]> jfr.im git - yt-dlp.git/blame - README.md
[ie/bitchute] Fix and improve metadata extraction (#8507)
[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
2fa669f7 6[![Release version](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?color=brightgreen&label=Download&style=for-the-badge)](#installation "Installation")
ae6a1b95 7[![PyPi](https://img.shields.io/badge/-PyPi-blue.svg?logo=pypi&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp "PyPi")
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ae6a1b95 12[![License: Unlicense](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Unlicense-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge)](LICENSE "License")
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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")
b532a348 15[![Last Commit](https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/master?label=&style=for-the-badge&display_timestamp=committer)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pulse/monthly "Last activity")
c76eb41b 16
b31fdeed 17</div>
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c76eb41b 19
b31fdeed 20yt-dlp is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
5c0e5bc4 21
ec2e44fc 22<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "USAGE AND OPTIONS" SECTION HERE -->
23
24<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
034b6215 25* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
53ed7066 26 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
c76eb41b 27* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
deae7c17 28 * [Detailed instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation)
17fa3ee2 29 * [Update](#update)
0e5927ee 30 * [Release Files](#release-files)
cf59cd4d 31 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
17fa3ee2 32 * [Compile](#compile)
b31fdeed 33* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
34 * [General Options](#general-options)
50865ca8 35 * [Network Options](#network-options)
b31fdeed 36 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
50865ca8 37 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
38 * [Download Options](#download-options)
39 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
b31fdeed 40 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
50865ca8 41 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
0744a815 42 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
50865ca8 43 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
44 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
45 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
46 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
50865ca8 47 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
7a340e0d 48 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
50865ca8 49 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 50* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
304ad45a 51 * [Configuration file encoding](#configuration-file-encoding)
db3ad8a6 52 * [Authentication with netrc](#authentication-with-netrc)
878eac3e 53 * [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
c76eb41b 54* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 55 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 56* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 57 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
58 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
59 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
73cd218f 60* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
61 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
5d3a0e79 62* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
f74980cb 63* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
8e40b9d1
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64 * [Installing Plugins](#installing-plugins)
65 * [Developing Plugins](#developing-plugins)
8c6f4daa 66* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
43cc91ad 67 * [Embedding examples](#embedding-examples)
e167860c 68* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
8c6f4daa 69* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
70 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
71 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
17ffed18 72* [WIKI](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki)
deae7c17 73 * [FAQ](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ)
ec2e44fc 74<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
50865ca8 75
76
034b6215 77# NEW FEATURES
91f071af 78
9d625406 79* Forked from [**yt-dlc@f9401f2**](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee) and merged with [**youtube-dl@66ab08**](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/66ab0814c4baa2dc79c2dd5287bc0ad61a37c5b9) ([exceptions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/21))
034b6215 80
304ad45a 81* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in YouTube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
034b6215 82
7581d246 83* **[Format Sorting](#sorting-formats)**: The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now preferred instead of simply using larger bitrate. Furthermore, you can now specify the sort order using `-S`. This allows for much easier format selection than what is possible by simply using `--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
034b6215 84
8e174ba7 85* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--write-comments`, `BiliBiliSearch`, `BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that NicoNico livestreams are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
29b6000e 86
ae61d108 87* **YouTube improvements**:
c8bc203f 88 * Supports Clips, Stories (`ytstories:<channel UCID>`), Search (including filters)**\***, YouTube Music Search, Channel-specific search, Search prefixes (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`)**\***, Mixes, and Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`, `:ytnotif`)
ae61d108 89 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326) **\***
90 * Supports some (but not all) age-gated content without cookies
91 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start` (*experimental*)
86973308 92 * Channel URLs download all uploads of the channel, including shorts and live
f20f5fe5 93
304ad45a 94* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]`
245524e6 95
5ec1b6b7 96* **Download time range**: Videos can be downloaded partially based on either timestamps or chapters using `--download-sections`
97
597c1866 98* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
99
b31fdeed 100* **Multi-threaded fragment downloads**: Download multiple fragments of m3u8/mpd videos in parallel. Use `--concurrent-fragments` (`-N`) option to set the number of threads used
8d801631 101
b31fdeed 102* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
f20f5fe5 103
e75bb0d6 104* **New and fixed extractors**: Many new extractors have been added and a lot of existing ones have been fixed. See the [changelog](Changelog.md) or the [list of supported sites](supportedsites.md)
86c1a8aa 105
56ba69e4 106* **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN etc.
fac98805 107
3de7c2ce 108* **Subtitle extraction from manifests**: Subtitles can be extracted from streaming media manifests. See [commit/be6202f](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/be6202f12b97858b9d716e608394b51065d0419f) for details
034b6215 109
597c1866 110* **Multiple paths and output templates**: You can give different [output templates](#output-template) and download paths for different types of files. You can also set a temporary path where intermediary files are downloaded to using `--paths` (`-P`)
0bc0a322 111
d4ada357 112* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for details
0bc0a322 113
418964fa 114* **Output template improvements**: Output templates can now have date-time formatting, numeric offsets, object traversal etc. See [output template](#output-template) for details. Even more advanced operations can also be done with the help of `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
fac98805 115
fe2ce85a 116* **Other new options**: Many new options have been added such as `--alias`, `--print`, `--concat-playlist`, `--wait-for-video`, `--retry-sleep`, `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-match-filter` etc
0bc0a322 117
08d30158 118* **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--format`/`--match-filter`, multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection), merge multi-video/audio, multiple `--config-locations`, `--exec` at different stages, etc
c69911e4 119
86c1a8aa 120* **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
b31fdeed 121
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122* **Self updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`, and downgraded using `--update-to` if required
123
a00af298 124* **Automated builds**: [Nightly/master builds](#update-channels) can be used with `--update-to nightly` and `--update-to master`
aa837ddf 125
7a5c1cfe 126See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 127
ae61d108 128Features marked with a **\*** have been back-ported to youtube-dl
129
53ed7066 130### Differences in default behavior
131
0930b11f 132Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
53ed7066 133
f4b95aca 134* yt-dlp supports only [Python 3.8+](## "Windows 7"), and *may* remove support for more versions as they [become EOL](https://devguide.python.org/versions/#python-release-cycle); while [youtube-dl still supports Python 2.6+ and 3.2+](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/30568#issue-1118238743)
96565c7e 135* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
b69fd25c 136* `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
d4ada357 137* yt-dlp stores config files in slightly different locations to youtube-dl. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for a list of correct locations
96565c7e 138* 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 139* 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 140* 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 141* 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 142* `--no-abort-on-error` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
28b0eb0f 143* 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 144* `--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 145* 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 146* `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
147* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
b79f9e30 148* Live chats (if available) are considered as subtitles. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent any live chat/danmaku from downloading
86973308 149* YouTube channel URLs download all uploads of the channel. To download only the videos in a specific tab, pass the tab's URL. If the channel does not show the requested tab, an error will be raised. Also, `/live` URLs raise an error if there are no live videos instead of silently downloading the entire channel. You may use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to revert all these redirections
304ad45a 150* Unavailable videos are also listed for YouTube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
1ff88b7a 151* The upload dates extracted from YouTube are in UTC [when available](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/89e4d86171c7b7c997c77d4714542e0383bf0db0/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py#L3898-L3900). Use `--compat-options no-youtube-prefer-utc-upload-date` to prefer the non-UTC upload date.
18e674b4 152* 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 153* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
ad54c913 154* Some internal metadata such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use `--no-clean-infojson` or `--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
e75bb0d6 155* When `--embed-subs` and `--write-subs` are used together, the subtitles are written to disk and also embedded in the media file. You can use just `--embed-subs` to embed the subs and automatically delete the separate file. See [#630 (comment)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/630#issuecomment-893659460) for more info. `--compat-options no-keep-subs` can be used to revert this
168bbc4f 156* `certifi` will be used for SSL root certificates, if installed. If you want to use system certificates (e.g. self-signed), use `--compat-options no-certifi`
1e4fca9a 157* yt-dlp's sanitization of invalid characters in filenames is different/smarter than in youtube-dl. You can use `--compat-options filename-sanitization` to revert to youtube-dl's behavior
ad68b16a 158* yt-dlp tries to parse the external downloader outputs into the standard progress output if possible (Currently implemented: [~~aria2c~~](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/5931)). You can use `--compat-options no-external-downloader-progress` to get the downloader output as-is
93b39cdb 159* yt-dlp versions between 2021.09.01 and 2023.01.02 applies `--match-filter` to nested playlists. This was an unintentional side-effect of [8f18ac](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/8f18aca8717bb0dd49054555af8d386e5eda3a88) and is fixed in [d7b460](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/d7b460d0e5fc710950582baed2e3fc616ed98a80). Use `--compat-options playlist-match-filter` to revert this
10025b71 160* yt-dlp versions between 2021.11.10 and 2023.06.21 estimated `filesize_approx` values for fragmented/manifest formats. This was added for convenience in [f2fe69](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/f2fe69c7b0d208bdb1f6292b4ae92bc1e1a7444a), but was reverted in [0dff8e](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/0dff8e4d1e6e9fb938f4256ea9af7d81f42fd54f) due to the potentially extreme inaccuracy of the estimated values. Use `--compat-options manifest-filesize-approx` to keep extracting the estimated values
8a8b5452 161* yt-dlp uses modern http client backends such as `requests`. Use `--compat-options prefer-legacy-http-handler` to prefer the legacy http handler (`urllib`) to be used for standard http requests.
53ed7066 162
163For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
3d3bb168 164
8a82af35 165* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options (Do NOT use)
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166* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams,-playlist-match-filter,-manifest-filesize-approx`
167* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect,-playlist-match-filter,-manifest-filesize-approx`
2a06bb4e 168* `--compat-options 2021`: Same as `--compat-options 2022,no-certifi,filename-sanitization,no-youtube-prefer-utc-upload-date`
b012271d 169* `--compat-options 2022`: Same as `--compat-options playlist-match-filter,no-external-downloader-progress,prefer-legacy-http-handler,manifest-filesize-approx`. Use this to enable all future compat options
53ed7066 170
f20f5fe5 171
d19bb9c0 172# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 173
fc5fa964 174<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
175[![Windows](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Windows_x64-blue.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=windows)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)
17ffed18 176[![Unix](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Linux/BSD-red.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=linux)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)
24146491 177[![MacOS](https://img.shields.io/badge/-MacOS-lightblue.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=apple)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)
17ffed18 178[![PyPi](https://img.shields.io/badge/-PyPi-blue.svg?logo=pypi&labelColor=555555&style=for-the-badge)](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
fc5fa964 179[![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)
180[![Other variants](https://img.shields.io/badge/-Other-grey.svg?style=for-the-badge)](#release-files)
3d3bb168 181[![All versions](https://img.shields.io/badge/-All_Versions-lightgrey.svg?style=for-the-badge)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases)
fc5fa964 182<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
183
c8bc203f 184You can install yt-dlp using [the binaries](#release-files), [pip](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) or one using a third-party package manager. See [the wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation) for detailed instructions
0930b11f 185
b8773e63 186
a4211baf 187## UPDATE
4815bbfc 188You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the [release binaries](#release-files)
17ffed18 189
c8bc203f 190If you [installed with pip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
0930b11f 191
8e174ba7 192For other third-party package managers, see [the wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation#third-party-package-managers) or refer their documentation
0930b11f 193
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194<a id="update-channels"/>
195
a00af298 196There are currently three release channels for binaries: `stable`, `nightly` and `master`.
197
198* `stable` is the default channel, and many of its changes have been tested by users of the `nightly` and `master` channels.
199* The `nightly` channel has releases scheduled to build every day around midnight UTC, for a snapshot of the project's new patches and changes. This is the **recommended channel for regular users** of yt-dlp. The `nightly` releases are available from [yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases) or as development releases of the `yt-dlp` PyPI package (which can be installed with pip's `--pre` flag).
200* The `master` channel features releases that are built after each push to the master branch, and these will have the very latest fixes and additions, but may also be more prone to regressions. They are available from [yt-dlp/yt-dlp-master-builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-master-builds/releases).
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201
202When using `--update`/`-U`, a release binary will only update to its current channel.
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203`--update-to CHANNEL` can be used to switch to a different channel when a newer version is available. `--update-to [CHANNEL@]TAG` can also be used to upgrade or downgrade to specific tags from a channel.
204
205You may also use `--update-to <repository>` (`<owner>/<repository>`) to update to a channel on a completely different repository. Be careful with what repository you are updating to though, there is no verification done for binaries from different repositories.
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206
207Example usage:
a00af298 208* `yt-dlp --update-to master` switch to the `master` channel and update to its latest release
209* `yt-dlp --update-to stable@2023.07.06` upgrade/downgrade to release to `stable` channel tag `2023.07.06`
210* `yt-dlp --update-to 2023.10.07` upgrade/downgrade to tag `2023.10.07` if it exists on the current channel
211* `yt-dlp --update-to example/yt-dlp@2023.09.24` upgrade/downgrade to the release from the `example/yt-dlp` repository, tag `2023.09.24`
212
213**Important**: Any user experiencing an issue with the `stable` release should install or update to the `nightly` release before submitting a bug report:
214```
215# To update to nightly from stable executable/binary:
216yt-dlp --update-to nightly
217
218# To install nightly with pip:
219python -m pip install -U --pre yt-dlp
220```
cf59cd4d 221
ec2e44fc 222<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
a4211baf 223## RELEASE FILES
0e5927ee 224
733d8e8f 225#### Recommended
226
227File|Description
228:---|:---
962ffcf8 229[yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independent [zipimport](https://docs.python.org/3/library/zipimport.html) binary. Needs Python (recommended for **Linux/BSD**)
0930b11f 230[yt-dlp.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary (recommended for **Windows**)
f2df4071 231[yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|Universal MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable (recommended for **MacOS**)
733d8e8f 232
233#### Alternatives
234
0e5927ee
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235File|Description
236:---|:---
0930b11f 237[yt-dlp_x86.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_x86.exe)|Windows (Vista SP2+) standalone x86 (32-bit) binary
8aa0e7cd 238[yt-dlp_min.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_min.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary built with `py2exe`<br/> ([Not recommended](#standalone-py2exe-builds-windows))
f2df4071 239[yt-dlp_linux](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux)|Linux standalone x64 binary
240[yt-dlp_linux.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux.zip)|Unpackaged Linux executable (no auto-update)
17fc3dc4
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241[yt-dlp_linux_armv7l](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_armv7l)|Linux standalone armv7l (32-bit) binary
242[yt-dlp_linux_aarch64](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_aarch64)|Linux standalone aarch64 (64-bit) binary
0930b11f 243[yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
244[yt-dlp_macos.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos.zip)|Unpackaged MacOS (10.15+) executable (no auto-update)
6d916fe7 245[yt-dlp_macos_legacy](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos_legacy)|MacOS (10.9+) standalone x64 executable
733d8e8f 246
247#### Misc
248
249File|Description
250:---|:---
17ffed18 251[yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball
0e5927ee 252[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
12647e03 253[SHA2-512SUMS.sig](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS.sig)|GPG signature file for SHA512 sums
0e5927ee 254[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
12647e03 255[SHA2-256SUMS.sig](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS.sig)|GPG signature file for SHA256 sums
0e5927ee 256
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257The public key that can be used to verify the GPG signatures is [available here](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/public.key)
258Example usage:
259```
260curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/raw/master/public.key | gpg --import
261gpg --verify SHA2-256SUMS.sig SHA2-256SUMS
262gpg --verify SHA2-512SUMS.sig SHA2-512SUMS
263```
264<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
17ffed18 265
ad54c913 266**Note**: The manpages, shell completion (autocomplete) files etc. are available inside the [source tarball](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
17ffed18 267
a4211baf 268## DEPENDENCIES
f4b95aca 269Python versions 3.8+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
b31fdeed 270
c9652aa4 271<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
272<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
cf59cd4d 273On 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 274-->
fac98805 275
e75bb0d6 276While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
ec2e44fc 277
8aa0e7cd 278### Strongly recommended
279
b69fd25c 280* [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for [merging separate video and audio files](#format-selection) as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. License [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
8aa0e7cd 281
8e174ba7 282 There are bugs in ffmpeg 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 some of 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
283
284 **Important**: What you need is ffmpeg *binary*, **NOT** [the python package of the same name](https://pypi.org/project/ffmpeg)
8aa0e7cd 285
286### Networking
d5820461 287* [**certifi**](https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi)\* - Provides Mozilla's root certificate bundle. Licensed under [MPLv2](https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi/blob/master/LICENSE)
8aa0e7cd 288* [**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>
289* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets)\* - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
8a8b5452 290* [**requests**](https://github.com/psf/requests)\* - HTTP library. For HTTPS proxy and persistent connections support. Licensed under [Apache-2.0](https://github.com/psf/requests/blob/main/LICENSE)
8aa0e7cd 291
292### Metadata
293
294* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen)\* - For `--embed-thumbnail` in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
295* [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For `--embed-thumbnail` in `mp4`/`m4a` files when `mutagen`/`ffmpeg` cannot. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
84e26038 296* [**xattr**](https://github.com/xattr/xattr), [**pyxattr**](https://github.com/iustin/pyxattr) or [**setfattr**](http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/attr) - For writing xattr metadata (`--xattr`) on **Mac** and **BSD**. 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
8aa0e7cd 297
298### Misc
299
300* [**pycryptodomex**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome)\* - For decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data. Licensed under [BSD-2-Clause](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
5d0aeac0 301* [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
8aa0e7cd 302* [**secretstorage**](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage) - For `--cookies-from-browser` to access the **Gnome** keyring while decrypting cookies of **Chromium**-based browsers on **Linux**. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage/blob/master/LICENSE)
cf59cd4d 303* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
b31fdeed 304
deae7c17 305### Deprecated
8aa0e7cd 306
307* [**avconv** and **avprobe**](https://www.libav.org) - Now **deprecated** alternative to ffmpeg. License [depends on the build](https://libav.org/legal)
308* [**sponskrub**](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) - For using the now **deprecated** [sponskrub options](#sponskrub-options). Licensed under [GPLv3+](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub/blob/master/LICENCE.md)
998a3cae 309* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
310* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp`/`mms` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
8aa0e7cd 311
cf59cd4d 312To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
313
f2df4071 314The standalone release binaries are built with the Python interpreter and the packages marked with **\*** included.
d710cc6d 315
8aa0e7cd 316If you do not have the necessary dependencies for a task you are attempting, yt-dlp will warn you. All the currently available dependencies are visible at the top of the `--verbose` output
d710cc6d 317
5f326cf5 318
a4211baf 319## COMPILE
5f326cf5 320
8aa0e7cd 321### Standalone PyInstaller Builds
115add43 322To build the standalone executable, you must have Python and `pyinstaller` (plus any of yt-dlp's [optional dependencies](#dependencies) if needed). Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, simply run `pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (x86/ARM, 32/64 bit) as the Python used.
e38df8f9 323
8aa0e7cd 324 python3 -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
325 python3 devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
326 python3 pyinst.py
327
328On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`.
329
73ac0e6b 330`pyinst.py` accepts any arguments that can be passed to `pyinstaller`, such as `--onefile/-F` or `--onedir/-D`, which is further [documented here](https://pyinstaller.org/en/stable/usage.html#what-to-generate).
331
8e174ba7 332**Note**: Pyinstaller versions below 4.4 [do not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment.
8aa0e7cd 333
334**Important**: Running `pyinstaller` directly **without** using `pyinst.py` is **not** officially supported. This may or may not work correctly.
7581d246 335
8aa0e7cd 336### Platform-independent Binary (UNIX)
f4b95aca 337You will need the build tools `python` (3.8+), `zip`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`\* and `pytest`\*.
b96a939b 338
8aa0e7cd 339After installing these, simply run `make`.
5f326cf5 340
a831c2ea 341You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files. (The build tools marked with **\*** are not needed for this)
d19bb9c0 342
8aa0e7cd 343### Standalone Py2Exe Builds (Windows)
344
345While we provide the option to build with [py2exe](https://www.py2exe.org), it is recommended to build [using PyInstaller](#standalone-pyinstaller-builds) instead since the py2exe builds **cannot contain `pycryptodomex`/`certifi` and needs VC++14** on the target computer to run.
346
347If you wish to build it anyway, install Python and py2exe, and then simply run `setup.py py2exe`
348
349 py -m pip install -U py2exe -r requirements.txt
350 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
351 py setup.py py2exe
352
353### Related scripts
354
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355* **`devscripts/update-version.py`** - Update the version number based on current date.
356* **`devscripts/set-variant.py`** - Set the build variant of the executable.
357* **`devscripts/make_changelog.py`** - Create a markdown changelog using short commit messages and update `CONTRIBUTORS` file.
8aa0e7cd 358* **`devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py`** - Create lazy extractors. Running this before building the binaries (any variant) will improve their startup performance. Set the environment variable `YTDLP_NO_LAZY_EXTRACTORS=1` if you wish to forcefully disable lazy extractor loading.
359
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360Note: See their `--help` for more info.
361
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362### Forking the project
363If you fork the project on GitHub, you can run your fork's [build workflow](.github/workflows/build.yml) to automatically build the selected version(s) as artifacts. Alternatively, you can run the [release workflow](.github/workflows/release.yml) or enable the [nightly workflow](.github/workflows/release-nightly.yml) to create full (pre-)releases.
59a7a13e 364
b31fdeed 365# USAGE AND OPTIONS
6bcd846b 366
ec2e44fc 367<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
7a5c1cfe 368 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 369
c2b5f311 370`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
ec2e44fc 371<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
c2b5f311 372
ec2e44fc 373<!-- Auto generated -->
c76eb41b 374## General Options:
2dd5a2e3 375 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
376 --version Print program version and exit
70b23409 377 -U, --update Update this program to the latest version
378 --no-update Do not check for updates (default)
77df20f1 379 --update-to [CHANNEL]@[TAG] Upgrade/downgrade to a specific version.
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380 CHANNEL can be a repository as well. CHANNEL
381 and TAG default to "stable" and "latest"
382 respectively if omitted; See "UPDATE" for
5d3a3cd4 383 details. Supported channels: stable,
384 nightly, master
2dd5a2e3 385 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
386 The download will be considered successful
387 even if the postprocessing fails
388 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download errors;
389 e.g. to skip unavailable videos in a
390 playlist (default)
391 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
392 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
393 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
394 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
395 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
396 extractors and exit
2516cafb 397 --use-extractors NAMES Extractor names to use separated by commas.
fe7866d0 398 You can also use regexes, "all", "default"
399 and "end" (end URL matching); e.g. --ies
400 "holodex.*,end,youtube". Prefix the name
401 with a "-" to exclude it, e.g. --ies
402 default,-generic. Use --list-extractors for
2516cafb 403 a list of extractor names. (Alias: --ies)
62b58c09 404 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 405 "gvsearch2:python" downloads two videos from
406 google videos for the search term "python".
407 Use the value "auto" to let yt-dlp guess
408 ("auto_warning" to emit a warning when
409 guessing). "error" just throws an error. The
410 default value "fixup_error" repairs broken
411 URLs, but emits an error if this is not
412 possible instead of searching
413 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
414 except those given by --config-locations.
415 For backward compatibility, if this option
416 is found inside the system configuration
417 file, the user configuration is not loaded.
418 (Alias: --no-config)
419 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
420 (default). When given inside a configuration
421 file, ignore all previous --config-locations
422 defined in the current file
423 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
424 either the path to the config or its
6b9e832d 425 containing directory ("-" for stdin). Can be
426 used multiple times and inside other
427 configuration files
2dd5a2e3 428 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
429 only list them
c8bc203f 430 --no-flat-playlist Fully extract the videos of a playlist
431 (default)
2dd5a2e3 432 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
433 Currently only supported for YouTube
434 (Experimental)
435 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
436 (default)
437 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
438 available. Pass the minimum number of
439 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
440 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
441 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate)
442 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
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443 --color [STREAM:]POLICY Whether to emit color codes in output,
444 optionally prefixed by the STREAM (stdout or
445 stderr) to apply the setting to. Can be one
446 of "always", "auto" (default), "never", or
447 "no_color" (use non color terminal
448 sequences). Can be used multiple times
2dd5a2e3 449 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
450 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
451 configurations by reverting some of the
452 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
453 default behavior" for details
454 --alias ALIASES OPTIONS Create aliases for an option string. Unless
455 an alias starts with a dash "-", it is
456 prefixed with "--". Arguments are parsed
457 according to the Python string formatting
62b58c09 458 mini-language. E.g. --alias get-audio,-X
2dd5a2e3 459 "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}"
460 creates options "--get-audio" and "-X" that
461 takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to
462 "-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0".
463 All defined aliases are listed in the --help
464 output. Alias options can trigger more
962ffcf8 465 aliases; so be careful to avoid defining
2dd5a2e3 466 recursive options. As a safety measure, each
467 alias may be triggered a maximum of 100
64fa820c 468 times. This option can be used multiple times
08c1d0d3 469
149f05c7 470## Network Options:
2dd5a2e3 471 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy. To
62b58c09
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472 enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper scheme,
473 e.g. socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/.
474 Pass in an empty string (--proxy "") for
475 direct connection
2dd5a2e3 476 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
477 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
478 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
479 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
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480 --enable-file-urls Enable file:// URLs. This is disabled by
481 default for security reasons.
8c6c88c7 482
b31fdeed 483## Geo-restriction:
2dd5a2e3 484 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
485 some geo-restricted sites. The default proxy
486 specified by --proxy (or none, if the option
487 is not present) is used for the actual
488 downloading
c1664464 489 --xff VALUE How to fake X-Forwarded-For HTTP header to
490 try bypassing geographic restriction. One of
c8bc203f 491 "default" (only when known to be useful),
492 "never", an IP block in CIDR notation, or a
493 two-letter ISO 3166-2 country code
149f05c7 494
cfcec693 495## Video Selection:
71df9b7f 496 -I, --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Comma separated playlist_index of the items
7e88d7d7 497 to download. You can specify a range using
498 "[START]:[STOP][:STEP]". For backward
499 compatibility, START-STOP is also supported.
500 Use negative indices to count from the right
501 and negative STEP to download in reverse
62b58c09 502 order. E.g. "-I 1:3,7,-5::2" used on a
71df9b7f 503 playlist of size 15 will download the items
7e88d7d7 504 at index 1,2,3,7,11,13,15
71df9b7f 505 --min-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is smaller than
506 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
507 --max-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is larger than
62b58c09 508 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
2dd5a2e3 509 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
510 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
511 [now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]].
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512 E.g. "--date today-2weeks" downloads only
513 videos uploaded on the same day two weeks ago
2dd5a2e3 514 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
515 this date. The date formats accepted is the
516 same as --date
517 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
518 this date. The date formats accepted is the
519 same as --date
520 --match-filters FILTER Generic video filter. Any "OUTPUT TEMPLATE"
521 field can be compared with a number or a
522 string using the operators defined in
d4ada357 523 "Filtering Formats". You can also simply
2dd5a2e3 524 specify a field to match if the field is
525 present, use "!field" to check if the field
526 is not present, and "&" to check multiple
527 conditions. Use a "\" to escape "&" or
528 quotes if needed. If used multiple times,
529 the filter matches if atleast one of the
62b58c09 530 conditions are met. E.g. --match-filter
2dd5a2e3 531 !is_live --match-filter "like_count>?100 &
532 description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'" matches
533 only videos that are not live OR those that
534 have a like count more than 100 (or the like
535 field is not available) and also has a
536 description that contains the phrase "cats &
537 dogs" (caseless). Use "--match-filter -" to
538 interactively ask whether to download each
539 video
c8bc203f 540 --no-match-filters Do not use any --match-filter (default)
fe2ce85a 541 --break-match-filters FILTER Same as "--match-filters" but stops the
542 download process when a video is rejected
543 --no-break-match-filters Do not use any --break-match-filters (default)
2dd5a2e3 544 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
545 to a video and a playlist
546 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
547 a video and a playlist
548 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
549 age
550 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
551 archive file. Record the IDs of all
552 downloaded videos in it
553 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
554 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
555 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
556 a file that is in the archive
71df9b7f 557 --break-per-input Alters --max-downloads, --break-on-existing,
354d5fca 558 --break-match-filter, and autonumber to
559 reset per input URL
2dd5a2e3 560 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and similar options
561 terminates the entire download queue
562 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest of
563 the playlist is skipped
6bcd846b 564
d5a62e4f 565## Download Options:
2dd5a2e3 566 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
567 video that should be downloaded concurrently
568 (default is 1)
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569 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
570 e.g. 50K or 4.2M
2dd5a2e3 571 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
572 below which throttling is assumed and the
62b58c09 573 video data is re-extracted, e.g. 100K
2dd5a2e3 574 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
575 "infinite"
576 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
577 error (default is 3), or "infinite"
578 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default is
579 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and ISM)
be5c1ae8 580 --retry-sleep [TYPE:]EXPR Time to sleep between retries in seconds
581 (optionally) prefixed by the type of retry
582 (http (default), fragment, file_access,
583 extractor) to apply the sleep to. EXPR can
584 be a number, linear=START[:END[:STEP=1]] or
585 exp=START[:END[:BASE=2]]. This option can be
586 used multiple times to set the sleep for the
62b58c09 587 different retry types, e.g. --retry-sleep
2dd5a2e3 588 linear=1::2 --retry-sleep fragment:exp=1:20
589 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
590 hlsnative and ISM downloads (default)
8e174ba7 591 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragments)
592 --abort-on-unavailable-fragments
2dd5a2e3 593 Abort download if a fragment is unavailable
594 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
595 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
596 downloading is finished
597 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
598 downloading is finished (default)
62b58c09 599 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer, e.g. 1024 or 16K
2dd5a2e3 600 (default is 1024)
601 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
602 from an initial value of --buffer-size
603 (default)
604 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
605 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
62b58c09 606 downloading, e.g. 10485760 or 10M (default
2dd5a2e3 607 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
608 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
609 (experimental)
2dd5a2e3 610 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
7e9a6125 611 --lazy-playlist Process entries in the playlist as they are
612 received. This disables n_entries,
613 --playlist-random and --playlist-reverse
614 --no-lazy-playlist Process videos in the playlist only after
615 the entire playlist is parsed (default)
2dd5a2e3 616 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
617 expected file size
618 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
619 allowing some players to play the video
620 while downloading, and reducing the chance
621 of file corruption if download is
622 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
623 live streams
624 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
625 videos. This is default when not downloading
626 live streams
b4e0d758 627 --download-sections REGEX Download only chapters that match the
628 regular expression. A "*" prefix denotes
629 time-range instead of chapter. Negative
630 timestamps are calculated from the end.
631 "*from-url" can be used to download between
632 the "start_time" and "end_time" extracted
633 from the URL. Needs ffmpeg. This option can
634 be used multiple times to download multiple
62b58c09 635 sections, e.g. --download-sections
2fa669f7 636 "*10:15-inf" --download-sections "intro"
2dd5a2e3 637 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
638 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
639 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
640 use it for. Currently supports native,
641 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
642 wget. You can use this option multiple times
643 to set different downloaders for different
62b58c09 644 protocols. E.g. --downloader aria2c
2dd5a2e3 645 --downloader "dash,m3u8:native" will use
646 aria2c for http/ftp downloads, and the
647 native downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
648 (Alias: --external-downloader)
649 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
650 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
651 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
652 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to different
653 positions using the same syntax as
654 --postprocessor-args. You can use this
655 option multiple times to give different
656 arguments to different downloaders (Alias:
657 --external-downloader-args)
d5a62e4f 658
cfcec693 659## Filesystem Options:
2dd5a2e3 660 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
661 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
662 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
663 comments and ignored
664 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
665 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
666 downloaded. Specify the type of file and the
667 path separated by a colon ":". All the same
668 TYPES as --output are supported.
669 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
670 (default) and "temp" paths. All intermediary
671 files are first downloaded to the temp path
672 and then the final files are moved over to
673 the home path after download is finished.
674 This option is ignored if --output is an
675 absolute path
676 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
677 TEMPLATE" for details
678 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder for unavailable fields in
679 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" (default: "NA")
680 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters,
681 and avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
682 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
683 filenames (default)
684 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
685 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
686 using Windows (default)
687 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
688 extension) to the specified number of
689 characters
690 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
691 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files. This
692 option includes --no-continue
693 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
694 related files (default)
695 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
696 (default)
697 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
698 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
699 restart download of the entire file
700 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
701 into output file (default)
702 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly into
703 output file
704 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the file
705 modification time (default)
706 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
707 the file modification time
64fa820c 708 --write-description Write video description to a .description file
2dd5a2e3 709 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
710 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
711 (this may contain personal information)
712 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
713 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
714 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
715 --write-description etc. (default)
716 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
717 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
ad54c913 718 --clean-info-json Remove some internal metadata such as
719 filenames from the infojson (default)
2dd5a2e3 720 --no-clean-info-json Write all fields to the infojson
721 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
722 infojson. The comments are fetched even
723 without this option if the extraction is
724 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
725 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
726 extraction is known to be quick (Alias:
727 --no-get-comments)
728 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
64fa820c 729 (created with the "--write-info-json" option)
2dd5a2e3 730 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies from
731 and dump cookie jar in
732 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
733 (default)
825d3ce3 734 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]
735 The name of the browser to load cookies
736 from. Currently supported browsers are:
737 brave, chrome, chromium, edge, firefox,
738 opera, safari, vivaldi. Optionally, the
739 KEYRING used for decrypting Chromium cookies
740 on Linux, the name/path of the PROFILE to
741 load cookies from, and the CONTAINER name
742 (if Firefox) ("none" for no container) can
743 be given with their respective seperators.
744 By default, all containers of the most
745 recently accessed profile are used.
746 Currently supported keyrings are: basictext,
2e023649 747 gnomekeyring, kwallet, kwallet5, kwallet6
2dd5a2e3 748 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
17ffed18 749 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where yt-dlp can
750 store some downloaded information (such as
751 client ids and signatures) permanently. By
878eac3e 752 default ${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/yt-dlp
2dd5a2e3 753 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
754 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 755
b31fdeed 756## Thumbnail Options:
2dd5a2e3 757 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
64fa820c 758 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk (default)
2dd5a2e3 759 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
760 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
761 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
2b1bd292 762
732044af 763## Internet Shortcut Options:
2dd5a2e3 764 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
765 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
766 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
767 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
768 OS caches the URL based on the file path
769 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
770 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
732044af 771
0744a815 772## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
2dd5a2e3 773 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with --verbose,
774 print the log to stderr
d669772c 775 --no-quiet Deactivate quiet mode. (Default)
2dd5a2e3 776 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
777 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
778 anything to disk
779 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
780 options are used
781 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
782 extracting metadata even if the videos are
783 not actually available for download
784 (experimental)
785 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
786 formats are found (default)
787 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
788 related files (Alias: --no-download)
789 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
790 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
791 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
792 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
119e40ef 793 --use-postprocessor (default: video).
2dd5a2e3 794 Implies --quiet. Implies --simulate unless
795 --no-simulate or later stages of WHEN are
796 used. This option can be used multiple times
bb66c247 797 --print-to-file [WHEN:]TEMPLATE FILE
2dd5a2e3 798 Append given template to the file. The
799 values of WHEN and TEMPLATE are same as that
800 of --print. FILE uses the same syntax as the
801 output template. This option can be used
802 multiple times
803 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
804 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
805 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
806 description of available keys
807 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
808 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
809 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
810 a playlist, the whole playlist information
811 is dumped in a single line
812 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
813 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
814 another simulation option is used (Alias:
815 --force-download-archive)
816 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
817 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
818 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
819 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
819e0531 820 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
2dd5a2e3 821 Template for progress outputs, optionally
822 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
823 "download-title:" (the console title),
824 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
825 The video's fields are accessible under the
826 "info" key and the progress attributes are
62b58c09 827 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 828 --console-title --progress-template
829 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
830 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
831 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
832 to debug problems (very verbose)
833 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to files
834 in the current directory to debug problems
835 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 836
36f35428 837## Workarounds:
2dd5a2e3 838 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
839 --legacy-server-connect Explicitly allow HTTPS connection to servers
840 that do not support RFC 5746 secure
841 renegotiation
842 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
843 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
844 information about the video (Currently
845 supported only for YouTube)
a5387729 846 --add-headers FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
2dd5a2e3 847 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
848 option multiple times
849 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
850 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
851 or fribidi executable in PATH
852 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
853 during data extraction
854 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
855 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
856 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
857 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
858 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can only
859 be used along with --min-sleep-interval
860 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
861 subtitle download
36f35428 862
cfcec693 863## Video Format Options:
2dd5a2e3 864 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
865 for more details
866 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
867 "Sorting Formats" for more details
868 --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
869 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
870 Formats" for more details (Alias: --S-force)
871 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
872 specified sort order (default)
873 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
874 into a single file
875 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for each
876 output file (default)
877 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
878 into a single file
879 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for each
880 output file (default)
881 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
882 over non-free ones of same quality. Use with
883 "-S ext" to strictly prefer free containers
884 irrespective of quality
885 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
886 containers (default)
887 --check-formats Make sure formats are selected only from
888 those that are actually downloadable
889 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
890 actually downloadable
891 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
892 downloadable
893 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
894 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
fc61aff4 895 --merge-output-format FORMAT Containers that may be used when merging
62b58c09 896 formats, separated by "/", e.g. "mp4/mkv".
fc61aff4
LL
897 Ignored if no merge is required. (currently
898 supported: avi, flv, mkv, mov, mp4, webm)
8ae7be3e
PH
899
900## Subtitle Options:
2dd5a2e3 901 --write-subs Write subtitle file
902 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
903 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
904 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
905 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
906 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
907 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
908 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
909 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format; accepts formats preference,
62b58c09 910 e.g. "srt" or "ass/srt/best"
2dd5a2e3 911 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
62b58c09
L
912 be regex) or "all" separated by commas, e.g.
913 --sub-langs "en.*,ja". You can prefix the
2dd5a2e3 914 language code with a "-" to exclude it from
62b58c09
L
915 the requested languages, e.g. --sub-langs
916 all,-live_chat. Use --list-subs for a list
2dd5a2e3 917 of available language tags
6bcd846b 918
cfcec693 919## Authentication Options:
2dd5a2e3 920 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
921 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
922 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
923 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
924 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
925 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
926 either the path or its containing directory.
927 Defaults to ~/.netrc
db3ad8a6 928 --netrc-cmd NETRC_CMD Command to execute to get the credentials
d1b21561 929 for an extractor.
b634ba74 930 --video-password PASSWORD Video-specific password
2dd5a2e3 931 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
932 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
933 a list of available MSOs
934 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
935 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
936 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
937 interactively
938 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system operators
939 --client-certificate CERTFILE Path to client certificate file in PEM
940 format. May include the private key
941 --client-certificate-key KEYFILE
942 Path to private key file for client
943 certificate
bb58c9ed 944 --client-certificate-password PASSWORD
2dd5a2e3 945 Password for client certificate private key,
946 if encrypted. If not provided, and the key
947 is encrypted, yt-dlp will ask interactively
f5e008d1 948
c76eb41b 949## Post-Processing Options:
2dd5a2e3 950 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
951 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
35faefee 952 --audio-format FORMAT Format to convert the audio to when -x is
953 used. (currently supported: best (default),
8dc59305 954 aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis,
e0ab9854 955 wav). You can specify multiple rules using
956 similar syntax as --remux-video
2dd5a2e3 957 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality to use when
958 converting the audio with -x. Insert a value
959 between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for VBR or a
960 specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
961 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
8dc59305 962 necessary (currently supported: avi, flv,
69f5fe45 963 gif, mkv, mov, mp4, webm, aac, aiff, alac,
964 flac, m4a, mka, mp3, ogg, opus, vorbis,
965 wav). If target container does not support
966 the video/audio codec, remuxing will fail.
967 You can specify multiple rules; e.g.
2dd5a2e3 968 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to m4a,
35faefee 969 mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv
2dd5a2e3 970 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
971 necessary. The syntax and supported formats
972 are the same as --remux-video
973 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
974 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
975 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
976 to give the argument to the specified
977 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
978 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
979 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
980 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
981 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
982 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
983 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
984 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
985 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
986 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
987 specified executable only when being used by
988 the specified postprocessor. Additionally,
989 for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be
990 appended to the prefix optionally followed
991 by a number to pass the argument before the
62b58c09 992 specified input/output file, e.g. --ppa
2dd5a2e3 993 "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
994 this option multiple times to give different
995 arguments to different postprocessors.
996 (Alias: --ppa)
997 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
998 after post-processing
999 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
1000 post-processing (default)
1001 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
1002 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
1003 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
1004 webm and mkv videos)
1005 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
1006 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
1007 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
1008 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
1009 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
1010 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json are
1011 used (Alias: --add-metadata)
1012 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
1013 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
1014 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
1015 (Alias: --add-chapters)
1016 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default) (Alias:
1017 --no-add-chapters)
1018 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
1019 mkv/mka video files
1020 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
1021 to the video file
fe74d5b5 1022 --parse-metadata [WHEN:]FROM:TO
1023 Parse additional metadata like title/artist
2dd5a2e3 1024 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
fe74d5b5 1025 for details. Supported values of "WHEN" are
1026 the same as that of --use-postprocessor
1027 (default: pre_process)
1028 --replace-in-metadata [WHEN:]FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
2dd5a2e3 1029 Replace text in a metadata field using the
1030 given regex. This option can be used
fe74d5b5 1031 multiple times. Supported values of "WHEN"
1032 are the same as that of --use-postprocessor
1033 (default: pre_process)
2dd5a2e3 1034 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
1035 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
1036 --concat-playlist POLICY Concatenate videos in a playlist. One of
1037 "never", "always", or "multi_video"
1038 (default; only when the videos form a single
1039 show). All the video files must have same
1040 codecs and number of streams to be
1041 concatable. The "pl_video:" prefix can be
1042 used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1043 the output filename for the concatenated
1044 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
1045 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
1046 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
1047 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
1048 default; fix file if we can, warn
1049 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
1050 already exists)
1051 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
64fa820c 1052 path to the binary or its containing directory
2dd5a2e3 1053 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
119e40ef 1054 when to execute it, separated by a ":".
1055 Supported values of "WHEN" are the same as
1056 that of --use-postprocessor (default:
1057 after_move). Same syntax as the output
1058 template can be used to pass any field as
ad54c913 1059 arguments to the command. If no fields are
1060 passed, %(filepath,_filename|)q is appended
1061 to the end of the command. This option can
1062 be used multiple times
2dd5a2e3 1063 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
1064 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
8dc59305 1065 (currently supported: ass, lrc, srt, vtt)
2dd5a2e3 1066 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
1067 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
00bbc5f1 1068 (currently supported: jpg, png, webp). You
1069 can specify multiple rules using similar
1070 syntax as --remux-video
2dd5a2e3 1071 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
1072 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix can
1073 be used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1074 the output filename for the split files. See
1075 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
64fa820c 1076 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters (default)
2dd5a2e3 1077 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
5ec1b6b7 1078 given regular expression. The syntax is the
1079 same as --download-sections. This option can
2dd5a2e3 1080 be used multiple times
1081 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
1082 (default)
5ec1b6b7 1083 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes at cuts when
1084 downloading/splitting/removing sections.
1085 This is slow due to needing a re-encode, but
1086 the resulting video may have fewer artifacts
1087 around the cuts
2dd5a2e3 1088 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
1089 when cutting/splitting (default)
1090 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS]
1091 The (case sensitive) name of plugin
1092 postprocessors to be enabled, and
1093 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
1094 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
1095 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
1096 The "when" argument determines when the
1097 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
1098 "pre_process" (after video extraction),
1099 "after_filter" (after video passes filter),
119e40ef 1100 "video" (after --format; before
1101 --print/--output), "before_dl" (before each
1102 video download), "post_process" (after each
1103 video download; default), "after_move"
1104 (after moving video file to it's final
1105 locations), "after_video" (after downloading
1106 and processing all formats of a video), or
1107 "playlist" (at end of playlist). This option
1108 can be used multiple times to add different
1109 postprocessors
7a340e0d
NA
1110
1111## SponsorBlock Options:
1112Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
1113 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
8a51f564 1114 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
1115
2dd5a2e3 1116 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
1117 for, separated by commas. Available
1118 categories are sponsor, intro, outro,
1119 selfpromo, preview, filler, interaction,
71df9b7f 1120 music_offtopic, poi_highlight, chapter, all
1121 and default (=all). You can prefix the
1122 category with a "-" to exclude it. See [1]
1123 for description of the categories. E.g.
2dd5a2e3 1124 --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
1125 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
1126 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
1127 the video file, separated by commas. If a
1128 category is present in both mark and remove,
1129 remove takes precedence. The syntax and
1130 available categories are the same as for
1131 --sponsorblock-mark except that "default"
71df9b7f 1132 refers to "all,-filler" and poi_highlight,
63c547d7 1133 chapter are not available
7a340e0d 1134 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
2dd5a2e3 1135 An output template for the title of the
1136 SponsorBlock chapters created by
1137 --sponsorblock-mark. The only available
1138 fields are start_time, end_time, category,
1139 categories, name, category_names. Defaults
1140 to "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
1141 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
1142 --sponsorblock-remove
1143 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
1144 https://sponsor.ajay.app
a9e7f546 1145
78895bd3 1146## Extractor Options:
2dd5a2e3 1147 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor errors
1148 (default is 3), or "infinite"
1149 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
1150 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1151 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1152 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
1153 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1154 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1155 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1156 formats at discontinuities such as ad breaks
1157 (default)
2fa669f7 1158 --extractor-args IE_KEY:ARGS Pass ARGS arguments to the IE_KEY extractor.
1159 See "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You
1160 can use this option multiple times to give
2dd5a2e3 1161 arguments for different extractors
17cb02d0 1162
b7770046
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1163# CONFIGURATION
1164
7a5c1cfe 1165You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
e2e43aea 1166
878eac3e 11671. **Main Configuration**:
1168 * The file given by `--config-location`
11691. **Portable Configuration**: (Recommended for portable installations)
1170 * If using a binary, `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the binary
1171 * If running from source-code, `yt-dlp.conf` in the parent directory of `yt_dlp`
11721. **Home Configuration**:
1173 * `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P`
1174 * If `-P` is not given, the current directory is searched
e2e43aea 11751. **User Configuration**:
773c272d 1176 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp.conf`
878eac3e 1177 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
8e40b9d1 1178 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
773c272d 1179 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp.conf`
878eac3e 1180 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1181 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
e2e43aea 1182 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1183 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
8e40b9d1
M
1184 * `~/.yt-dlp/config`
1185 * `~/.yt-dlp/config.txt`
3d3bb168 1186
878eac3e 1187 See also: [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
11881. **System Configuration**:
1189 * `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
8e40b9d1
M
1190 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config`
1191 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config.txt`
b7770046 1192
62b58c09 1193E.g. with the following configuration file yt-dlp will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `YouTube` directory in your home directory:
b7770046
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1194```
1195# Lines starting with # are comments
1196
1197# Always extract audio
1198-x
1199
1200# Do not copy the mtime
1201--no-mtime
1202
1203# Use this proxy
1204--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1205
298f597b 1206# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1207-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
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1208```
1209
8e174ba7 1210**Note**: Options in configuration file are just the same options aka switches used in regular command line calls; thus there **must be no whitespace** after `-` or `--`, e.g. `-o` or `--proxy` but not `- o` or `-- proxy`. They must also be quoted when necessary as-if it were a UNIX shell.
b7770046 1211
a4211baf 1212You 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 1213
304ad45a 1214### Configuration file encoding
a904a7f8 1215
304ad45a 1216The configuration files are decoded according to the UTF BOM if present, and in the encoding from system locale otherwise.
a904a7f8 1217
88f60feb 1218If you want your file to be decoded differently, add `# coding: ENCODING` to the beginning of the file (e.g. `# coding: shift-jis`). There must be no characters before that, even spaces or BOM.
a904a7f8 1219
db3ad8a6 1220### Authentication with netrc
b7770046 1221
304ad45a 1222You 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 1223```
878eac3e 1224touch ${HOME}/.netrc
1225chmod a-rwx,u+rw ${HOME}/.netrc
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1226```
1227After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1228```
0001fcb5 1229machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
b7770046 1230```
62b58c09 1231E.g.
b7770046
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1232```
1233machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1234machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1235```
7a5c1cfe 1236To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
b7770046 1237
878eac3e 1238The default location of the .netrc file is `~` (see below).
1239
d7cd97e8 1240As an alternative to using the `.netrc` file, which has the disadvantage of keeping your passwords in a plain text file, you can configure a custom shell command to provide the credentials for an extractor. This is done by providing the `--netrc-cmd` parameter, it shall output the credentials in the netrc format and return `0` on success, other values will be treated as an error. `{}` in the command will be replaced by the name of the extractor to make it possible to select the credentials for the right extractor.
db3ad8a6
ND
1241
1242E.g. To use an encrypted `.netrc` file stored as `.authinfo.gpg`
1243```
1244yt-dlp --netrc-cmd 'gpg --decrypt ~/.authinfo.gpg' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc
1245```
1246
1247
878eac3e 1248### Notes about environment variables
1249* Environment variables are normally specified as `${VARIABLE}`/`$VARIABLE` on UNIX and `%VARIABLE%` on Windows; but is always shown as `${VARIABLE}` in this documentation
1250* yt-dlp also allow using UNIX-style variables on Windows for path-like options; e.g. `--output`, `--config-location`
1251* If unset, `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}` defaults to `~/.config` and `${XDG_CACHE_HOME}` to `~/.cache`
1252* On Windows, `~` points to `${HOME}` if present; or, `${USERPROFILE}` or `${HOMEDRIVE}${HOMEPATH}` otherwise
1253* On Windows, `${USERPROFILE}` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>` and `${APPDATA}` to `${USERPROFILE}\AppData\Roaming`
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1254
1255# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1256
0202b52a 1257The `-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 1258
ec2e44fc 1259<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1260**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
ec2e44fc 1261<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1262
e58c22a0 1263The 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 1264
62b58c09 1265It may however also contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences may be formatted according to [Python string formatting operations](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting), e.g. `%(NAME)s` or `%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations.
a439a3a4 1266
1267The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
3d3bb168 1268
07a1250e 12691. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a dot `.` separator; e.g. `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`. You can do Python slicing with colon `:`; E.g. `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. Curly braces `{}` can be used to build dictionaries with only specific keys; e.g. `%(formats.:.{format_id,height})#j`. An empty field name `%()s` refers to the entire infodict; e.g. `%(.{id,title})s`. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
ec2e44fc 1270
993edd3f 12711. **Arithmetic**: Simple arithmetic can be done on numeric fields using `+`, `-` and `*`. E.g. `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
ec2e44fc 1272
62b58c09 12731. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. E.g. `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
ec2e44fc 1274
62b58c09 12751. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. E.g. `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1276
ec9311c4 12771. **Replacement**: A replacement value can be specified using a `&` separator according to the [`str.format` mini-language](https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#format-specification-mini-language). 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. E.g. `%(chapters&has chapters|no chapters)s`, `%(title&TITLE={:>20}|NO TITLE)s`
e978789f 1278
17ffed18 12791. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` separator. This overrides `--output-na-placeholder`. E.g. `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
ec2e44fc 1280
9b9dad11 12811. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, yt-dlp additionally supports converting to `B` = **B**ytes, `j` = **j**son (flag `#` for pretty-printing, `+` for Unicode), `h` = HTML escaping, `l` = a comma separated **l**ist (flag `#` for `\n` newline-separated), `q` = a string **q**uoted for the terminal (flag `#` to split a list into different arguments), `D` = add **D**ecimal suffixes (e.g. 10M) (flag `#` to use 1024 as factor), and `S` = **S**anitize as filename (flag `#` for restricted)
ec2e44fc 1282
d5d1df8a 12831. **Unicode normalization**: The format type `U` can be used for NFC [Unicode normalization](https://docs.python.org/3/library/unicodedata.html#unicodedata.normalize). The alternate form flag (`#`) changes the normalization to NFD and the conversion flag `+` can be used for NFKC/NFKD compatibility equivalence normalization. E.g. `%(title)+.100U` is NFKC
a439a3a4 1284
1285To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1286```
e978789f 1287%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
a439a3a4 1288```
de6000d9 1289
62b58c09 1290Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files separately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template separated by a colon `:`. The different file types supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation` (deprecated), `infojson`, `link`, `pl_thumbnail`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`, `pl_video`. E.g. `-o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s"` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video. If any of the templates is empty, that type of file will not be written. E.g. `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
e29663c6 1291
4815bbfc 1292<a id="outtmpl-postprocess-note"/>
7aaf4cd2 1293
8e174ba7 1294**Note**: Due to post-processing (i.e. merging etc.), the actual output filename might differ. Use `--print after_move:filepath` to get the name after all post-processing is complete.
7aaf4cd2 1295
e29663c6 1296The available fields are:
b7770046
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1297
1298 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1299 - `title` (string): Video title
455a15e2 1300 - `fulltitle` (string): Video title ignoring live timestamp and generic title
b7770046
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1301 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1302 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
597c1866 1303 - `description` (string): The description of the video
b7770046
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1304 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1305 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1306 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1307 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
b7770046 1308 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
ae6a1b95 1309 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date in UTC (YYYYMMDD)
e6f21b3d 1310 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
ae6a1b95 1311 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released in UTC
1732eccc 1312 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the video or album was released
f0d785d3 1313 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
ae6a1b95 1314 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified in UTC
b7770046
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1315 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1316 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1317 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
6c73052c 1318 - `channel_follower_count` (numeric): Number of followers of the channel
8213ce28 1319 - `channel_is_verified` (boolean): Whether the channel is verified on the platform
b7770046
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1320 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1321 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
53c18592 1322 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
b7770046 1323 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
867c66ff 1324 - `concurrent_view_count` (numeric): How many users are currently watching the video on the platform.
b7770046
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1325 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1326 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1327 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1328 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
277d6ff5 1329 - `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 1330 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
e325a21a 1331 - `live_status` (string): One of "not_live", "is_live", "is_upcoming", "was_live", "post_live" (was live, but VOD is not yet processed)
b7770046 1332 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
f76ede8e 1333 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
6cfda058 1334 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
940a67a3 1335 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
b7770046
U
1336 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1337 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
b7770046
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1338 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1339 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
455a15e2 1340 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch of when the information extraction was completed
b532a348 1341 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`, padded with leading zeros to 5 digits
9c906919 1342 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
e6f21b3d 1343 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
455a15e2 1344 - `playlist_id` (string): Identifier of the playlist that contains the video
1345 - `playlist_title` (string): Name of the playlist that contains the video
1346 - `playlist` (string): `playlist_id` or `playlist_title`
f0d785d3 1347 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
e6f21b3d 1348 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1349 - `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
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1350 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1351 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
bd99f6e6 1352 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
0bb322b9 1353 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1354 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
bd99f6e6 1355 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
d2c8aadf 1356
1357All the fields in [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats) can also be used
b7770046
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1358
1359Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1360
1361 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1362 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1363 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1364
1365Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1366
1367 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1368 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1369 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1370 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1371 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1372 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1373 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1374
1375Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1376
1377 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1378 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1379 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1380 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1381 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1382 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1383 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1384 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1385 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
b7770046 1386
5ec1b6b7 1387Available only when using `--download-sections` and for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
72755351 1388
1389 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1390 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1391 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1392 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1393
53c18592 1394Available only when used in `--print`:
1395
1396 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
7aaf4cd2 1397 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the [actual filename may differ](#outtmpl-postprocess-note)
ed5835b4 1398 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1399 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1400 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1401 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1402
ad54c913 1403 Available only after the video is downloaded (`post_process`/`after_move`):
7a340e0d 1404
ad54c913 1405 - `filepath`: Actual path of downloaded video file
1406
7a340e0d
NA
1407Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1408
1409 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1410 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1338ae3b 1411 - `categories` (list): The [SponsorBlock categories](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Category) the chapter belongs to
7a340e0d
NA
1412 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1413 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1414 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
1338ae3b 1415 - `type` (string): The [SponsorBlock action type](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Action_Type) of the chapter
53c18592 1416
62b58c09 1417Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. E.g. for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `yt-dlp test video` and id `BaW_jenozKc`, this will result in a `yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKc.mp4` file created in the current directory.
49a57e70 1418
8e174ba7 1419**Note**: 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 1420
0930b11f 1421**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
b7770046 1422
62b58c09 1423For numeric sequences you can use [numeric related formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting); e.g. `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
b7770046 1424
940a67a3 1425Output 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
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1426
1427To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1428
91ebc640 1429The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
b7770046 1430
f304da8a 1431In 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 1432
b7770046
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1433#### Output template examples
1434
b7770046 1435```bash
d2c8aadf 1436$ yt-dlp --print filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1437test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1438
d2c8aadf 1439$ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
9222c381 1440youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
b7770046 1441
d2c8aadf 1442$ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
9222c381 1443youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
b7770046
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1444
1445# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
940a67a3 1446$ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
b7770046 1447
b050d210 1448# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
940a67a3 1449$ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
e29663c6 1450
e978789f 1451# Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
ad54c913 1452$ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist_index&{} - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
e978789f 1453
b7770046 1454# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
940a67a3 1455$ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
b7770046
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1456
1457# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
940a67a3 1458$ yt-dlp -u user -p password -P "~/MyVideos" -o "%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial"
b7770046
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1459
1460# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
940a67a3 1461$ 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 1462
6a34813a 1463# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1464# and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1465$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1466
1467# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1468$ 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
1469
b7770046 1470# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
7a5c1cfe 1471$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
b7770046
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1472```
1473
1474# FORMAT SELECTION
1475
7a5c1cfe
P
1476By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1477This 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 1478
c111cefa 1479**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.
1480
eff63539 1481The 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 1482
ec2e44fc 1483<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1484**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
ec2e44fc 1485<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
b7770046 1486
62b58c09 1487The simplest case is requesting a specific format; e.g. with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
b7770046
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1488
1489You 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.
1490
fa9f30b8 1491You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1492
b7770046
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1493You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1494
59a7a13e 1495 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1496 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
30389593 1497 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio or both (ie; `vcodec!=none or acodec!=none`)
59a7a13e 1498 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1499 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1500 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1501 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
ae6a1b95 1502 - `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 1503 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
909d24dd 1504 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1505 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 1506 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 1507 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 1508 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
b7770046 1509
d4ada357 1510For 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 1511
1512You 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 1513
304ad45a 1514If you want to download multiple videos, and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred; e.g. `-f 22/17/18` will download format 22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
b7770046
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1515
1516If 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`.
1517
62b58c09 1518You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg installed); e.g. `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg.
d806c9fd 1519
1520**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
1521
304ad45a 1522Unless `--video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, unless `--audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. E.g. `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --video-multistreams --audio-multistreams` will download and merge all 3 given formats. The resulting file will have 2 video streams and 2 audio streams. But `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --no-video-multistreams` will download and merge only `bestvideo` and `bestaudio`. `best` is ignored since another format containing a video stream (`bestvideo`) has already been selected. The order of the formats is therefore important. `-f best+bestaudio --no-audio-multistreams` will download only `best` while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
eb8a4433 1523
1524## Filtering Formats
1525
b532a348 1526You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"` since filters without a selector are interpreted as `best`).
b7770046
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1527
1528The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1529
1530 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
d2c8aadf 1531 - `filesize_approx`: An estimate for the number of bytes
b7770046
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1532 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1533 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
105bfd90 1534 - `aspect_ratio`: Aspect ratio of the video, if known
b7770046
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1535 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1536 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1537 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1538 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1539 - `fps`: Frame rate
d2c8aadf 1540 - `audio_channels`: The number of audio channels
1541 - `stretched_ratio`: `width:height` of the video's pixels, if not square
b7770046 1542
1ce9a3cb 1543Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains), `~=` (matches regex) and following string meta fields:
b7770046 1544
d2c8aadf 1545 - `url`: Video URL
b7770046
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1546 - `ext`: File extension
1547 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1548 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1549 - `container`: Name of the container format
1550 - `protocol`: The protocol that will be used for the actual download, lower-case (`http`, `https`, `rtsp`, `rtmp`, `rtmpe`, `mms`, `f4m`, `ism`, `http_dash_segments`, `m3u8`, or `m3u8_native`)
29f7c58a 1551 - `language`: Language code
d2c8aadf 1552 - `dynamic_range`: The dynamic range of the video
1553 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
1554 - `format`: A human-readable description of the format
1555 - `format_note`: Additional info about the format
1556 - `resolution`: Textual description of width and height
b7770046 1557
1ce9a3cb 1558Any 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 1559
8e174ba7 1560**Note**: 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 1561
b532a348 1562Formats 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 "bv[height<=?720][tbr>500]"` selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s. You can also use the filters with `all` to download all formats that satisfy the filter, e.g. `-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
b7770046 1563
62b58c09 1564Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses; e.g. `-f "(mp4,webm)[height<480]"` will download the best pre-merged mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480.
b7770046 1565
eb8a4433 1566## Sorting Formats
1567
2e7781a9 1568You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1569
1570The available fields are:
eb8a4433 1571
304ad45a 1572 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that have a video stream
1573 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that have an audio stream
ed8d87f9 1574 - `ie_pref`: The format preference
1575 - `lang`: The language preference
1576 - `quality`: The quality of the format
1577 - `source`: The preference of the source
d80d98e7 1578 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1579 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
a5387729 1580 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `ac4` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
eb8a4433 1581 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
29ca4082 1582 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `mov` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
f2e9fa3e 1583 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > `mp3` > `m4a` > `aac`
63be1aab 1584 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
0930b11f 1585 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
62b5c94c 1586 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize
63be1aab 1587 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
eb8a4433 1588 - `height`: Height of video
1589 - `width`: Width of video
63be1aab 1590 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1591 - `fps`: Framerate of video
49a57e70 1592 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
b8ed0f15 1593 - `channels`: The number of audio channels
63be1aab 1594 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1595 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1596 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
62b5c94c 1597 - `br`: Average bitrate in KBit/s, `tbr`/`vbr`/`abr`
63be1aab 1598 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
d806c9fd 1599
1600**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 1601
62b58c09 1602All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. E.g. `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a `:`. E.g. `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two preferred values, the first for video and the second for audio. E.g. `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `vp9.2` > `av01` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. E.g. `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
9ee4f0bb 1603
7e798d72 1604The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--format-sort-force`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,hdr:12,vcodec:vp9.2,channels,acodec,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. The extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
eb8a4433 1605
7e798d72 1606Note that the default has `vcodec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not preferred. Similarly, the default for hdr is `hdr:12`; i.e. dolby vision is not preferred. These choices are made since DV and AV1 formats are not yet fully compatible with most devices. This may be changed in the future as more devices become capable of smoothly playing back these formats.
eb8a4433 1607
e58c22a0 1608If 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 1609
1610**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1611
eb8a4433 1612## Format Selection examples
b7770046 1613
b7770046 1614```bash
e58c22a0 1615# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
909d24dd 1616# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
940a67a3 1617$ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
909d24dd 1618
1619# Download best format that contains video,
1620# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
940a67a3 1621$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
2af884ff 1622
1623# Same as above
7a5c1cfe 1624$ yt-dlp
909d24dd 1625
6fd35a11 1626# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1627# For this case, an output template should be used since
1628# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
940a67a3 1629$ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
909d24dd 1630
f8d4ad9a 1631# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1632# and all audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1633$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
f8d4ad9a 1634
1635# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1636# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
940a67a3 1637$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
909d24dd 1638
6fd35a11 1639
1640# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
f8d4ad9a 1641# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
6fd35a11 1642
1643# Download the worst video available (old method)
940a67a3 1644$ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
eb8a4433 1645
1646# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
940a67a3 1647$ yt-dlp -S "+res"
eb8a4433 1648
1649# Download the smallest video available
940a67a3 1650$ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
eb8a4433 1651
1652
909d24dd 1653
eb8a4433 1654# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
940a67a3 1655$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
eb8a4433 1656
1657# Download the best video with the best extension
29ca4082 1658# (For video, mp4 > mov > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
940a67a3 1659$ yt-dlp -S "ext"
eb8a4433 1660
1661
909d24dd 1662
eb8a4433 1663# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1664# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1665$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
b7770046 1666
eb8a4433 1667# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1668# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
940a67a3 1669$ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
b7770046 1670
eb8a4433 1671# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1672# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1673# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1674# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
940a67a3 1675$ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
b7770046 1676
b7770046 1677
909d24dd 1678
eb8a4433 1679# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1680# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1681$ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
eb8a4433 1682
1683# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1684# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
940a67a3 1685$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
eb8a4433 1686
1687# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
940a67a3 1688$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
eb8a4433 1689
1690
909d24dd 1691
eb8a4433 1692# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1693# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
940a67a3 1694$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1695
1696# Download best video available via the best protocol
1697# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
940a67a3 1698$ yt-dlp -S "proto"
eb8a4433 1699
1700
909d24dd 1701
1ce9a3cb
LF
1702# Download the best video with either h264 or h265 codec,
1703# or the best video if there is no such video
1704$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*[vcodec~='^((he|a)vc|h26[45])']+ba) / (bv*+ba/b)"
eb8a4433 1705
1706# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1707# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1708$ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1709
1710# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1711# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
940a67a3 1712$ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
eb8a4433 1713
1714
1715
1716# More complex examples
1717
e58c22a0 1718# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1719# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
940a67a3 1720$ 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 1721
1722# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
f8d4ad9a 1723# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1724# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
940a67a3 1725$ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
eb8a4433 1726
1727
909d24dd 1728
eb8a4433 1729# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1730# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
e58c22a0 1731# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
940a67a3 1732$ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
b7770046 1733```
eb8a4433 1734
73cd218f 1735# MODIFYING METADATA
1736
a4211baf 1737The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
e9f4ccd1 1738
418964fa 1739`--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 1740
46d09f87 1741The general syntax of `--parse-metadata FROM:TO` is to give the name of a field or an [output template](#output-template) to extract data from, and the format to interpret it as, separated by a colon `:`. Either a [python regular expression](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html#regular-expression-syntax) with named capture groups, a single field name, or a similar syntax to the [output template](#output-template) (only `%(field)s` formatting is supported) can be used for `TO`. The option can be used multiple times to parse and modify various fields.
73cd218f 1742
46d09f87 1743Note that these options preserve their relative order, allowing replacements to be made in parsed fields and viceversa. Also, any field thus created can be used in the [output template](#output-template) and will also affect the media file's metadata added when using `--embed-metadata`.
73cd218f 1744
9c2b75b5 1745This option also has a few special uses:
3d3bb168 1746
c8bc203f 1747* You can download an additional URL based on the metadata of the currently downloaded video. To do this, set the field `additional_urls` to the URL that you want to download. E.g. `--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)"` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
3d3bb168 1748
62b58c09 1749* You can use this to change the metadata that is embedded in the media file. To do this, set the value of the corresponding field with a `meta_` prefix. For example, any value you set to `meta_description` field will be added to the `description` field in the file - you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis". To modify the metadata of individual streams, use the `meta<n>_` prefix (e.g. `meta1_language`). Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
c31be5b0 1750
08d30158 1751**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.
1752
c31be5b0 1753For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1754
08d30158 1755Metadata fields | From
1756:--------------------------|:------------------------------------------------
1757`title` | `track` or `title`
1758`date` | `upload_date`
1759`description`, `synopsis` | `description`
1760`purl`, `comment` | `webpage_url`
1761`track` | `track_number`
1762`artist` | `artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1763`genre` | `genre`
1764`album` | `album`
1765`album_artist` | `album_artist`
1766`disc` | `disc_number`
1767`show` | `series`
1768`season_number` | `season_number`
1769`episode_id` | `episode` or `episode_id`
1770`episode_sort` | `episode_number`
1771`language` of each stream | the format's `language`
1772
c31be5b0 1773**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1774
73cd218f 1775
1776## Modifying metadata examples
1777
73cd218f 1778```bash
1779# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
940a67a3 1780$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
73cd218f 1781
1782# Regex example
940a67a3 1783$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
73cd218f 1784
1785# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
940a67a3 1786$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
73cd218f 1787
a44ca5a4 1788# Prioritize uploader as the "artist" field in video metadata
2fa669f7 1789$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" --embed-metadata
a44ca5a4 1790
1791# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url,
1792# handling multiple lines correctly
2fa669f7 1793$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --embed-metadata
73cd218f 1794
8aa0e7cd 1795# Do not set any "synopsis" in the video metadata
1796$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<meta_synopsis>)"
1797
0930b11f 1798# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
7f9c6a63 1799$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "video::(?P<formats>)" --write-info-json
0930b11f 1800
e9f4ccd1 1801# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
940a67a3 1802$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
e9f4ccd1 1803
73cd218f 1804```
1805
5d3a0e79 1806# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1807
62b58c09 1808Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) separated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. E.g. `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=android_embedded,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
5d3a0e79 1809
a5387729 1810Note: In CLI, `ARG` can use `-` instead of `_`; e.g. `youtube:player-client"` becomes `youtube:player_client"`
1811
5d3a0e79 1812The following extractors use this feature:
96565c7e 1813
1814#### youtube
8e174ba7 1815* `lang`: Prefer translated metadata (`title`, `description` etc) of this language code (case-sensitive). By default, the video primary language metadata is preferred, with a fallback to `en` translated. See [youtube.py](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c26f9b991a0681fd3ea548d535919cec1fbbd430/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py#L381-L390) for list of supported content language codes
8aa0e7cd 1816* `skip`: One or more of `hls`, `dash` or `translated_subs` to skip extraction of the m3u8 manifests, dash manifests and [auto-translated subtitles](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/4090#issuecomment-1158102032) respectively
fd8fcf8f 1817* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android` and `ios` with variants `_music`, `_embedded`, `_embedscreen`, `_creator` (e.g. `web_embedded`); and `mweb`, `mweb_embedscreen` and `tv_embedded` (agegate bypass) with no variants. By default, `ios,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 1818* `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
ba06d77a 1819* `player_params`: YouTube player parameters to use for player requests. Will overwrite any default ones set by yt-dlp.
96565c7e 1820* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
a44ca5a4 1821* `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`
1822 * 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
b532a348 1823* `formats`: Change the types of formats to return. `dashy` (convert HTTP to DASH), `duplicate` (identical content but different URLs or protocol; includes `dashy`), `incomplete` (cannot be downloaded completely - live dash and post-live m3u8)
1e4fca9a 1824* `innertube_host`: Innertube API host to use for all API requests; e.g. `studio.youtube.com`, `youtubei.googleapis.com`. Note that cookies exported from one subdomain will not work on others
2ae778b8 1825* `innertube_key`: Innertube API key to use for all API requests
eb5bdbfa 1826* `raise_incomplete_data`: `Incomplete Data Received` raises an error instead of reporting a warning
96565c7e 1827
1828#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1829* `skip`: One or more of `webpage` (skip initial webpage download), `authcheck` (allow the download of playlists requiring authentication when no initial webpage is downloaded. This may cause unwanted behavior, see [#1122](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/1122) for more details)
5225df50 1830* `approximate_date`: Extract approximate `upload_date` and `timestamp` in flat-playlist. This may cause date-based filters to be slightly off
96565c7e 1831
3b021eac 1832#### generic
5cc0a8fd 1833* `fragment_query`: Passthrough any query in mpd/m3u8 manifest URLs to their fragments if no value is provided, or else apply the query string given as `fragment_query=VALUE`. Does not apply to ffmpeg
1834* `variant_query`: Passthrough the master m3u8 URL query to its variant playlist URLs if no value is provided, or else apply the query string given as `variant_query=VALUE`
c2e0fc40 1835* `hls_key`: An HLS AES-128 key URI *or* key (as hex), and optionally the IV (as hex), in the form of `(URI|KEY)[,IV]`; e.g. `generic:hls_key=ABCDEF1234567980,0xFEDCBA0987654321`. Passing any of these values will force usage of the native HLS downloader and override the corresponding values found in the m3u8 playlist
93e7c699 1836* `is_live`: Bypass live HLS detection and manually set `live_status` - a value of `false` will set `not_live`, any other value (or no value) will set `is_live`
3b021eac 1837
96565c7e 1838#### funimation
304ad45a 1839* `language`: Audio languages to extract, e.g. `funimation:language=english,japanese`
96565c7e 1840* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1841
cb1553e9 1842#### crunchyrollbeta (Crunchyroll)
62b58c09 1843* `format`: Which stream type(s) to extract (default: `adaptive_hls`). Potentially useful values include `adaptive_hls`, `adaptive_dash`, `vo_adaptive_hls`, `vo_adaptive_dash`, `download_hls`, `download_dash`, `multitrack_adaptive_hls_v2`
dfea94f8 1844* `hardsub`: Preference order for which hardsub versions to extract, or `all` (default: `None` = no hardsubs), e.g. `crunchyrollbeta:hardsub=en-US,None`
706dfe44 1845
96565c7e 1846#### vikichannel
1847* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
73d829c1 1848
7bdcb4a4
LNO
1849#### niconico
1850* `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.**
1851
aa4b0545 1852#### youtubewebarchive
1853* `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1854
d43de682
M
1855#### gamejolt
1856* `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1857
26f2aa3d
AG
1858#### hotstar
1859* `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1860* `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1861* `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1862
698beb9a
M
1863#### niconicochannelplus
1864* `max_comments`: Maximum number of comments to extract - default is `120`
1865
046cab39 1866#### tiktok
c4cbd3be 1867* `api_hostname`: Hostname to use for mobile API requests, e.g. `api-h2.tiktokv.com`
62b58c09
L
1868* `app_version`: App version to call mobile APIs with - should be set along with `manifest_app_version`, e.g. `20.2.1`
1869* `manifest_app_version`: Numeric app version to call mobile APIs with, e.g. `221`
046cab39 1870
7eaf7f9a 1871#### rokfinchannel
62b58c09 1872* `tab`: Which tab to download - one of `new`, `top`, `videos`, `podcasts`, `streams`, `stacks`
7eaf7f9a 1873
b03fa783 1874#### twitter
a006ce2b 1875* `api`: Select one of `graphql` (default), `legacy` or `syndication` as the API for tweet extraction. Has no effect if logged in
b03fa783 1876
af1fd12f 1877#### stacommu, wrestleuniverse
ef8fb7f0 1878* `device_id`: UUID value assigned by the website and used to enforce device limits for paid livestream content. Can be found in browser local storage
1879
7f9c6a63 1880#### twitch
1881* `client_id`: Client ID value to be sent with GraphQL requests, e.g. `twitch:client_id=kimne78kx3ncx6brgo4mv6wki5h1ko`
01231feb 1882
81c8b9bd 1883#### nhkradirulive (NHK らじる★らじる LIVE)
1884* `area`: Which regional variation to extract. Valid areas are: `sapporo`, `sendai`, `tokyo`, `nagoya`, `osaka`, `hiroshima`, `matsuyama`, `fukuoka`. Defaults to `tokyo`
1885
1eaca74b 1886#### nflplusreplay
1887* `type`: Type(s) of game replays to extract. Valid types are: `full_game`, `full_game_spanish`, `condensed_game` and `all_22`. You can use `all` to extract all available replay types, which is the default
1888
8e174ba7 1889**Note**: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
5d3a0e79 1890
ec2e44fc 1891<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1892
3acf6d38 1893
f74980cb 1894# PLUGINS
b7770046 1895
8e40b9d1 1896Note that **all** plugins are imported even if not invoked, and that **there are no checks** performed on plugin code. **Use plugins at your own risk and only if you trust the code!**
3ae5e797 1897
8e40b9d1
M
1898Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`.
1899- Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it.
1900- Extractor plugins take priority over builtin extractors.
1901- Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
3ae5e797 1902
3ae5e797 1903
8e40b9d1 1904Plugins are loaded from the namespace packages `yt_dlp_plugins.extractor` and `yt_dlp_plugins.postprocessor`.
3ae5e797 1905
8e40b9d1
M
1906In other words, the file structure on the disk looks something like:
1907
1908 yt_dlp_plugins/
1909 extractor/
1910 myplugin.py
1911 postprocessor/
1912 myplugin.py
1913
1914yt-dlp looks for these `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folders in many locations (see below) and loads in plugins from **all** of them.
b7770046 1915
deae7c17 1916See the [wiki for some known plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Plugins)
1917
8e40b9d1
M
1918## Installing Plugins
1919
1920Plugins can be installed using various methods and locations.
1921
19221. **Configuration directories**:
1923 Plugin packages (containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder) can be dropped into the following standard [configuration locations](#configuration):
1924 * **User Plugins**
1925 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1926 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1927 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Windows)
773c272d 1928 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
8e40b9d1
M
1929 * `~/.yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1930 * `~/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1931 * **System Plugins**
1932 * `/etc/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1933 * `/etc/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
c8bc203f 19342. **Executable location**: Plugin packages can similarly be installed in a `yt-dlp-plugins` directory under the executable location (recommended for portable installations):
8e40b9d1
M
1935 * Binary: where `<root-dir>/yt-dlp.exe`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1936 * Source: where `<root-dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1937
19383. **pip and other locations in `PYTHONPATH`**
e756f45b 1939 * Plugin packages can be installed and managed using `pip`. See [yt-dlp-sample-plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-sample-plugins) for an example.
8e174ba7 1940 * Note: plugin files between plugin packages installed with pip must have unique filenames.
8e40b9d1
M
1941 * Any path in `PYTHONPATH` is searched in for the `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder.
1942 * Note: This does not apply for Pyinstaller/py2exe builds.
1943
1944
8e174ba7 1945`.zip`, `.egg` and `.whl` archives containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder in their root are also supported as plugin packages.
1946* e.g. `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/mypluginpkg.zip` where `mypluginpkg.zip` contains `yt_dlp_plugins/<type>/myplugin.py`
8e40b9d1 1947
8e174ba7 1948Run yt-dlp with `--verbose` to check if the plugin has been loaded.
8e40b9d1
M
1949
1950## Developing Plugins
1951
8e174ba7 1952See the [yt-dlp-sample-plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-sample-plugins) repo for a template plugin package and the [Plugin Development](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Plugin-Development) section of the wiki for a plugin development guide.
8e40b9d1 1953
8e174ba7 1954All public classes with a name ending in `IE`/`PP` are imported from each file for extractors and postprocessors repectively. This respects underscore prefix (e.g. `_MyBasePluginIE` is private) and `__all__`. Modules can similarly be excluded by prefixing the module name with an underscore (e.g. `_myplugin.py`).
e756f45b 1955
773c272d 1956To replace an existing extractor with a subclass of one, set the `plugin_name` class keyword argument (e.g. `class MyPluginIE(ABuiltInIE, plugin_name='myplugin')` will replace `ABuiltInIE` with `MyPluginIE`). Since the extractor replaces the parent, you should exclude the subclass extractor from being imported separately by making it private using one of the methods described above.
8e40b9d1 1957
8e174ba7 1958If you are a plugin author, add [yt-dlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/yt-dlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability.
b7770046 1959
8e40b9d1 1960See the [Developer Instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions) on how to write and test an extractor.
8c6f4daa 1961
1962# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1963
1964yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1965
1966Your 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.
1967
1968From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1969
1970```python
59a7a13e 1971from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
8c6f4daa 1972
3d3bb168 1973URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1974with YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1975 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 1976```
1977
b532a348 1978Most 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#L183) or `help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)` in a Python shell. If you are already familiar with the CLI, you can use [`devscripts/cli_to_api.py`](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/devscripts/cli_to_api.py) to translate any CLI switches to `YoutubeDL` params.
8c6f4daa 1979
43cc91ad 1980**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 1981
1982## Embedding examples
1983
43cc91ad 1984#### Extracting information
8c6f4daa 1985
1986```python
1987import json
8c6f4daa 1988import yt_dlp
8c6f4daa 1989
3d3bb168 1990URL = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1991
1992# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL) for a list of available options and public functions
1993ydl_opts = {}
1994with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1995 info = ydl.extract_info(URL, download=False)
1996
1997 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1998 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1999```
43cc91ad 2000#### Download using an info-json
3d3bb168 2001
2002```python
2003import yt_dlp
2004
2005INFO_FILE = 'path/to/video.info.json'
2006
2007with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
2008 error_code = ydl.download_with_info_file(INFO_FILE)
2009
2010print('Some videos failed to download' if error_code
2011 else 'All videos successfully downloaded')
2012```
2013
43cc91ad 2014#### Extract audio
3d3bb168 2015
2016```python
2017import yt_dlp
2018
2019URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2020
2021ydl_opts = {
0a41f331 2022 'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
3d3bb168 2023 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor) for a list of available Postprocessors and their arguments
2024 'postprocessors': [{ # Extract audio using ffmpeg
2025 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
2026 'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
2027 }]
2028}
2029
2030with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2031 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
2032```
0a41f331 2033
2034#### Filter videos
2035
2036```python
2037import yt_dlp
2038
2039URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2040
2041def longer_than_a_minute(info, *, incomplete):
2042 """Download only videos longer than a minute (or with unknown duration)"""
2043 duration = info.get('duration')
2044 if duration and duration < 60:
2045 return 'The video is too short'
2046
2047ydl_opts = {
2048 'match_filter': longer_than_a_minute,
2049}
2050
2051with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2052 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
2053```
2054
43cc91ad 2055#### Adding logger and progress hook
3d3bb168 2056
2057```python
2058import yt_dlp
2059
2060URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
8c6f4daa 2061
2062class MyLogger:
2063 def debug(self, msg):
e75bb0d6 2064 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
8c6f4daa 2065 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
2066 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
2067 pass
2068 else:
2069 self.info(msg)
2070
2071 def info(self, msg):
2072 pass
2073
2074 def warning(self, msg):
2075 pass
2076
2077 def error(self, msg):
2078 print(msg)
2079
2080
3d3bb168 2081# ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)
2082def my_hook(d):
2083 if d['status'] == 'finished':
2084 print('Done downloading, now post-processing ...')
2085
2086
2087ydl_opts = {
2088 'logger': MyLogger(),
2089 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
2090}
2091
2092with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2093 ydl.download(URLS)
2094```
2095
43cc91ad 2096#### Add a custom PostProcessor
3d3bb168 2097
2098```python
2099import yt_dlp
2100
2101URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2102
2103# ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor)
59a7a13e 2104class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
8c6f4daa 2105 def run(self, info):
2106 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
2107 return [], info
2108
2109
3d3bb168 2110with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
8aa0e7cd 2111 # ℹ️ "when" can take any value in yt_dlp.utils.POSTPROCESS_WHEN
2112 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP(), when='pre_process')
3d3bb168 2113 ydl.download(URLS)
2114```
8c6f4daa 2115
2116
43cc91ad 2117#### Use a custom format selector
3d3bb168 2118
2119```python
2120import yt_dlp
2121
c8bc203f 2122URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
3d3bb168 2123
093a1710 2124def format_selector(ctx):
2125 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
3d3bb168 2126 NOTE: This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
093a1710 2127
2128 # formats are already sorted worst to best
2129 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
2130
2131 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
2132 best_video = next(f for f in formats
2133 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
2134
2135 # find compatible audio extension
2136 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
2137 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
2138 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
2139 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
2140
3d3bb168 2141 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
093a1710 2142 yield {
093a1710 2143 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
2144 'ext': best_video['ext'],
2145 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
e75bb0d6 2146 # Must be + separated list of protocols
093a1710 2147 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
2148 }
2149
2150
8c6f4daa 2151ydl_opts = {
093a1710 2152 'format': format_selector,
8c6f4daa 2153}
2154
2155with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
3d3bb168 2156 ydl.download(URLS)
8c6f4daa 2157```
2158
ec2e44fc 2159<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "NEW FEATURES" SECTION HERE -->
2160
e167860c 2161# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
2162
2163These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
2164
8130779d 2165#### Almost redundant options
2166While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
2167
2168 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
2169 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
0bfc53d0 2170 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table --print playlist:thumbnails_table
8130779d 2171 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
2172
6ccf351a 2173#### Redundant options
2174While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
f4536226 2175
53c18592 2176 --get-description --print description
2177 --get-duration --print duration_string
2178 --get-filename --print filename
2179 --get-format --print format
2180 --get-id --print id
2181 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
2182 -e, --get-title --print title
2183 -g, --get-url --print urls
8f18aca8 2184 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
2185 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
2186 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
2187 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
fe2ce85a 2188 --break-on-reject Use --break-match-filter
8b7539d2 2189 --user-agent UA --add-header "User-Agent:UA"
2190 --referer URL --add-header "Referer:URL"
7e88d7d7 2191 --playlist-start NUMBER -I NUMBER:
2192 --playlist-end NUMBER -I :NUMBER
2193 --playlist-reverse -I ::-1
2194 --no-playlist-reverse Default
8417f26b 2195 --no-colors --color no_color
6ccf351a 2196
2197
2198#### Not recommended
2199While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
2200
fe7866d0 2201 --force-generic-extractor --ies generic,default
1e43a6f7 2202 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
2203 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
d9aa2332 2204 --all-formats -f all
c32b0aab 2205 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
b7b04c78 2206 --print-json -j --no-simulate
62b58c09 2207 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting, e.g. %(autonumber)03d
a439a3a4 2208 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
19b824f6 2209 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
73cd218f 2210 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
52a8a1e1 2211 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
2212 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
53ed7066 2213 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
2214 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
5d3a0e79 2215 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
2216 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
2217 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
2218 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
c1664464 2219 --geo-bypass --xff "default"
2220 --no-geo-bypass --xff "never"
2221 --geo-bypass-country CODE --xff CODE
2222 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK --xff IP_BLOCK
6ccf351a 2223
2224
2225#### Developer options
2226These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
2227
34488702 2228 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
f95b9dee 2229 --load-pages Load pages dumped by --write-pages
6ccf351a 2230 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
88acdbc2 2231 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
2232 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
f4536226 2233
2234
2235#### Old aliases
2236These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
2237
2238 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
3856407a 2239 --clean-infojson --clean-info-json
f4536226 2240 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
2241 --dump-headers --print-traffic
2242 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
2243 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
2244 --load-info --load-info-json
3856407a 2245 --no-clean-infojson --no-clean-info-json
f4536226 2246 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
e167860c 2247 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
e167860c 2248 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
2249 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
f4536226 2250 --split-tracks --split-chapters
2251 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
e167860c 2252 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
f4536226 2253 --write-srt --write-subs
e167860c 2254 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
f4536226 2255
7a340e0d 2256#### Sponskrub Options
f304da8a 2257Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
7a340e0d
NA
2258
2259 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
2260 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
2261 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
2262 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
2263 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
2264 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
2265 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
2266 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
2267
f4536226 2268#### No longer supported
2269These options may no longer work as intended
2270
2271 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
2272 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
2273 -C, --call-home Not implemented
2274 --no-call-home Default
2275 --include-ads No longer supported
2276 --no-include-ads Default
0bb1bc1b 2277 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
2278 --no-write-annotations Default
1e8fe57e 2279 --compat-options seperate-video-versions No longer needed
486fb179 2280
2281#### Removed
2282These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
2283
f4536226 2284 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
3d3bb168 2285 -t, -l, --title, --literal -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
f4536226 2286
8c6f4daa 2287# CONTRIBUTING
2288See [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 2289
17ffed18 2290# WIKI
2291See the [Wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki) for more information