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94eb2dd1 1youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
6bcd846b 2
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3# SYNOPSIS
4**youtube-dl** [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
5
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6# INSTALLATION
7
8To install it right away for all UNIX users (Linux, OS X, etc.), type:
9
10 sudo curl https://yt-dl.org/latest/youtube-dl -o /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
11 sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
12
13If you do not have curl, you can alternatively use a recent wget:
14
6e74521d 15 sudo wget https://yt-dl.org/downloads/latest/youtube-dl -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
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16 sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
17
18Windows users can [download a .exe file](https://yt-dl.org/latest/youtube-dl.exe) and place it in their home directory or any other location on their [PATH](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_%28variable%29).
19
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20OS X users can install **youtube-dl** with [Homebrew](http://brew.sh/).
21
22 brew install youtube-dl
23
24You can also use pip:
25
26 sudo pip install youtube-dl
27
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28Alternatively, refer to the developer instructions below for how to check out and work with the git repository. For further options, including PGP signatures, see https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html .
29
cfcec693 30# DESCRIPTION
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31**youtube-dl** is a small command-line program to download videos from
32YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version
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332.6, 2.7, or 3.3+, and it is not platform specific. It should work on
34your Unix box, on Windows or on Mac OS X. It is released to the public domain,
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35which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
36
cfcec693 37# OPTIONS
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38 -h, --help print this help text and exit
39 --version print program version and exit
40 -U, --update update this program to latest version. Make
41 sure that you have sufficient permissions
42 (run with sudo if needed)
43 -i, --ignore-errors continue on download errors, for example to
98c4b8fa 44 skip unavailable videos in a playlist
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45 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos (in the
46 playlist or the command line) if an error
47 occurs
48 --dump-user-agent display the current browser identification
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49 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and the URLs
50 they would handle
51 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
52 extractors
53 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS proxy. Pass in
54 an empty string (--proxy "") for direct
55 connection
780083db 56 --socket-timeout None Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
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57 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
58 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
59 from google videos for youtube-dl "large
f4d66a99 60 apple". Use the value "auto" to let
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61 youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
62 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
63 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
64 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
65 this is not possible instead of searching.
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66 --ignore-config Do not read configuration files. When given
67 in the global configuration file /etc
68 /youtube-dl.conf: do not read the user
69 configuration in ~/.config/youtube-dl.conf
70 (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt on
71 Windows)
08c1d0d3 72
cfcec693 73## Video Selection:
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74 --playlist-start NUMBER playlist video to start at (default is 1)
75 --playlist-end NUMBER playlist video to end at (default is last)
76 --match-title REGEX download only matching titles (regex or
77 caseless sub-string)
78 --reject-title REGEX skip download for matching titles (regex or
79 caseless sub-string)
80 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
81 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
82 SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
83 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
84 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
85 --date DATE download only videos uploaded in this date
86 --datebefore DATE download only videos uploaded on or before
87 this date (i.e. inclusive)
88 --dateafter DATE download only videos uploaded on or after
89 this date (i.e. inclusive)
90 --min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than
91 COUNT views
92 --max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than
93 COUNT views
94 --no-playlist download only the currently playing video
95 --age-limit YEARS download only videos suitable for the given
96 age
97 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
98 archive file. Record the IDs of all
99 downloaded videos in it.
100 --include-ads Download advertisements as well
101 (experimental)
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102 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Try to download the DASH manifest on
103 YouTube videos (experimental)
6bcd846b 104
d5a62e4f 105## Download Options:
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106 -r, --rate-limit LIMIT maximum download rate in bytes per second
107 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
108 -R, --retries RETRIES number of retries (default is 10)
109 --buffer-size SIZE size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
110 (default is 1024)
111 --no-resize-buffer do not automatically adjust the buffer
112 size. By default, the buffer size is
113 automatically resized from an initial value
114 of SIZE.
d5a62e4f 115
cfcec693 116## Filesystem Options:
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117 -a, --batch-file FILE file containing URLs to download ('-' for
118 stdin)
780083db 119 --id use only video ID in file name
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120 -A, --auto-number number downloaded files starting from 00000
121 -o, --output TEMPLATE output filename template. Use %(title)s to
122 get the title, %(uploader)s for the
123 uploader name, %(uploader_id)s for the
124 uploader nickname if different,
125 %(autonumber)s to get an automatically
126 incremented number, %(ext)s for the
127 filename extension, %(format)s for the
128 format description (like "22 - 1280x720" or
129 "HD"), %(format_id)s for the unique id of
130 the format (like Youtube's itags: "137"),
131 %(upload_date)s for the upload date
132 (YYYYMMDD), %(extractor)s for the provider
133 (youtube, metacafe, etc), %(id)s for the
134 video id, %(playlist)s for the playlist the
135 video is in, %(playlist_index)s for the
136 position in the playlist and %% for a
17b75c0d 137 literal percent. %(height)s and %(width)s
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138 for the width and height of the video
139 format. %(resolution)s for a textual
140 description of the resolution of the video
141 format. Use - to output to stdout. Can also
142 be used to download to a different
143 directory, for example with -o '/my/downloa
144 ds/%(uploader)s/%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .
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145 --autonumber-size NUMBER Specifies the number of digits in
146 %(autonumber)s when it is present in output
147 filename template or --auto-number option
148 is given
149 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
150 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
151 filenames
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152 -t, --title [deprecated] use title in file name
153 (default)
154 -l, --literal [deprecated] alias of --title
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155 -w, --no-overwrites do not overwrite files
156 -c, --continue force resume of partially downloaded files.
157 By default, youtube-dl will resume
158 downloads if possible.
159 --no-continue do not resume partially downloaded files
160 (restart from beginning)
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161 --no-part do not use .part files
162 --no-mtime do not use the Last-modified header to set
163 the file modification time
164 --write-description write video description to a .description
165 file
166 --write-info-json write video metadata to a .info.json file
167 --write-annotations write video annotations to a .annotation
168 file
169 --write-thumbnail write thumbnail image to disk
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170 --load-info FILE json file containing the video information
171 (created with the "--write-json" option)
172 --cookies FILE file to read cookies from and dump cookie
173 jar in
174 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
175 can store some downloaded information
176 permanently. By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME
177 /youtube-dl or ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the
178 moment, only YouTube player files (for
179 videos with obfuscated signatures) are
180 cached, but that may change.
181 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
182 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
6bcd846b 183
cfcec693 184## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
780083db 185 -q, --quiet activates quiet mode
6c072e7d 186 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
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187 -s, --simulate do not download the video and do not write
188 anything to disk
189 --skip-download do not download the video
190 -g, --get-url simulate, quiet but print URL
191 -e, --get-title simulate, quiet but print title
192 --get-id simulate, quiet but print id
193 --get-thumbnail simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
194 --get-description simulate, quiet but print video description
195 --get-duration simulate, quiet but print video length
196 --get-filename simulate, quiet but print output filename
197 --get-format simulate, quiet but print output format
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198 -j, --dump-json simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
199 See --output for a description of available
200 keys.
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201 --newline output progress bar as new lines
202 --no-progress do not print progress bar
203 --console-title display progress in console titlebar
204 -v, --verbose print various debugging information
205 --dump-intermediate-pages print downloaded pages to debug problems
206 (very verbose)
207 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
208 files in the current directory to debug
209 problems
210 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6bcd846b 211
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212## Workarounds:
213 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
214 --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation.
215 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
216 information about the video. (Currently
217 supported only for YouTube)
218 --user-agent UA specify a custom user agent
219 --referer REF specify a custom referer, use if the video
220 access is restricted to one domain
221 --add-header FIELD:VALUE specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
222 separated by a colon ':'. You can use this
223 option multiple times
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224 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
225 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
226 or fribidi executable in PATH
36f35428 227
cfcec693 228## Video Format Options:
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229 -f, --format FORMAT video format code, specify the order of
230 preference using slashes: "-f 22/17/18".
231 "-f mp4" and "-f flv" are also supported.
232 You can also use the special names "best",
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233 "bestvideo", "bestaudio", "worst",
234 "worstvideo" and "worstaudio". By default,
235 youtube-dl will pick the best quality.
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236 --all-formats download all available video formats
237 --prefer-free-formats prefer free video formats unless a specific
238 one is requested
239 --max-quality FORMAT highest quality format to download
240 -F, --list-formats list all available formats
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241
242## Subtitle Options:
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243 --write-sub write subtitle file
244 --write-auto-sub write automatic subtitle file (youtube
245 only)
246 --all-subs downloads all the available subtitles of
247 the video
248 --list-subs lists all available subtitles for the video
249 --sub-format FORMAT subtitle format (default=srt) ([sbv/vtt]
250 youtube only)
251 --sub-lang LANGS languages of the subtitles to download
252 (optional) separated by commas, use IETF
253 language tags like 'en,pt'
6bcd846b 254
cfcec693 255## Authentication Options:
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256 -u, --username USERNAME account username
257 -p, --password PASSWORD account password
b8313f07 258 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR two-factor auth code
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259 -n, --netrc use .netrc authentication data
260 --video-password PASSWORD video password (vimeo, smotri)
6bcd846b 261
cfcec693 262## Post-processing Options:
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263 -x, --extract-audio convert video files to audio-only files
264 (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
265 avprobe)
266 --audio-format FORMAT "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a",
267 "opus", or "wav"; best by default
268 --audio-quality QUALITY ffmpeg/avconv audio quality specification,
269 insert a value between 0 (better) and 9
270 (worse) for VBR or a specific bitrate like
271 128K (default 5)
272 --recode-video FORMAT Encode the video to another format if
273 necessary (currently supported:
09018e19 274 mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv)
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275 -k, --keep-video keeps the video file on disk after the
276 post-processing; the video is erased by
277 default
278 --no-post-overwrites do not overwrite post-processed files; the
279 post-processed files are overwritten by
280 default
281 --embed-subs embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4
282 videos)
d0f2ab69 283 --embed-thumbnail embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
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284 --add-metadata write metadata to the video file
285 --xattrs write metadata to the video file's xattrs
286 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
287 --prefer-avconv Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
288 postprocessors (default)
289 --prefer-ffmpeg Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
290 postprocessors
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291 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
292 downloading, similar to find's -exec
293 syntax. Example: --exec 'adb push {}
294 /sdcard/Music/ && rm {}'
6bcd846b 295
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296# CONFIGURATION
297
fe52f9f9 298You can configure youtube-dl by placing default arguments (such as `--extract-audio --no-mtime` to always extract the audio and not copy the mtime) into `/etc/youtube-dl.conf` and/or `~/.config/youtube-dl/config`. On Windows, the configuration file locations are `%APPDATA%\youtube-dl\config.txt` and `C:\Users\<Yourname>\youtube-dl.conf`.
df4bad32 299
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300# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
301
302The `-o` option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names. The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `youtube-dl -o funny_video.flv "http://some/video"`. However, it may contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences have the format `%(NAME)s`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parenthesis, followed by a lowercase S. Allowed names are:
303
304 - `id`: The sequence will be replaced by the video identifier.
305 - `url`: The sequence will be replaced by the video URL.
306 - `uploader`: The sequence will be replaced by the nickname of the person who uploaded the video.
307 - `upload_date`: The sequence will be replaced by the upload date in YYYYMMDD format.
308 - `title`: The sequence will be replaced by the video title.
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309 - `ext`: The sequence will be replaced by the appropriate extension (like flv or mp4).
310 - `epoch`: The sequence will be replaced by the Unix epoch when creating the file.
311 - `autonumber`: The sequence will be replaced by a five-digit number that will be increased with each download, starting at zero.
7eab8dc7 312 - `playlist`: The name or the id of the playlist that contains the video.
d281274b 313 - `playlist_index`: The index of the video in the playlist, a five-digit number.
02531431 314
1083705f 315The current default template is `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`.
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316
317In 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:
318
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319```bash
320$ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
321youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
322$ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
323youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
324```
02531431 325
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326# VIDEO SELECTION
327
328Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the options `--date`, `--datebefore` or `--dateafter`, they accept dates in two formats:
329
330 - Absolute dates: Dates in the format `YYYYMMDD`.
331 - Relative dates: Dates in the format `(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?`
332
333Examples:
334
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335```bash
336# Download only the videos uploaded in the last 6 months
337$ youtube-dl --dateafter now-6months
09c4d509 338
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339# Download only the videos uploaded on January 1, 1970
340$ youtube-dl --date 19700101
09c4d509 341
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342$ # will only download the videos uploaded in the 200x decade
343$ youtube-dl --dateafter 20000101 --datebefore 20091231
344```
e31852ab 345
cfcec693 346# FAQ
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347
348### Can you please put the -b option back?
349
2e1b3afe 350Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube-dl now defaults to downloading the highest available quality as reported by YouTube, which will be 1080p or 720p in some cases, so you no longer need the `-b` option. For some specific videos, maybe YouTube does not report them to be available in a specific high quality format you're interested in. In that case, simply request it with the `-f` option and youtube-dl will try to download it.
447b1d71 351
f2a3a352 352### I get HTTP error 402 when trying to download a video. What's this?
447b1d71 353
2e1b3afe 354Apparently YouTube requires you to pass a CAPTCHA test if you download too much. We're [considering to provide a way to let you solve the CAPTCHA](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/154), but at the moment, your best course of action is pointing a webbrowser to the youtube URL, solving the CAPTCHA, and restart youtube-dl.
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355
356### I have downloaded a video but how can I play it?
357
358Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such as [vlc](http://www.videolan.org) or [mplayer](http://www.mplayerhq.hu/).
359
360### The links provided by youtube-dl -g are not working anymore
361
a0432a1e 362The URLs youtube-dl outputs require the downloader to have the correct cookies. Use the `--cookies` option to write the required cookies into a file, and advise your downloader to read cookies from that file. Some sites also require a common user agent to be used, use `--dump-user-agent` to see the one in use by youtube-dl.
447b1d71 363
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364### ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info
365
5a2ba45e 366youtube has switched to a new video info format in July 2011 which is not supported by old versions of youtube-dl. You can update youtube-dl with `sudo youtube-dl --update`.
454d6691 367
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368### ERROR: unable to download video ###
369
370youtube requires an additional signature since September 2012 which is not supported by old versions of youtube-dl. You can update youtube-dl with `sudo youtube-dl --update`.
371
5cdfaeb3 372### SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character ###
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373
374The error
375
376 File "youtube-dl", line 2
377 SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character '\x93' ...
378
379means you're using an outdated version of Python. Please update to Python 2.6 or 2.7.
380
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381### What is this binary file? Where has the code gone?
382
71f36332 383Since June 2012 (#342) youtube-dl is packed as an executable zipfile, simply unzip it (might need renaming to `youtube-dl.zip` first on some systems) or clone the git repository, as laid out above. If you modify the code, you can run it by executing the `__main__.py` file. To recompile the executable, run `make youtube-dl`.
5cdfaeb3 384
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385### The exe throws a *Runtime error from Visual C++*
386
387To run the exe you need to install first the [Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package](http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29).
388
a96ed916 389# DEVELOPER INSTRUCTIONS
803abae2 390
63ef36e8 391Most users do not need to build youtube-dl and can [download the builds](http://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html) or get them from their distribution.
803abae2 392
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393To run youtube-dl as a developer, you don't need to build anything either. Simply execute
394
395 python -m youtube_dl
396
397To run the test, simply invoke your favorite test runner, or execute a test file directly; any of the following work:
398
399 python -m unittest discover
400 python test/test_download.py
401 nosetests
402
403If you want to create a build of youtube-dl yourself, you'll need
404
405* python
406* make
407* pandoc
408* zip
409* nosetests
6bcd846b 410
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411### Adding support for a new site
412
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413If you want to add support for a new site, you can follow this quick list (assuming your service is called `yourextractor`):
414
4151. [Fork this repository](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/fork)
4162. Check out the source code with `git clone git@github.com:YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/youtube-dl.git`
4173. Start a new git branch with `cd youtube-dl; git checkout -b yourextractor`
4184. Start with this simple template and save it to `youtube_dl/extractor/yourextractor.py`:
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419 ```python
420 # coding: utf-8
421 from __future__ import unicode_literals
422
423 import re
424
425 from .common import InfoExtractor
426
427
428 class YourExtractorIE(InfoExtractor):
429 _VALID_URL = r'https?://(?:www\.)?yourextractor\.com/watch/(?P<id>[0-9]+)'
430 _TEST = {
431 'url': 'http://yourextractor.com/watch/42',
432 'md5': 'TODO: md5 sum of the first 10KiB of the video file',
433 'info_dict': {
434 'id': '42',
435 'ext': 'mp4',
436 'title': 'Video title goes here',
218f7549 437 'thumbnail': 're:^https?://.*\.jpg$',
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438 # TODO more properties, either as:
439 # * A value
440 # * MD5 checksum; start the string with md5:
441 # * A regular expression; start the string with re:
442 # * Any Python type (for example int or float)
5fbd672c 443 }
1ce464ab 444 }
5fbd672c 445
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446 def _real_extract(self, url):
447 mobj = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)
448 video_id = mobj.group('id')
5fbd672c 449
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450 # TODO more code goes here, for example ...
451 webpage = self._download_webpage(url, video_id)
452 title = self._html_search_regex(r'<h1>(.*?)</h1>', webpage, 'title')
d1b3e3dd 453
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454 return {
455 'id': video_id,
456 'title': title,
457 # TODO more properties (see youtube_dl/extractor/common.py)
458 }
459 ```
5fbd672c 4605. Add an import in [`youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py`](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py).
ace52c57 4616. Run `python test/test_download.py TestDownload.test_YourExtractor`. This *should fail* at first, but you can continually re-run it until you're done. If you decide to add more than one test, then rename ``_TEST`` to ``_TESTS`` and make it into a list of dictionaries. The tests will be then be named `TestDownload.test_YourExtractor`, `TestDownload.test_YourExtractor_1`, `TestDownload.test_YourExtractor_2`, etc.
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4627. Have a look at [`youtube_dl/common/extractor/common.py`](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py) for possible helper methods and a [detailed description of what your extractor should return](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py#L38). Add tests and code for as many as you want.
4638. If you can, check the code with [pyflakes](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyflakes) (a good idea) and [pep8](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pep8) (optional, ignore E501).
4649. When the tests pass, [add](https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-add.html) the new files and [commit](https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-commit.html) them and [push](https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-push.html) the result, like this:
465
466 $ git add youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py
467 $ git add youtube_dl/extractor/yourextractor.py
468 $ git commit -m '[yourextractor] Add new extractor'
469 $ git push origin yourextractor
470
47110. Finally, [create a pull request](https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-pull-request). We'll then review and merge it.
472
473In any case, thank you very much for your contributions!
a96ed916 474
cfcec693 475# BUGS
e133e121 476
2a18bc9a 477Bugs and suggestions should be reported at: <https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues> . Unless you were prompted so or there is another pertinent reason (e.g. GitHub fails to accept the bug report), please do not send bug reports via personal email.
e133e121 478
2a18bc9a 479Please include the full output of the command when run with `--verbose`. The output (including the first lines) contain important debugging information. Issues without the full output are often not reproducible and therefore do not get solved in short order, if ever.
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480
481For discussions, join us in the irc channel #youtube-dl on freenode.
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482
483When you submit a request, please re-read it once to avoid a couple of mistakes (you can and should use this as a checklist):
484
485### Is the description of the issue itself sufficient?
486
487We often get issue reports that we cannot really decipher. While in most cases we eventually get the required information after asking back multiple times, this poses an unnecessary drain on our resources. Many contributors, including myself, are also not native speakers, so we may misread some parts.
488
489So please elaborate on what feature you are requesting, or what bug you want to be fixed. Make sure that it's obvious
490
491- What the problem is
492- How it could be fixed
493- How your proposed solution would look like
494
495If your report is shorter than two lines, it is almost certainly missing some of these, which makes it hard for us to respond to it. We're often too polite to close the issue outright, but the missing info makes misinterpretation likely. As a commiter myself, I often get frustrated by these issues, since the only possible way for me to move forward on them is to ask for clarification over and over.
496
497For bug reports, this means that your report should contain the *complete* output of youtube-dl when called with the -v flag. The error message you get for (most) bugs even says so, but you would not believe how many of our bug reports do not contain this information.
498
3ef79a97 499Site support requests **must contain an example URL**. An example URL is a URL you might want to download, like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc . There should be an obvious video present. Except under very special circumstances, the main page of a video service (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/ ) is *not* an example URL.
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500
501### Are you using the latest version?
502
3d97cbbd 503Before reporting any issue, type youtube-dl -U. This should report that you're up-to-date. About 20% of the reports we receive are already fixed, but people are using outdated versions. This goes for feature requests as well.
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504
505### Is the issue already documented?
506
507Make sure that someone has not already opened the issue you're trying to open. Search at the top of the window or at https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/search?type=Issues . If there is an issue, feel free to write something along the lines of "This affects me as well, with version 2015.01.01. Here is some more information on the issue: ...". While some issues may be old, a new post into them often spurs rapid activity.
508
509### Why are existing options not enough?
510
511Before requesting a new feature, please have a quick peek at [the list of supported options](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/README.md#synopsis). Many feature requests are for features that actually exist already! Please, absolutely do show off your work in the issue report and detail how the existing similar options do *not* solve your problem.
512
513### Is there enough context in your bug report?
514
515People want to solve problems, and often think they do us a favor by breaking down their larger problems (e.g. wanting to skip already downloaded files) to a specific request (e.g. requesting us to look whether the file exists before downloading the info page). However, what often happens is that they break down the problem into two steps: One simple, and one impossible (or extremely complicated one).
516
517We are then presented with a very complicated request when the original problem could be solved far easier, e.g. by recording the downloaded video IDs in a separate file. To avoid this, you must include the greater context where it is non-obvious. In particular, every feature request that does not consist of adding support for a new site should contain a use case scenario that explains in what situation the missing feature would be useful.
518
519### Does the issue involve one problem, and one problem only?
520
521Some of our users seem to think there is a limit of issues they can or should open. There is no limit of issues they can or should open. While it may seem appealing to be able to dump all your issues into one ticket, that means that someone who solves one of your issues cannot mark the issue as closed. Typically, reporting a bunch of issues leads to the ticket lingering since nobody wants to attack that behemoth, until someone mercifully splits the issue into multiple ones.
522
523In particular, every site support request issue should only pertain to services at one site (generally under a common domain, but always using the same backend technology). Do not request support for vimeo user videos, Whitehouse podcasts, and Google Plus pages in the same issue. Also, make sure that you don't post bug reports alongside feature requests. As a rule of thumb, a feature request does not include outputs of youtube-dl that are not immediately related to the feature at hand. Do not post reports of a network error alongside the request for a new video service.
524
525### Is anyone going to need the feature?
526
527Only post features that you (or an incapicated friend you can personally talk to) require. Do not post features because they seem like a good idea. If they are really useful, they will be requested by someone who requires them.
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528
529### Is your question about youtube-dl?
530
531It may sound strange, but some bug reports we receive are completely unrelated to youtube-dl and relate to a different or even the reporter's own application. Please make sure that you are actually using youtube-dl. If you are using a UI for youtube-dl, report the bug to the maintainer of the actual application providing the UI. On the other hand, if your UI for youtube-dl fails in some way you believe is related to youtube-dl, by all means, go ahead and report the bug.
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532
533# COPYRIGHT
534
535youtube-dl is released into the public domain by the copyright holders.
536
537This README file was originally written by Daniel Bolton (<https://github.com/dbbolton>) and is likewise released into the public domain.