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Release 2022.05.18
[yt-dlp.git] / README.md
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ec2e44fc 1<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b31fdeed 2<div align="center">
3
e980017a 4[![YT-DLP](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master/.github/banner.svg)](#readme)
d9d045e2 5
ae6a1b95 6[![Release version](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?color=brightgreen&label=Download&style=for-the-badge)](#release-files "Release")
7[![PyPi](https://img.shields.io/badge/-PyPi-blue.svg?logo=pypi&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp "PyPi")
fc5fa964 8[![Donate](https://img.shields.io/badge/_-Donate-red.svg?logo=githubsponsors&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](Collaborators.md#collaborators "Donate")
ae6a1b95 9[![Matrix](https://img.shields.io/matrix/yt-dlp:matrix.org?color=brightgreen&labelColor=555555&label=&logo=element&style=for-the-badge)](https://matrix.to/#/#yt-dlp:matrix.org "Matrix")
10[![Discord](https://img.shields.io/discord/807245652072857610?color=blue&labelColor=555555&label=&logo=discord&style=for-the-badge)](https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r "Discord")
fc5fa964 11[![Supported Sites](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Supported_Sites-brightgreen.svg?style=for-the-badge)](supportedsites.md "Supported Sites")
ae6a1b95 12[![License: Unlicense](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Unlicense-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge)](LICENSE "License")
fc5fa964 13[![CI Status](https://img.shields.io/github/workflow/status/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/Core%20Tests/master?label=Tests&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/actions "CI Status")
fc5fa964 14[![Commits](https://img.shields.io/github/commit-activity/m/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?label=commits&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits "Commit History")
15[![Last Commit](https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master?label=&style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits "Commit History")
c76eb41b 16
b31fdeed 17</div>
ec2e44fc 18<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c76eb41b 19
b31fdeed 20yt-dlp is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
5c0e5bc4 21
ec2e44fc 22<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "USAGE AND OPTIONS" SECTION HERE -->
23
24<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
034b6215 25* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
53ed7066 26 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
c76eb41b 27* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
17fa3ee2 28 * [Update](#update)
0e5927ee 29 * [Release Files](#release-files)
cf59cd4d 30 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
17fa3ee2 31 * [Compile](#compile)
b31fdeed 32* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
33 * [General Options](#general-options)
50865ca8 34 * [Network Options](#network-options)
b31fdeed 35 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
50865ca8 36 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
37 * [Download Options](#download-options)
38 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
b31fdeed 39 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
50865ca8 40 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
0744a815 41 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
50865ca8 42 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
43 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
44 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
45 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
50865ca8 46 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
7a340e0d 47 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
50865ca8 48 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 49* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
50865ca8 50 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
c76eb41b 51* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 52 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
53 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 54* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 55 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
56 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
57 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
73cd218f 58* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
59 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
5d3a0e79 60* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
f74980cb 61* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
8c6f4daa 62* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
43cc91ad 63 * [Embedding examples](#embedding-examples)
e167860c 64* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
8c6f4daa 65* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
66 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
67 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
c76eb41b 68* [MORE](#more)
ec2e44fc 69<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
50865ca8 70
71
034b6215 72# NEW FEATURES
91f071af 73
ebc7d3ff 74* Based on **youtube-dl 2021.12.17 [commit/6508688](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/6508688e88c83bb811653083db9351702cd39a6a)** ([exceptions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/21)) and **youtube-dlc 2020.11.11-3 [commit/f9401f2](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee)**: You get all the features and patches of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) in addition to the latest [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
034b6215 75
7a340e0d 76* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
034b6215 77
7581d246 78* **[Format Sorting](#sorting-formats)**: The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now preferred instead of simply using larger bitrate. Furthermore, you can now specify the sort order using `-S`. This allows for much easier format selection than what is possible by simply using `--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
034b6215 79
ae6a1b95 80* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--write-comments`, `BiliBiliSearch`, `BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico livestreams are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
29b6000e 81
f5546c0b 82* **Youtube improvements**:
ca5300c7 83 * All Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`, `:ytnotif`) and private playlists supports downloading multiple pages of content
0fdf490d 84 * Search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`), search URLs and in-channel search works
85 * Mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
86c1a8aa 86 * Some (but not all) age-gated content can be downloaded without cookies
a4211baf 87 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326)
f20f5fe5 88 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
e6f21b3d 89 * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from youtube music when premium cookies are given
9ee4f0bb 90 * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded ([except self-uploaded music](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/723))
144a3588 91 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start` (experimental)
6e634cbe 92 * Support for downloading stories (`ytstories:<channel UCID>`)
f20f5fe5 93
f59f5ef8 94* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]`
245524e6 95
597c1866 96* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
97
b31fdeed 98* **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 99
b31fdeed 100* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
f20f5fe5 101
e75bb0d6 102* **New and fixed extractors**: Many new extractors have been added and a lot of existing ones have been fixed. See the [changelog](Changelog.md) or the [list of supported sites](supportedsites.md)
86c1a8aa 103
104* **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN
fac98805 105
3de7c2ce 106* **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 107
597c1866 108* **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 109
110* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
111
418964fa 112* **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 113
144a3588 114* **Other new options**: Many new options have been added such as `--concat-playlist`, `--print`, `--wait-for-video`, `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-on-reject` etc
0bc0a322 115
08d30158 116* **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--format`/`--match-filter`, multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection), merge multi-video/audio, multiple `--config-locations`, `--exec` at different stages, etc
c69911e4 117
86c1a8aa 118* **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
b31fdeed 119
7a5c1cfe 120* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
aa837ddf 121
7a5c1cfe 122See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 123
53ed7066 124### Differences in default behavior
125
0930b11f 126Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
53ed7066 127
96565c7e 128* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
b69fd25c 129* `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
a44ca5a4 130* yt-dlp stores config files in slightly different locations to youtube-dl. See [configuration](#configuration) for a list of correct locations
96565c7e 131* The default [output template](#output-template) is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`. There is no real reason for this change. This was changed before yt-dlp was ever made public and now there are no plans to change it back to `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`. Instead, you may use `--compat-options filename`
e4f02757 132* The default [format sorting](#sorting-formats) is different from youtube-dl and prefers higher resolution and better codecs rather than higher bitrates. You can use the `--format-sort` option to change this to any order you prefer, or use `--compat-options format-sort` to use youtube-dl's sorting order
e75bb0d6 133* The default format selector is `bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be preferred. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
28b0eb0f 134* Unlike youtube-dlc, yt-dlp does not allow merging multiple audio/video streams into one file by default (since this conflicts with the use of `-f bv*+ba`). If needed, this feature must be enabled using `--audio-multistreams` and `--video-multistreams`. You can also use `--compat-options multistreams` to enable both
08d30158 135* `--no-abort-on-error` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
28b0eb0f 136* When writing metadata files such as thumbnails, description or infojson, the same information (if available) is also written for playlists. Use `--no-write-playlist-metafiles` or `--compat-options no-playlist-metafiles` to not write these files
9222c381 137* `--add-metadata` attaches the `infojson` to `mkv` files in addition to writing the metadata when used with `--write-info-json`. Use `--no-embed-info-json` or `--compat-options no-attach-info-json` to revert this
9e907ebd 138* Some metadata are embedded into different fields when using `--add-metadata` as compared to youtube-dl. Most notably, `comment` field contains the `webpage_url` and `synopsis` contains the `description`. You can [use `--parse-metadata`](#modifying-metadata) to modify this to your liking or use `--compat-options embed-metadata` to revert this
28b0eb0f 139* `playlist_index` behaves differently when used with options like `--playlist-reverse` and `--playlist-items`. See [#302](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/302) for details. You can use `--compat-options playlist-index` if you want to keep the earlier behavior
140* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
3acf6d38 141* 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 142* Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
64f36541 143* Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to `/video`. Append a `/featured` to the URL to download only the videos in the home page. If the channel does not have a videos tab, we try to download the equivalent `UU` playlist instead. For all other tabs, if the channel does not show the requested tab, an error will be raised. Also, `/live` URLs raise an error if there are no live videos instead of silently downloading the entire channel. You may use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to revert all these redirections
28b0eb0f 144* Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
18e674b4 145* If `ffmpeg` is used as the downloader, the downloading and merging of formats happen in a single step when possible. Use `--compat-options no-direct-merge` to revert this
e858a9d6 146* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
e4f02757 147* Some private fields such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use `--no-clean-infojson` or `--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
e75bb0d6 148* When `--embed-subs` and `--write-subs` are used together, the subtitles are written to disk and also embedded in the media file. You can use just `--embed-subs` to embed the subs and automatically delete the separate file. See [#630 (comment)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/630#issuecomment-893659460) for more info. `--compat-options no-keep-subs` can be used to revert this
d5820461 149* `certifi` will be used for SSL root certificates, if installed. If you want to use system certificates (e.g. self-signed), use `--compat-options no-certifi`
5c3895ff 150* youtube-dl tries to remove some superfluous punctuations from filenames. While this can sometimes be helpfull, it is often undesirable. So yt-dlp tries to keep the fields in the filenames as close to their original values as possible. You can use `--compat-options filename-sanitization` to revert to youtube-dl's behavior
53ed7066 151
152For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
3d3bb168 153
28b0eb0f 154* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options
155* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
156* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
53ed7066 157
f20f5fe5 158
d19bb9c0 159# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 160
7bc877a2 161You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
a61f4b28 162
a4211baf 163### Using the release binary
0930b11f 164
fc5fa964 165You can simply download the [correct binary file](#release-files) for your OS
5f326cf5 166
fc5fa964 167<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
168[![Windows](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Windows_x64-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=windows)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)
24146491 169[![Linux](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Linux/BSD-red.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=linux)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)
170[![MacOS](https://img.shields.io/badge/-MacOS-lightblue.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=apple)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)
fc5fa964 171[![Source Tarball](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Source_tar-green.svg?style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
172[![Other variants](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Other-grey.svg?style=for-the-badge)](#release-files)
3d3bb168 173[![All versions](https://img.shields.io/badge/-All_Versions-lightgrey.svg?style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases)
fc5fa964 174<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
175
176Note: The manpages, shell completion files etc. are available in the [source tarball](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
177
178<!-- TODO: Move to Wiki -->
0930b11f 179In UNIX-like OSes (MacOS, Linux, BSD), you can also install the same in one of the following ways:
5ba4a0b6
A		 180
181```
182sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
183sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
184```
185
186```
187sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
188sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
189```
190
191```
b69fd25c 192sudo aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp --dir /usr/local/bin -o yt-dlp
5ba4a0b6
A		 193sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
194```
195
0930b11f 196
a4211baf 197### With [PIP](https://pypi.org/project/pip)
0930b11f 198
199You can install the [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) with:
200```
201python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp
202```
203
86c1a8aa 204You can install without any of the optional dependencies using:
0930b11f 205```
206python3 -m pip install --no-deps -U yt-dlp
207```
208
86c1a8aa 209If you want to be on the cutting edge, you can also install the master branch with:
0930b11f 210```
ae6a1b95 211python3 -m pip install --force-reinstall https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/archive/master.tar.gz
0930b11f 212```
213
214Note that on some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
215
fc5fa964 216<!-- TODO: Add to Wiki, Remove Taps -->
a4211baf 217### With [Homebrew](https://brew.sh)
0930b11f 218
219macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew can also install it by:
b8773e63
THD		 220
221```
222brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp
223```
224
a4211baf 225## UPDATE
0930b11f 226You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are [using the provided release](#using-the-release-binary)
227
228If you [installed with pip](#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
229
230If you [installed using Homebrew](#with-homebrew), run `brew upgrade yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
cf59cd4d 231
ec2e44fc 232<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
a4211baf 233## RELEASE FILES
0e5927ee 234
733d8e8f 235#### Recommended
236
237File|Description
238:---|:---
ae6a1b95 239[yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independant binary. Needs Python (recommended for **Linux/BSD**)
0930b11f 240[yt-dlp.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary (recommended for **Windows**)
ae6a1b95 241[yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable (recommended for **MacOS**)
733d8e8f 242
243#### Alternatives
244
0e5927ee
R		 245File|Description
246:---|:---
0930b11f 247[yt-dlp_x86.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_x86.exe)|Windows (Vista SP2+) standalone x86 (32-bit) binary
24146491 248[yt-dlp_min.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_min.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary built with `py2exe`.<br/> Does not contain `pycryptodomex`/`certifi`, needs VC++14
0930b11f 249[yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
250[yt-dlp_macos.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos.zip)|Unpackaged MacOS (10.15+) executable (no auto-update)
733d8e8f 251
252#### Misc
253
254File|Description
255:---|:---
0e5927ee
R		 256[yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball. Also contains manpages, completions, etc
257[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
258[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
ec2e44fc 259<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
0e5927ee 260
a4211baf 261## DEPENDENCIES
cf59cd4d 262Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
b31fdeed 263
c9652aa4 264<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
265<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
cf59cd4d 266On windows, [Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)](https://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/5/165255E7-1014-4D0A-B094-B6A430A6BFFC/vcredist_x86.exe) is also necessary to run yt-dlp. You probably already have this, but if the executable throws an error due to missing `MSVCR100.dll` you need to install it manually.
c9652aa4 267-->
fac98805 268
e75bb0d6 269While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
ec2e44fc 270
b69fd25c 271* [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for [merging separate video and audio files](#format-selection) as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. License [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
d5820461 272* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen)\* - For embedding thumbnail in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
5d0aeac0
M		 273* [**pycryptodomex**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome)\* - For decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data. Licensed under [BSD-2-Clause](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
274* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets)\* - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
0a41f331 275* [**secretstorage**](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage) - For accessing the Gnome keyring while decrypting cookies of Chromium-based browsers on Linux. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage/blob/master/LICENSE)
d5820461 276* [**brotli**](https://github.com/google/brotli)\* or [**brotlicffi**](https://github.com/python-hyper/brotlicffi) - [Brotli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotli) content encoding support. Both licensed under MIT <sup>[1](https://github.com/google/brotli/blob/master/LICENSE) [2](https://github.com/python-hyper/brotlicffi/blob/master/LICENSE) </sup>
277* [**certifi**](https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi)\* - Provides Mozilla's root certificate bundle. Licensed under [MPLv2](https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi/blob/master/LICENSE)
6f7563be 278* [**xattr**](https://github.com/xattr/xattr), [**pyxattr**](https://github.com/iustin/pyxattr) or [**setfattr**](http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/attr) - For writing xattr metadata on Linux. Licensed under [MIT](https://github.com/xattr/xattr/blob/master/LICENSE.txt), [LGPL2.1](https://github.com/iustin/pyxattr/blob/master/COPYING) and [GPLv2+](http://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/attr.git/tree/doc/COPYING) respectively
08d30158 279* [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For embedding thumbnail in mp4/m4a if mutagen/ffmpeg cannot. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
0930b11f 280* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
281* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
5d0aeac0 282* [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
0930b11f 283* [**sponskrub**](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) - For using the now **deprecated** [sponskrub options](#sponskrub-options). Licensed under [GPLv3+](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub/blob/master/LICENCE.md)
cf59cd4d 284* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
b31fdeed 285
cf59cd4d 286To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
287
0a41f331 288The Windows and MacOS standalone release binaries are built with the Python interpreter and the packages marked with \* included.
d710cc6d 289
08d30158 290<!-- TODO: ffmpeg has merged this patch. Remove this note once there is new release -->
fc5fa964 291**Note**: There are some regressions in newer ffmpeg versions that causes various issues when used alongside yt-dlp. Since ffmpeg is such an important dependency, we provide [custom builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#ffmpeg-static-auto-builds) with patches for these issues at [yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds). See [the readme](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#patches-applied) for details on the specific issues solved by these builds
d710cc6d 292
5f326cf5 293
a4211baf 294## COMPILE
5f326cf5 295
c76eb41b 296**For Windows**:
4390d5ec 297To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and any of yt-dlp's optional dependencies if needed). Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, (optionally) build lazy extractors using `devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py`, and then just run `pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (32/64 bit) as the python used to build it.
e38df8f9 298
733d8e8f 299 py -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
49a57e70 300 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
733d8e8f 301 py pyinst.py
7581d246 302
fac98805 303Note 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 304
c76eb41b 305**For Unix**:
060ac762 306You will need the required build tools: `python`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`, `zip`, `pytest`
127d0759 307Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files
5f326cf5 308
49a57e70 309**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts/update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
d19bb9c0 310
75b725a7 311You can also fork the project on github and run your fork's [build workflow](.github/workflows/build.yml) to automatically build a release
59a7a13e 312
b31fdeed 313# USAGE AND OPTIONS
6bcd846b 314
ec2e44fc 315<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
7a5c1cfe 316 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 317
c2b5f311 318`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
ec2e44fc 319<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c2b5f311 320
ec2e44fc 321<!-- Auto generated -->
c76eb41b 322## General Options:
1dc2726f
PH		 323 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
324 --version Print program version and exit
3fe75fdc 325 -U, --update Update this program to latest version
b1940459 326 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
0930b11f 327 The download will be considered successful
b1940459 328 even if the postprocessing fails
329 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download
330 errors; e.g. to skip unavailable videos in
331 a playlist (default)
8a51f564 332 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
333 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
34488702 334 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
335 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
c4af7684 336 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
34488702 337 extractors and exit
c4af7684
PH		 338 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
339 extractor
340 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
341 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
9ee4f0bb 342 from google videos for the search term
343 "large apple". Use the value "auto" to let
344 yt-dlp guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
c4af7684
PH		 345 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
346 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
347 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
8a51f564 348 this is not possible instead of searching
9e907ebd 349 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
350 except those given by --config-locations.
351 For backward compatibility, if this option
352 is found inside the system configuration
fc5fa964 353 file, the user configuration is not loaded.
354 (Alias: --no-config)
9e907ebd 355 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
356 (default). When given inside a
357 configuration file, ignore all previous
358 --config-locations defined in the current
359 file
360 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
0202b52a 361 either the path to the config or its
9e907ebd 362 containing directory. Can be used multiple
363 times and inside other configuration files
c4af7684 364 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
8a51f564 365 only list them
6623ac34 366 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
adbc4ec4
THD		 367 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
368 Currently only supported for YouTube
9e907ebd 369 (Experimental)
87e04996 370 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
371 (default)
91f071af 372 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
373 available. Pass the minimum number of
374 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
375 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
e248be33 376 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate)
597c1866 377 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
8a51f564 378 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
53ed7066 379 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
31654882 380 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
53ed7066 381 configurations by reverting some of the
382 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
383 default behavior" for details
08c1d0d3 384
149f05c7 385## Network Options:
28b4f736 386 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
0934c9d4
S		 387 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
388 scheme. For example
88f23a18 389 socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/. Pass in
390 an empty string (--proxy "") for direct
391 connection
149f05c7 392 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
c4af7684 393 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
c4af7684 394 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
c4af7684 395 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
8c6c88c7 396
b31fdeed 397## Geo-restriction:
c25f1a9b
S		 398 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
399 some geo-restricted sites. The default
400 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
7550ea50 401 option is not present) is used for the
8a51f564 402 actual downloading
8c6c88c7 403 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
455a15e2 404 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header (default)
8c6c88c7
S		 405 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
406 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
8c6c88c7
S		 407 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
408 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
0934c9d4 409 country code
9e18bb4c
S		 410 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
411 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
0934c9d4 412 notation
149f05c7 413
cfcec693 414## Video Selection:
1dc2726f
PH		 415 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is 1)
416 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
c4af7684
PH		 417 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
418 indices of the videos in the playlist
419 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
420 1,2,5,8" if you want to download videos
421 indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
422 specify range: "--playlist-items
423 1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
8a51f564 424 at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13
c4af7684
PH		 425 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
426 SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
427 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
428 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
0930b11f 429 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
6623ac34 430 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
3d38b2d6 431 [now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]].
432 Eg: --date today-2weeks
c4af7684 433 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
c76eb41b 434 this date. The date formats accepted is the
435 same as --date
c4af7684 436 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
c76eb41b 437 this date. The date formats accepted is the
438 same as --date
a44ca5a4 439 --match-filters FILTER Generic video filter. Any field (see
77b87f05 440 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a
a047eeb6 441 number or a string using the operators
442 defined in "Filtering formats". You can
443 also simply specify a field to match if the
a44ca5a4 444 field is present, use "!field" to check if
445 the field is not present, and "&" to check
446 multiple conditions. Use a "\" to escape
447 "&" or quotes if needed. If used multiple
448 times, the filter matches if atleast one of
449 the conditions are met. Eg: --match-filter
450 !is_live --match-filter "like_count>?100 &
451 description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'"
452 matches only videos that are not live OR
453 those that have a like count more than 100
454 (or the like field is not available) and
455 also has a description that contains the
492272fe 456 phrase "cats & dogs" (ignoring case). Use
457 "--match-filter -" to interactively ask
458 whether to download each video
c76eb41b 459 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
c4af7684 460 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
8a51f564 461 to a video and a playlist
c4af7684 462 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
8a51f564 463 a video and a playlist
c4af7684
PH		 464 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
465 age
466 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
467 archive file. Record the IDs of all
8a51f564 468 downloaded videos in it
91f071af 469 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
470 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
8b0d7497 471 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
8a51f564 472 a file that is in the archive
8b0d7497 473 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
8a51f564 474 a file that has been filtered out
b14d5235 475 --break-per-input Make --break-on-existing, --break-on-reject
476 and --max-downloads act only on the current
477 input URL
478 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and similar options
91f071af 479 terminates the entire download queue
26e2805c 480 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest
481 of the playlist is skipped
6bcd846b 482
d5a62e4f 483## Download Options:
b31fdeed 484 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
87e04996 485 video that should be downloaded
486 concurrently (default is 1)
5e3856a2 487 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
c4af7684 488 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
6aecd871 489 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
490 below which throttling is assumed and the
491 video data is re-extracted (e.g. 100K)
c4af7684 492 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
8a51f564 493 "infinite"
87e04996 494 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
3d3bb168 495 error (default is 3), or "infinite"
0be8314d 496 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
b56e41a7
S		 497 is 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
498 ISM)
6623ac34 499 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
500 hlsnative and ISM (default)
8a51f564 501 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
6623ac34 502 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
8a51f564 503 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
a82f4184 504 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
6623ac34 505 downloading is finished
c76eb41b 506 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
507 downloading is finished (default)
c4af7684
PH		 508 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
509 (default is 1024)
c76eb41b 510 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
511 from an initial value of --buffer-size
512 (default)
513 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
db157d2a
S		 514 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
515 downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
516 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
517 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
518 (experimental)
2101f5d4 519 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
6623ac34 520 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
c76eb41b 521 (default)
31487eb9 522 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
c4af7684 523 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
0934c9d4 524 expected file size
9bd20204 525 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
526 allowing some players to play the video
527 while downloading, and reducing the chance
528 of file corruption if download is
529 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
530 live streams
531 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
532 videos. This is default when not
533 downloading live streams
52a8a1e1 534 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
535 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
536 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
537 use it for. Currently supports native,
538 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
0a41f331 539 wget. You can use this option multiple
540 times to set different downloaders for
541 different protocols. For example,
542 --downloader aria2c --downloader
52a8a1e1 543 "dash,m3u8:native" will use aria2c for
544 http/ftp downloads, and the native
fc5fa964 545 downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads (Alias:
546 --external-downloader)
46ee996e 547 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
548 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
330690a2 549 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
550 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to
551 different positions using the same syntax
552 as --postprocessor-args. You can use this
553 option multiple times to give different
fc5fa964 554 arguments to different downloaders (Alias:
555 --external-downloader-args)
d5a62e4f 556
cfcec693 557## Filesystem Options:
940a67a3 558 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
e8dfecb3 559 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
940a67a3 560 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
8a51f564 561 comments and ignored
1e520b55 562 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
6ccf351a 563 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
0202b52a 564 downloaded. Specify the type of file and
de6000d9 565 the path separated by a colon ":". All the
6a34813a 566 same TYPES as --output are supported.
de6000d9 567 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
6ccf351a 568 (default) and "temp" paths. All
569 intermediary files are first downloaded to
570 the temp path and then the final files are
571 moved over to the home path after download
572 is finished. This option is ignored if
573 --output is an absolute path
d818eb74 574 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
c76eb41b 575 TEMPLATE" for details
0bc0a322 576 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder value for unavailable meta
577 fields in output filename template
578 (default: "NA")
c4af7684
PH		 579 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
580 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
581 filenames
c76eb41b 582 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
583 filenames (default)
0930b11f 584 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
585 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
586 using Windows (default)
c2934512 587 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
588 extension) to the specified number of
589 characters
9b45b9f5 590 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
591 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files.
592 This option includes --no-continue
593 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
594 related files (default)
c25228e5 595 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
596 (default)
597 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
e58c22a0 598 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
c25228e5 599 restart download of the entire file
c76eb41b 600 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
6623ac34 601 into output file (default)
c4af7684
PH		 602 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
603 into output file
c76eb41b 604 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
605 file modification time (default)
c4af7684
PH		 606 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
607 the file modification time
608 --write-description Write video description to a .description
609 file
6623ac34 610 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
1dc2726f 611 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
c25228e5 612 (this may contain personal information)
6623ac34 613 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
cac96421 614 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
615 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
616 --write-description etc. (default)
617 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
618 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
08d30158 619 --clean-info-json Remove some private fields such as
75d43ca0 620 filenames from the infojson. Note that it
621 could still contain some personal
622 information (default)
08d30158 623 --no-clean-info-json Write all fields to the infojson
2305e2e5 624 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
625 infojson. The comments are fetched even
626 without this option if the extraction is
627 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
628 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
fc5fa964 629 extraction is known to be quick (Alias:
630 --no-get-comments)
d845622b 631 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
c4af7684
PH		 632 (created with the "--write-info-json"
633 option)
91f071af 634 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies
635 from and dump cookie jar in
982ee69a
MB		 636 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
637 (default)
f59f5ef8
MB		 638 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]
639 The name of the browser and (optionally)
640 the name/path of the profile to load
641 cookies from, separated by a ":". Currently
642 supported browsers are: brave, chrome,
643 chromium, edge, firefox, opera, safari,
644 vivaldi. By default, the most recently
645 accessed profile is used. The keyring used
646 for decrypting Chromium cookies on Linux
647 can be (optionally) specified after the
648 browser name separated by a "+". Currently
649 supported keyrings are: basictext,
650 gnomekeyring, kwallet
982ee69a 651 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
6623ac34 652 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
3b1fe47d 653 can store some downloaded information (such
654 as client ids and signatures) permanently.
9ee4f0bb 655 By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/yt-dlp or
656 ~/.cache/yt-dlp
36f35428
PH		 657 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
658 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 659
b31fdeed 660## Thumbnail Options:
1dc2726f 661 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
6623ac34 662 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
c76eb41b 663 (default)
1dc2726f 664 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
34488702 665 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
666 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
2b1bd292 667
732044af 668## Internet Shortcut Options:
8a51f564 669 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
670 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
671 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
672 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
673 OS caches the URL based on the file path
674 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
675 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
732044af 676
0744a815 677## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
34488702 678 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with
679 --verbose, print the log to stderr
6c072e7d 680 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
c4af7684
PH		 681 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
682 anything to disk
34488702 683 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
684 options are used
0930b11f 685 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
686 extracting metadata even if the videos are
687 not actually available for download
0cf05715 688 (experimental)
689 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
690 formats are found (default)
e167860c 691 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
692 related files (Alias: --no-download)
ca30f449 693 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
ed5835b4 694 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
695 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
696 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
697 --use-postprocessor, and "video" (default).
62f6f1cb 698 Implies --quiet. Implies --simulate unless
699 --no-simulate or later stages of WHEN are
700 used. This option can be used multiple
701 times
bb66c247 702 --print-to-file [WHEN:]TEMPLATE FILE
703 Append given template to the file. The
704 values of WHEN and TEMPLATE are same as
705 that of --print. FILE uses the same syntax
706 as the output template. This option can be
707 used multiple times
34488702 708 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
709 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
710 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
711 description of available keys
712 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
713 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
714 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
715 a playlist, the whole playlist information
716 is dumped in a single line
8a51f564 717 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
e58c22a0 718 written as far as no errors occur, even if
719 -s or another simulation option is used
8a51f564 720 (Alias: --force-download-archive)
1dc2726f
PH		 721 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
722 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
819e0531 723 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
1dc2726f 724 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
819e0531 725 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
726 Template for progress outputs, optionally
727 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
728 "download-title:" (the console title),
729 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
730 The video's fields are accessible under the
731 "info" key and the progress attributes are
0930b11f 732 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.:
819e0531 733 --console-title --progress-template
734 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
1dc2726f 735 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
c4af7684
PH		 736 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
737 to debug problems (very verbose)
738 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
739 files in the current directory to debug
740 problems
780083db 741 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 742
36f35428
PH		 743## Workarounds:
744 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
144a3588 745 --legacy-server-connect Explicitly allow HTTPS connection to
746 servers that do not support RFC 5746 secure
747 renegotiation
0930b11f 748 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
c4af7684 749 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
e167860c 750 information about the video (Currently
05a7ffb1 751 supported only for YouTube)
c4af7684 752 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
45016689 753 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
c4af7684
PH		 754 option multiple times
755 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
756 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
757 or fribidi executable in PATH
1cf376f5 758 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
759 during data extraction
c4af7684 760 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
e167860c 761 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
762 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
763 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
764 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can
765 only be used along with --min-sleep-interval
1cf376f5 766 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
767 subtitle download
36f35428 768
cfcec693 769## Video Format Options:
eb8a4433 770 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
771 for more details
772 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
773 "Sorting Formats" for more details
8a51f564 774 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
775 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
eb8a4433 776 Formats" for more details
777 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
c76eb41b 778 specified sort order (default), see
779 "Sorting Formats" for more details
780 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
781 into a single file
782 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
783 each output file (default)
784 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
785 into a single file
786 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
787 each output file (default)
da9be05e 788 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
789 over non-free ones of same quality. Use
790 with "-S ext" to strictly prefer free
791 containers irrespective of quality
792 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
793 containers (default)
ebc7d3ff 794 --check-formats Make sure formats are selected only from
795 those that are actually downloadable
0930b11f 796 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
0ba692ac 797 actually downloadable
0930b11f 798 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
799 downloadable
34488702 800 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
801 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
c4af7684
PH		 802 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
803 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
804 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
805 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
8ae7be3e
PH		 806
807## Subtitle Options:
c76eb41b 808 --write-subs Write subtitle file
809 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
810 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
e167860c 811 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
812 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
813 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
34488702 814 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
815 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
c4af7684
PH		 816 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
817 preference, for example: "srt" or
818 "ass/srt/best"
c32b0aab 819 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
820 be regex) or "all" separated by commas.
a4211baf 821 (Eg: --sub-langs "en.*,ja") You can prefix
c32b0aab 822 the language code with a "-" to exempt it
fc5fa964 823 from the requested languages. (Eg:
824 --sub-langs all,-live_chat) Use --list-subs
825 for a list of available language tags
6bcd846b 826
cfcec693 827## Authentication Options:
1dc2726f 828 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
c4af7684 829 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
7a5c1cfe 830 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
dc48a354 831 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
1dc2726f 832 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
0001fcb5 833 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
834 either the path or its containing
835 directory. Defaults to ~/.netrc
29f7c58a 836 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
f5e008d1 837 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
909d24dd 838 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
839 a list of available MSOs
f5e008d1
S		 840 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
841 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
c74d1aa3 842 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
843 interactively
f5e008d1
S		 844 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
845 operators
bb58c9ed 846 --client-certificate CERTFILE Path to client certificate file in PEM
847 format. May include the private key
848 --client-certificate-key KEYFILE Path to private key file for client
849 certificate
850 --client-certificate-password PASSWORD
851 Password for client certificate private
852 key, if encrypted. If not provided and the
853 key is encrypted, yt-dlp will ask
854 interactively
f5e008d1 855
c76eb41b 856## Post-Processing Options:
c4af7684 857 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
e4172ac9 858 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
3de7c2ce 859 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format to convert the audio
860 to when -x is used. Currently supported
a44ca5a4 861 formats are: best (default) or one of aac,
862 flac, mp3, m4a, opus, vorbis, wav, alac
863 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality to use when
864 converting the audio with -x. Insert a
86c1a8aa 865 value between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for
e4172ac9 866 VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
c4af7684 867 (default 5)
c76eb41b 868 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
a44ca5a4 869 necessary (currently supported: mp4, mkv,
870 flv, webm, mov, avi, mka, ogg, aac, flac,
871 mp3, m4a, opus, vorbis, wav, alac). If
29b6000e 872 target container does not support the
06167fbb 873 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
3de7c2ce 874 can specify multiple rules; Eg.
06167fbb 875 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to
876 m4a, mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv.
c76eb41b 877 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
3de7c2ce 878 re-encoding is necessary. The syntax and
879 supported formats are the same as --remux-video
1b77b347 880 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
43820c03 881 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
45016689 882 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
883 to give the argument to the specified
8fa43c73 884 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
7a340e0d
NA		 885 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
886 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
8fa43c73 887 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
888 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
6aecd871 889 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
890 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
8fa43c73 891 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
9ee4f0bb 892 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
7a340e0d
NA		 893 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
894 specified executable only when being used
895 by the specified postprocessor.
896 Additionally, for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o"
897 can be appended to the prefix optionally
898 followed by a number to pass the argument
899 before the specified input/output file. Eg:
900 --ppa "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can
901 use this option multiple times to give
e4172ac9 902 different arguments to different
5b1ecbb3 903 postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
c76eb41b 904 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
6623ac34 905 after post-processing
c76eb41b 906 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
6623ac34 907 post-processing (default)
908 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
909 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
0be8314d
PH		 910 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
911 webm and mkv videos)
c76eb41b 912 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
6aecd871 913 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
6623ac34 914 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
9222c381 915 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
916 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
917 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json
918 are used (Alias: --add-metadata)
7a340e0d 919 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
6aecd871 920 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
7a340e0d
NA		 921 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
922 (Alias: --add-chapters)
923 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default)
924 (Alias: --no-add-chapters)
9222c381 925 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
926 mkv/mka video files
927 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
928 to the video file
73cd218f 929 --parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
930 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
931 for details
e9f4ccd1 932 --replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
933 Replace text in a metadata field using the
934 given regex. This option can be used
935 multiple times
c4af7684
PH		 936 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
937 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
3b603dbd 938 --concat-playlist POLICY Concatenate videos in a playlist. One of
fc5fa964 939 "never", "always", or "multi_video"
940 (default; only when the videos form a
3b603dbd 941 single show). All the video files must have
942 same codecs and number of streams to be
943 concatable. The "pl_video:" prefix can be
944 used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
3d3bb168 945 the output filename for the concatenated
946 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
c4af7684
PH		 947 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
948 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
949 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
950 default; fix file if we can, warn
6aecd871 951 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
87e04996 952 already exists)
e4172ac9 953 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
954 path to the binary or its containing
955 directory
1e43a6f7 956 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
957 when to execute it (after_move if
958 unspecified), separated by a ":". Supported
959 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
960 --use-postprocessor. Same syntax as the
961 output template can be used to pass any
962 field as arguments to the command. After
963 download, an additional field "filepath"
9de3ea31 964 that contains the final path of the
1e43a6f7 965 downloaded file is also available, and if
966 no fields are passed, %(filepath)q is
967 appended to the end of the command. This
34488702 968 option can be used multiple times
1e43a6f7 969 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
e167860c 970 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
a44ca5a4 971 (currently supported: srt, vtt, ass, lrc)
e167860c 972 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
8fa43c73 973 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
a44ca5a4 974 (currently supported: jpg, png, webp)
72755351 975 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
976 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix
977 can be used with "--paths" and "--output"
978 to set the output filename for the split
979 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
980 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters
981 (default)
7a340e0d 982 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
2d9ec704 983 given regular expression. Time ranges
984 prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
985 of chapters to remove the specified range.
986 Eg: --remove-chapters "*10:15-15:00"
987 --remove-chapters "intro". This option can
7a340e0d 988 be used multiple times
9ee4f0bb 989 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
990 (default)
7a340e0d
NA		 991 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes around the chapters before
992 removing/splitting them. Requires a
e75bb0d6 993 re-encode and thus is very slow, but the
7a340e0d
NA		 994 resulting video may have fewer artifacts
995 around the cuts
996 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
997 when cutting/splitting (default)
3ae5e797 998 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS] The (case sensitive) name of plugin
999 postprocessors to be enabled, and
1000 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
e75bb0d6 1001 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
3ae5e797 1002 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
1003 The "when" argument determines when the
1004 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
09b49e1f 1005 "pre_process" (after video extraction),
1006 "after_filter" (after video passes filter),
1007 "before_dl" (before each video download),
1008 "post_process" (after each video download;
1009 default), "after_move" (after moving video
1010 file to it's final locations),
1011 "after_video" (after downloading and
1012 processing all formats of a video), or
1013 "playlist" (at end of playlist). This
1014 option can be used multiple times to add
1015 different postprocessors
7a340e0d
NA		 1016
1017## SponsorBlock Options:
1018Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
1019 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
8a51f564 1020 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
1021
7a340e0d
NA		 1022 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
1023 for, separated by commas. Available
8157a09d
NA		 1024 categories are all, default(=all), sponsor,
1025 intro, outro, selfpromo, preview, filler,
1026 interaction, music_offtopic, poi_highlight.
1027 You can prefix the category with a "-" to
1028 exempt it. See [1] for description of the
1029 categories. Eg: --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
1030 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
7a340e0d
NA		 1031 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
1032 the video file, separated by commas. If a
1033 category is present in both mark and
1034 remove, remove takes precedence. The syntax
1035 and available categories are the same as
8157a09d
NA		 1036 for --sponsorblock-mark except that
1037 "default" refers to "all,-filler" and
1038 poi_highlight is not available
7a340e0d
NA		 1039 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
1040 The title template for SponsorBlock
1041 chapters created by --sponsorblock-mark.
1042 The same syntax as the output template is
1043 used, but the only available fields are
1044 start_time, end_time, category, categories,
1045 name, category_names. Defaults to
1046 "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
1047 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
1048 --sponsorblock-remove
1049 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
1050 https://sponsor.ajay.app
a9e7f546 1051
78895bd3 1052## Extractor Options:
5ef7d9bd 1053 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor
d6e51845 1054 errors (default is 3), or "infinite"
6623ac34 1055 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
8a51f564 1056 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1057 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1058 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
e409895f 1059 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1060 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1061 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1062 formats at discontinuities such as ad
1063 breaks (default)
5d3a0e79 1064 --extractor-args KEY:ARGS Pass these arguments to the extractor. See
1065 "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You can
1066 use this option multiple times to give
245524e6 1067 arguments for different extractors
17cb02d0 1068
b7770046
U		 1069# CONFIGURATION
1070
7a5c1cfe 1071You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
e2e43aea 1072
0202b52a 10731. **Main Configuration**: The file given by `--config-location`
7a5c1cfe 10741. **Portable Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the bundled binary. If you are running from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`), the root directory is used instead.
88f23a18 10751. **Home Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
e2e43aea 10761. **User Configuration**:
1077 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1078 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
1079 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1080 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1081 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1082 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
3d3bb168 1083
ec2e44fc 1084 `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to `~/.config` if undefined. On windows, `%APPDATA%` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming` and `~` points to `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`), or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
3d3bb168 1085
07cce701 10861. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
b7770046 1087
7a5c1cfe 1088For example, with the following configuration file yt-dlp will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `YouTube` directory in your home directory:
b7770046
U		 1089```
1090# Lines starting with # are comments
1091
1092# Always extract audio
1093-x
1094
1095# Do not copy the mtime
1096--no-mtime
1097
1098# Use this proxy
1099--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1100
298f597b 1101# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1102-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
b7770046
U		 1103```
1104
e2e43aea 1105Note 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 1106
a4211baf 1107You can use `--ignore-config` if you want to disable all configuration files for a particular yt-dlp run. If `--ignore-config` is found inside any configuration file, no further configuration will be loaded. For example, having the option in the portable configuration file prevents loading of home, user, and system configurations. Additionally, (for backward compatibility) if `--ignore-config` is found inside the system configuration file, the user configuration is not loaded.
b7770046
U		 1108
1109### Authentication with `.netrc` file
1110
0001fcb5 1111You may also want to configure automatic credentials storage for extractors that support authentication (by providing login and password with `--username` and `--password`) in order not to pass credentials as command line arguments on every yt-dlp execution and prevent tracking plain text passwords in the shell command history. You can achieve this using a [`.netrc` file](https://stackoverflow.com/tags/.netrc/info) on a per extractor basis. For that you will need to create a `.netrc` file in `--netrc-location` and restrict permissions to read/write by only you:
b7770046
U		 1112```
1113touch $HOME/.netrc
1114chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
1115```
1116After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1117```
0001fcb5 1118machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
b7770046
U		 1119```
1120For example:
1121```
1122machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1123machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1124```
7a5c1cfe 1125To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
b7770046 1126
0001fcb5 1127The default location of the .netrc file is `$HOME` (`~`) in UNIX. On Windows, it is `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
b7770046
U		 1128
1129# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1130
0202b52a 1131The `-o` option is used to indicate a template for the output file names while `-P` option is used to specify the path each type of file should be saved to.
b7770046 1132
ec2e44fc 1133<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1134**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
ec2e44fc 1135<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1136
e58c22a0 1137The 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 1138
0930b11f 1139It 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 1140
1141The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
3d3bb168 1142
2b8a2973 11431. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using `:`. Eg: `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. `%()s` refers to the entire infodict. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
ec2e44fc 1144
e625be0d 11451. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
ec2e44fc 1146
e625be0d 11471. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. Eg: `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
ec2e44fc 1148
e75bb0d6 11491. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. Eg: `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1150
e978789f
P		 11511. **Replacement**: A replacement value can specified using a `&` separator. If the field is *not* empty, this replacement value will be used instead of the actual field content. This is done after alternate fields are considered; thus the replacement is used if *any* of the alternative fields is *not* empty.
1152
e75bb0d6 11531. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` separator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1154
abbeeebc 11551. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, `B`, `j`, `l`, `q`, `D`, `S` can be used for converting to **B**ytes, **j**son (flag `#` for pretty-printing), a comma separated **l**ist (flag `#` for `\n` newline-separated), a string **q**uoted for the terminal (flag `#` to split a list into different arguments), to add **D**ecimal suffixes (Eg: 10M) (flag `#` to use 1024 as factor), and to **S**anitize as filename (flag `#` for restricted), respectively
ec2e44fc 1156
524e2e4f 11571. **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 1158
1159To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1160```
e978789f 1161%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
a439a3a4 1162```
de6000d9 1163
dbcea058 1164Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files separately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template separated by a colon `:`. The different file types supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation` (deprecated), `infojson`, `link`, `pl_thumbnail`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`, `pl_video`. For example, `-o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s"` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video. If any of the templates is empty, that type of file will not be written. Eg: `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
e29663c6 1165
1166The available fields are:
b7770046
U		 1167
1168 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1169 - `title` (string): Video title
455a15e2 1170 - `fulltitle` (string): Video title ignoring live timestamp and generic title
b7770046
U		 1171 - `url` (string): Video URL
1172 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1173 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
597c1866 1174 - `description` (string): The description of the video
b7770046
U		 1175 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1176 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1177 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1178 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
b7770046 1179 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
ae6a1b95 1180 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date in UTC (YYYYMMDD)
e6f21b3d 1181 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
ae6a1b95 1182 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released in UTC
f0d785d3 1183 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
ae6a1b95 1184 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified in UTC
b7770046
U		 1185 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1186 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1187 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
6c73052c 1188 - `channel_follower_count` (numeric): Number of followers of the channel
b7770046
U		 1189 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1190 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
53c18592 1191 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
b7770046
U		 1192 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1193 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1194 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1195 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1196 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
277d6ff5 1197 - `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 1198 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
940a67a3 1199 - `live_status` (string): One of "is_live", "was_live", "is_upcoming", "not_live"
b7770046 1200 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
f76ede8e 1201 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
6cfda058 1202 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
940a67a3 1203 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
b7770046
U		 1204 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1205 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
29b6000e 1206 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
b7770046
U		 1207 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
1208 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
1209 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
1210 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
1211 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
1212 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1213 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1214 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
1215 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1216 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1217 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
176f1866 1218 - `dynamic_range` (string): The dynamic range of the video
b7770046
U		 1219 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
1220 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
1221 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
1222 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
1223 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
1224 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1225 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
455a15e2 1226 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch of when the information extraction was completed
b7770046 1227 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
9c906919 1228 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
e6f21b3d 1229 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
455a15e2 1230 - `playlist_id` (string): Identifier of the playlist that contains the video
1231 - `playlist_title` (string): Name of the playlist that contains the video
1232 - `playlist` (string): `playlist_id` or `playlist_title`
f0d785d3 1233 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
e6f21b3d 1234 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1235 - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
b7770046
U		 1236 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1237 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
bd99f6e6 1238 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
0bb322b9 1239 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1240 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
bd99f6e6 1241 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
b7770046
U		 1242
1243Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1244
1245 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1246 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1247 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1248
1249Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1250
1251 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1252 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1253 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1254 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1255 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1256 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1257 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1258
1259Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1260
1261 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1262 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1263 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1264 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1265 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1266 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1267 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1268 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1269 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1270 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1271
b050d210 1272Available for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
72755351 1273
1274 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1275 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1276 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1277 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1278
53c18592 1279Available only when used in `--print`:
1280
1281 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1282 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the actual filename may be different due to post-processing. Use `--exec echo` to get the name after all postprocessing is complete
ed5835b4 1283 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1284 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1285 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1286 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1287
7a340e0d
NA		 1288
1289Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1290
1291 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1292 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1293 - `categories` (list): The SponsorBlock categories the chapter belongs to
1294 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1295 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1296 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
53c18592 1297
49a57e70 1298Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `yt-dlp test video` and id `BaW_jenozKc`, this will result in a `yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKc.mp4` file created in the current directory.
1299
1300Note 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 1301
0930b11f 1302**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
b7770046 1303
49a57e70 1304For numeric sequences you can use [numeric related formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting), for example, `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
b7770046 1305
940a67a3 1306Output templates can also contain arbitrary hierarchical path, e.g. `-o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"` which will result in downloading each video in a directory corresponding to this path template. Any missing directory will be automatically created for you.
b7770046
U		 1307
1308To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1309
91ebc640 1310The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
b7770046 1311
f304da8a 1312In some cases, you don't want special characters such as 中, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the `--restrict-filenames` flag to get a shorter title.
b7770046 1313
ec2e44fc 1314<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046
U		 1315#### Output template and Windows batch files
1316
1317If you are using an output template inside a Windows batch file then you must escape plain percent characters (`%`) by doubling, so that `-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"` should become `-o "%%(title)s-%%(id)s.%%(ext)s"`. However you should not touch `%`'s that are not plain characters, e.g. environment variables for expansion should stay intact: `-o "C:\%HOMEPATH%\Desktop\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"`.
ec2e44fc 1318<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046
U		 1319
1320#### Output template examples
1321
b7770046 1322```bash
940a67a3 1323$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1324test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1325
940a67a3 1326$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1327youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
b7770046 1328
940a67a3 1329$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
9222c381 1330youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
b7770046
U		 1331
1332# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
940a67a3 1333$ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
b7770046 1334
b050d210 1335# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
940a67a3 1336$ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
e29663c6 1337
e978789f 1338# Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
6a34813a 1339$ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist_index|)s%(playlist_index& - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
e978789f 1340
b7770046 1341# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
940a67a3 1342$ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
b7770046
U		 1343
1344# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
940a67a3 1345$ yt-dlp -u user -p password -P "~/MyVideos" -o "%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial"
b7770046
U		 1346
1347# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
940a67a3 1348$ 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 1349
6a34813a 1350# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1351# and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1352$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1353
1354# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1355$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "subtitle:%(uploader)s/subs/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --write-subs
1356
b7770046 1357# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
7a5c1cfe 1358$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
b7770046
U		 1359```
1360
1361# FORMAT SELECTION
1362
7a5c1cfe
P		 1363By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1364This 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 1365
c111cefa 1366**Deprecation warning**: Latest versions of yt-dlp can stream multiple formats to the stdout simultaneously using ffmpeg. So, in future versions, the default for this will be set to `-f bv*+ba/b` similar to normal downloads. If you want to preserve the `-f b/bv+ba` setting, it is recommended to explicitly specify it in the configuration options.
1367
eff63539 1368The 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 1369
ec2e44fc 1370<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1371**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
ec2e44fc 1372<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1373
a439a3a4 1374The 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
U		 1375
1376You 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.
1377
fa9f30b8 1378You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1379
b7770046
U		 1380You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1381
59a7a13e 1382 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1383 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1384 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio
1385 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1386 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1387 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1388 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
ae6a1b95 1389 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that **contains audio**. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]` ([Do not use!](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/979#issuecomment-919629354))
59a7a13e 1390 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
909d24dd 1391 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1392 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 1393 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1394 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 1395 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
b7770046 1396
ae6a1b95 1397For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recommended not to use `worst` and related options. When your format selector is `worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-S +size` or more rigorously, `-S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
eff63539 1398
1399You 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 1400
eb8a4433 1401If 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
U		 1402
1403If 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`.
1404
d806c9fd 1405You 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.
1406
1407**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
1408
1409Unless `--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 1410
1411## Filtering Formats
1412
b7770046
U		 1413You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1414
1415The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1416
1417 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1418 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1419 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1420 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1421 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1422 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1423 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1424 - `fps`: Frame rate
1425
1ce9a3cb 1426Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains), `~=` (matches regex) and following string meta fields:
b7770046
U		 1427
1428 - `ext`: File extension
1429 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1430 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1431 - `container`: Name of the container format
1432 - `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`)
1433 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
29f7c58a 1434 - `language`: Language code
b7770046 1435
1ce9a3cb 1436Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain). The comparand of a string comparison needs to be quoted with either double or single quotes if it contains spaces or special characters other than `._-`.
b7770046 1437
e58c22a0 1438Note 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 1439
e094cec1 1440Formats 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 1441
940a67a3 1442Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses, for example if you want to download the best pre-merged mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480 you can use `-f "(mp4,webm)[height<480]"`.
b7770046 1443
eb8a4433 1444## Sorting Formats
1445
2e7781a9 1446You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1447
1448The available fields are:
eb8a4433 1449
63be1aab 1450 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1451 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
ed8d87f9 1452 - `ie_pref`: The format preference
1453 - `lang`: The language preference
1454 - `quality`: The quality of the format
1455 - `source`: The preference of the source
d80d98e7 1456 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1457 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
1458 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
eb8a4433 1459 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
d80d98e7 1460 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
1461 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
63be1aab 1462 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
0930b11f 1463 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
63be1aab 1464 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1465 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
eb8a4433 1466 - `height`: Height of video
1467 - `width`: Width of video
63be1aab 1468 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1469 - `fps`: Framerate of video
49a57e70 1470 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
63be1aab 1471 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1472 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1473 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1474 - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
1475 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
d806c9fd 1476
1477**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 1478
9ee4f0bb 1479All 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.
1480
176f1866 1481The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--format-sort-force`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,hdr:12,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. The extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
eb8a4433 1482
e75bb0d6 1483Note that the default has `codec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not preferred. Similarly, the default for hdr is `hdr:12`; i.e. dolby vision is not preferred. These choices are made since DV and AV1 formats are not yet fully compatible with most devices. This may be changed in the future as more devices become capable of smoothly playing back these formats.
eb8a4433 1484
e58c22a0 1485If 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 1486
1487**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1488
eb8a4433 1489## Format Selection examples
b7770046 1490
b7770046 1491```bash
e58c22a0 1492# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
909d24dd 1493# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
940a67a3 1494$ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
909d24dd 1495
1496# Download best format that contains video,
1497# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
940a67a3 1498$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
2af884ff 1499
1500# Same as above
7a5c1cfe 1501$ yt-dlp
909d24dd 1502
6fd35a11 1503# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1504# For this case, an output template should be used since
1505# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
940a67a3 1506$ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
909d24dd 1507
f8d4ad9a 1508# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1509# and all audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1510$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
f8d4ad9a 1511
1512# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1513# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1514$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
909d24dd 1515
6fd35a11 1516
1517# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
f8d4ad9a 1518# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
6fd35a11 1519
1520# Download the worst video available (old method)
940a67a3 1521$ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
eb8a4433 1522
1523# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
940a67a3 1524$ yt-dlp -S "+res"
eb8a4433 1525
1526# Download the smallest video available
940a67a3 1527$ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
eb8a4433 1528
1529
909d24dd 1530
eb8a4433 1531# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
940a67a3 1532$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
eb8a4433 1533
1534# Download the best video with the best extension
1535# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
940a67a3 1536$ yt-dlp -S "ext"
eb8a4433 1537
1538
909d24dd 1539
eb8a4433 1540# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1541# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1542$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
b7770046 1543
eb8a4433 1544# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1545# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1546$ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
b7770046 1547
eb8a4433 1548# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1549# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1550# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1551# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
940a67a3 1552$ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
b7770046 1553
b7770046 1554
909d24dd 1555
eb8a4433 1556# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1557# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1558$ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
eb8a4433 1559
1560# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1561# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1562$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
eb8a4433 1563
1564# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
940a67a3 1565$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
eb8a4433 1566
1567
909d24dd 1568
eb8a4433 1569# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1570# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
940a67a3 1571$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1572
1573# Download best video available via the best protocol
1574# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
940a67a3 1575$ yt-dlp -S "proto"
eb8a4433 1576
1577
909d24dd 1578
1ce9a3cb
LF		 1579# Download the best video with either h264 or h265 codec,
1580# or the best video if there is no such video
1581$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*[vcodec~='^((he|a)vc|h26[45])']+ba) / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1582
1583# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1584# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1585$ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1586
1587# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1588# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1589$ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1590
1591
1592
1593# More complex examples
1594
e58c22a0 1595# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1596# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
940a67a3 1597$ 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 1598
1599# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
f8d4ad9a 1600# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1601# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
940a67a3 1602$ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
eb8a4433 1603
1604
909d24dd 1605
eb8a4433 1606# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1607# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1608# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
940a67a3 1609$ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
b7770046 1610```
eb8a4433 1611
73cd218f 1612# MODIFYING METADATA
1613
a4211baf 1614The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
e9f4ccd1 1615
418964fa 1616`--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 1617
2e7781a9 1618The 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 1619
1620Note 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`.
1621
9c2b75b5 1622This option also has a few special uses:
3d3bb168 1623
28b0eb0f 1624* You can download an additional URL based on the metadata of the currently downloaded video. To do this, set the field `additional_urls` to the URL that you want to download. Eg: `--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
3d3bb168 1625
88968992 1626* You can use this to change the metadata that is embedded in the media file. To do this, set the value of the corresponding field with a `meta_` prefix. For example, any value you set to `meta_description` field will be added to the `description` field in the file. For example, you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis". To modify the metadata of individual streams, use the `meta<n>_` prefix (Eg: `meta1_language`). Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
c31be5b0 1627
08d30158 1628**Note**: Metadata modification happens before format selection, post-extraction and other post-processing operations. Some fields may be added or changed during these steps, overriding your changes.
1629
c31be5b0 1630For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1631
08d30158 1632Metadata fields | From
1633:--------------------------|:------------------------------------------------
1634`title` | `track` or `title`
1635`date` | `upload_date`
1636`description`, `synopsis` | `description`
1637`purl`, `comment` | `webpage_url`
1638`track` | `track_number`
1639`artist` | `artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1640`genre` | `genre`
1641`album` | `album`
1642`album_artist` | `album_artist`
1643`disc` | `disc_number`
1644`show` | `series`
1645`season_number` | `season_number`
1646`episode_id` | `episode` or `episode_id`
1647`episode_sort` | `episode_number`
1648`language` of each stream | the format's `language`
1649
c31be5b0 1650**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1651
73cd218f 1652
1653## Modifying metadata examples
1654
73cd218f 1655```bash
1656# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
940a67a3 1657$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
73cd218f 1658
1659# Regex example
940a67a3 1660$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
73cd218f 1661
1662# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
940a67a3 1663$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
73cd218f 1664
a44ca5a4 1665# Prioritize uploader as the "artist" field in video metadata
1666$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" --add-metadata
1667
1668# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url,
1669# handling multiple lines correctly
940a67a3 1670$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --add-metadata
73cd218f 1671
0930b11f 1672# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
940a67a3 1673$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<formats>)" -j
0930b11f 1674
e9f4ccd1 1675# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
940a67a3 1676$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
e9f4ccd1 1677
73cd218f 1678```
1679
5d3a0e79 1680# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1681
a44ca5a4 1682Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) separated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. Eg: `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=android_embedded,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
5d3a0e79 1683
1684The following extractors use this feature:
96565c7e 1685
1686#### youtube
18e49408 1687* `skip`: One or more of `hls`, `dash` or `translated_subs` to skip extraction of the m3u8 manifests, dash manifests and auto-translated subtitles respectively
e7870111 1688* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android` and `ios` with variants `_music`, `_embedded`, `_embedscreen`, `_creator` (Eg: `web_embedded`); and `mweb` and `tv_embedded` (agegate bypass) with no variants. By default, `android,web` is used, but tv_embedded and creator variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly the music variants are added for `music.youtube.com` urls. You can use `all` to use all the clients, and `default` for the default clients.
96565c7e 1689* `player_skip`: Skip some network requests that are generally needed for robust extraction. One or more of `configs` (skip client configs), `webpage` (skip initial webpage), `js` (skip js player). While these options can help reduce the number of requests needed or avoid some rate-limiting, they could cause some issues. See [#860](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/860) for more details
adbc4ec4 1690* `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats even without `--live-from-start` (These formats don't download properly)
96565c7e 1691* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
a44ca5a4 1692* `max_comments`: Limit the amount of comments to gather. Comma-separated list of integers representing `max-comments,max-parents,max-replies,max-replies-per-thread`. Default is `all,all,all,all`
1693 * E.g. `all,all,1000,10` will get a maximum of 1000 replies total, with up to 10 replies per thread. `1000,all,100` will get a maximum of 1000 comments, with a maximum of 100 replies total
96565c7e 1694
1695#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1696* `skip`: One or more of `webpage` (skip initial webpage download), `authcheck` (allow the download of playlists requiring authentication when no initial webpage is downloaded. This may cause unwanted behavior, see [#1122](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/1122) for more details)
a30a6ed3 1697* `approximate_date`: Extract approximate `upload_date` in flat-playlist. This may cause date-based filters to be slightly off
96565c7e 1698
1699#### funimation
1700* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1701* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1702
a9d4da60 1703#### crunchyroll
1704* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:language=jaJp`
1705* `hardsub`: Which hard-sub versions to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:hardsub=None,enUS`
1706
ae6a1b95 1707#### crunchyrollbeta
706dfe44
JH		 1708* `format`: Which stream type(s) to extract. Default is `adaptive_hls` Eg: `crunchyrollbeta:format=vo_adaptive_hls`
1709 * Potentially useful values include `adaptive_hls`, `adaptive_dash`, `vo_adaptive_hls`, `vo_adaptive_dash`, `download_hls`, `trailer_hls`, `trailer_dash`
1710* `hardsub`: Preference order for which hardsub versions to extract. Default is `None` (no hardsubs). Eg: `crunchyrollbeta:hardsub=en-US,None`
1711
96565c7e 1712#### vikichannel
1713* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
73d829c1 1714
7bdcb4a4
LNO		 1715#### niconico
1716* `segment_duration`: Segment duration in milliseconds for HLS-DMC formats. Use it at your own risk since this feature **may result in your account termination.**
1717
aa4b0545 1718#### youtubewebarchive
1719* `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1720
d43de682
M		 1721#### gamejolt
1722* `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1723
26f2aa3d
AG		 1724#### hotstar
1725* `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1726* `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1727* `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1728
046cab39
M		 1729#### tiktok
1730* `app_version`: App version to call mobile APIs with - should be set along with `manifest_app_version`. (e.g. `20.2.1`)
1731* `manifest_app_version`: Numeric app version to call mobile APIs with. (e.g. `221`)
1732
7eaf7f9a 1733#### rokfinchannel
1734* `tab`: Which tab to download. One of `new`, `top`, `videos`, `podcasts`, `streams`, `stacks`. (E.g. `rokfinchannel:tab=streams`)
1735
1736
bc97cdae 1737NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
5d3a0e79 1738
ec2e44fc 1739<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1740
3acf6d38 1741
f74980cb 1742# PLUGINS
b7770046 1743
3ae5e797 1744Plugins 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
1745
1746Plugins 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`.
1747
1748See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example plugins.
1749
1750Note 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
1751
1752If you are a plugin author, add [ytdlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/ytdlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
b7770046 1753
b7770046 1754
8c6f4daa 1755
1756# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1757
1758yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1759
1760Your 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.
1761
1762From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1763
1764```python
59a7a13e 1765from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1766
3d3bb168 1767URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1768with YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1769 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 1770```
1771
e5a998f3 1772Most 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#L181).
8c6f4daa 1773
43cc91ad 1774**Tip**: If you are porting your code from youtube-dl to yt-dlp, one important point to look out for is that we do not guarantee the return value of `YoutubeDL.extract_info` to be json serializable, or even be a dictionary. It will be dictionary-like, but if you want to ensure it is a serializable dictionary, pass it through `YoutubeDL.sanitize_info` as shown in the [example below](#extracting-information)
3d3bb168 1775
1776## Embedding examples
1777
43cc91ad 1778#### Extracting information
8c6f4daa 1779
1780```python
1781import json
8c6f4daa 1782import yt_dlp
8c6f4daa 1783
3d3bb168 1784URL = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1785
1786# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL) for a list of available options and public functions
1787ydl_opts = {}
1788with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1789 info = ydl.extract_info(URL, download=False)
1790
1791 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1792 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1793```
43cc91ad 1794#### Download using an info-json
3d3bb168 1795
1796```python
1797import yt_dlp
1798
1799INFO_FILE = 'path/to/video.info.json'
1800
1801with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1802 error_code = ydl.download_with_info_file(INFO_FILE)
1803
1804print('Some videos failed to download' if error_code
1805 else 'All videos successfully downloaded')
1806```
1807
43cc91ad 1808#### Extract audio
3d3bb168 1809
1810```python
1811import yt_dlp
1812
1813URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1814
1815ydl_opts = {
0a41f331 1816 'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
3d3bb168 1817 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor) for a list of available Postprocessors and their arguments
1818 'postprocessors': [{ # Extract audio using ffmpeg
1819 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
1820 'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
1821 }]
1822}
1823
1824with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1825 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1826```
0a41f331 1827
1828#### Filter videos
1829
1830```python
1831import yt_dlp
1832
1833URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1834
1835def longer_than_a_minute(info, *, incomplete):
1836 """Download only videos longer than a minute (or with unknown duration)"""
1837 duration = info.get('duration')
1838 if duration and duration < 60:
1839 return 'The video is too short'
1840
1841ydl_opts = {
1842 'match_filter': longer_than_a_minute,
1843}
1844
1845with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1846 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1847```
1848
43cc91ad 1849#### Adding logger and progress hook
3d3bb168 1850
1851```python
1852import yt_dlp
1853
1854URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
8c6f4daa 1855
1856class MyLogger:
1857 def debug(self, msg):
e75bb0d6 1858 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
8c6f4daa 1859 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
1860 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
1861 pass
1862 else:
1863 self.info(msg)
1864
1865 def info(self, msg):
1866 pass
1867
1868 def warning(self, msg):
1869 pass
1870
1871 def error(self, msg):
1872 print(msg)
1873
1874
3d3bb168 1875# ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)
1876def my_hook(d):
1877 if d['status'] == 'finished':
1878 print('Done downloading, now post-processing ...')
1879
1880
1881ydl_opts = {
1882 'logger': MyLogger(),
1883 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
1884}
1885
1886with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1887 ydl.download(URLS)
1888```
1889
43cc91ad 1890#### Add a custom PostProcessor
3d3bb168 1891
1892```python
1893import yt_dlp
1894
1895URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1896
1897# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor)
59a7a13e 1898class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
8c6f4daa 1899 def run(self, info):
1900 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
1901 return [], info
1902
1903
3d3bb168 1904with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1905 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP())
1906 ydl.download(URLS)
1907```
8c6f4daa 1908
1909
43cc91ad 1910#### Use a custom format selector
3d3bb168 1911
1912```python
1913import yt_dlp
1914
1915URL = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1916
093a1710 1917def format_selector(ctx):
1918 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
3d3bb168 1919 NOTE: This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
093a1710 1920
1921 # formats are already sorted worst to best
1922 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
1923
1924 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
1925 best_video = next(f for f in formats
1926 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
1927
1928 # find compatible audio extension
1929 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
1930 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
1931 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
1932 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
1933
3d3bb168 1934 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
093a1710 1935 yield {
093a1710 1936 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
1937 'ext': best_video['ext'],
1938 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
e75bb0d6 1939 # Must be + separated list of protocols
093a1710 1940 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
1941 }
1942
1943
8c6f4daa 1944ydl_opts = {
093a1710 1945 'format': format_selector,
8c6f4daa 1946}
1947
1948with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
3d3bb168 1949 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 1950```
1951
ec2e44fc 1952<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "NEW FEATURES" SECTION HERE -->
1953
e167860c 1954# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
1955
1956These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
1957
8130779d 1958#### Almost redundant options
1959While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
1960
1961 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
1962 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
0bfc53d0 1963 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table --print playlist:thumbnails_table
8130779d 1964 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
1965
6ccf351a 1966#### Redundant options
1967While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
f4536226 1968
53c18592 1969 --get-description --print description
1970 --get-duration --print duration_string
1971 --get-filename --print filename
1972 --get-format --print format
1973 --get-id --print id
1974 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
1975 -e, --get-title --print title
1976 -g, --get-url --print urls
8f18aca8 1977 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
1978 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
1979 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
1980 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
8b7539d2 1981 --user-agent UA --add-header "User-Agent:UA"
1982 --referer URL --add-header "Referer:URL"
6ccf351a 1983
1984
1985#### Not recommended
1986While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
1987
1e43a6f7 1988 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
1989 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
d9aa2332 1990 --all-formats -f all
c32b0aab 1991 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
b7b04c78 1992 --print-json -j --no-simulate
e167860c 1993 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)03d
a439a3a4 1994 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
19b824f6 1995 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
73cd218f 1996 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
52a8a1e1 1997 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
1998 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
53ed7066 1999 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
2000 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
5d3a0e79 2001 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
2002 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
2003 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
2004 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
6ccf351a 2005
2006
2007#### Developer options
2008These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
2009
34488702 2010 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
6ccf351a 2011 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
88acdbc2 2012 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
2013 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
f4536226 2014
2015
2016#### Old aliases
2017These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
2018
2019 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
3856407a 2020 --clean-infojson --clean-info-json
f4536226 2021 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
2022 --dump-headers --print-traffic
2023 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
2024 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
2025 --load-info --load-info-json
3856407a 2026 --no-clean-infojson --no-clean-info-json
f4536226 2027 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
e167860c 2028 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
e167860c 2029 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
2030 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
f4536226 2031 --split-tracks --split-chapters
2032 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
e167860c 2033 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
f4536226 2034 --write-srt --write-subs
e167860c 2035 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
f4536226 2036
7a340e0d 2037#### Sponskrub Options
f304da8a 2038Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
7a340e0d
NA		 2039
2040 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
2041 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
2042 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
2043 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
2044 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
2045 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
2046 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
2047 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
2048
f4536226 2049#### No longer supported
2050These options may no longer work as intended
2051
2052 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
2053 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
2054 -C, --call-home Not implemented
2055 --no-call-home Default
2056 --include-ads No longer supported
2057 --no-include-ads Default
0bb1bc1b 2058 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
2059 --no-write-annotations Default
486fb179 2060
2061#### Removed
2062These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
2063
f4536226 2064 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
3d3bb168 2065 -t, -l, --title, --literal -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
f4536226 2066
8c6f4daa 2067# CONTRIBUTING
2068See [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 2069
c2b5f311 2070# MORE
8c6f4daa 2071For FAQ see the [youtube-dl README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)
fork of https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/