]> jfr.im git - yt-dlp.git/blame - README.md
Revert "[ffmpeg] Set max probesize to workaround AAC HLS stream issues (#1109)"
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b31fdeed 1<div align="center">
2
e980017a 3[![YT-DLP](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master/.github/banner.svg)](#readme)
d9d045e2 4
28dff70b 5[![Release version](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?color=blue&label=&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
1aebc0f7 6[![CI Status](https://img.shields.io/github/workflow/status/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/Core%20Tests/master?label=&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/actions)
7[![License: Unlicense](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Unlicense-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge)](LICENSE)
418964fa 8[![Donate](https://img.shields.io/badge/_-Donate-red.svg?logo=githubsponsors&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](Collaborators.md#collaborators)
1aebc0f7 9[![Supported Sites](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Supported_Sites-brightgreen.svg?style=for-the-badge)](supportedsites.md)
28dff70b 10[![Discord](https://img.shields.io/discord/807245652072857610?color=blue&label=​&logo=discord&style=for-the-badge)](https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r)
b31fdeed 11[![Doc Status](https://readthedocs.org/projects/yt-dlp/badge/?version=latest&style=for-the-badge)](https://yt-dlp.readthedocs.io)
b31fdeed 12[![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)
28dff70b 13[![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)
a7191c6f 14[![Downloads](https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/total?style=for-the-badge&color=blue)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
b31fdeed 15[![PyPi Downloads](https://img.shields.io/pypi/dm/yt-dlp?label=PyPi&style=for-the-badge)](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
c76eb41b 16
b31fdeed 17</div>
c76eb41b 18
b31fdeed 19yt-dlp is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
5c0e5bc4 20
034b6215 21* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
53ed7066 22 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
c76eb41b 23* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
17fa3ee2 24 * [Update](#update)
cf59cd4d 25 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
17fa3ee2 26 * [Compile](#compile)
b31fdeed 27* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
28 * [General Options](#general-options)
50865ca8 29 * [Network Options](#network-options)
b31fdeed 30 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
50865ca8 31 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
32 * [Download Options](#download-options)
33 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
b31fdeed 34 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
50865ca8 35 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
0744a815 36 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
50865ca8 37 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
38 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
39 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
40 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
50865ca8 41 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
7a340e0d 42 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
50865ca8 43 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 44* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
50865ca8 45 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
c76eb41b 46* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 47 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
48 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 49* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 50 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
51 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
52 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
73cd218f 53* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
54 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
5d3a0e79 55* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
f74980cb 56* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
8c6f4daa 57* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
e167860c 58* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
8c6f4daa 59* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
60 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
61 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
c76eb41b 62* [MORE](#more)
b31fdeed 63</div>
50865ca8 64
65
034b6215 66# NEW FEATURES
f20f5fe5 67The major new features from the latest release of [blackjack4494/yt-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) are:
034b6215 68
7a340e0d 69* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
034b6215 70
7581d246 71* **[Format Sorting](#sorting-formats)**: The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now preferred instead of simply using larger bitrate. Furthermore, you can now specify the sort order using `-S`. This allows for much easier format selection than what is possible by simply using `--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
034b6215 72
6aecd871 73* **Merged with youtube-dl [commit/379f52a](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/379f52a4954013767219d25099cce9e0f9401961)**: (v2021.06.06) You get all the latest features and patches of [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) in addition to all the features of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc)
034b6215 74
0fdf490d 75* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--write-comments`, `BiliBiliSearch`, `BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico improvements are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
29b6000e 76
f5546c0b 77* **Youtube improvements**:
6ccf351a 78 * All Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) and private playlists supports downloading multiple pages of content
0fdf490d 79 * Search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`), search URLs and in-channel search works
80 * Mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
6ccf351a 81 * Most (but not all) age-gated content can be downloaded without cookies
f703a880 82 * Partial workaround for throttling issue
f20f5fe5 83 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
e6f21b3d 84 * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from youtube music when premium cookies are given
9ee4f0bb 85 * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded ([except self-uploaded music](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/723))
f20f5fe5 86
245524e6 87* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[:PROFILE]`
88
597c1866 89* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
90
b31fdeed 91* **Multi-threaded fragment downloads**: Download multiple fragments of m3u8/mpd videos in parallel. Use `--concurrent-fragments` (`-N`) option to set the number of threads used
8d801631 92
b31fdeed 93* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
f20f5fe5 94
90d55df3 95* **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo MSO, Spectrum MSO, SlingTV MSO, Cablevision MSO, RCN MSO, Rcs, Gedi, bitwave.tv, mildom, audius, zee5, mtv.it, wimtv, pluto.tv, niconico users, discoveryplus.in, mediathek, NFHSNetwork, nebula, ukcolumn, whowatch, MxplayerShow, parlview (au), YoutubeWebArchive, fancode, Saitosan, ShemarooMe, telemundo, VootSeries, SonyLIVSeries, HotstarSeries, VidioPremier, VidioLive, RCTIPlus, TBS Live, douyin, pornflip, ParamountPlusSeries, ScienceChannel, Utreon, OpenRec, BandcampMusic, blackboardcollaborate, eroprofile albums, mirrativ, BannedVideo, bilibili categories, Epicon, filmmodu, GabTV, HungamaAlbum, ManotoTV, Niconico search, Patreon User, peloton, ProjectVeritas, radiko, StarTV, tiktok user, Tokentube, voicy, TV2HuSeries, biliintl, 17live, NewgroundsUser, peertube channel/playlist, ZenYandex, CAM4, CGTN, damtomo, gotostage, Koo, Mediaite, Mediaklikk, MuseScore, nzherald, Olympics replay, radlive, SovietsCloset, Streamanity, Theta, Chingari, ciscowebex, Gettr, GoPro, N1, Theta, Veo, Vupload
f20f5fe5 96
90d55df3 97* **Fixed/improved extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, akamai, ina, rumble, tennistv, amcnetworks, la7 podcasts, linuxacadamy, nitter, twitcasting, viu, crackle, curiositystream, mediasite, rmcdecouverte, sonyliv, tubi, tenplay, patreon, videa, yahoo, BravoTV, crunchyroll playlist, RTP, viki, Hotstar, vidio, vimeo, mediaset, Mxplayer, nbcolympics, ParamountPlus, Newgrounds, SAML Verizon login, Hungama, afreecatv, aljazeera, ATV, bitchute, camtube, CDA, eroprofile, facebook, HearThisAtIE, iwara, kakao, Motherless, Nova, peertube, pornhub, reddit, tiktok, TV2, TV2Hu, tv5mondeplus, VH1, Viafree, XHamster, 9Now, AnimalPlanet, Arte, CBC, Chingari, comedycentral, DIYNetwork, niconico, dw, funimation, globo, HiDive, NDR, Nuvid, Oreilly, pbs, plutotv, reddit, redtube, soundcloud, SpankBang, VrtNU, bbc, Bilibili, LinkedInLearning, parliamentlive, PolskieRadio, Streamable, vidme
fac98805 98
3de7c2ce 99* **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 100
597c1866 101* **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 102
103* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
104
418964fa 105* **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 106
418964fa 107* **Other new options**: `--print`, `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-on-reject` etc
0bc0a322 108
418964fa 109* **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--match-filter`, multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection) etc
c69911e4 110
b31fdeed 111* **Plugin extractors**: Extractors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
112
7a5c1cfe 113* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
aa837ddf 114
29b6000e 115
7a5c1cfe 116See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 117
118
90505ff1 119**PS**: Some of these changes are already in youtube-dlc, but are still unreleased. See [this](Changelog.md#unreleased-changes-in-blackjack4494yt-dlc) for details
f20f5fe5 120
b9650873 121If you are coming from [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl), the amount of changes are very large. Compare [options](#options) and [supported sites](supportedsites.md) with youtube-dl's to get an idea of the massive number of features/patches [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) has accumulated.
f20f5fe5 122
53ed7066 123### Differences in default behavior
124
125Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc.
126
28b0eb0f 127* The options `--id`, `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
128* `avconv` is not supported as as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
129* 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 130* The default [format sorting](#sorting-formats) is different from youtube-dl and prefers higher resolution and better codecs rather than higher bitrates. You can use the `--format-sort` option to change this to any order you prefer, or use `--compat-options format-sort` to use youtube-dl's sorting order
28b0eb0f 131* The default format selector is `bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be prefered. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
132* 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
133* `--ignore-errors` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
134* 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
135* `--add-metadata` attaches the `infojson` to `mkv` files in addition to writing the metadata when used with `--write-infojson`. Use `--compat-options no-attach-info-json` to revert this
136* `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
137* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
3acf6d38 138* 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 139* Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
09f1580e 140* Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to `/video`. Append a `/featured` to the URL to download only the videos in the home page. If the channel does not have a videos tab, we try to download the equivalent `UU` playlist instead. Also, `/live` URLs raise an error if there are no live videos instead of silently downloading the entire channel. You may use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to revert all these redirections
28b0eb0f 141* Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
18e674b4 142* 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 143* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
e4f02757 144* 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
b51d2ae3 145* When `--embed-subs` and `--write-subs` are used together, the subtitles are written to disk and also embedded in the media file. You can use just `--embed-subs` to embed the subs and automatically delete the seperate file. See [#630 (comment)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/630#issuecomment-893659460) for more info. `--compat-options no-keep-subs` can be used to revert this.
53ed7066 146
147For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
28b0eb0f 148* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options
149* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
150* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
53ed7066 151
f20f5fe5 152
d19bb9c0 153# INSTALLATION
b31fdeed 154yt-dlp is not platform specific. So it should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS
50865ca8 155
7bc877a2 156You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
e6f21b3d 157* Download the binary from the [latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
b8773e63 158* With Homebrew, `brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
a61f4b28 159* Use [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp): `python3 -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp`
160* Use pip+git: `python3 -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp.git@release`
161* Install master branch: `python3 -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp`
162
163Note that on some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
5f326cf5 164
5ba4a0b6
A
165UNIX users (Linux, macOS, BSD) can also install the [latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest) one of the following ways:
166
167```
168sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
169sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
170```
171
172```
173sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
174sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
175```
176
177```
178sudo aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
179sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
180```
181
b8773e63
THD
182macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew (formerly known as Linuxbrew for Linux users) can also install it by:
183
184```
185brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp
186```
187
cf59cd4d 188### UPDATE
189You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the provided release.
190If you are using `pip`, simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program.
b8773e63 191If you have installed using Homebrew, run `brew upgrade yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
cf59cd4d 192
e58c22a0 193### DEPENDENCIES
cf59cd4d 194Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
b31fdeed 195
cf59cd4d 196<!-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 -->
197On 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.
fac98805 198
cf59cd4d 199While all the other dependancies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
200* [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for [merging seperate video and audio files](#format-selection) as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. Licence [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
cf59cd4d 201* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen) - For embedding thumbnail in certain formats. Licenced under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
b5ae35ee 202* [**pycryptodomex**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome) - For decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data. Licenced under [BSD2](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
e36d50c5 203* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets) - For downloading over websocket. Licenced under [BSD3](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
982ee69a 204* [**keyring**](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring) - For decrypting cookies of chromium-based browsers on Linux. Licenced under [MIT](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring/blob/main/LICENSE)
cf59cd4d 205* [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For embedding thumbnail in mp4/m4a if mutagen is not present. Licenced under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
206* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licenced under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
207* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licenced under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
208* [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licenced under [BSD3](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
7a340e0d 209* [**sponskrub**](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) - For using the now **deprecated** [sponskrub options](#sponskrub-options). Licenced under [GPLv3+](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub/blob/master/LICENCE.md)
cf59cd4d 210* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
b31fdeed 211
cf59cd4d 212To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
213
f85e6be4 214The windows releases are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen, pycryptodomex and websockets included.
d710cc6d 215
216**Note**: There are some regressions in newer ffmpeg versions that causes various issues when used alongside yt-dlp. Since ffmpeg is such an important dependancy, we provide [custom builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds/wiki/Latest#latest-autobuilds) with patches for these issues at [yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds). See [the readme](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#patches-applied) for details on the specifc issues solved by these builds
217
5f326cf5 218
c76eb41b 219### COMPILE
5f326cf5 220
c76eb41b 221**For Windows**:
f85e6be4 222To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen, pycryptodomex, websockets)
d19bb9c0 223
49e7e9c3 224 python3 -m pip install -U -r requirements.txt
e38df8f9 225
a61f4b28 226Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, just run `py pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (32/64 bit) as the python used to build it.
5f326cf5 227
e38df8f9 228You can also build the executable without any version info or metadata by using:
229
7a5c1cfe 230 pyinstaller.exe yt_dlp\__main__.py --onefile --name yt-dlp
7581d246 231
fac98805 232Note that pyinstaller [does not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment
b96a939b 233
c76eb41b 234**For Unix**:
060ac762 235You will need the required build tools: `python`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`, `zip`, `pytest`
127d0759 236Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files
5f326cf5 237
e38df8f9 238**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts\update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
d19bb9c0 239
b31fdeed 240# USAGE AND OPTIONS
6bcd846b 241
7a5c1cfe 242 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 243
c2b5f311 244`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
e58c22a0 245<!-- Auto generated -->
c2b5f311 246
c76eb41b 247## General Options:
1dc2726f
PH
248 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
249 --version Print program version and exit
8d801631 250 -U, --update Update this program to latest version. Make
251 sure that you have sufficient permissions
252 (run with sudo if needed)
b1940459 253 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
254 The download will be considered successfull
255 even if the postprocessing fails
256 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download
257 errors; e.g. to skip unavailable videos in
258 a playlist (default)
8a51f564 259 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
260 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
34488702 261 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
262 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
c4af7684 263 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
34488702 264 extractors and exit
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265 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
266 extractor
267 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
268 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
9ee4f0bb 269 from google videos for the search term
270 "large apple". Use the value "auto" to let
271 yt-dlp guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
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272 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
273 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
274 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
8a51f564 275 this is not possible instead of searching
298f597b 276 --ignore-config, --no-config Disable loading any configuration files
8a51f564 277 except the one provided by --config-location.
278 When given inside a configuration
298f597b 279 file, no further configuration files are
280 loaded. Additionally, (for backward
281 compatibility) if this option is found
282 inside the system configuration file, the
8a51f564 283 user configuration is not loaded
0202b52a 284 --config-location PATH Location of the main configuration file;
285 either the path to the config or its
286 containing directory
c4af7684 287 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
8a51f564 288 only list them
6623ac34 289 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
b5ae35ee 290 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate).
291 Currently only supported for YouTube
597c1866 292 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
8a51f564 293 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
53ed7066 294 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
31654882 295 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
53ed7066 296 configurations by reverting some of the
297 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
298 default behavior" for details
08c1d0d3 299
149f05c7 300## Network Options:
28b4f736 301 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
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302 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
303 scheme. For example
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304 socks5://127.0.0.1:1080/. Pass in an empty
305 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
149f05c7 306 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
c4af7684 307 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
c4af7684 308 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
c4af7684 309 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
8c6c88c7 310
b31fdeed 311## Geo-restriction:
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312 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
313 some geo-restricted sites. The default
314 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
7550ea50 315 option is not present) is used for the
8a51f564 316 actual downloading
8c6c88c7 317 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
0934c9d4 318 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
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319 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
320 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
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321 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
322 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
0934c9d4 323 country code
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324 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
325 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
0934c9d4 326 notation
149f05c7 327
cfcec693 328## Video Selection:
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329 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is 1)
330 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
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331 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
332 indices of the videos in the playlist
333 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
334 1,2,5,8" if you want to download videos
335 indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
336 specify range: "--playlist-items
337 1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
8a51f564 338 at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13
780083db 339 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
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340 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
341 SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
342 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
343 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
6623ac34 344 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded in this date.
345 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
346 "(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
c4af7684 347 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
c76eb41b 348 this date. The date formats accepted is the
349 same as --date
c4af7684 350 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
c76eb41b 351 this date. The date formats accepted is the
352 same as --date
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353 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Any field (see
354 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a
a047eeb6 355 number or a string using the operators
356 defined in "Filtering formats". You can
357 also simply specify a field to match if the
358 field is present and "!field" to check if
359 the field is not present. In addition,
360 Python style regular expression matching
361 can be done using "~=", and multiple
362 filters can be checked with "&". Use a "\"
363 to escape "&" or quotes if needed. Eg:
364 --match-filter "!is_live & like_count>?100
2e7781a9 365 & description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'"
a047eeb6 366 matches only videos that are not live, has
367 a like count more than 100 (or the like
77b87f05 368 field is not available), and also has a
a047eeb6 369 description that contains the phrase "cats
370 & dogs" (ignoring case)
c76eb41b 371 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
c4af7684 372 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
8a51f564 373 to a video and a playlist
c4af7684 374 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
8a51f564 375 a video and a playlist
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376 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
377 age
378 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
379 archive file. Record the IDs of all
8a51f564 380 downloaded videos in it
8b0d7497 381 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
8a51f564 382 a file that is in the archive
8b0d7497 383 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
8a51f564 384 a file that has been filtered out
26e2805c 385 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest
386 of the playlist is skipped
c76eb41b 387 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
6bcd846b 388
d5a62e4f 389## Download Options:
b31fdeed 390 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
391 video that should be download concurrently
392 (default is 1)
5e3856a2 393 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
c4af7684 394 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
6aecd871 395 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
396 below which throttling is assumed and the
397 video data is re-extracted (e.g. 100K)
c4af7684 398 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
8a51f564 399 "infinite"
0be8314d 400 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
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401 is 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
402 ISM)
6623ac34 403 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
404 hlsnative and ISM (default)
8a51f564 405 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
6623ac34 406 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
8a51f564 407 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
a82f4184 408 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
6623ac34 409 downloading is finished
c76eb41b 410 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
411 downloading is finished (default)
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412 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
413 (default is 1024)
c76eb41b 414 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
415 from an initial value of --buffer-size
416 (default)
417 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
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418 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
419 downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
420 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
421 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
422 (experimental)
2101f5d4 423 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
6623ac34 424 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
c76eb41b 425 (default)
31487eb9 426 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
c4af7684 427 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
0934c9d4 428 expected file size
9bd20204 429 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
430 allowing some players to play the video
431 while downloading, and reducing the chance
432 of file corruption if download is
433 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
434 live streams
435 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
436 videos. This is default when not
437 downloading live streams
52a8a1e1 438 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
439 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
440 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
441 use it for. Currently supports native,
442 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
443 wget (Recommended: aria2c). You can use
444 this option multiple times to set different
445 downloaders for different protocols. For
446 example, --downloader aria2c --downloader
447 "dash,m3u8:native" will use aria2c for
448 http/ftp downloads, and the native
449 downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
450 (Alias: --external-downloader)
46ee996e 451 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
452 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
330690a2 453 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
454 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to
455 different positions using the same syntax
456 as --postprocessor-args. You can use this
457 option multiple times to give different
458 arguments to different downloaders
29b6000e 459 (Alias: --external-downloader-args)
d5a62e4f 460
cfcec693 461## Filesystem Options:
c4af7684 462 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
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463 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
464 with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
8a51f564 465 comments and ignored
6ccf351a 466 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
0202b52a 467 downloaded. Specify the type of file and
de6000d9 468 the path separated by a colon ":". All the
469 same types as --output are supported.
470 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
6ccf351a 471 (default) and "temp" paths. All
472 intermediary files are first downloaded to
473 the temp path and then the final files are
474 moved over to the home path after download
475 is finished. This option is ignored if
476 --output is an absolute path
d818eb74 477 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
c76eb41b 478 TEMPLATE" for details
0bc0a322 479 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder value for unavailable meta
480 fields in output filename template
481 (default: "NA")
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482 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
483 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
484 filenames
c76eb41b 485 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
486 filenames (default)
c2934512 487 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be windows compatible
488 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames windows compatible only if
489 using windows (default)
490 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
491 extension) to the specified number of
492 characters
9b45b9f5 493 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
494 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files.
495 This option includes --no-continue
496 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
497 related files (default)
c25228e5 498 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
499 (default)
500 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
e58c22a0 501 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
c25228e5 502 restart download of the entire file
c76eb41b 503 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
6623ac34 504 into output file (default)
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505 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
506 into output file
c76eb41b 507 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
508 file modification time (default)
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509 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
510 the file modification time
511 --write-description Write video description to a .description
512 file
6623ac34 513 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
1dc2726f 514 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
c25228e5 515 (this may contain personal information)
6623ac34 516 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
cac96421 517 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
518 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
519 --write-description etc. (default)
520 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
521 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
75d43ca0 522 --clean-infojson Remove some private fields such as
523 filenames from the infojson. Note that it
524 could still contain some personal
525 information (default)
526 --no-clean-infojson Write all fields to the infojson
2305e2e5 527 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
528 infojson. The comments are fetched even
529 without this option if the extraction is
530 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
531 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
532 extraction is known to be quick
533 (Alias: --no-get-comments)
d845622b 534 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
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535 (created with the "--write-info-json"
536 option)
537 --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
538 jar in
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539 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
540 (default)
541 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[:PROFILE]
542 Load cookies from a user profile of the
543 given web browser. Currently supported
0ef787d7 544 browsers are: brave, chrome, chromium,
545 edge, firefox, opera, safari, vivaldi. You
546 can specify the user profile name or
547 directory using "BROWSER:PROFILE_NAME" or
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548 "BROWSER:PROFILE_PATH". If no profile is
549 given, the most recently accessed one is
550 used
551 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
6623ac34 552 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
3b1fe47d 553 can store some downloaded information (such
554 as client ids and signatures) permanently.
9ee4f0bb 555 By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/yt-dlp or
556 ~/.cache/yt-dlp
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557 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
558 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 559
b31fdeed 560## Thumbnail Options:
1dc2726f 561 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
6623ac34 562 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
c76eb41b 563 (default)
1dc2726f 564 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
34488702 565 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
566 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
2b1bd292 567
732044af 568## Internet Shortcut Options:
8a51f564 569 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
570 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
571 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
572 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
573 OS caches the URL based on the file path
574 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
575 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
732044af 576
0744a815 577## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
34488702 578 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with
579 --verbose, print the log to stderr
6c072e7d 580 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
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581 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
582 anything to disk
34488702 583 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
584 options are used
0cf05715 585 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Usefull
34488702 586 for extracting metadata even if the videos
587 are not actually available for download
0cf05715 588 (experimental)
589 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
590 formats are found (default)
e167860c 591 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
592 related files (Alias: --no-download)
34488702 593 -O, --print TEMPLATE Quiet, but print the given fields for each
594 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
595 used. Either a field name or same syntax as
596 the output template can be used
597 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
598 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
599 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
600 description of available keys
601 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
602 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
603 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
604 a playlist, the whole playlist information
605 is dumped in a single line
8a51f564 606 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
e58c22a0 607 written as far as no errors occur, even if
608 -s or another simulation option is used
8a51f564 609 (Alias: --force-download-archive)
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610 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
611 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
819e0531 612 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
1dc2726f 613 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
819e0531 614 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
615 Template for progress outputs, optionally
616 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
617 "download-title:" (the console title),
618 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
619 The video's fields are accessible under the
620 "info" key and the progress attributes are
621 accessible under "progress" key. Eg:
622 --console-title --progress-template
623 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
1dc2726f 624 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
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625 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
626 to debug problems (very verbose)
627 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
628 files in the current directory to debug
629 problems
780083db 630 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 631
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632## Workarounds:
633 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
1dc2726f 634 --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
c4af7684 635 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
e167860c 636 information about the video (Currently
05a7ffb1 637 supported only for YouTube)
1dc2726f 638 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
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639 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
640 access is restricted to one domain
641 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
45016689 642 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
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643 option multiple times
644 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
645 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
646 or fribidi executable in PATH
1cf376f5 647 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
648 during data extraction
c4af7684 649 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
e167860c 650 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
651 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
652 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
653 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can
654 only be used along with --min-sleep-interval
1cf376f5 655 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
656 subtitle download
36f35428 657
cfcec693 658## Video Format Options:
eb8a4433 659 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
660 for more details
661 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
662 "Sorting Formats" for more details
8a51f564 663 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
664 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
eb8a4433 665 Formats" for more details
666 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
c76eb41b 667 specified sort order (default), see
668 "Sorting Formats" for more details
669 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
670 into a single file
671 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
672 each output file (default)
673 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
674 into a single file
675 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
676 each output file (default)
da9be05e 677 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
678 over non-free ones of same quality. Use
679 with "-S ext" to strictly prefer free
680 containers irrespective of quality
681 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
682 containers (default)
e8e73840 683 --check-formats Check that the formats selected are
0ba692ac 684 actually downloadable
685 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats selected are
686 actually downloadable
34488702 687 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
688 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
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689 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
690 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
691 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
692 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
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693
694## Subtitle Options:
c76eb41b 695 --write-subs Write subtitle file
696 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
697 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
e167860c 698 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
699 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
700 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
34488702 701 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
702 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
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703 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
704 preference, for example: "srt" or
705 "ass/srt/best"
c32b0aab 706 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
707 be regex) or "all" separated by commas.
708 (Eg: --sub-langs en.*,ja) You can prefix
709 the language code with a "-" to exempt it
710 from the requested languages. (Eg: --sub-
711 langs all,-live_chat) Use --list-subs for a
712 list of available language tags
6bcd846b 713
cfcec693 714## Authentication Options:
1dc2726f 715 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
c4af7684 716 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
7a5c1cfe 717 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
dc48a354 718 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
1dc2726f 719 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
0001fcb5 720 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
721 either the path or its containing
722 directory. Defaults to ~/.netrc
29f7c58a 723 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
f5e008d1 724 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
909d24dd 725 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
726 a list of available MSOs
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727 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
728 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
c74d1aa3 729 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
730 interactively
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731 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
732 operators
733
c76eb41b 734## Post-Processing Options:
c4af7684 735 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
e4172ac9 736 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
3de7c2ce 737 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format to convert the audio
738 to when -x is used. Currently supported
739 formats are: best (default) or one of
34488702 740 best|aac|flac|mp3|m4a|opus|vorbis|wav
e4172ac9 741 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality, insert a
742 value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse) for
743 VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
c4af7684 744 (default 5)
c76eb41b 745 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
29b6000e 746 necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv|flv
747 |webm|mov|avi|mp3|mka|m4a|ogg|opus). If
748 target container does not support the
06167fbb 749 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
3de7c2ce 750 can specify multiple rules; Eg.
06167fbb 751 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to
752 m4a, mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv.
c76eb41b 753 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
3de7c2ce 754 re-encoding is necessary. The syntax and
755 supported formats are the same as --remux-video
1b77b347 756 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
43820c03 757 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
45016689 758 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
759 to give the argument to the specified
8fa43c73 760 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
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761 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
762 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
8fa43c73 763 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
764 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
6aecd871 765 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
766 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
8fa43c73 767 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
9ee4f0bb 768 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
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769 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
770 specified executable only when being used
771 by the specified postprocessor.
772 Additionally, for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o"
773 can be appended to the prefix optionally
774 followed by a number to pass the argument
775 before the specified input/output file. Eg:
776 --ppa "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can
777 use this option multiple times to give
e4172ac9 778 different arguments to different
5b1ecbb3 779 postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
c76eb41b 780 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
6623ac34 781 after post-processing
c76eb41b 782 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
6623ac34 783 post-processing (default)
784 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
785 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
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786 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
787 webm and mkv videos)
c76eb41b 788 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
6aecd871 789 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
6623ac34 790 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
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791 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also adds
792 chapters to file unless --no-add-chapters
793 is used (Alias: --add-metadata)
794 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
6aecd871 795 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
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796 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
797 (Alias: --add-chapters)
798 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default)
799 (Alias: --no-add-chapters)
73cd218f 800 --parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
801 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
802 for details
e9f4ccd1 803 --replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
804 Replace text in a metadata field using the
805 given regex. This option can be used
806 multiple times
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807 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
808 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
809 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
810 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
811 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
812 default; fix file if we can, warn
6aecd871 813 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
814 already exists
e4172ac9 815 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
816 path to the binary or its containing
817 directory
c4af7684 818 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
34488702 819 downloading and post-processing. Same
820 syntax as the output template can be used
9de3ea31 821 to pass any field as arguments to the
822 command. An additional field "filepath"
823 that contains the final path of the
824 downloaded file is also available. If no
7d1eb38a 825 fields are passed, %(filepath)q is appended
34488702 826 to the end of the command. This option can
827 be used multiple times
828 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
5520aa2d 829 --exec-before-download CMD Execute a command before the actual
830 download. The syntax is the same as --exec
34488702 831 but "filepath" is not available. This
832 option can be used multiple times
833 --no-exec-before-download Remove any previously defined
834 --exec-before-download
e167860c 835 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
3de7c2ce 836 (currently supported: srt|vtt|ass|lrc)
e167860c 837 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
8fa43c73 838 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
3de7c2ce 839 (currently supported: jpg|png)
72755351 840 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
841 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix
842 can be used with "--paths" and "--output"
843 to set the output filename for the split
844 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
845 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters
846 (default)
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847 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
848 given regular expression. This option can
849 be used multiple times
9ee4f0bb 850 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
851 (default)
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852 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes around the chapters before
853 removing/splitting them. Requires a
854 reencode and thus is very slow, but the
855 resulting video may have fewer artifacts
856 around the cuts
857 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
858 when cutting/splitting (default)
3ae5e797 859 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS] The (case sensitive) name of plugin
860 postprocessors to be enabled, and
861 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
862 seperated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
863 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
864 The "when" argument determines when the
865 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
866 "pre_process" (after extraction),
867 "before_dl" (before video download),
868 "post_process" (after video download;
869 default) or "after_move" (after moving file
870 to their final locations). This option can
871 be used multiple times to add different
872 postprocessors
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873
874## SponsorBlock Options:
875Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
876 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
8a51f564 877 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
878
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879 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
880 for, separated by commas. Available
881 categories are all, sponsor, intro, outro,
882 selfpromo, interaction, preview,
883 music_offtopic. You can prefix the category
884 with a "-" to exempt it. See
885 https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/index.php/Segment_Categories
886 for description of the categories. Eg:
887 --sponsorblock-query all,-preview
888 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
889 the video file, separated by commas. If a
890 category is present in both mark and
891 remove, remove takes precedence. The syntax
892 and available categories are the same as
893 for --sponsorblock-mark
894 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
895 The title template for SponsorBlock
896 chapters created by --sponsorblock-mark.
897 The same syntax as the output template is
898 used, but the only available fields are
899 start_time, end_time, category, categories,
900 name, category_names. Defaults to
901 "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
902 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
903 --sponsorblock-remove
904 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
905 https://sponsor.ajay.app
a9e7f546 906
78895bd3 907## Extractor Options:
5ef7d9bd 908 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor
d6e51845 909 errors (default is 3), or "infinite"
6623ac34 910 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
8a51f564 911 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
912 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
913 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
e409895f 914 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
915 discontinuities such as ad breaks
916 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
917 formats at discontinuities such as ad
918 breaks (default)
5d3a0e79 919 --extractor-args KEY:ARGS Pass these arguments to the extractor. See
920 "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You can
921 use this option multiple times to give
245524e6 922 arguments for different extractors
17cb02d0 923
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924# CONFIGURATION
925
7a5c1cfe 926You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
e2e43aea 927
0202b52a 9281. **Main Configuration**: The file given by `--config-location`
7a5c1cfe
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9291. **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.
9301. **Home Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P "home:<path>"`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
e2e43aea 9311. **User Configuration**:
932 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
933 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
934 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
935 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
936 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
937 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
938
c589c1d3 939 `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to `~/.config` if undefined. On windows, `~` points to %HOME% if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`.
07cce701 9401. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
b7770046 941
7a5c1cfe 942For 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:
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943```
944# Lines starting with # are comments
945
946# Always extract audio
947-x
948
949# Do not copy the mtime
950--no-mtime
951
952# Use this proxy
953--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
954
298f597b 955# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
956-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
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957```
958
e2e43aea 959Note 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 960
7a5c1cfe 961You 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 user and system configurations. Additionally, (for backward compatibility) if `--ignore-config` is found inside the system configuration file, the user configuration is not loaded.
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962
963### Authentication with `.netrc` file
964
0001fcb5 965You 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:
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966```
967touch $HOME/.netrc
968chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
969```
970After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
971```
0001fcb5 972machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
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973```
974For example:
975```
976machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
977machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
978```
7a5c1cfe 979To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
b7770046 980
0001fcb5 981The default location of the .netrc file is `$HOME` (`~`) in UNIX. On Windows, it is `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
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982
983# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
984
0202b52a 985The `-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.
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986
987**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
988
e58c22a0 989The 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 990
f5aa5cfb 991It 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 992
993The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
2b8a2973 9941. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using `:`. Eg: `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. `%()s` refers to the entire infodict. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
e625be0d 9951. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
9961. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. Eg: `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
7c37ff97 9971. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified seperated with a `,`. Eg: `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
9981. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` seperator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
91dd88b9 9991. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, `B`, `j`, `l`, `q` can be used for converting to **B**ytes, **j**son, a comma seperated **l**ist (alternate form flag `#` makes it new line `\n` seperated) and a string **q**uoted for the terminal, respectively
524e2e4f 10001. **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 1001
1002To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1003```
7c37ff97 1004%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
a439a3a4 1005```
de6000d9 1006
80c03fa9 1007Additionally, 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`, `pl_thumbnail`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`. For example, `-o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' -o 'thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s'` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video. If any of the templates (except default) is empty, that type of file will not be written. Eg: `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
e29663c6 1008
1009The available fields are:
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1010
1011 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1012 - `title` (string): Video title
1013 - `url` (string): Video URL
1014 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1015 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
597c1866 1016 - `description` (string): The description of the video
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1017 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1018 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1019 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1020 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
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1021 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
1022 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
e6f21b3d 1023 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
1024 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
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1025 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1026 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1027 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
1028 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1029 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
53c18592 1030 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
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1031 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1032 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1033 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1034 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1035 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
277d6ff5 1036 - `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 1037 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
3dbb2a9d 1038 - `live_status` (string): One of 'is_live', 'was_live', 'is_upcoming', 'not_live'
b7770046 1039 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
f76ede8e 1040 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
6cfda058 1041 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
c224251a 1042 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is 'private', 'premium_only', 'subscriber_only', 'needs_auth', 'unlisted' or 'public'
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1043 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1044 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
29b6000e 1045 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
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1046 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
1047 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
1048 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
1049 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
1050 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
1051 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1052 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1053 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
1054 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1055 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1056 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
1057 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
1058 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
1059 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
1060 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
1061 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
1062 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1063 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
1064 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
1065 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
e6f21b3d 1066 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
b7770046 1067 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
e6f21b3d 1068 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1069 - `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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1070 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
1071 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
1072 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1073 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
bd99f6e6 1074 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
1075 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
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1076
1077Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1078
1079 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1080 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1081 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1082
1083Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1084
1085 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1086 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1087 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1088 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1089 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1090 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1091 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1092
1093Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1094
1095 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1096 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1097 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1098 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1099 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1100 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1101 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1102 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1103 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1104 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1105
b050d210 1106Available for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
72755351 1107
1108 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1109 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1110 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1111 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1112
53c18592 1113Available only when used in `--print`:
1114
1115 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1116 - `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
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1117
1118Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1119
1120 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1121 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1122 - `categories` (list): The SponsorBlock categories the chapter belongs to
1123 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1124 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1125 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
53c18592 1126
a820dc72 1127Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. Note 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 1128
bc97cdae 1129For 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.
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1130
1131For numeric sequences you can use numeric related formatting, for example, `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
1132
1133Output 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.
1134
1135To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1136
91ebc640 1137The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
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1138
1139In 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:
1140
1141#### Output template and Windows batch files
1142
1143If 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"`.
1144
1145#### Output template examples
1146
de6000d9 1147Note that on Windows you need to use double quotes instead of single.
b7770046
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1148
1149```bash
7a5c1cfe
P
1150$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc
1151youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
b7770046 1152
7a5c1cfe
P
1153$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
1154youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
b7770046
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1155
1156# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
7a5c1cfe 1157$ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
b7770046 1158
b050d210 1159# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
7a5c1cfe 1160$ yt-dlp -o '%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
e29663c6 1161
b7770046 1162# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
7a5c1cfe 1163$ yt-dlp -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists
b7770046
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1164
1165# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
7a5c1cfe 1166$ yt-dlp -u user -p password -P '~/MyVideos' -o '%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial/
b7770046
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1167
1168# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
7a5c1cfe 1169$ 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
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1170
1171# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
7a5c1cfe 1172$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
b7770046
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1173```
1174
1175# FORMAT SELECTION
1176
7a5c1cfe
P
1177By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1178This 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 1179
eff63539 1180The 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
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1181
1182**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
1183
a439a3a4 1184The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
b7770046
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1185
1186You 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.
1187
1188You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1189
e094cec1 1190 - `all`: Select all formats
f8d4ad9a 1191 - `mergeall`: Select and merge all formats (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1192 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio
1193 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio
909d24dd 1194 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1195 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1196 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality video-only format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1197 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 1198 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1199 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1200 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
1201 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 1202 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]`
1203 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
b7770046 1204
e58c22a0 1205For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recommended not to use `worst` and related options. When your format selector is `worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
eff63539 1206
1207You 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 1208
eb8a4433 1209If you want to download multiple videos and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred, for example `-f 22/17/18` will download format 22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
b7770046
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1210
1211If 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`.
1212
d806c9fd 1213You 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.
1214
1215**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
1216
1217Unless `--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 1218
1219## Filtering Formats
1220
b7770046
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1221You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1222
1223The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1224
1225 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1226 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1227 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1228 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1229 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1230 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1231 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1232 - `fps`: Frame rate
1233
1234Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
1235
1236 - `ext`: File extension
1237 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1238 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1239 - `container`: Name of the container format
1240 - `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`)
1241 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
29f7c58a 1242 - `language`: Language code
b7770046
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1243
1244Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain).
1245
e58c22a0 1246Note 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 1247
e094cec1 1248Formats 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 1249
b7770046
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1250Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses, for example if you want to download the best mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480 you can use `-f '(mp4,webm)[height<480]'`.
1251
eb8a4433 1252## Sorting Formats
1253
2e7781a9 1254You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1255
1256The available fields are:
eb8a4433 1257
63be1aab 1258 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1259 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
1260 - `ie_pref`: The format preference as given by the extractor
1261 - `lang`: Language preference as given by the extractor
dca3ff4a 1262 - `quality`: The quality of the format as given by the extractor
63be1aab 1263 - `source`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
e36d50c5 1264 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > other > `mms`/`rtsp` > unknown > `f4f`/`f4m`)
155d2b48 1265 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other > unknown)
63be1aab 1266 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other > unknown)
eb8a4433 1267 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
63be1aab 1268 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is prefered.
1269 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
1270 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
eb8a4433 1271 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
63be1aab 1272 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1273 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
eb8a4433 1274 - `height`: Height of video
1275 - `width`: Width of video
63be1aab 1276 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1277 - `fps`: Framerate of video
1278 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1279 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1280 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1281 - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
1282 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
d806c9fd 1283
1284**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 1285
9ee4f0bb 1286All 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.
1287
e6f21b3d 1288The 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,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 1289
9ee4f0bb 1290Note that the default has `codec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not prefered
eb8a4433 1291
e58c22a0 1292If 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 1293
1294**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1295
eb8a4433 1296## Format Selection examples
b7770046
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1297
1298Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
1299
1300```bash
e58c22a0 1301# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
909d24dd 1302# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
7a5c1cfe 1303$ yt-dlp -f 'bv+ba/b'
909d24dd 1304
1305# Download best format that contains video,
1306# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
7a5c1cfe 1307$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+ba/b'
2af884ff 1308
1309# Same as above
7a5c1cfe 1310$ yt-dlp
909d24dd 1311
6fd35a11 1312# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1313# For this case, an output template should be used since
1314# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
7a5c1cfe 1315$ yt-dlp -f 'bv,ba' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
909d24dd 1316
f8d4ad9a 1317# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1318# and all audio-only formats into one file
1319$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]' --audio-multistreams
1320
1321# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1322# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
1323$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+ba+ba.2' --audio-multistreams
909d24dd 1324
6fd35a11 1325
1326# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
f8d4ad9a 1327# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
6fd35a11 1328
1329# Download the worst video available (old method)
7a5c1cfe 1330$ yt-dlp -f 'wv*+wa/w'
eb8a4433 1331
1332# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
7a5c1cfe 1333$ yt-dlp -S '+res'
eb8a4433 1334
1335# Download the smallest video available
7a5c1cfe 1336$ yt-dlp -S '+size,+br'
eb8a4433 1337
1338
909d24dd 1339
eb8a4433 1340# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
7a5c1cfe 1341$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b'
eb8a4433 1342
1343# Download the best video with the best extension
1344# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
7a5c1cfe 1345$ yt-dlp -S 'ext'
eb8a4433 1346
1347
909d24dd 1348
eb8a4433 1349# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1350# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
7a5c1cfe 1351$ yt-dlp -f 'bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w'
b7770046 1352
eb8a4433 1353# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1354# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
7a5c1cfe 1355$ yt-dlp -S 'height:480'
b7770046 1356
eb8a4433 1357# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1358# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1359# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1360# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
7a5c1cfe 1361$ yt-dlp -S 'res:480'
b7770046 1362
b7770046 1363
909d24dd 1364
eb8a4433 1365# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1366# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
7a5c1cfe 1367$ yt-dlp -f 'b[filesize<50M] / w'
eb8a4433 1368
1369# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1370# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
7a5c1cfe 1371$ yt-dlp -f 'b' -S 'filesize:50M'
eb8a4433 1372
1373# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
7a5c1cfe 1374$ yt-dlp -f 'b' -S 'filesize~50M'
eb8a4433 1375
1376
909d24dd 1377
eb8a4433 1378# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1379# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1380$ yt-dlp -f '(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)'
eb8a4433 1381
1382# Download best video available via the best protocol
1383# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
7a5c1cfe 1384$ yt-dlp -S 'proto'
eb8a4433 1385
1386
909d24dd 1387
eb8a4433 1388# Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1389$ yt-dlp -f '(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)'
eb8a4433 1390
1391# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1392# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1393$ yt-dlp -S 'codec:h264'
eb8a4433 1394
1395# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1396# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1397$ yt-dlp -S '+codec:h264'
eb8a4433 1398
1399
1400
1401# More complex examples
1402
e58c22a0 1403# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1404# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
7a5c1cfe 1405$ 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 1406
1407# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
f8d4ad9a 1408# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1409# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
7a5c1cfe 1410$ yt-dlp -S 'res:720,fps'
eb8a4433 1411
1412
909d24dd 1413
eb8a4433 1414# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1415# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1416# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
7a5c1cfe 1417$ yt-dlp -S '+res:480,codec,br'
b7770046 1418```
eb8a4433 1419
73cd218f 1420# MODIFYING METADATA
1421
e9f4ccd1 1422The metadata obtained the the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
1423
418964fa 1424`--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 1425
2e7781a9 1426The 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 1427
1428Note 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`.
1429
9c2b75b5 1430This option also has a few special uses:
28b0eb0f 1431* 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
c31be5b0 1432* 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"
1433
1434For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1435
1436Metadata fields|From
1437:---|:---
1438`title`|`track` or `title`
1439`date`|`upload_date`
1440`description`, `synopsis`|`description`
1441`purl`, `comment`|`webpage_url`
1442`track`|`track_number`
1443`artist`|`artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1444`genre`|`genre`
1445`album`|`album`
1446`album_artist`|`album_artist`
1447`disc`|`disc_number`
1448`show`|`series`
1449`season_number`|`season_number`
1450`episode_id`|`episode` or `episode_id`
1451`episode_sort`|`episode_number`
1452`language` of each stream|From the format's `language`
1453**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1454
73cd218f 1455
1456## Modifying metadata examples
1457
1458Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
1459
1460```bash
1461# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
02aabd45 1462$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'title:%(artist)s - %(title)s'
73cd218f 1463
1464# Regex example
02aabd45 1465$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)'
73cd218f 1466
1467# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
02aabd45 1468$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata '%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s'
73cd218f 1469
1470# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url
02aabd45 1471$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)' --add-metadata
73cd218f 1472
e9f4ccd1 1473# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
1474$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata 'title,uploader' '[ _]' '-'
1475
73cd218f 1476```
1477
5d3a0e79 1478# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1479
34488702 1480Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) seperated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. Eg: `--extractor-args "youtube:player_client=android_agegate,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
5d3a0e79 1481
1482The following extractors use this feature:
1483* **youtube**
1484 * `skip`: `hls` or `dash` (or both) to skip download of the respective manifests
e7e94f2a 1485 * `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android`, `ios`, `mweb`. These also have `_music`, `_embedded`, `_agegate`, and `_creator` variants (Eg: `web_embedded`) (`mweb` has only `_agegate`). By default, `android,web` is used, but the agegate and creator variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly the music variants are added for `music.youtube.com` urls. You can also use `all` to use all the clients
b6de707d 1486 * `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
57015a4a 1487 * `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats (These formats don't download properly)
2d6659b9 1488 * `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side).
34488702 1489 * `max_comments`: Maximum amount of comments to download (default all).
7581d246 1490 * `max_comment_depth`: Maximum depth for nested comments. YouTube supports depths 1 or 2 (default).
ac56cf38 1491* **youtubetab**
1492 (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1493 * `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)
11f9be09 1494
3acf6d38 1495* **funimation**
1496 * `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1497 * `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1498
73d829c1 1499* **vikiChannel**
1500 * `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
1501
bc97cdae 1502NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
5d3a0e79 1503
3acf6d38 1504
f74980cb 1505# PLUGINS
b7770046 1506
3ae5e797 1507Plugins 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
1508
1509Plugins 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`.
1510
1511See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example plugins.
1512
1513Note 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
1514
1515If you are a plugin author, add [ytdlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/ytdlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
b7770046 1516
b7770046 1517
8c6f4daa 1518
1519# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1520
1521yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1522
1523Your 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.
1524
1525From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1526
1527```python
1528import yt_dlp
1529
1530ydl_opts = {}
1531with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1532 ydl.download(['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'])
1533```
1534
1535Most likely, you'll want to use various options. For a list of options available, have a look at [`yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py`](yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L154-L452).
1536
1537Here's a more complete example of a program that outputs only errors (and a short message after the download is finished), converts the video to an mp3 file, implements a custom postprocessor and prints the final info_dict as json:
1538
1539```python
1540import json
1541
1542import yt_dlp
1543from yt_dlp.postprocessor.common import PostProcessor
1544
1545
1546class MyLogger:
1547 def debug(self, msg):
1548 # For compatability with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
1549 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
1550 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
1551 pass
1552 else:
1553 self.info(msg)
1554
1555 def info(self, msg):
1556 pass
1557
1558 def warning(self, msg):
1559 pass
1560
1561 def error(self, msg):
1562 print(msg)
1563
1564
1565class MyCustomPP(PostProcessor):
1566 def run(self, info):
1567 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
1568 return [], info
1569
1570
1571def my_hook(d):
1572 if d['status'] == 'finished':
1573 print('Done downloading, now converting ...')
1574
1575
1576ydl_opts = {
1577 'format': 'bestaudio/best',
1578 'postprocessors': [{
1579 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
1580 'preferredcodec': 'mp3',
1581 'preferredquality': '192',
1582 }],
1583 'logger': MyLogger(),
1584 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
1585}
1586
1587with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1588 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP())
1589 info = ydl.extract_info('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc')
1590 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1591```
1592
1593See the public functions in [`yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py`](yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py) for other available functions. Eg: `ydl.download`, `ydl.download_with_info_file`
1594
1595
e167860c 1596# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
1597
1598These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
1599
6ccf351a 1600#### Redundant options
1601While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
f4536226 1602
53c18592 1603 --get-description --print description
1604 --get-duration --print duration_string
1605 --get-filename --print filename
1606 --get-format --print format
1607 --get-id --print id
1608 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
1609 -e, --get-title --print title
1610 -g, --get-url --print urls
2b8a2973 1611 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
8f18aca8 1612 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
1613 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
1614 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
1615 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
6ccf351a 1616
1617
1618#### Not recommended
1619While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
1620
d9aa2332 1621 --all-formats -f all
c32b0aab 1622 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
b7b04c78 1623 --print-json -j --no-simulate
e167860c 1624 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)03d
a439a3a4 1625 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
73cd218f 1626 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
52a8a1e1 1627 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
1628 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
53ed7066 1629 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
1630 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
5d3a0e79 1631 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
1632 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
1633 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
1634 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
6ccf351a 1635
1636
1637#### Developer options
1638These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
1639
34488702 1640 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
6ccf351a 1641 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
88acdbc2 1642 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
1643 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
f4536226 1644
1645
1646#### Old aliases
1647These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
1648
1649 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
1650 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
1651 --dump-headers --print-traffic
1652 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
1653 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
1654 --load-info --load-info-json
1655 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
e167860c 1656 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
e167860c 1657 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
1658 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
f4536226 1659 --split-tracks --split-chapters
1660 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
e167860c 1661 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
f4536226 1662 --write-srt --write-subs
e167860c 1663 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
f4536226 1664
7a340e0d
NA
1665#### Sponskrub Options
1666Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of `--sponsorblock`
1667
1668 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
1669 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
1670 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
1671 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
1672 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
1673 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
1674 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
1675 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
1676
f4536226 1677#### No longer supported
1678These options may no longer work as intended
1679
1680 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
1681 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
1682 -C, --call-home Not implemented
1683 --no-call-home Default
1684 --include-ads No longer supported
1685 --no-include-ads Default
0bb1bc1b 1686 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
1687 --no-write-annotations Default
486fb179 1688
1689#### Removed
1690These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
1691
f4536226 1692 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1693 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1694 -t, --title -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1695 -l, --literal -o accepts literal names
1696
8c6f4daa 1697# CONTRIBUTING
1698See [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 1699
c2b5f311 1700# MORE
8c6f4daa 1701For FAQ see the [youtube-dl README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)