README.md

   1 youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
   2
   3 # SYNOPSIS
   4 **youtube-dl** [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
   5
   6 # INSTALLATION
   7
   8 To 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
  13 If you do not have curl, you can alternatively use a recent wget:
  14
  15     sudo wget https://yt-dl.org/downloads/latest/youtube-dl -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
  16     sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
  17
  18 Windows 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
  20 OS X users can install **youtube-dl** with [Homebrew](http://brew.sh/).
  21
  22     brew install youtube-dl
  23
  24 You can also use pip:
  25
  26     sudo pip install youtube-dl
  27
  28 Alternatively, 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
  30 # DESCRIPTION
  31 **youtube-dl** is a small command-line program to download videos from
  32 YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version
  33 2.6, 2.7, or 3.3+, and it is not platform specific. It should work on
  34 your Unix box, on Windows or on Mac OS X. It is released to the public domain,
  35 which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
  36
  37 # OPTIONS
  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
  44                                      skip unavailable videos in a playlist
  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
  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
  56     --socket-timeout None            Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
  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
  60                                      apple". Use the value "auto" to let
  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.
  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)
  72
  73 ## Video Selection:
  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)
 102     --youtube-include-dash-manifest  Try to download the DASH manifest on
 103                                      YouTube videos (experimental)
 104
 105 ## Download Options:
 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.
 115
 116 ## Filesystem Options:
 117     -a, --batch-file FILE            file containing URLs to download ('-' for
 118                                      stdin)
 119     --id                             use only video ID in file name
 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
 137                                      literal percent. %(height)s and %(width)s
 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' .
 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
 152     -t, --title                      [deprecated] use title in file name
 153                                      (default)
 154     -l, --literal                    [deprecated] alias of --title
 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)
 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
 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
 183
 184 ## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
 185     -q, --quiet                      activates quiet mode
 186     --no-warnings                    Ignore warnings
 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
 198     -j, --dump-json                  simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
 199                                      See --output for a description of available
 200                                      keys.
 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
 211
 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
 224     --bidi-workaround                Work around terminals that lack
 225                                      bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
 226                                      or fribidi executable in PATH
 227
 228 ## Video Format Options:
 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",
 233                                      "bestvideo", "bestaudio", "worst",
 234                                      "worstvideo" and "worstaudio". By default,
 235                                      youtube-dl will pick the best quality.
 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
 241
 242 ## Subtitle Options:
 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'
 254
 255 ## Authentication Options:
 256     -u, --username USERNAME          account username
 257     -p, --password PASSWORD          account password
 258     -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR        two-factor auth code
 259     -n, --netrc                      use .netrc authentication data
 260     --video-password PASSWORD        video password (vimeo, smotri)
 261
 262 ## Post-processing Options:
 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:
 274                                      mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv)
 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)
 283     --embed-thumbnail                embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
 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
 291
 292 # CONFIGURATION
 293
 294 You 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`.
 295
 296 # OUTPUT TEMPLATE
 297
 298 The `-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:
 299
 300  - `id`: The sequence will be replaced by the video identifier.
 301  - `url`: The sequence will be replaced by the video URL.
 302  - `uploader`: The sequence will be replaced by the nickname of the person who uploaded the video.
 303  - `upload_date`: The sequence will be replaced by the upload date in YYYYMMDD format.
 304  - `title`: The sequence will be replaced by the video title.
 305  - `ext`: The sequence will be replaced by the appropriate extension (like flv or mp4).
 306  - `epoch`: The sequence will be replaced by the Unix epoch when creating the file.
 307  - `autonumber`: The sequence will be replaced by a five-digit number that will be increased with each download, starting at zero.
 308  - `playlist`: The name or the id of the playlist that contains the video.
 309  - `playlist_index`: The index of the video in the playlist, a five-digit number.
 310
 311 The current default template is `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`.
 312
 313 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:
 314
 315 ```bash
 316 $ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
 317 youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4    # All kinds of weird characters
 318 $ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
 319 youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4          # A simple file name
 320 ```
 321
 322 # VIDEO SELECTION
 323
 324 Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the options `--date`, `--datebefore` or `--dateafter`, they accept dates in two formats:
 325
 326  - Absolute dates: Dates in the format `YYYYMMDD`.
 327  - Relative dates: Dates in the format `(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?`
 328
 329 Examples:
 330
 331 ```bash
 332 # Download only the videos uploaded in the last 6 months
 333 $ youtube-dl --dateafter now-6months
 334
 335 # Download only the videos uploaded on January 1, 1970
 336 $ youtube-dl --date 19700101
 337
 338 $ # will only download the videos uploaded in the 200x decade
 339 $ youtube-dl --dateafter 20000101 --datebefore 20091231
 340 ```
 341
 342 # FAQ
 343
 344 ### Can you please put the -b option back?
 345
 346 Most 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.
 347
 348 ### I get HTTP error 402 when trying to download a video. What's this?
 349
 350 Apparently 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.
 351
 352 ### I have downloaded a video but how can I play it?
 353
 354 Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such as [vlc](http://www.videolan.org) or [mplayer](http://www.mplayerhq.hu/).
 355
 356 ### The links provided by youtube-dl -g are not working anymore
 357
 358 The 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.
 359
 360 ### ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info
 361
 362 youtube 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`.
 363
 364 ### ERROR: unable to download video ###
 365
 366 youtube 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`.
 367
 368 ### SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character ###
 369
 370 The error
 371
 372     File "youtube-dl", line 2
 373     SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character '\x93' ...
 374
 375 means you're using an outdated version of Python. Please update to Python 2.6 or 2.7.
 376
 377 ### What is this binary file? Where has the code gone?
 378
 379 Since 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`.
 380
 381 ### The exe throws a *Runtime error from Visual C++*
 382
 383 To 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).
 384
 385 # DEVELOPER INSTRUCTIONS
 386
 387 Most 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.
 388
 389 To run youtube-dl as a developer, you don't need to build anything either. Simply execute
 390
 391     python -m youtube_dl
 392
 393 To run the test, simply invoke your favorite test runner, or execute a test file directly; any of the following work:
 394
 395     python -m unittest discover
 396     python test/test_download.py
 397     nosetests
 398
 399 If you want to create a build of youtube-dl yourself, you'll need
 400
 401 * python
 402 * make
 403 * pandoc
 404 * zip
 405 * nosetests
 406
 407 ### Adding support for a new site
 408
 409 If you want to add support for a new site, you can follow this quick list (assuming your service is called `yourextractor`):
 410
 411 1. [Fork this repository](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/fork)
 412 2. Check out the source code with `git clone git@github.com:YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/youtube-dl.git`
 413 3. Start a new git branch with `cd youtube-dl; git checkout -b yourextractor`
 414 4. Start with this simple template and save it to `youtube_dl/extractor/yourextractor.py`:
 415     ```python
 416     # coding: utf-8
 417     from __future__ import unicode_literals
 418
 419     import re
 420
 421     from .common import InfoExtractor
 422
 423
 424     class YourExtractorIE(InfoExtractor):
 425         _VALID_URL = r'https?://(?:www\.)?yourextractor\.com/watch/(?P<id>[0-9]+)'
 426         _TEST = {
 427             'url': 'http://yourextractor.com/watch/42',
 428             'md5': 'TODO: md5 sum of the first 10KiB of the video file',
 429             'info_dict': {
 430                 'id': '42',
 431                 'ext': 'mp4',
 432                 'title': 'Video title goes here',
 433                 'thumbnail': 're:^https?://.*\.jpg$',
 434                 # TODO more properties, either as:
 435                 # * A value
 436                 # * MD5 checksum; start the string with md5:
 437                 # * A regular expression; start the string with re:
 438                 # * Any Python type (for example int or float)
 439             }
 440         }
 441
 442         def _real_extract(self, url):
 443             mobj = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)
 444             video_id = mobj.group('id')
 445
 446             # TODO more code goes here, for example ...
 447             webpage = self._download_webpage(url, video_id)
 448             title = self._html_search_regex(r'<h1>(.*?)</h1>', webpage, 'title')
 449
 450             return {
 451                 'id': video_id,
 452                 'title': title,
 453                 # TODO more properties (see youtube_dl/extractor/common.py)
 454             }
 455     ```
 456 5. Add an import in [`youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py`](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py).
 457 6. 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.
 458 7. 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.
 459 8. 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).
 460 9. 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:
 461
 462         $ git add youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py
 463         $ git add youtube_dl/extractor/yourextractor.py
 464         $ git commit -m '[yourextractor] Add new extractor'
 465         $ git push origin yourextractor
 466
 467 10. Finally, [create a pull request](https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-pull-request). We'll then review and merge it.
 468
 469 In any case, thank you very much for your contributions!
 470
 471 # BUGS
 472
 473 Bugs 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.
 474
 475 Please 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.
 476
 477 For discussions, join us in the irc channel #youtube-dl on freenode.
 478
 479 When you submit a request, please re-read it once to avoid a couple of mistakes (you can and should use this as a checklist):
 480
 481 ### Is the description of the issue itself sufficient?
 482
 483 We 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.
 484
 485 So please elaborate on what feature you are requesting, or what bug you want to be fixed. Make sure that it's obvious
 486
 487 - What the problem is
 488 - How it could be fixed
 489 - How your proposed solution would look like
 490
 491 If 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.
 492
 493 For 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.
 494
 495 Site 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.
 496
 497 ###  Are you using the latest version?
 498
 499 Before 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.
 500
 501 ###  Is the issue already documented?
 502
 503 Make 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.
 504
 505 ###  Why are existing options not enough?
 506
 507 Before 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.
 508
 509 ###  Is there enough context in your bug report?
 510
 511 People 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).
 512
 513 We 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.
 514
 515 ###  Does the issue involve one problem, and one problem only?
 516
 517 Some 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.
 518
 519 In 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.
 520
 521 ###  Is anyone going to need the feature?
 522
 523 Only 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.
 524
 525 ###  Is your question about youtube-dl?
 526
 527 It 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.
 528
 529 # COPYRIGHT
 530
 531 youtube-dl is released into the public domain by the copyright holders.
 532
 533 This README file was originally written by Daniel Bolton (<https://github.com/dbbolton>) and is likewise released into the public domain.