3 [](#readme)
5 []
(https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
6 []
(https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/actions)
7 [](LICENSE)
8 [](Collaborators.md)
9 [](supportedsites.md)
10 []
(https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r)
11 []
(https://yt-dlp.readthedocs.io)
12 []
(https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits)
13 []
(https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits)
14 []
(https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
15 []
(https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
19 yt-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
21 * [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
22 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
23 * [INSTALLATION](#installation)
25 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
27 * [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
28 * [General Options](#general-options)
29 * [Network Options](#network-options)
30 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
31 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
32 * [Download Options](#download-options)
33 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
34 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
35 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
36 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
37 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
38 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
39 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
40 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
41 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
42 * [SponSkrub (SponsorBlock) Options](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options)
43 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
44 * [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
45 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
46 * [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
47 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
48 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
49 * [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
51 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
52 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
53 * [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
54 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
55 * [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
57 * [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
63 The major new features from the latest release of
[blackjack4494/yt-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) are:
65 * **
[SponSkrub Integration](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options)**: You can use [SponSkrub](https://github.com/yt-dlp/SponSkrub) to mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the
[SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
67 * **[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 that what is possible by simply using
`--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
69 * **Merged with youtube-dl
[commit/379f52a](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/379f52a4954013767219d25099cce9e0f9401961)**: (v2021.06
.06) You get all the latest features and patches of
[youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) in addition to all the features of
[youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc)
71 * **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from
[animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including
`--write-comments`,
`BiliBiliSearch`,
`BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico improvements are not available. See
[#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
73 * **Youtube improvements**:
74 * All Feeds (
`:ytfav`,
`:ytwatchlater`,
`:ytsubs`,
`:ythistory`,
`:ytrec`) and private playlists supports downloading multiple pages of content
75 * Search (
`ytsearch:`,
`ytsearchdate:`), search URLs and in-channel search works
76 * Mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
77 * Most (but not all) age-gated content can be downloaded without cookies
78 * Partial workaround for throttling issue
79 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to
`/video` to preserve the old behaviour
80 * `255kbps` audio is extracted from youtube music if premium cookies are given
81 * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded
83 * **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using
`--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[:PROFILE]`
85 * **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using
`--split-chapters`
87 * **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
89 * **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use
`aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
91 * **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo MSO, Spectrum MSO, SlingTV MSO, Rcs, Gedi, bitwave.tv, mildom, audius, zee5, mtv.it, wimtv, pluto.tv, niconico users, discoveryplus.in, mediathek, NFHSNetwork, nebula, ukcolumn, whowatch, MxplayerShow, parlview (au), YoutubeWebArchive, fancode, Saitosan, ShemarooMe, telemundo, VootSeries, SonyLIVSeries, HotstarSeries, VidioPremier, VidioLive, RCTIPlus, TBS Live, douyin, pornflip, ParamountPlusSeries, ScienceChannel, Utreon, OpenRec
93 * **Fixed/improved extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, akamai, ina, rumble, tennistv, amcnetworks, la7 podcasts, linuxacadamy, nitter, twitcasting, viu, crackle, curiositystream, mediasite, rmcdecouverte, sonyliv, tubi, tenplay, patreon, videa, yahoo, BravoTV, crunchyroll playlist, RTP, viki, Hotstar, vidio, vimeo, mediaset, Mxplayer
95 * **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
97 * **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`)
99 * **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
101 * **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`
103 * **Other new options**:
`--sleep-requests`,
`--convert-thumbnails`,
`--write-link`,
`--force-download-archive`,
`--force-overwrites`,
`--break-on-reject` etc
105 * **Improvements**: Multiple
`--postprocessor-args` and
`--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection) etc
107 * **Plugin extractors**: Extractors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
109 * **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using
`yt-dlp -U`
112 See
[changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
115 **PS**: Some of these changes are already in youtube-dlc, but are still unreleased. See [this](Changelog.md#unreleased-changes-in-blackjack4494yt-dlc) for details
117 If you are coming from
[youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl), the amount of changes are very large. Compare
[options](#options) and [supported sites](supportedsites.md) with youtube-dl's to get an idea of the massive number of features/patches [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) has accumulated.
119 ### Differences in default behavior
121 Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc.
123 * The options
`--id`,
`--auto-number` (
`-A`),
`--title` (
`-t`) and
`--literal` (
`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
124 * `avconv` is not supported as as an alternative to
`ffmpeg`
125 * 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`
126 * 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
127 * The default format selector is
`bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be prefered. Use
`-f bv+ba/b` or
`--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
128 * 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
129 * `--ignore-errors` is enabled by default. Use
`--abort-on-error` or
`--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
130 * 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
131 * `--add-metadata` attaches the
`infojson` to
`mkv` files in addition to writing the metadata when used with
`--write-infojson`. Use
`--compat-options no-attach-info-json` to revert this
132 * `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
133 * The output of
`-F` is listed in a new format. Use
`--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
134 * All *experiences* of a funimation episode are considered as a single video. This behavior breaks existing archives. Use
`--compat-options seperate-video-versions` to extract information from only the default player
135 * Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use
`--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use
`--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
136 * Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to
`/video`. Append a
`/featured` to the URL to download only the videos in the home page. If the channel does not have a videos tab, we try to download the equivalent
`UU` playlist instead. Also,
`/live` URLs raise an error if there are no live videos instead of silently downloading the entire channel. You may use
`--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to revert all these redirections
137 * Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use
`--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
138 * 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
139 * Thumbnail embedding in
`mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use
`--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
140 * Some private fields such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use
`--no-clean-infojson` or
`--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
142 For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
143 * `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options
144 * `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as
`--compat-options all,-multistreams`
145 * `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as
`--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
149 yt-dlp is not platform specific. So it should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS
151 You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
152 * Download the binary from the
[latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest) (recommended method)
153 * Use
[PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp):
`python3 -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp`
154 * Use pip+git:
`python3 -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp.git@release`
155 * Install master branch:
`python3 -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp`
157 Note that on some systems, you may need to use
`py` or
`python` instead of
`python3`
159 UNIX users (Linux, macOS, BSD) can also install the
[latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest) one of the following ways:
162 sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
163 sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
167 sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
168 sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
172 sudo aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
173 sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
177 You can use
`yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the provided release.
178 If you are using
`pip`, simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program.
181 Python versions
3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
183 <!-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=
26999 -->
184 On 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.
186 While all the other dependancies are optional,
`ffmpeg` and
`ffprobe` are highly recommended
187 * [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for
[merging seperate video and audio files](#format-selection) as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. Licence [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
188 * [**sponskrub**](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) - For using the
[sponskrub options](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options). Licenced under [GPLv3+](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub/blob/master/LICENCE.md)
189 * [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen) - For embedding thumbnail in certain formats. Licenced under
[GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
190 * [**pycryptodome**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome) - For decrypting various data. Licenced under
[BSD2](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
191 * [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets) - For downloading over websocket. Licenced under
[BSD3](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
192 * [**keyring**](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring) - For decrypting cookies of chromium-based browsers on Linux. Licenced under
[MIT](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring/blob/main/LICENSE)
193 * [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For embedding thumbnail in mp4/m4a if mutagen is not present. Licenced under
[GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
194 * [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading
`rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licenced under
[GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
195 * [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or
[**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading
`rstp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licenced under
[GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
196 * [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licenced under
[BSD3](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
197 * Any external downloader that you want to use with
`--downloader`
199 To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
201 Note that the windows releases are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen, pycryptodome and websockets included.
206 To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen, pycryptodome, websockets)
208 python3 -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller mutagen pycryptodome websockets
210 Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, just run
`py pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (
32/
64 bit) as the python used to build it.
212 You can also build the executable without any version info or metadata by using:
214 pyinstaller.exe yt_dlp\__main__.py --onefile --name yt-dlp
216 Note that pyinstaller
[does not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment
219 You will need the required build tools:
`python`,
`make` (GNU),
`pandoc`,
`zip`,
`pytest`
220 Then simply run
`make`. You can also run
`make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files
222 **Note**: In either platform,
`devscripts\update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
226 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
228 `Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
229 <!-- Auto generated -->
232 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
233 --version Print program version and exit
234 -U, --update Update this program to latest version. Make
235 sure that you have sufficient permissions
236 (run with sudo if needed)
237 -i, --ignore-errors Continue on download errors, for example to
238 skip unavailable videos in a playlist
239 (default) (Alias: --no-abort-on-error)
240 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
241 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
242 --dump-user-agent Display the current browser identification
243 --list-extractors List all supported extractors
244 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
246 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
248 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
249 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
250 from google videos for youtube-dl "large
251 apple". Use the value "auto" to let
252 youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
253 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
254 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
255 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
256 this is not possible instead of searching
257 --ignore-config, --no-config Disable loading any configuration files
258 except the one provided by --config-location.
259 When given inside a configuration
260 file, no further configuration files are
261 loaded. Additionally, (for backward
262 compatibility) if this option is found
263 inside the system configuration file, the
264 user configuration is not loaded
265 --config-location PATH Location of the main configuration file;
266 either the path to the config or its
268 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
270 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
271 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
272 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
273 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
274 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
275 with youtube-dl and youtube-dlc
276 configurations by reverting some of the
277 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
278 default behavior" for details
281 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
282 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
284 socks5://
127.0.0.1:
1080/. Pass in an empty
285 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
286 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
287 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
288 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
289 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
292 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
293 some geo-restricted sites. The default
294 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
295 option is not present) is used for the
297 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
298 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
299 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
300 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
301 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
302 explicitly provided two-letter ISO
3166-
2
304 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
305 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
309 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is
1)
310 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
311 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
312 indices of the videos in the playlist
313 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
314 1,
2,
5,
8" if you want to download videos
315 indexed
1,
2,
5,
8 in the playlist. You can
316 specify range: "--playlist-items
317 1-
3,
7,
10-
13", it will download the videos
318 at index
1,
2,
3,
7,
10,
11,
12 and
13
319 --match-title REGEX Download only matching titles (regex or
321 --reject-title REGEX Skip download for matching titles (regex or
323 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
324 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
325 SIZE (e.g.
50k or
44.6m)
326 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
328 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded in this date.
329 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
330 "(now|today)[+-][
0-
9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
331 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
332 this date. The date formats accepted is the
334 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
335 this date. The date formats accepted is the
337 --min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than
339 --max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than
341 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Any field (see
342 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a
343 number or a quoted string using the
344 operators defined in "Filtering formats".
345 You can also simply specify a field to
346 match if the field is present and "!field"
347 to check if the field is not present.
348 Multiple filters can be checked using "&".
349 For example, to only match videos that are
350 not live, has a like count more than
100, a
351 dislike count less than
50 (or the dislike
352 field is not available), and also has a
353 description that contains "python", use
354 --match-filter "!is_live & like_count>
100 &
355 dislike_count<?
50 & description*='python'"
356 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
357 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
358 to a video and a playlist
359 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
360 a video and a playlist
361 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
363 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
364 archive file. Record the IDs of all
365 downloaded videos in it
366 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
367 a file that is in the archive
368 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
369 a file that has been filtered out
370 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest
371 of the playlist is skipped
372 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
375 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
376 video that should be download concurrently
378 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
380 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
381 below which throttling is assumed and the
382 video data is re-extracted (e.g.
100K)
383 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is
10), or
385 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
386 is
10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
388 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
389 hlsnative and ISM (default)
390 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
391 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
392 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
393 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
394 downloading is finished
395 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
396 downloading is finished (default)
397 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g.
1024 or
16K)
399 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
400 from an initial value of --buffer-size
402 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
403 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
404 downloading (e.g.
10485760 or
10M) (default
405 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
406 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
408 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
409 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
411 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
412 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
414 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
415 allowing some players to play the video
416 while downloading, and reducing the chance
417 of file corruption if download is
418 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
420 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
421 videos. This is default when not
422 downloading live streams
423 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
424 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
425 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
426 use it for. Currently supports native,
427 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
428 wget (Recommended: aria2c). You can use
429 this option multiple times to set different
430 downloaders for different protocols. For
431 example, --downloader aria2c --downloader
432 "dash,m3u8:native" will use aria2c for
433 http/ftp downloads, and the native
434 downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
435 (Alias: --external-downloader)
436 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
437 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
438 the arguments separated by a colon ":". You
439 can use this option multiple times to give
440 different arguments to different downloaders
441 (Alias: --external-downloader-args)
443 ## Filesystem Options:
444 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
445 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
446 with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
448 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
449 downloaded. Specify the type of file and
450 the path separated by a colon ":". All the
451 same types as --output are supported.
452 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
453 (default) and "temp" paths. All
454 intermediary files are first downloaded to
455 the temp path and then the final files are
456 moved over to the home path after download
457 is finished. This option is ignored if
458 --output is an absolute path
459 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
460 TEMPLATE" for details
461 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder value for unavailable meta
462 fields in output filename template
464 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
465 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
467 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
469 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be windows compatible
470 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames windows compatible only if
471 using windows (default)
472 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
473 extension) to the specified number of
475 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
476 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files.
477 This option includes --no-continue
478 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
479 related files (default)
480 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
482 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
483 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
484 restart download of the entire file
485 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
486 into output file (default)
487 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
489 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
490 file modification time (default)
491 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
492 the file modification time
493 --write-description Write video description to a .description
495 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
496 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
497 (this may contain personal information)
498 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
499 --write-annotations Write video annotations to a
500 .annotations.xml file
501 --no-write-annotations Do not write video annotations (default)
502 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
503 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
504 --write-description etc. (default)
505 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
506 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
507 --clean-infojson Remove some private fields such as
508 filenames from the infojson. Note that it
509 could still contain some personal
510 information (default)
511 --no-clean-infojson Write all fields to the infojson
512 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
513 infojson. The comments are fetched even
514 without this option if the extraction is
515 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
516 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
517 extraction is known to be quick
518 (Alias: --no-get-comments)
519 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
520 (created with the "--write-info-json"
522 --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
524 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
526 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[:PROFILE]
527 Load cookies from a user profile of the
528 given web browser. Currently supported
529 browsers are: brave|chrome|chromium|edge|fi
530 refox|opera|safari|vivaldi. You can specify
531 the user profile name or directory using
532 "BROWSER:PROFILE_NAME" or
533 "BROWSER:PROFILE_PATH". If no profile is
534 given, the most recently accessed one is
536 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
537 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
538 can store some downloaded information (such
539 as client ids and signatures) permanently.
540 By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl or
542 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
543 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
545 ## Thumbnail Options:
546 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
547 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
549 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
550 --list-thumbnails Simulate and list all available thumbnail
553 ## Internet Shortcut Options:
554 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
555 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
556 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
557 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
558 OS caches the URL based on the file path
559 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
560 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
562 ## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
563 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode
564 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
565 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
567 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Usefull
568 for extracting metadata even if the video
569 is not actually available for download
571 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
572 formats are found (default)
573 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
574 related files (Alias: --no-download)
575 -O, --print TEMPLATE Simulate, quiet but print the given fields.
576 Either a field name or similar formatting
577 as the output template can be used
578 -j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
579 See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a description of
581 -J, --dump-single-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information
582 for each command-line argument. If the URL
583 refers to a playlist, dump the whole
584 playlist information in a single line
585 --print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
586 JSON (video is still being downloaded)
587 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
588 written as far as no errors occur, even if
589 -s or another simulation option is used
590 (Alias: --force-download-archive)
591 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
592 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
593 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
594 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
595 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
596 to debug problems (very verbose)
597 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
598 files in the current directory to debug
600 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
603 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
604 --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
605 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
606 information about the video (Currently
607 supported only for YouTube)
608 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
609 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
610 access is restricted to one domain
611 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
612 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
613 option multiple times
614 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
615 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
616 or fribidi executable in PATH
617 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
618 during data extraction
619 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
620 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
621 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
622 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
623 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can
624 only be used along with --min-sleep-interval
625 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
628 ## Video Format Options:
629 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
631 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
632 "Sorting Formats" for more details
633 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
634 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
635 Formats" for more details
636 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
637 specified sort order (default), see
638 "Sorting Formats" for more details
639 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
641 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
642 each output file (default)
643 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
645 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
646 each output file (default)
647 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
648 over non-free ones of same quality. Use
649 with "-S ext" to strictly prefer free
650 containers irrespective of quality
651 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
653 --check-formats Check that the formats selected are
654 actually downloadable
655 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats selected are
656 actually downloadable
657 -F, --list-formats List all available formats of requested
659 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
660 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
661 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
662 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
663 --allow-unplayable-formats Allow unplayable formats to be listed and
664 downloaded. All video post-processing will
666 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Do not allow unplayable formats to be
667 listed or downloaded (default)
670 --write-subs Write subtitle file
671 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
672 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
673 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
674 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
675 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
676 --list-subs List all available subtitles for the video
677 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
678 preference, for example: "srt" or
680 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
681 be regex) or "all" separated by commas.
682 (Eg: --sub-langs en.*,ja) You can prefix
683 the language code with a "-" to exempt it
684 from the requested languages. (Eg: --sub-
685 langs all,-live_chat) Use --list-subs for a
686 list of available language tags
688 ## Authentication Options:
689 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
690 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
691 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
692 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
693 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
694 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
695 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
696 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
697 a list of available MSOs
698 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
699 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
700 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
702 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
705 ## Post-Processing Options:
706 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
707 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
708 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format to convert the audio
709 to when -x is used. Currently supported
710 formats are: best (default) or one of
711 aac|flac|mp3|m4a|opus|vorbis|wav
712 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality, insert a
713 value between
0 (better) and
9 (worse) for
714 VBR or a specific bitrate like
128K
716 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
717 necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv|flv
718 |webm|mov|avi|mp3|mka|m4a|ogg|opus). If
719 target container does not support the
720 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
721 can specify multiple rules; Eg.
722 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to
723 m4a, mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv.
724 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
725 re-encoding is necessary. The syntax and
726 supported formats are the same as --remux-video
727 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
728 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
729 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
730 to give the argument to the specified
731 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
732 Merger, ExtractAudio, SplitChapters,
733 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
734 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
735 VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor, SponSkrub,
736 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
737 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
738 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
739 FFmpeg, FFprobe, and SponSkrub. You can
740 also specify "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the
741 arguments to the specified executable only
742 when being used by the specified
743 postprocessor. Additionally, for
744 ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be appended
745 to the prefix optionally followed by a
746 number to pass the argument before the
747 specified input/output file. Eg: --ppa
748 "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
749 this option multiple times to give
750 different arguments to different
751 postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
752 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
753 after post-processing
754 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
755 post-processing (default)
756 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
757 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
758 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
760 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
761 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
762 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
763 --embed-metadata Embed metadata including chapter markers
764 (if supported by the format) to the video
765 file (Alias: --add-metadata)
766 --no-embed-metadata Do not write metadata (default)
767 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
768 --parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
769 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
771 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
772 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
773 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
774 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
775 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
776 default; fix file if we can, warn
777 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
779 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
780 path to the binary or its containing
782 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
783 downloading and post-processing. Similar
784 syntax to the output template can be used
785 to pass any field as arguments to the
786 command. An additional field "filepath"
787 that contains the final path of the
788 downloaded file is also available. If no
789 fields are passed, %(filepath)q is appended
790 to the end of the command
791 --exec-before-download CMD Execute a command before the actual
792 download. The syntax is the same as --exec
793 but "filepath" is not available
794 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
795 (currently supported: srt|vtt|ass|lrc)
796 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
797 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
798 (currently supported: jpg|png)
799 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
800 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix
801 can be used with "--paths" and "--output"
802 to set the output filename for the split
803 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
804 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters
807 ## SponSkrub (SponsorBlock) Options:
808 [SponSkrub](https://github.com/yt-dlp/SponSkrub) is a utility to
809 mark/remove sponsor segments from downloaded YouTube videos using
810 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
812 --sponskrub Use sponskrub to mark sponsored sections.
813 This is enabled by default if the sponskrub
814 binary exists (Youtube only)
815 --no-sponskrub Do not use sponskrub
816 --sponskrub-cut Cut out the sponsor sections instead of
818 --no-sponskrub-cut Simply mark the sponsor sections, not cut
820 --sponskrub-force Run sponskrub even if the video was already
822 --no-sponskrub-force Do not cut out the sponsor sections if the
823 video was already downloaded (default)
824 --sponskrub-location PATH Location of the sponskrub binary; either
825 the path to the binary or its containing
828 ## Extractor Options:
829 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor
830 errors (default is
3), or "infinite"
831 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
832 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
833 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
834 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
835 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
836 discontinuities such as ad breaks
837 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
838 formats at discontinuities such as ad
840 --extractor-args KEY:ARGS Pass these arguments to the extractor. See
841 "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You can
842 use this option multiple times to give
843 arguments for different extractors
847 You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
849 1. **Main Configuration**: The file given by
`--config-location`
850 1. **Portable Configuration**:
`yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the bundled binary. If you are running from source-code (
`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`), the root directory is used instead.
851 1. **Home Configuration**:
`yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by
`-P "home:<path>"`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
852 1. **User Configuration**:
853 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
854 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
855 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
856 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
858 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
860 Note that
`~` points to
`C:\Users\<user name>` on windows. Also,
`%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to
`~/.config` if undefined
861 1. **System Configuration**:
`/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
863 For example, with the following configuration file yt-dlp will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under
`YouTube` directory in your home directory:
865 # Lines starting with # are comments
867 # Always extract audio
870 # Do not copy the mtime
874 --proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
876 # Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
877 -o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
880 Note that options in configuration file are just the same options aka switches used in regular command line calls; thus there **must be no whitespace** after
`-` or
`--`, e.g.
`-o` or
`--proxy` but not
`- o` or
`-- proxy`.
882 You can use
`--ignore-config` if you want to disable all configuration files for a particular yt-dlp run. If
`--ignore-config` is found inside any configuration file, no further configuration will be loaded. For example, having the option in the portable configuration file prevents loading of user and system configurations. Additionally, (for backward compatibility) if
`--ignore-config` is found inside the system configuration file, the user configuration is not loaded.
884 ### Authentication with `.netrc` file
886 You 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 your
`$HOME` and restrict permissions to read/write by only you:
889 chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
891 After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
893 machine <extractor> login <login> password <password>
897 machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
898 machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
900 To activate authentication with the
`.netrc` file you should pass
`--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
902 On Windows you may also need to setup the
`%HOME%` environment variable manually. For example:
904 set HOME=%USERPROFILE%
909 The
`-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.
911 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
913 The 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).
915 It 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/2/library/stdtypes.html#string-formatting). For example,
`%(NAME)s` or
`%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations.
917 The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
918 1. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a
`.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using
`:`. Eg:
`%(tags.0)s`,
`%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)`,
`%(id.3:7:-1)s`,
`%(formats.:.format_id)s`. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use
`-j` to see such fields
919 1. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using
`+` and
`-` respectively. Eg:
`%(playlist_index+10)03d`,
`%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
920 1. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to
[strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a
`>`. Eg:
`%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`,
`%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`,
`%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
921 1. **Default**: A default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a
`|` seperator. This overrides
`--output-na-template`. Eg:
`%(uploader|Unknown)s`
922 1. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types
`diouxXeEfFgGcrs`,
`j`,
`l`,
`q` can be used for converting to **j**son, a comma seperated **l**ist and a string **q**uoted for the terminal respectively
924 To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
926 %(name[.keys][addition][>strf][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
929 Additionally, 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`,
`infojson`,
`pl_thumbnail`,
`pl_description`,
`pl_infojson`,
`chapter`. For example,
`-o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' -o 'thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s'` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video.
931 The available fields are:
933 - `id` (string): Video identifier
934 - `title` (string): Video title
935 - `url` (string): Video URL
936 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
937 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
938 - `description` (string): The description of the video
939 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
940 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
941 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
942 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
943 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
944 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
945 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
946 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
947 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
948 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
949 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
950 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
951 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
952 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
953 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
954 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
955 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
956 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
957 - `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)
958 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
959 - `live_status` (string): One of 'is_live', 'was_live', 'is_upcoming', 'not_live'
960 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
961 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
962 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
963 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is 'private', 'premium_only', 'subscriber_only', 'needs_auth', 'unlisted' or 'public'
964 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
965 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
966 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
967 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by
`--format`
968 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
969 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
970 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
971 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
972 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
973 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
974 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
975 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
976 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
977 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
978 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
979 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
980 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
981 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
982 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
983 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
984 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
985 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
986 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at
`--autonumber-start`
987 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
988 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
989 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
990 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
991 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
992 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
993 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
994 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as
`webpage_url` for playlist entries)
996 Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
998 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
999 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1000 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1002 Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1004 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1005 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1006 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1007 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1008 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1009 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1010 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1012 Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1014 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1015 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1016 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1017 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1018 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1019 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1020 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1021 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1022 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1023 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1025 Available for
`chapter:` prefix when using
`--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
1027 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1028 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1029 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1030 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1032 Available only when used in
`--print`:
1034 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1035 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the actual filename may be different due to post-processing. Use
`--exec echo` to get the name after all postprocessing is complete
1037 Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. Note that some of the sequences are not guaranteed to be present since they depend on the metadata obtained by a particular extractor. Such sequences will be replaced with placeholder value provided with
`--output-na-placeholder` (
`NA` by default).
1039 For example for
`-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title
`yt-dlp test video` and id
`BaW_jenozKc`, this will result in a
`yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKc.mp4` file created in the current directory.
1041 For numeric sequences you can use numeric related formatting, for example,
`%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to
5 characters, like in
`00042`.
1043 Output 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.
1045 To use percent literals in an output template use
`%%`. To output to stdout use
`-o -`.
1047 The current default template is
`%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
1049 In 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:
1051 #### Output template and Windows batch files
1053 If you are using an output template inside a Windows batch file then you must escape plain percent characters (
`%`) by doubling, so that
`-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"` should become
`-o "%%(title)s-%%(id)s.%%(ext)s"`. However you should not touch
`%`'s that are not plain characters, e.g. environment variables for expansion should stay intact:
`-o "C:\%HOMEPATH%\Desktop\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"`.
1055 #### Output template examples
1057 Note that on Windows you need to use double quotes instead of single.
1060 $ yt-dlp --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc
1061 youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
1063 $ yt-dlp --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
1064 youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
1066 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
1067 $ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
1069 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
1070 $ yt-dlp -o '%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
1072 # Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
1073 $ yt-dlp -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists
1075 # Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
1076 $ 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/
1078 # Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
1079 $ 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
1081 # Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
1082 $ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
1087 By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1088 This 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`.
1090 The 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.
1092 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
1094 The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with
`-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to
22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using
`--list-formats` or
`-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
1096 You 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.
1098 You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1100 - `all`: Select all formats
1101 - `mergeall`: Select and merge all formats (Must be used with
`--audio-multistreams`,
`--video-multistreams` or both)
1102 - `b*`,
`best*`: Select the best quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio
1103 - `w*`,
`worst*`: Select the worst quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio
1104 - `b`,
`best`: Select the best quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1105 - `w`,
`worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1106 - `bv`,
`bestvideo`: Select the best quality video-only format. Equivalent to
`best*[acodec=none]`
1107 - `wv`,
`worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to
`worst*[acodec=none]`
1108 - `bv*`,
`bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec!=none]`
1109 - `wv*`,
`worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec!=none]`
1110 - `ba`,
`bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio-only format. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec=none]`
1111 - `wa`,
`worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec=none]`
1112 - `ba*`,
`bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to
`best*[acodec!=none]`
1113 - `wa*`,
`worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to
`worst*[acodec!=none]`
1115 For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use
`-f worstvideo`. It is however recommended not to use
`worst` and related options. When your format selector is
`worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use
`-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of
`-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
1117 You 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.
1119 If you want to download multiple videos and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred, for example
`-f 22/17/18` will download format
22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format
17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format
18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
1121 If 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`.
1123 You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using
`-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg installed), for example
`-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg. Unless
`--video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, unless
`--audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. For example,
`-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --video-multistreams --audio-multistreams` will download and merge all
3 given formats. The resulting file will have
2 video streams and
2 audio streams. But
`-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --no-video-multistreams` will download and merge only
`bestvideo` and
`bestaudio`.
`best` is ignored since another format containing a video stream (
`bestvideo`) has already been selected. The order of the formats is therefore important.
`-f best+bestaudio --no-audio-multistreams` will download and merge both formats while
`-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore
`best` and download only
`bestaudio`.
1125 ## Filtering Formats
1127 You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in
`-f "best[height=720]"` (or
`-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1129 The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons
`<`,
`<=`,
`>`,
`>=`,
`=` (equals),
`!=` (not equals):
1131 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1132 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1133 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1134 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1135 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1136 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1137 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1140 Also filtering work for comparisons
`=` (equals),
`^=` (starts with),
`$=` (ends with),
`*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
1142 - `ext`: File extension
1143 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1144 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1145 - `container`: Name of the container format
1146 - `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`)
1147 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
1148 - `language`: Language code
1150 Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation
`!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g.
`!*=` (does not contain).
1152 Note that none of the aforementioned meta fields are guaranteed to be present since this solely depends on the metadata obtained by particular extractor, i.e. the metadata offered by the website. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
1154 Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a question mark (
`?`) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so
`-f "[height<=?720][tbr>500]"` selects up to
720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least
500 KBit/s. You can also use the filters with
`all` to download all formats that satisfy the filter. For example,
`-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
1156 Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses, for example if you want to download the best mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than
480 you can use
`-f '(mp4,webm)[height<480]'`.
1160 You can change the criteria for being considered the
`best` by using
`-S` (
`--format-sort`). The general format for this is
`--format-sort field1,field2...`. The available fields are:
1162 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1163 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
1164 - `ie_pref`: The format preference as given by the extractor
1165 - `lang`: Language preference as given by the extractor
1166 - `quality`: The quality of the format as given by the extractor
1167 - `source`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
1168 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (
`https`/
`ftps` >
`http`/
`ftp` >
`m3u8_native`/
`m3u8` >
`http_dash_segments`>
`websocket_frag` > other >
`mms`/
`rtsp` > unknown >
`f4f`/
`f4m`)
1169 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (
`av01` >
`vp9.2` >
`vp9` >
`h265` >
`h264` >
`vp8` >
`h263` >
`theora` > other > unknown)
1170 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (
`opus` >
`vorbis` >
`aac` >
`mp4a` >
`mp3` >
`ac3` >
`dts` > other > unknown)
1171 - `codec`: Equivalent to
`vcodec,acodec`
1172 - `vext`: Video Extension (
`mp4` >
`webm` >
`flv` > other > unknown). If
`--prefer-free-formats` is used,
`webm` is prefered.
1173 - `aext`: Audio Extension (
`m4a` >
`aac` >
`mp3` >
`ogg` >
`opus` >
`webm` > other > unknown). If
`--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to
`opus` >
`ogg` >
`webm` >
`m4a` >
`mp3` >
`aac`.
1174 - `ext`: Equivalent to
`vext,aext`
1175 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
1176 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1177 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
1178 - `height`: Height of video
1179 - `width`: Width of video
1180 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1181 - `fps`: Framerate of video
1182 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1183 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1184 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1185 - `br`: Equivalent to using
`tbr,vbr,abr`
1186 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
1188 Note that any other **numerical** field made available by the extractor can also be used. All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a
`+`. Eg:
`+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a
`:`. Eg:
`res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than
720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than
720p. For
`codec` and
`ext`, you can provide two preferred values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg:
`+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to
`+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to
`h264` >
`h265` >
`vp9` >
`vp9.2` >
`av01` >
`vp8` >
`h263` >
`theora` and audio codec preference to
`mp4a` >
`aac` >
`vorbis` >
`opus` >
`mp3` >
`ac3` >
`dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using
`~` as the delimiter. Eg:
`filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to
1 GiB.
1190 The fields
`hasvid`,
`ie_pref`,
`lang` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using
`--force-format-sort`. Apart from these, the default order used is:
`quality,res,fps,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. Note that the extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
1192 If 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`.
1194 **Tip**: You can use the
`-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1196 ## Format Selection examples
1198 Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
1201 # Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
1202 # or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
1203 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv+ba/b'
1205 # Download best format that contains video,
1206 # and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
1207 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+ba/b'
1212 # Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1213 # For this case, an output template should be used since
1214 # by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
1215 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv,ba' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
1217 # Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1218 # and all audio-only formats into one file
1219 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]' --audio-multistreams
1221 # Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1222 # and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
1223 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+ba+ba.2' --audio-multistreams
1226 # The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
1227 # and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
1229 # Download the worst video available (old method)
1230 $ yt-dlp -f 'wv*+wa/w'
1232 # Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
1235 # Download the smallest video available
1236 $ yt-dlp -S '+size,+br'
1240 # Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
1241 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b'
1243 # Download the best video with the best extension
1244 # (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
1249 # Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1250 # or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
1251 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w'
1253 # Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1254 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1255 $ yt-dlp -S 'height:480'
1257 # Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1258 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1259 # Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1260 # So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
1261 $ yt-dlp -S 'res:480'
1265 # Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1266 # or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1267 $ yt-dlp -f 'b[filesize<50M] / w'
1269 # Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1270 # or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1271 $ yt-dlp -f 'b' -S 'filesize:50M'
1273 # Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
1274 $ yt-dlp -f 'b' -S 'filesize~50M'
1278 # Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1279 # or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
1280 $ yt-dlp -f '(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)'
1282 # Download best video available via the best protocol
1283 # (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
1288 # Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
1289 $ yt-dlp -f '(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)'
1291 # Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1292 # or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
1293 $ yt-dlp -S 'codec:h264'
1295 # Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1296 # or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1297 $ yt-dlp -S '+codec:h264'
1301 # More complex examples
1303 # Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1304 # or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1305 $ yt-dlp -f '((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)'
1307 # Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1308 # or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1309 # preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1310 $ yt-dlp -S 'res:720,fps'
1314 # Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1315 # or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1316 # preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1317 $ yt-dlp -S '+res:480,codec,br'
1320 # MODIFYING METADATA
1322 The metadata obtained the the extractors can be modified by using
`--parse-metadata FROM:TO`. The general syntax is to give the name of a field or a template (with similar syntax to
[output template](#output-template)) to extract data from, and the format to interpret it as, separated by a colon `:`. Either a [python regular expression](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html#regular-expression-syntax) with named capture groups or a similar syntax to the [output template](#output-template) (only
`%(field)s` formatting is supported) can be used for
`TO`. The option can be used multiple times to parse and modify various fields.
1324 Note that any field created by this can be used in the [output template](#output-template) and will also affect the media file's metadata added when using
`--add-metadata`.
1326 This option also has a few special uses:
1327 * You can download an additional URL based on the metadata of the currently downloaded video. To do this, set the field
`additional_urls` to the URL that you want to download. Eg:
`--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
1328 * You can use this to change the metadata that is embedded in the media file. To do this, set the value of the corresponding field with a
`meta_` prefix. For example, any value you set to
`meta_description` field will be added to the
`description` field in the file. For example, you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis"
1330 For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1332 Metadata fields|From
1334 `title`|
`track` or
`title`
1335 `date`|
`upload_date`
1336 `description`,
`synopsis`|
`description`
1337 `purl`,
`comment`|
`webpage_url`
1338 `track`|
`track_number`
1339 `artist`|
`artist`,
`creator`,
`uploader` or
`uploader_id`
1342 `album_artist`|
`album_artist`
1343 `disc`|
`disc_number`
1345 `season_number`|
`season_number`
1346 `episode_id`|
`episode` or
`episode_id`
1347 `episode_sort`|
`episode_number`
1348 `language` of each stream|From the format's
`language`
1349 **Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1352 ## Modifying metadata examples
1354 Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
1357 # Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
1358 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'title:%(artist)s - %(title)s'
1361 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)'
1363 # Set title as "Series name S01E05"
1364 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata '%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s'
1366 # Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url
1367 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)' --add-metadata
1371 # EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1373 Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using
`--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`.
`ARGS` is a
`;` (semicolon) seperated string of
`ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. Eg:
`--extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash,hls;player_client=android" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
1375 The following extractors use this feature:
1377 * `skip`:
`hls` or
`dash` (or both) to skip download of the respective manifests
1378 * `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are
`web`,
`android`,
`ios`,
`mweb`. These also have
`_music`,
`_embedded`,
`_agegate`, and
`_creator` variants (Eg:
`web_embedded`) (
`mweb` has only
`_agegate`). By default,
`android,web` is used, but the agegate and creator variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly the music variants are added for
`music.youtube.com` urls. You can also use
`all` to use all the clients
1379 * `player_skip`:
`configs` - skip any requests for client configs and use defaults
1380 * `comment_sort`:
`top` or
`new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side).
1381 * `max_comments`: maximum amount of comments to download (default all).
1382 * `max_comment_depth`: maximum depth for nested comments. YouTube supports depths
1 or
2 (default).
1385 * `language`: Languages to extract. Eg:
`funimation:language=english,japanese`
1386 * `version`: The video version to extract -
`uncut` or
`simulcast`
1389 * `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of
`episodes`,
`movies`,
`clips`,
`trailers`
1391 NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
1396 Plugins are loaded from
`<root-dir>/ytdlp_plugins/<type>/__init__.py`. Currently only
`extractor` plugins are supported. Support for
`downloader` and
`postprocessor` plugins may be added in the future. See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example.
1398 **Note**:
`<root-dir>` is the directory of the binary (
`<root-dir>/yt-dlp`), or the root directory of the module if you are running directly from source-code (
`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`)
1400 # DEPRECATED OPTIONS
1402 These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
1404 #### Redundant options
1405 While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
1407 --get-description --print description
1408 --get-duration --print duration_string
1409 --get-filename --print filename
1410 --get-format --print format
1412 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
1413 -e, --get-title --print title
1414 -g, --get-url --print urls
1417 #### Not recommended
1418 While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
1420 --all-formats -f all
1421 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
1422 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)
03d
1423 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
1424 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
1425 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
1426 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
1427 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
1428 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
1429 --sponskrub-args ARGS --ppa "sponskrub:ARGS"
1430 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
1431 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
1432 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
1433 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
1436 #### Developer options
1437 These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
1439 --test For testing extractors
1440 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
1444 These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
1446 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
1447 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
1448 --dump-headers --print-traffic
1449 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
1450 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
1451 --load-info --load-info-json
1452 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
1453 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
1454 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
1455 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
1456 --split-tracks --split-chapters
1457 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
1458 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
1459 --write-srt --write-subs
1460 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
1462 #### No longer supported
1463 These options may no longer work as intended
1465 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
1466 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
1467 -C, --call-home Not implemented
1468 --no-call-home Default
1469 --include-ads No longer supported
1470 --no-include-ads Default
1473 These options were deprecated since
2014 and have now been entirely removed
1475 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1476 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1477 -t, --title -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1478 -l, --literal -o accepts literal names
1482 For FAQ, Developer Instructions etc., see the
[original README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)
projects / yt-dlp.git / blob