools `python` (3.6+), `zip`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`\* and `pytest`\*.
b96a939b 329
8aa0e7cd 330After installing these, simply run `make`.
5f326cf5 331
8aa0e7cd 332You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files. (The dependencies marked with **\*** are not needed for this)
d19bb9c0 333
8aa0e7cd 334### Standalone Py2Exe Builds (Windows)
335
336While 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.
337
338If you wish to build it anyway, install Python and py2exe, and then simply run `setup.py py2exe`
339
340 py -m pip install -U py2exe -r requirements.txt
341 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
342 py setup.py py2exe
343
344### Related scripts
345
346* **`devscripts/update-version.py`** - Update the version number based on current timestamp
347* **`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.
348
349You 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 350
b31fdeed 351# USAGE AND OPTIONS
6bcd846b 352
ec2e44fc 353<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
7a5c1cfe 354 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 355
c2b5f311 356`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
ec2e44fc 357<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c2b5f311 358
ec2e44fc 359<!-- Auto generated -->
c76eb41b 360## General Options:
2dd5a2e3 361 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
362 --version Print program version and exit
363 -U, --update Update this program to latest version
d32f30ac 364 --no-update Do not update (default)
2dd5a2e3 365 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
366 The download will be considered successful
367 even if the postprocessing fails
368 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download errors;
369 e.g. to skip unavailable videos in a
370 playlist (default)
371 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
372 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
373 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
374 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
375 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
376 extractors and exit
64fa820c 377 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic extractor
2dd5a2e3 378 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. Eg:
379 "gvsearch2:python" downloads two videos from
380 google videos for the search term "python".
381 Use the value "auto" to let yt-dlp guess
382 ("auto_warning" to emit a warning when
383 guessing). "error" just throws an error. The
384 default value "fixup_error" repairs broken
385 URLs, but emits an error if this is not
386 possible instead of searching
387 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
388 except those given by --config-locations.
389 For backward compatibility, if this option
390 is found inside the system configuration
391 file, the user configuration is not loaded.
392 (Alias: --no-config)
393 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
394 (default). When given inside a configuration
395 file, ignore all previous --config-locations
396 defined in the current file
397 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
398 either the path to the config or its
6b9e832d 399 containing directory ("-" for stdin). Can be
400 used multiple times and inside other
401 configuration files
2dd5a2e3 402 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
403 only list them
404 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
405 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
406 Currently only supported for YouTube
407 (Experimental)
408 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
409 (default)
410 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
411 available. Pass the minimum number of
412 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
413 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
414 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate)
415 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
416 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
417 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
418 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
419 configurations by reverting some of the
420 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
421 default behavior" for details
422 --alias ALIASES OPTIONS Create aliases for an option string. Unless
423 an alias starts with a dash "-", it is
424 prefixed with "--". Arguments are parsed
425 according to the Python string formatting
426 mini-language. Eg: --alias get-audio,-X
427 "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}"
428 creates options "--get-audio" and "-X" that
429 takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to
430 "-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0".
431 All defined aliases are listed in the --help
432 output. Alias options can trigger more
433 aliases; so be carefull to avoid defining
434 recursive options. As a safety measure, each
435 alias may be triggered a maximum of 100
64fa820c 436 times. This option can be used multiple times
08c1d0d3 437
149f05c7 438## Network Options:
2dd5a2e3 439 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy. To
440 enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper scheme.
441 Eg: socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/. Pass
442 in an empty string (--proxy "") for direct
443 connection
444 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
445 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
446 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
447 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
8c6c88c7 448
b31fdeed 449## Geo-restriction:
2dd5a2e3 450 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
451 some geo-restricted sites. The default proxy
452 specified by --proxy (or none, if the option
453 is not present) is used for the actual
454 downloading
455 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
456 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header (default)
457 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
458 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
459 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
460 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
461 country code
462 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
64fa820c 463 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR notation
149f05c7 464
cfcec693 465## Video Selection:
7e88d7d7 466 -I, --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Comma seperated playlist_index of the videos
467 to download. You can specify a range using
468 "[START]:[STOP][:STEP]". For backward
469 compatibility, START-STOP is also supported.
470 Use negative indices to count from the right
471 and negative STEP to download in reverse
472 order. Eg: "-I 1:3,7,-5::2" used on a
473 playlist of size 15 will download the videos
474 at index 1,2,3,7,11,13,15
2dd5a2e3 475 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than SIZE
476 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
477 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
478 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
479 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
480 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
481 [now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]].
482 Eg: --date today-2weeks
483 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
484 this date. The date formats accepted is the
485 same as --date
486 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
487 this date. The date formats accepted is the
488 same as --date
489 --match-filters FILTER Generic video filter. Any "OUTPUT TEMPLATE"
490 field can be compared with a number or a
491 string using the operators defined in
492 "Filtering formats". You can also simply
493 specify a field to match if the field is
494 present, use "!field" to check if the field
495 is not present, and "&" to check multiple
496 conditions. Use a "\" to escape "&" or
497 quotes if needed. If used multiple times,
498 the filter matches if atleast one of the
499 conditions are met. Eg: --match-filter
500 !is_live --match-filter "like_count>?100 &
501 description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'" matches
502 only videos that are not live OR those that
503 have a like count more than 100 (or the like
504 field is not available) and also has a
505 description that contains the phrase "cats &
506 dogs" (caseless). Use "--match-filter -" to
507 interactively ask whether to download each
508 video
509 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
510 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
511 to a video and a playlist
512 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
513 a video and a playlist
514 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
515 age
516 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
517 archive file. Record the IDs of all
518 downloaded videos in it
519 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
520 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
521 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
522 a file that is in the archive
523 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
524 a file that has been filtered out
525 --break-per-input Make --break-on-existing, --break-on-reject
526 and --max-downloads act only on the current
527 input URL
528 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and similar options
529 terminates the entire download queue
530 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest of
531 the playlist is skipped
6bcd846b 532
d5a62e4f 533## Download Options:
2dd5a2e3 534 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
535 video that should be downloaded concurrently
536 (default is 1)
537 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
538 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
539 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
540 below which throttling is assumed and the
541 video data is re-extracted (e.g. 100K)
542 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
543 "infinite"
544 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
545 error (default is 3), or "infinite"
546 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default is
547 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and ISM)
548 --retry-sleep [TYPE:]EXPR An expression for the time to sleep between
549 retries in seconds (optionally) prefixed by
550 the type of retry (file_access, fragment,
551 http (default)) to apply the sleep to. EXPR
552 can be a number, linear=START[:END[:STEP=1]]
553 or exp=START[:END[:BASE=2]]. This option can
554 be used multiple times to set the sleep for
555 the different retry types. Eg: --retry-sleep
556 linear=1::2 --retry-sleep fragment:exp=1:20
557 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
558 hlsnative and ISM downloads (default)
559 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
560 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment
561 Abort download if a fragment is unavailable
562 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
563 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
564 downloading is finished
565 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
566 downloading is finished (default)
567 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
568 (default is 1024)
569 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
570 from an initial value of --buffer-size
571 (default)
572 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
573 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
574 downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
575 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
576 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
577 (experimental)
2dd5a2e3 578 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
7e9a6125 579 --lazy-playlist Process entries in the playlist as they are
580 received. This disables n_entries,
581 --playlist-random and --playlist-reverse
582 --no-lazy-playlist Process videos in the playlist only after
583 the entire playlist is parsed (default)
2dd5a2e3 584 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
585 expected file size
586 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
587 allowing some players to play the video
588 while downloading, and reducing the chance
589 of file corruption if download is
590 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
591 live streams
592 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
593 videos. This is default when not downloading
594 live streams
5ec1b6b7 595 --download-sections REGEX Download only chapters whose title matches
596 the given regular expression. Time ranges
597 prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
598 of chapters to download the specified range.
599 Eg: --download-sections "*10:15-15:00"
600 --download-sections "intro". Needs ffmpeg.
601 This option can be used multiple times to
602 download multiple sections
2dd5a2e3 603 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
604 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
605 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
606 use it for. Currently supports native,
607 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
608 wget. You can use this option multiple times
609 to set different downloaders for different
610 protocols. For example, --downloader aria2c
611 --downloader "dash,m3u8:native" will use
612 aria2c for http/ftp downloads, and the
613 native downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
614 (Alias: --external-downloader)
615 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
616 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
617 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
618 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to different
619 positions using the same syntax as
620 --postprocessor-args. You can use this
621 option multiple times to give different
622 arguments to different downloaders (Alias:
623 --external-downloader-args)
d5a62e4f 624
cfcec693 625## Filesystem Options:
2dd5a2e3 626 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
627 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
628 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
629 comments and ignored
630 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
631 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
632 downloaded. Specify the type of file and the
633 path separated by a colon ":". All the same
634 TYPES as --output are supported.
635 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
636 (default) and "temp" paths. All intermediary
637 files are first downloaded to the temp path
638 and then the final files are moved over to
639 the home path after download is finished.
640 This option is ignored if --output is an
641 absolute path
642 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
643 TEMPLATE" for details
644 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder for unavailable fields in
645 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" (default: "NA")
646 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters,
647 and avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
648 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
649 filenames (default)
650 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
651 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
652 using Windows (default)
653 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
654 extension) to the specified number of
655 characters
656 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
657 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files. This
658 option includes --no-continue
659 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
660 related files (default)
661 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
662 (default)
663 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
664 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
665 restart download of the entire file
666 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
667 into output file (default)
668 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly into
669 output file
670 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the file
671 modification time (default)
672 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
673 the file modification time
64fa820c 674 --write-description Write video description to a .description file
2dd5a2e3 675 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
676 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
677 (this may contain personal information)
678 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
679 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
680 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
681 --write-description etc. (default)
682 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
683 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
684 --clean-info-json Remove some private fields such as filenames
685 from the infojson. Note that it could still
686 contain some personal information (default)
687 --no-clean-info-json Write all fields to the infojson
688 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
689 infojson. The comments are fetched even
690 without this option if the extraction is
691 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
692 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
693 extraction is known to be quick (Alias:
694 --no-get-comments)
695 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
64fa820c 696 (created with the "--write-info-json" option)
2dd5a2e3 697 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies from
698 and dump cookie jar in
699 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
700 (default)
f59f5ef8 701 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]
2dd5a2e3 702 The name of the browser and (optionally) the
703 name/path of the profile to load cookies
704 from, separated by a ":". Currently
705 supported browsers are: brave, chrome,
706 chromium, edge, firefox, opera, safari,
707 vivaldi. By default, the most recently
708 accessed profile is used. The keyring used
709 for decrypting Chromium cookies on Linux can
710 be (optionally) specified after the browser
711 name separated by a "+". Currently supported
64fa820c 712 keyrings are: basictext, gnomekeyring, kwallet
2dd5a2e3 713 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
714 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
715 can store some downloaded information (such
716 as client ids and signatures) permanently.
717 By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/yt-dlp or
718 ~/.cache/yt-dlp
719 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
720 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 721
b31fdeed 722## Thumbnail Options:
2dd5a2e3 723 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
64fa820c 724 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk (default)
2dd5a2e3 725 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
726 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
727 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
2b1bd292 728
732044af 729## Internet Shortcut Options:
2dd5a2e3 730 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
731 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
732 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
733 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
734 OS caches the URL based on the file path
735 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
736 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
732044af 737
0744a815 738## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
2dd5a2e3 739 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with --verbose,
740 print the log to stderr
741 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
742 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
743 anything to disk
744 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
745 options are used
746 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
747 extracting metadata even if the videos are
748 not actually available for download
749 (experimental)
750 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
751 formats are found (default)
752 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
753 related files (Alias: --no-download)
754 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
755 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
756 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
757 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
758 --use-postprocessor, and "video" (default).
759 Implies --quiet. Implies --simulate unless
760 --no-simulate or later stages of WHEN are
761 used. This option can be used multiple times
bb66c247 762 --print-to-file [WHEN:]TEMPLATE FILE
2dd5a2e3 763 Append given template to the file. The
764 values of WHEN and TEMPLATE are same as that
765 of --print. FILE uses the same syntax as the
766 output template. This option can be used
767 multiple times
768 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
769 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
770 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
771 description of available keys
772 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
773 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
774 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
775 a playlist, the whole playlist information
776 is dumped in a single line
777 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
778 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
779 another simulation option is used (Alias:
780 --force-download-archive)
781 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
782 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
783 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
784 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
819e0531 785 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
2dd5a2e3 786 Template for progress outputs, optionally
787 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
788 "download-title:" (the console title),
789 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
790 The video's fields are accessible under the
791 "info" key and the progress attributes are
792 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.:
793 --console-title --progress-template
794 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
795 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
796 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
797 to debug problems (very verbose)
798 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to files
799 in the current directory to debug problems
800 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 801
36f35428 802## Workarounds:
2dd5a2e3 803 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
804 --legacy-server-connect Explicitly allow HTTPS connection to servers
805 that do not support RFC 5746 secure
806 renegotiation
807 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
808 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
809 information about the video (Currently
810 supported only for YouTube)
811 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
812 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
813 option multiple times
814 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
815 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
816 or fribidi executable in PATH
817 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
818 during data extraction
819 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
820 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
821 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
822 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
823 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can only
824 be used along with --min-sleep-interval
825 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
826 subtitle download
36f35428 827
cfcec693 828## Video Format Options:
2dd5a2e3 829 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
830 for more details
831 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
832 "Sorting Formats" for more details
833 --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
834 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
835 Formats" for more details (Alias: --S-force)
836 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
837 specified sort order (default)
838 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
839 into a single file
840 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for each
841 output file (default)
842 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
843 into a single file
844 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for each
845 output file (default)
846 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
847 over non-free ones of same quality. Use with
848 "-S ext" to strictly prefer free containers
849 irrespective of quality
850 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
851 containers (default)
852 --check-formats Make sure formats are selected only from
853 those that are actually downloadable
854 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
855 actually downloadable
856 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
857 downloadable
858 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
859 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
860 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
861 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
862 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
863 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
8ae7be3e
PH
864
865## Subtitle Options:
2dd5a2e3 866 --write-subs Write subtitle file
867 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
868 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
869 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
870 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
871 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
872 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
873 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
874 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format; accepts formats preference,
875 Eg: "srt" or "ass/srt/best"
876 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
877 be regex) or "all" separated by commas. (Eg:
878 --sub-langs "en.*,ja") You can prefix the
879 language code with a "-" to exclude it from
880 the requested languages. (Eg: --sub-langs
881 all,-live_chat) Use --list-subs for a list
882 of available language tags
6bcd846b 883
cfcec693 884## Authentication Options:
2dd5a2e3 885 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
886 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
887 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
888 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
889 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
890 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
891 either the path or its containing directory.
892 Defaults to ~/.netrc
893 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
894 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
895 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
896 a list of available MSOs
897 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
898 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
899 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
900 interactively
901 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system operators
902 --client-certificate CERTFILE Path to client certificate file in PEM
903 format. May include the private key
904 --client-certificate-key KEYFILE
905 Path to private key file for client
906 certificate
bb58c9ed 907 --client-certificate-password PASSWORD
2dd5a2e3 908 Password for client certificate private key,
909 if encrypted. If not provided, and the key
910 is encrypted, yt-dlp will ask interactively
f5e008d1 911
c76eb41b 912## Post-Processing Options:
2dd5a2e3 913 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
914 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
35faefee 915 --audio-format FORMAT Format to convert the audio to when -x is
916 used. (currently supported: best (default),
e0ab9854 917 mp3, aac, m4a, opus, vorbis, flac, alac,
918 wav). You can specify multiple rules using
919 similar syntax as --remux-video
2dd5a2e3 920 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality to use when
921 converting the audio with -x. Insert a value
922 between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for VBR or a
923 specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
924 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
925 necessary (currently supported: mp4, mkv,
35faefee 926 flv, webm, mov, avi, mka, ogg, mp3, aac,
927 m4a, opus, vorbis, flac, alac, wav). If
2dd5a2e3 928 target container does not support the
929 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
930 can specify multiple rules; Eg.
931 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to m4a,
35faefee 932 mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv
2dd5a2e3 933 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
934 necessary. The syntax and supported formats
935 are the same as --remux-video
936 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
937 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
938 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
939 to give the argument to the specified
940 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
941 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
942 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
943 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
944 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
945 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
946 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
947 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
948 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
949 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
950 specified executable only when being used by
951 the specified postprocessor. Additionally,
952 for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be
953 appended to the prefix optionally followed
954 by a number to pass the argument before the
955 specified input/output file. Eg: --ppa
956 "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
957 this option multiple times to give different
958 arguments to different postprocessors.
959 (Alias: --ppa)
960 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
961 after post-processing
962 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
963 post-processing (default)
964 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
965 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
966 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
967 webm and mkv videos)
968 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
969 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
970 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
971 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
972 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
973 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json are
974 used (Alias: --add-metadata)
975 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
976 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
977 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
978 (Alias: --add-chapters)
979 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default) (Alias:
980 --no-add-chapters)
981 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
982 mkv/mka video files
983 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
984 to the video file
985 --parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
986 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
987 for details
e9f4ccd1 988 --replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
2dd5a2e3 989 Replace text in a metadata field using the
990 given regex. This option can be used
991 multiple times
992 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
993 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
994 --concat-playlist POLICY Concatenate videos in a playlist. One of
995 "never", "always", or "multi_video"
996 (default; only when the videos form a single
997 show). All the video files must have same
998 codecs and number of streams to be
999 concatable. The "pl_video:" prefix can be
1000 used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1001 the output filename for the concatenated
1002 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
1003 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
1004 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
1005 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
1006 default; fix file if we can, warn
1007 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
1008 already exists)
1009 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
64fa820c 1010 path to the binary or its containing directory
2dd5a2e3 1011 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
1012 when to execute it (after_move if
1013 unspecified), separated by a ":". Supported
1014 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
1015 --use-postprocessor. Same syntax as the
1016 output template can be used to pass any
1017 field as arguments to the command. After
1018 download, an additional field "filepath"
1019 that contains the final path of the
1020 downloaded file is also available, and if no
1021 fields are passed, %(filepath)q is appended
1022 to the end of the command. This option can
1023 be used multiple times
1024 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
1025 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
1026 (currently supported: srt, vtt, ass, lrc)
1027 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
1028 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
00bbc5f1 1029 (currently supported: jpg, png, webp). You
1030 can specify multiple rules using similar
1031 syntax as --remux-video
2dd5a2e3 1032 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
1033 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix can
1034 be used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1035 the output filename for the split files. See
1036 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
64fa820c 1037 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters (default)
2dd5a2e3 1038 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
5ec1b6b7 1039 given regular expression. The syntax is the
1040 same as --download-sections. This option can
2dd5a2e3 1041 be used multiple times
1042 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
1043 (default)
5ec1b6b7 1044 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes at cuts when
1045 downloading/splitting/removing sections.
1046 This is slow due to needing a re-encode, but
1047 the resulting video may have fewer artifacts
1048 around the cuts
2dd5a2e3 1049 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
1050 when cutting/splitting (default)
1051 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS]
1052 The (case sensitive) name of plugin
1053 postprocessors to be enabled, and
1054 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
1055 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
1056 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
1057 The "when" argument determines when the
1058 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
1059 "pre_process" (after video extraction),
1060 "after_filter" (after video passes filter),
1061 "before_dl" (before each video download),
1062 "post_process" (after each video download;
1063 default), "after_move" (after moving video
1064 file to it's final locations), "after_video"
1065 (after downloading and processing all
1066 formats of a video), or "playlist" (at end
1067 of playlist). This option can be used
64fa820c 1068 multiple times to add different postprocessors
7a340e0d
NA
1069
1070## SponsorBlock Options:
1071Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
1072 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
8a51f564 1073 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
1074
2dd5a2e3 1075 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
1076 for, separated by commas. Available
1077 categories are sponsor, intro, outro,
1078 selfpromo, preview, filler, interaction,
1079 music_offtopic, poi_highlight, all and
1080 default (=all). You can prefix the category
1081 with a "-" to exclude it. See [1] for
1082 description of the categories. Eg:
1083 --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
1084 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
1085 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
1086 the video file, separated by commas. If a
1087 category is present in both mark and remove,
1088 remove takes precedence. The syntax and
1089 available categories are the same as for
1090 --sponsorblock-mark except that "default"
1091 refers to "all,-filler" and poi_highlight is
1092 not available
7a340e0d 1093 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
2dd5a2e3 1094 An output template for the title of the
1095 SponsorBlock chapters created by
1096 --sponsorblock-mark. The only available
1097 fields are start_time, end_time, category,
1098 categories, name, category_names. Defaults
1099 to "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
1100 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
1101 --sponsorblock-remove
1102 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
1103 https://sponsor.ajay.app
a9e7f546 1104
78895bd3 1105## Extractor Options:
2dd5a2e3 1106 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor errors
1107 (default is 3), or "infinite"
1108 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
1109 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1110 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1111 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
1112 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1113 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1114 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1115 formats at discontinuities such as ad breaks
1116 (default)
1117 --extractor-args KEY:ARGS Pass these arguments to the extractor. See
1118 "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You can
1119 use this option multiple times to give
1120 arguments for different extractors
17cb02d0 1121
b7770046
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1122# CONFIGURATION
1123
7a5c1cfe 1124You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
e2e43aea 1125
0202b52a 11261. **Main Configuration**: The file given by `--config-location`
7a5c1cfe 11271. **Portable Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the bundled binary. If you are running from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`), the root directory is used instead.
88f23a18 11281. **Home Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
e2e43aea 11291. **User Configuration**:
1130 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1131 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
1132 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1133 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1134 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1135 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
3d3bb168 1136
ec2e44fc 1137 `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to `~/.config` if undefined. On windows, `%APPDATA%` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming` and `~` points to `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`), or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
3d3bb168 1138
07cce701 11391. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
b7770046 1140
7a5c1cfe 1141For example, with the following configuration file yt-dlp will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `YouTube` directory in your home directory:
b7770046
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1142```
1143# Lines starting with # are comments
1144
1145# Always extract audio
1146-x
1147
1148# Do not copy the mtime
1149--no-mtime
1150
1151# Use this proxy
1152--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1153
298f597b 1154# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1155-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
b7770046
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1156```
1157
e2e43aea 1158Note that options in configuration file are just the same options aka switches used in regular command line calls; thus there **must be no whitespace** after `-` or `--`, e.g. `-o` or `--proxy` but not `- o` or `-- proxy`.
b7770046 1159
a4211baf 1160You 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
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1161
1162### Authentication with `.netrc` file
1163
0001fcb5 1164You 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
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1165```
1166touch $HOME/.netrc
1167chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
1168```
1169After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1170```
0001fcb5 1171machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
b7770046
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1172```
1173For example:
1174```
1175machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1176machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1177```
7a5c1cfe 1178To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
b7770046 1179
0001fcb5 1180The default location of the .netrc file is `$HOME` (`~`) in UNIX. On Windows, it is `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
b7770046
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1181
1182# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1183
0202b52a 1184The `-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 1185
ec2e44fc 1186<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1187**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
ec2e44fc 1188<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1189
e58c22a0 1190The 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 1191
0930b11f 1192It may however also contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences may be formatted according to [Python string formatting operations](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting). For example, `%(NAME)s` or `%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations.
a439a3a4 1193
1194The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
3d3bb168 1195
2b8a2973 11961. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using `:`. Eg: `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. `%()s` refers to the entire infodict. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
ec2e44fc 1197
e625be0d 11981. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
ec2e44fc 1199
e625be0d 12001. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. Eg: `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
ec2e44fc 1201
e75bb0d6 12021. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. Eg: `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1203
e978789f
P
12041. **Replacement**: A replacement value can specified using a `&` separator. If the field is *not* empty, this replacement value will be used instead of the actual field content. This is done after alternate fields are considered; thus the replacement is used if *any* of the alternative fields is *not* empty.
1205
e75bb0d6 12061. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` separator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1207
abbeeebc 12081. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, `B`, `j`, `l`, `q`, `D`, `S` can be used for converting to **B**ytes, **j**son (flag `#` for pretty-printing), a comma separated **l**ist (flag `#` for `\n` newline-separated), a string **q**uoted for the terminal (flag `#` to split a list into different arguments), to add **D**ecimal suffixes (Eg: 10M) (flag `#` to use 1024 as factor), and to **S**anitize as filename (flag `#` for restricted), respectively
ec2e44fc 1209
524e2e4f 12101. **Unicode normalization**: The format type `U` can be used for NFC [unicode normalization](https://docs.python.org/3/library/unicodedata.html#unicodedata.normalize). The alternate form flag (`#`) changes the normalization to NFD and the conversion flag `+` can be used for NFKC/NFKD compatibility equivalence normalization. Eg: `%(title)+.100U` is NFKC
a439a3a4 1211
1212To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1213```
e978789f 1214%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
a439a3a4 1215```
de6000d9 1216
dbcea058 1217Additionally, 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`. For example, `-o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s"` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video. If any of the templates is empty, that type of file will not be written. Eg: `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
e29663c6 1218
1219The available fields are:
b7770046
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1220
1221 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1222 - `title` (string): Video title
455a15e2 1223 - `fulltitle` (string): Video title ignoring live timestamp and generic title
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1224 - `url` (string): Video URL
1225 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1226 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
597c1866 1227 - `description` (string): The description of the video
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1228 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1229 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1230 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1231 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
b7770046 1232 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
ae6a1b95 1233 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date in UTC (YYYYMMDD)
e6f21b3d 1234 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
ae6a1b95 1235 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released in UTC
f0d785d3 1236 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
ae6a1b95 1237 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified in UTC
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1238 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1239 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1240 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
6c73052c 1241 - `channel_follower_count` (numeric): Number of followers of the channel
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1242 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1243 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
53c18592 1244 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
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1245 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1246 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1247 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1248 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1249 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
277d6ff5 1250 - `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 1251 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
940a67a3 1252 - `live_status` (string): One of "is_live", "was_live", "is_upcoming", "not_live"
b7770046 1253 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
f76ede8e 1254 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
6cfda058 1255 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
940a67a3 1256 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
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1257 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1258 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
29b6000e 1259 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
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1260 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
1261 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
1262 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
1263 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
1264 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
1265 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1266 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1267 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
1268 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1269 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1270 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
176f1866 1271 - `dynamic_range` (string): The dynamic range of the video
8aa0e7cd 1272 - `stretched_ratio` (float): `width:height` of the video's pixels, if not square
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1273 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
1274 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
1275 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
1276 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
1277 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
1278 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1279 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
455a15e2 1280 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch of when the information extraction was completed
b7770046 1281 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
9c906919 1282 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
e6f21b3d 1283 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
455a15e2 1284 - `playlist_id` (string): Identifier of the playlist that contains the video
1285 - `playlist_title` (string): Name of the playlist that contains the video
1286 - `playlist` (string): `playlist_id` or `playlist_title`
f0d785d3 1287 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
e6f21b3d 1288 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1289 - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
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1290 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1291 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
bd99f6e6 1292 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
0bb322b9 1293 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1294 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
bd99f6e6 1295 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
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1296
1297Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1298
1299 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1300 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1301 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1302
1303Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1304
1305 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1306 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1307 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1308 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1309 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1310 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1311 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1312
1313Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1314
1315 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1316 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1317 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1318 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1319 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1320 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1321 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1322 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1323 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1324 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1325
5ec1b6b7 1326Available only when using `--download-sections` and for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
72755351 1327
1328 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1329 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1330 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1331 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1332
53c18592 1333Available only when used in `--print`:
1334
1335 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1336 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the actual filename may be different due to post-processing. Use `--exec echo` to get the name after all postprocessing is complete
ed5835b4 1337 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1338 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1339 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1340 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1341
7a340e0d
NA
1342
1343Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1344
1345 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1346 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1347 - `categories` (list): The SponsorBlock categories the chapter belongs to
1348 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1349 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1350 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
53c18592 1351
49a57e70 1352Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `yt-dlp test video` and id `BaW_jenozKc`, this will result in a `yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKc.mp4` file created in the current directory.
1353
1354Note 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 1355
0930b11f 1356**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
b7770046 1357
49a57e70 1358For numeric sequences you can use [numeric related formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting), for example, `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
b7770046 1359
940a67a3 1360Output templates can also contain arbitrary hierarchical path, e.g. `-o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"` which will result in downloading each video in a directory corresponding to this path template. Any missing directory will be automatically created for you.
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1361
1362To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1363
91ebc640 1364The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
b7770046 1365
f304da8a 1366In 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 1367
ec2e44fc 1368<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
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1369#### Output template and Windows batch files
1370
1371If you are using an output template inside a Windows batch file then you must escape plain percent characters (`%`) by doubling, so that `-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"` should become `-o "%%(title)s-%%(id)s.%%(ext)s"`. However you should not touch `%`'s that are not plain characters, e.g. environment variables for expansion should stay intact: `-o "C:\%HOMEPATH%\Desktop\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"`.
ec2e44fc 1372<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
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1373
1374#### Output template examples
1375
b7770046 1376```bash
940a67a3 1377$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1378test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1379
940a67a3 1380$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1381youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
b7770046 1382
940a67a3 1383$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
9222c381 1384youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
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1385
1386# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
940a67a3 1387$ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
b7770046 1388
b050d210 1389# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
940a67a3 1390$ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
e29663c6 1391
e978789f 1392# Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
6a34813a 1393$ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist_index|)s%(playlist_index& - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
e978789f 1394
b7770046 1395# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
940a67a3 1396$ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
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1397
1398# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
940a67a3 1399$ yt-dlp -u user -p password -P "~/MyVideos" -o "%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial"
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1400
1401# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
940a67a3 1402$ 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 1403
6a34813a 1404# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1405# and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1406$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1407
1408# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1409$ 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
1410
b7770046 1411# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
7a5c1cfe 1412$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
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1413```
1414
1415# FORMAT SELECTION
1416
7a5c1cfe
P
1417By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1418This 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 1419
c111cefa 1420**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.
1421
eff63539 1422The 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 1423
ec2e44fc 1424<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1425**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
ec2e44fc 1426<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1427
a439a3a4 1428The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
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1429
1430You 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.
1431
fa9f30b8 1432You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1433
b7770046
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1434You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1435
59a7a13e 1436 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1437 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1438 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio
1439 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1440 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1441 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1442 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
ae6a1b95 1443 - `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 1444 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
909d24dd 1445 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1446 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 1447 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1448 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 1449 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
b7770046 1450
ae6a1b95 1451For 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 1452
1453You 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 1454
eb8a4433 1455If you want to download multiple videos and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred, for example `-f 22/17/18` will download format 22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
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1456
1457If 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`.
1458
d806c9fd 1459You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg installed), for example `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg.
1460
1461**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
1462
1463Unless `--video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, unless `--audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. For example, `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --video-multistreams --audio-multistreams` will download and merge all 3 given formats. The resulting file will have 2 video streams and 2 audio streams. But `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --no-video-multistreams` will download and merge only `bestvideo` and `bestaudio`. `best` is ignored since another format containing a video stream (`bestvideo`) has already been selected. The order of the formats is therefore important. `-f best+bestaudio --no-audio-multistreams` will download and merge both formats while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
eb8a4433 1464
1465## Filtering Formats
1466
b7770046
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1467You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1468
1469The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1470
1471 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1472 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1473 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1474 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1475 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1476 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1477 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1478 - `fps`: Frame rate
1479
1ce9a3cb 1480Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains), `~=` (matches regex) and following string meta fields:
b7770046
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1481
1482 - `ext`: File extension
1483 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1484 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1485 - `container`: Name of the container format
1486 - `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`)
1487 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
29f7c58a 1488 - `language`: Language code
b7770046 1489
1ce9a3cb 1490Any 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 1491
e58c22a0 1492Note 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 1493
e094cec1 1494Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a question mark (`?`) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so `-f "[height<=?720][tbr>500]"` selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s. You can also use the filters with `all` to download all formats that satisfy the filter. For example, `-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
b7770046 1495
940a67a3 1496Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses, for example if you want to download the best pre-merged mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480 you can use `-f "(mp4,webm)[height<480]"`.
b7770046 1497
eb8a4433 1498## Sorting Formats
1499
2e7781a9 1500You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1501
1502The available fields are:
eb8a4433 1503
63be1aab 1504 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1505 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
ed8d87f9 1506 - `ie_pref`: The format preference
1507 - `lang`: The language preference
1508 - `quality`: The quality of the format
1509 - `source`: The preference of the source
d80d98e7 1510 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1511 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
1512 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
eb8a4433 1513 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
d80d98e7 1514 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
1515 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
63be1aab 1516 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
0930b11f 1517 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
63be1aab 1518 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1519 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
eb8a4433 1520 - `height`: Height of video
1521 - `width`: Width of video
63be1aab 1522 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1523 - `fps`: Framerate of video
49a57e70 1524 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
63be1aab 1525 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1526 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1527 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1528 - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
1529 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
d806c9fd 1530
1531**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 1532
9ee4f0bb 1533All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a `:`. Eg: `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two preferred values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg: `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `vp9.2` > `av01` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. Eg: `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
1534
176f1866 1535The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--format-sort-force`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,hdr:12,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. The extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
eb8a4433 1536
e75bb0d6 1537Note that the default has `codec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not preferred. Similarly, the default for hdr is `hdr:12`; i.e. dolby vision is not preferred. These choices are made since DV and AV1 formats are not yet fully compatible with most devices. This may be changed in the future as more devices become capable of smoothly playing back these formats.
eb8a4433 1538
e58c22a0 1539If 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 1540
1541**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1542
eb8a4433 1543## Format Selection examples
b7770046 1544
b7770046 1545```bash
e58c22a0 1546# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
909d24dd 1547# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
940a67a3 1548$ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
909d24dd 1549
1550# Download best format that contains video,
1551# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
940a67a3 1552$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
2af884ff 1553
1554# Same as above
7a5c1cfe 1555$ yt-dlp
909d24dd 1556
6fd35a11 1557# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1558# For this case, an output template should be used since
1559# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
940a67a3 1560$ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
909d24dd 1561
f8d4ad9a 1562# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1563# and all audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1564$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
f8d4ad9a 1565
1566# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1567# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1568$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
909d24dd 1569
6fd35a11 1570
1571# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
f8d4ad9a 1572# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
6fd35a11 1573
1574# Download the worst video available (old method)
940a67a3 1575$ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
eb8a4433 1576
1577# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
940a67a3 1578$ yt-dlp -S "+res"
eb8a4433 1579
1580# Download the smallest video available
940a67a3 1581$ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
eb8a4433 1582
1583
909d24dd 1584
eb8a4433 1585# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
940a67a3 1586$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
eb8a4433 1587
1588# Download the best video with the best extension
1589# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
940a67a3 1590$ yt-dlp -S "ext"
eb8a4433 1591
1592
909d24dd 1593
eb8a4433 1594# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1595# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1596$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
b7770046 1597
eb8a4433 1598# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1599# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1600$ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
b7770046 1601
eb8a4433 1602# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1603# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1604# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1605# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
940a67a3 1606$ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
b7770046 1607
b7770046 1608
909d24dd 1609
eb8a4433 1610# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1611# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1612$ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
eb8a4433 1613
1614# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1615# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1616$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
eb8a4433 1617
1618# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
940a67a3 1619$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
eb8a4433 1620
1621
909d24dd 1622
eb8a4433 1623# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1624# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
940a67a3 1625$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1626
1627# Download best video available via the best protocol
1628# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
940a67a3 1629$ yt-dlp -S "proto"
eb8a4433 1630
1631
909d24dd 1632
1ce9a3cb
LF
1633# Download the best video with either h264 or h265 codec,
1634# or the best video if there is no such video
1635$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*[vcodec~='^((he|a)vc|h26[45])']+ba) / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1636
1637# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1638# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1639$ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1640
1641# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1642# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1643$ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1644
1645
1646
1647# More complex examples
1648
e58c22a0 1649# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1650# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
940a67a3 1651$ 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 1652
1653# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
f8d4ad9a 1654# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1655# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
940a67a3 1656$ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
eb8a4433 1657
1658
909d24dd 1659
eb8a4433 1660# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1661# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1662# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
940a67a3 1663$ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
b7770046 1664```
eb8a4433 1665
73cd218f 1666# MODIFYING METADATA
1667
a4211baf 1668The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
e9f4ccd1 1669
418964fa 1670`--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 1671
2e7781a9 1672The general syntax of `--parse-metadata FROM:TO` is to give the name of a field or an [output template](#output-template) to extract data from, and the format to interpret it as, separated by a colon `:`. Either a [python regular expression](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html#regular-expression-syntax) with named capture groups or a similar syntax to the [output template](#output-template) (only `%(field)s` formatting is supported) can be used for `TO`. The option can be used multiple times to parse and modify various fields.
73cd218f 1673
1674Note that any field created by this can be used in the [output template](#output-template) and will also affect the media file's metadata added when using `--add-metadata`.
1675
9c2b75b5 1676This option also has a few special uses:
3d3bb168 1677
28b0eb0f 1678* You can download an additional URL based on the metadata of the currently downloaded video. To do this, set the field `additional_urls` to the URL that you want to download. Eg: `--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
3d3bb168 1679
88968992 1680* You can use this to change the metadata that is embedded in the media file. To do this, set the value of the corresponding field with a `meta_` prefix. For example, any value you set to `meta_description` field will be added to the `description` field in the file. For example, you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis". To modify the metadata of individual streams, use the `meta<n>_` prefix (Eg: `meta1_language`). Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
c31be5b0 1681
08d30158 1682**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.
1683
c31be5b0 1684For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1685
08d30158 1686Metadata fields | From
1687:--------------------------|:------------------------------------------------
1688`title` | `track` or `title`
1689`date` | `upload_date`
1690`description`, `synopsis` | `description`
1691`purl`, `comment` | `webpage_url`
1692`track` | `track_number`
1693`artist` | `artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1694`genre` | `genre`
1695`album` | `album`
1696`album_artist` | `album_artist`
1697`disc` | `disc_number`
1698`show` | `series`
1699`season_number` | `season_number`
1700`episode_id` | `episode` or `episode_id`
1701`episode_sort` | `episode_number`
1702`language` of each stream | the format's `language`
1703
c31be5b0 1704**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1705
73cd218f 1706
1707## Modifying metadata examples
1708
73cd218f 1709```bash
1710# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
940a67a3 1711$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
73cd218f 1712
1713# Regex example
940a67a3 1714$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
73cd218f 1715
1716# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
940a67a3 1717$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
73cd218f 1718
a44ca5a4 1719# Prioritize uploader as the "artist" field in video metadata
1720$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" --add-metadata
1721
1722# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url,
1723# handling multiple lines correctly
940a67a3 1724$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --add-metadata
73cd218f 1725
8aa0e7cd 1726# Do not set any "synopsis" in the video metadata
1727$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<meta_synopsis>)"
1728
0930b11f 1729# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
940a67a3 1730$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<formats>)" -j
0930b11f 1731
e9f4ccd1 1732# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
940a67a3 1733$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
e9f4ccd1 1734
73cd218f 1735```
1736
5d3a0e79 1737# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1738
a44ca5a4 1739Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) separated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. Eg: `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=android_embedded,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
5d3a0e79 1740
1741The following extractors use this feature:
96565c7e 1742
1743#### youtube
8aa0e7cd 1744* `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
56ba69e4 1745* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android` and `ios` with variants `_music`, `_embedded`, `_embedscreen`, `_creator` (Eg: `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 1746* `player_skip`: Skip some network requests that are generally needed for robust extraction. One or more of `configs` (skip client configs), `webpage` (skip initial webpage), `js` (skip js player). While these options can help reduce the number of requests needed or avoid some rate-limiting, they could cause some issues. See [#860](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/860) for more details
adbc4ec4 1747* `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats even without `--live-from-start` (These formats don't download properly)
96565c7e 1748* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
a44ca5a4 1749* `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`
1750 * 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
2ae778b8 1751* `innertube_host`: Innertube API host to use for all API requests
1752 * e.g. `studio.youtube.com`, `youtubei.googleapis.com`
1753 * Note: Cookies exported from `www.youtube.com` will not work with hosts other than `*.youtube.com`
1754* `innertube_key`: Innertube API key to use for all API requests
96565c7e 1755
1756#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1757* `skip`: One or more of `webpage` (skip initial webpage download), `authcheck` (allow the download of playlists requiring authentication when no initial webpage is downloaded. This may cause unwanted behavior, see [#1122](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/1122) for more details)
a30a6ed3 1758* `approximate_date`: Extract approximate `upload_date` in flat-playlist. This may cause date-based filters to be slightly off
96565c7e 1759
1760#### funimation
1761* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1762* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1763
a9d4da60 1764#### crunchyroll
1765* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:language=jaJp`
1766* `hardsub`: Which hard-sub versions to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:hardsub=None,enUS`
1767
ae6a1b95 1768#### crunchyrollbeta
706dfe44
JH
1769* `format`: Which stream type(s) to extract. Default is `adaptive_hls` Eg: `crunchyrollbeta:format=vo_adaptive_hls`
1770 * Potentially useful values include `adaptive_hls`, `adaptive_dash`, `vo_adaptive_hls`, `vo_adaptive_dash`, `download_hls`, `trailer_hls`, `trailer_dash`
1771* `hardsub`: Preference order for which hardsub versions to extract. Default is `None` (no hardsubs). Eg: `crunchyrollbeta:hardsub=en-US,None`
1772
96565c7e 1773#### vikichannel
1774* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
73d829c1 1775
7bdcb4a4
LNO
1776#### niconico
1777* `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.**
1778
aa4b0545 1779#### youtubewebarchive
1780* `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1781
d43de682
M
1782#### gamejolt
1783* `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1784
26f2aa3d
AG
1785#### hotstar
1786* `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1787* `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1788* `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1789
046cab39
M
1790#### tiktok
1791* `app_version`: App version to call mobile APIs with - should be set along with `manifest_app_version`. (e.g. `20.2.1`)
1792* `manifest_app_version`: Numeric app version to call mobile APIs with. (e.g. `221`)
1793
7eaf7f9a 1794#### rokfinchannel
1795* `tab`: Which tab to download. One of `new`, `top`, `videos`, `podcasts`, `streams`, `stacks`. (E.g. `rokfinchannel:tab=streams`)
1796
1797
bc97cdae 1798NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
5d3a0e79 1799
ec2e44fc 1800<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1801
3acf6d38 1802
f74980cb 1803# PLUGINS
b7770046 1804
3ae5e797 1805Plugins are loaded from `<root-dir>/ytdlp_plugins/<type>/__init__.py`; where `<root-dir>` is the directory of the binary (`<root-dir>/yt-dlp`), or the root directory of the module if you are running directly from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`). Plugins are currently not supported for the `pip` version
1806
1807Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`. Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it. Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
1808
1809See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example plugins.
1810
1811Note 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
1812
1813If you are a plugin author, add [ytdlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/ytdlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
b7770046 1814
b7770046 1815
8c6f4daa 1816
1817# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1818
1819yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1820
1821Your 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.
1822
1823From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1824
1825```python
59a7a13e 1826from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1827
3d3bb168 1828URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1829with YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1830 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 1831```
1832
1890fc63 1833Most 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 1834
43cc91ad 1835**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 1836
1837## Embedding examples
1838
43cc91ad 1839#### Extracting information
8c6f4daa 1840
1841```python
1842import json
8c6f4daa 1843import yt_dlp
8c6f4daa 1844
3d3bb168 1845URL = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1846
1847# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL) for a list of available options and public functions
1848ydl_opts = {}
1849with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1850 info = ydl.extract_info(URL, download=False)
1851
1852 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1853 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1854```
43cc91ad 1855#### Download using an info-json
3d3bb168 1856
1857```python
1858import yt_dlp
1859
1860INFO_FILE = 'path/to/video.info.json'
1861
1862with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1863 error_code = ydl.download_with_info_file(INFO_FILE)
1864
1865print('Some videos failed to download' if error_code
1866 else 'All videos successfully downloaded')
1867```
1868
43cc91ad 1869#### Extract audio
3d3bb168 1870
1871```python
1872import yt_dlp
1873
1874URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1875
1876ydl_opts = {
0a41f331 1877 'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
3d3bb168 1878 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor) for a list of available Postprocessors and their arguments
1879 'postprocessors': [{ # Extract audio using ffmpeg
1880 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
1881 'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
1882 }]
1883}
1884
1885with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1886 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1887```
0a41f331 1888
1889#### Filter videos
1890
1891```python
1892import yt_dlp
1893
1894URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1895
1896def longer_than_a_minute(info, *, incomplete):
1897 """Download only videos longer than a minute (or with unknown duration)"""
1898 duration = info.get('duration')
1899 if duration and duration < 60:
1900 return 'The video is too short'
1901
1902ydl_opts = {
1903 'match_filter': longer_than_a_minute,
1904}
1905
1906with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1907 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1908```
1909
43cc91ad 1910#### Adding logger and progress hook
3d3bb168 1911
1912```python
1913import yt_dlp
1914
1915URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
8c6f4daa 1916
1917class MyLogger:
1918 def debug(self, msg):
e75bb0d6 1919 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
8c6f4daa 1920 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
1921 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
1922 pass
1923 else:
1924 self.info(msg)
1925
1926 def info(self, msg):
1927 pass
1928
1929 def warning(self, msg):
1930 pass
1931
1932 def error(self, msg):
1933 print(msg)
1934
1935
3d3bb168 1936# ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)
1937def my_hook(d):
1938 if d['status'] == 'finished':
1939 print('Done downloading, now post-processing ...')
1940
1941
1942ydl_opts = {
1943 'logger': MyLogger(),
1944 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
1945}
1946
1947with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1948 ydl.download(URLS)
1949```
1950
43cc91ad 1951#### Add a custom PostProcessor
3d3bb168 1952
1953```python
1954import yt_dlp
1955
1956URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1957
1958# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor)
59a7a13e 1959class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
8c6f4daa 1960 def run(self, info):
1961 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
1962 return [], info
1963
1964
3d3bb168 1965with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
8aa0e7cd 1966 # ℹ️ "when" can take any value in yt_dlp.utils.POSTPROCESS_WHEN
1967 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP(), when='pre_process')
3d3bb168 1968 ydl.download(URLS)
1969```
8c6f4daa 1970
1971
43cc91ad 1972#### Use a custom format selector
3d3bb168 1973
1974```python
1975import yt_dlp
1976
1977URL = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1978
093a1710 1979def format_selector(ctx):
1980 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
3d3bb168 1981 NOTE: This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
093a1710 1982
1983 # formats are already sorted worst to best
1984 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
1985
1986 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
1987 best_video = next(f for f in formats
1988 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
1989
1990 # find compatible audio extension
1991 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
1992 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
1993 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
1994 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
1995
3d3bb168 1996 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
093a1710 1997 yield {
093a1710 1998 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
1999 'ext': best_video['ext'],
2000 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
e75bb0d6 2001 # Must be + separated list of protocols
093a1710 2002 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
2003 }
2004
2005
8c6f4daa 2006ydl_opts = {
093a1710 2007 'format': format_selector,
8c6f4daa 2008}
2009
2010with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
3d3bb168 2011 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 2012```
2013
ec2e44fc 2014<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "NEW FEATURES" SECTION HERE -->
2015
e167860c 2016# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
2017
2018These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
2019
8130779d 2020#### Almost redundant options
2021While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
2022
2023 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
2024 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
0bfc53d0 2025 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table --print playlist:thumbnails_table
8130779d 2026 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
2027
6ccf351a 2028#### Redundant options
2029While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
f4536226 2030
53c18592 2031 --get-description --print description
2032 --get-duration --print duration_string
2033 --get-filename --print filename
2034 --get-format --print format
2035 --get-id --print id
2036 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
2037 -e, --get-title --print title
2038 -g, --get-url --print urls
8f18aca8 2039 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
2040 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
2041 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
2042 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
8b7539d2 2043 --user-agent UA --add-header "User-Agent:UA"
2044 --referer URL --add-header "Referer:URL"
7e88d7d7 2045 --playlist-start NUMBER -I NUMBER:
2046 --playlist-end NUMBER -I :NUMBER
2047 --playlist-reverse -I ::-1
2048 --no-playlist-reverse Default
6ccf351a 2049
2050
2051#### Not recommended
2052While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
2053
1e43a6f7 2054 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
2055 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
d9aa2332 2056 --all-formats -f all
c32b0aab 2057 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
b7b04c78 2058 --print-json -j --no-simulate
e167860c 2059 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)03d
a439a3a4 2060 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
19b824f6 2061 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
73cd218f 2062 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
52a8a1e1 2063 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
2064 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
53ed7066 2065 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
2066 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
5d3a0e79 2067 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
2068 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
2069 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
2070 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
6ccf351a 2071
2072
2073#### Developer options
2074These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
2075
34488702 2076 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
f95b9dee 2077 --load-pages Load pages dumped by --write-pages
6ccf351a 2078 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
88acdbc2 2079 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
2080 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
f4536226 2081
2082
2083#### Old aliases
2084These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
2085
2086 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
3856407a 2087 --clean-infojson --clean-info-json
f4536226 2088 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
2089 --dump-headers --print-traffic
2090 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
2091 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
2092 --load-info --load-info-json
3856407a 2093 --no-clean-infojson --no-clean-info-json
f4536226 2094 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
e167860c 2095 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
e167860c 2096 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
2097 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
f4536226 2098 --split-tracks --split-chapters
2099 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
e167860c 2100 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
f4536226 2101 --write-srt --write-subs
e167860c 2102 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
f4536226 2103
7a340e0d 2104#### Sponskrub Options
f304da8a 2105Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
7a340e0d
NA
2106
2107 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
2108 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
2109 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
2110 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
2111 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
2112 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
2113 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
2114 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
2115
f4536226 2116#### No longer supported
2117These options may no longer work as intended
2118
2119 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
2120 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
2121 -C, --call-home Not implemented
2122 --no-call-home Default
2123 --include-ads No longer supported
2124 --no-include-ads Default
0bb1bc1b 2125 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
2126 --no-write-annotations Default
486fb179 2127
2128#### Removed
2129These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
2130
f4536226 2131 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
3d3bb168 2132 -t, -l, --title, --literal -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
f4536226 2133
8c6f4daa 2134# CONTRIBUTING
2135See [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 2136
c2b5f311 2137# MORE
8c6f4daa 2138For FAQ see the [youtube-dl README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)