-[](https://travis-ci.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc)
-[](https://pypi.org/project/youtube-dlc)
-
-[](https://gitter.im/youtube-dlc)
-[](https://github.com/blackjack4494/youtube-dlc/blob/master/LICENSE)
-
-youtube-dlc - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms.
-
-youtube-dlc is a fork of youtube-dl with the intention of getting features tested by the community merged in the tool faster, since youtube-dl's development seems to be slowing down. (https://web.archive.org/web/20201014194602/https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/26462)
-
-- [INSTALLATION](#installation)
-- [DESCRIPTION](#description)
-- [OPTIONS](#options)
- - [Network Options:](#network-options)
- - [Geo Restriction:](#geo-restriction)
- - [Video Selection:](#video-selection)
- - [Download Options:](#download-options)
- - [Filesystem Options:](#filesystem-options)
- - [Thumbnail images:](#thumbnail-images)
- - [Verbosity / Simulation Options:](#verbosity--simulation-options)
- - [Workarounds:](#workarounds)
- - [Video Format Options:](#video-format-options)
- - [Subtitle Options:](#subtitle-options)
- - [Authentication Options:](#authentication-options)
- - [Adobe Pass Options:](#adobe-pass-options)
- - [Post-processing Options:](#post-processing-options)
- - [Extractor Options:](#extractor-options)
-- [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
- - [Authentication with `.netrc` file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
-- [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
- - [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
- - [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
-- [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
- - [Format selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
-- [VIDEO SELECTION](#video-selection-1)
+# YT-DLP
-# INSTALLATION
-[How to update](#update)
+[](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
+[](LICENSE)
+[](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp/actions)
+[](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp/commits)
+[](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp/commits)
+[](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
+[](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
-**All Platforms**
-Preferred way using pip:
-You may want to use `python3` instead of `python`
+A command-line program to download videos from youtube.com and many other [video platforms](docs/supportedsites.md)
- python -m pip install --upgrade youtube-dlc
+This is a fork of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) which is inturn a fork of [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
-If you want to install the current master branch
+* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
+* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
+ * [Update](#update)
+ * [Compile](#compile)
+* [DESCRIPTION](#description)
+* [OPTIONS](#options)
+ * [Network Options](#network-options)
+ * [Geo Restriction](#geo-restriction)
+ * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
+ * [Download Options](#download-options)
+ * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
+ * [Thumbnail images](#thumbnail-images)
+ * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
+ * [Verbosity / Simulation Options](#verbosity--simulation-options)
+ * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
+ * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
+ * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
+ * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
+ * [Adobe Pass Options](#adobe-pass-options)
+ * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
+ * [SponSkrub (SponsorBlock) Options](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options)
+ * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
+* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
+ * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
+* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
+ * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
+ * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
+* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
+ * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
+ * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
+ * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
+* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
+* [MORE](#more)
- python -m pip install git+https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc
-**UNIX** (Linux, macOS, etc.)
-Using wget:
+# NEW FEATURES
+The major new features from the latest release of [blackjack4494/yt-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) are:
- sudo wget https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/releases/latest/download/youtube-dlc -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlc
- sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlc
+* **[SponSkrub Integration](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options)**: You can use [SponSkrub](https://github.com/pukkandan/SponSkrub) to mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
-Using curl:
+* **[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))
- sudo curl -L https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/releases/latest/download/youtube-dlc -o /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlc
- sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlc
+* **Merged with youtube-dl v2021.01.24.1**: 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)
+* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--get-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/pukkandan/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
-**Windows** users can download [youtube-dlc.exe](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/releases/latest/download/youtube-dlc.exe) (**do not** put in `C:\Windows\System32`!).
+* **Youtube improvements**:
+ * All Youtube Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) works correctly and support downloading multiple pages of content
+ * Youtube search works correctly (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`) along with Search URLs
+ * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
-**Compile**
-To build the Windows executable yourself (without version info!)
+* **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo MSO, Rcs, Gedi, bitwave.tv, mildom, audius
- python -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller
- pyinstaller.exe youtube_dlc\__main__.py --onefile --name youtube-dlc
-
-Or simply execute the `make_win.bat` if pyinstaller is installed.
-There will be a `youtube-dlc.exe` in `/dist`
+* **Fixed extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, tiktok, akamai, ina
+
+* **Plugin support**: Extractors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
+
+* **Multiple paths**: You can give different paths for different types of files. You can also set a temporary path where intermediary files are downloaded to. See [`--paths`](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp/#:~:text=-P,%20--paths%20TYPE:PATH) for details
+
+<!-- Relative link doesn't work for "#:~:text=" -->
+
+* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
+
+* **Other new options**: `--parse-metadata`, `--list-formats-as-table`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-on-reject` etc
+
+* **Improvements**: Multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--external-downloader-args`, `%(duration_string)s` in `-o`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection) etc
+
+
+See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
+
+
+**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
+
+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](docs/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.
+
+
+# INSTALLATION
+
+You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
+* Use [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp): `python -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp`
+* Download the binary from the [latest release](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
+* Use pip+git: `python -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp.git@release`
+* Install master branch: `python -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlp`
+
+### UPDATE
+`-U` does not work. Simply repeat the install process to update.
+
+### COMPILE
+
+**For Windows**:
+To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen for embedding thumbnail in opus/ogg files)
+
+ python -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller mutagen
-New way to build Windows is to use `python pyinst.py` (please use python3 64Bit)
-For 32Bit Version use a 32Bit Version of python (3 preferred here as well) and run `python pyinst32.py`
+Once you have all the necessary dependancies installed, just run `py devscripts\pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (32/64 bit) as the python used to build it. It is strongly reccomended to use python3 although python2.6+ is supported.
-For Unix:
+You can also build the executable without any version info or metadata by using:
+
+ pyinstaller.exe youtube_dlc\__main__.py --onefile --name youtube-dlc
+
+**For Unix**:
You will need the required build tools
python, make (GNU), pandoc, zip, nosetests
Then simply type this
make
-
-# UPDATE
-**DO NOT UPDATE using `-U` !** instead download binaries again or when installed with pip use a described above when installing.
-I will add some memorable short links to the binaries so you can download them easier.
+**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts\update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
# DESCRIPTION
-**youtube-dlc** is a command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+, and it is not platform specific. It should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS. It is released to the public domain, which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
+**youtube-dlc** is a command-line program to download videos from youtube.com many other [video platforms](docs/supportedsites.md). It requires the Python interpreter, version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+, and it is not platform specific. It should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS. It is released to the public domain, which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
+
+ youtube-dlc [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
- youtube-dlc [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
# OPTIONS
+`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
+<!-- Autogenerated -->
+
+## General Options:
-h, --help Print this help text and exit
--version Print program version and exit
- -U, --update Update this program to latest version. Make
- sure that you have sufficient permissions
- (run with sudo if needed)
+ -U, --update [BROKEN] Update this program to latest
+ version. Make sure that you have sufficient
+ permissions (run with sudo if needed)
-i, --ignore-errors Continue on download errors, for example to
skip unavailable videos in a playlist
- --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos (in the
- playlist or the command line) if an error
- occurs
+ (default) (Alias: --no-abort-on-error)
+ --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
+ error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
--dump-user-agent Display the current browser identification
--list-extractors List all supported extractors
--extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
extractor
--default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
- from google videos for youtube-dlc "large
+ from google videos for youtube-dl "large
apple". Use the value "auto" to let
- youtube-dlc guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
+ youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
warning when guessing). "error" just throws
an error. The default value "fixup_error"
repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
- this is not possible instead of searching.
- --ignore-config Do not read configuration files. When given
- in the global configuration file
- /etc/youtube-dlc.conf: Do not read the user
- configuration in ~/.config/youtube-
- dlc/config (%APPDATA%/youtube-
- dlc/config.txt on Windows)
- --config-location PATH Location of the configuration file; either
- the path to the config or its containing
- directory.
+ this is not possible instead of searching
+ --ignore-config, --no-config Disable loading any configuration files
+ except the one provided by --config-location.
+ When given inside a configuration
+ file, no further configuration files are
+ loaded. Additionally, (for backward
+ compatibility) if this option is found
+ inside the system configuration file, the
+ user configuration is not loaded
+ --config-location PATH Location of the main configuration file;
+ either the path to the config or its
+ containing directory
--flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
- only list them.
+ only list them
+ --flat-videos Do not resolve the video urls
+ --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
--mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
- --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (YouTube only)
- --no-color Do not emit color codes in output
+ --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched
+ --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
## Network Options:
--proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
some geo-restricted sites. The default
proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
option is not present) is used for the
- actual downloading.
+ actual downloading
--geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
--no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
specify range: "--playlist-items
1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
- at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
+ at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13
--match-title REGEX Download only matching titles (regex or
caseless sub-string)
--reject-title REGEX Skip download for matching titles (regex or
SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
--max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
(e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
- --date DATE Download only videos uploaded in this date
+ --date DATE Download only videos uploaded in this date.
+ The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
+ "(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
--datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
- this date (i.e. inclusive)
+ this date. The date formats accepted is the
+ same as --date
--dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
- this date (i.e. inclusive)
+ this date. The date formats accepted is the
+ same as --date
--min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than
COUNT views
--max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than
COUNT views
--match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Specify any key (see
- the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a list of
- available keys) to match if the key is
- present, !key to check if the key is not
- present, key > NUMBER (like "comment_count
- > 12", also works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to
- compare against a number, key = 'LITERAL'
- (like "uploader = 'Mike Smith'", also works
- with !=) to match against a string literal
- and & to require multiple matches. Values
- which are not known are excluded unless you
- put a question mark (?) after the operator.
- For example, to only match videos that have
+ "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a list of available
+ keys) to match if the key is present, !key
+ to check if the key is not present,
+ key>NUMBER (like "comment_count > 12", also
+ works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to compare
+ against a number, key = 'LITERAL' (like
+ "uploader = 'Mike Smith'", also works with
+ !=) to match against a string literal and &
+ to require multiple matches. Values which
+ are not known are excluded unless you put a
+ question mark (?) after the operator. For
+ example, to only match videos that have
been liked more than 100 times and disliked
less than 50 times (or the dislike
functionality is not available at the given
service), but who also have a description,
use --match-filter "like_count > 100 &
- dislike_count <? 50 & description" .
+ dislike_count <? 50 & description"
+ --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
--no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
- to a video and a playlist.
+ to a video and a playlist
--yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
- a video and a playlist.
+ a video and a playlist
--age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
age
--download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
archive file. Record the IDs of all
- downloaded videos in it.
+ downloaded videos in it
+ --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
+ a file that is in the archive
+ --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
+ a file that has been filtered out
+ --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
--include-ads Download advertisements as well
(experimental)
+ --no-include-ads Do not download advertisements (default)
## Download Options:
-r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
(e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
-R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
- "infinite".
+ "infinite"
--fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
is 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
ISM)
- --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments (DASH, hlsnative
- and ISM)
- --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading when some fragment is not
- available
+ --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
+ hlsnative and ISM (default)
+ (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
+ --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
+ (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
--keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
- downloading is finished; fragments are
- erased by default
+ downloading is finished
+ --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
+ downloading is finished (default)
--buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
(default is 1024)
- --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer
- size. By default, the buffer size is
- automatically resized from an initial value
- of SIZE.
+ --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
+ from an initial value of --buffer-size
+ (default)
+ --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
--http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
(experimental)
--playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
+ --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
+ (default)
--playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
--xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
expected file size
allowing to play the video while
downloading (some players may not be able
to play it)
- --external-downloader COMMAND Use the specified external downloader.
- Currently supports
- aria2c,avconv,axel,curl,ffmpeg,httpie,wget
- --external-downloader-args ARGS Give these arguments to the external
- downloader
+ --external-downloader NAME Use the specified external downloader.
+ Currently supports aria2c, avconv, axel,
+ curl, ffmpeg, httpie, wget
+ --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
+ downloader. Specify the downloader name and
+ the arguments separated by a colon ":". You
+ can use this option multiple times
+ (Alias: --external-downloader-args)
## Filesystem Options:
-a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
- comments and ignored.
- --id Use only video ID in file name
- -o, --output TEMPLATE Output filename template, see the "OUTPUT
- TEMPLATE" for all the info
+ comments and ignored
+ -P, --paths TYPE:PATH The paths where the files should be
+ downloaded. Specify the type of file and
+ the path separated by a colon ":"
+ (supported: description|annotation|subtitle
+ |infojson|thumbnail). Additionally, you can
+ also provide "home" and "temp" paths. All
+ intermediary files are first downloaded to
+ the temp path and then the final files are
+ moved over to the home path after download
+ is finished. Note that this option is
+ ignored if --output is an absolute path
+ -o, --output TEMPLATE Output filename template, see "OUTPUT
+ TEMPLATE" for details
+ --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder value for unavailable meta
+ fields in output filename template
+ (default: "NA")
--autonumber-start NUMBER Specify the start value for %(autonumber)s
(default is 1)
--restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
filenames
- -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite files
- -c, --continue Force resume of partially downloaded files.
- By default, youtube-dlc will resume
- downloads if possible.
- --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded files
- (restart from beginning)
+ --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
+ filenames (default)
+ -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
+ --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files.
+ This option includes --no-continue
+ --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
+ related files (default)
+ -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files (default)
+ --no-continue Restart download of partially downloaded
+ files from beginning
+ --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
+ into output file (default)
--no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
into output file
+ --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
+ file modification time (default)
--no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
the file modification time
--write-description Write video description to a .description
file
+ --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
--write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
+ --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
--write-annotations Write video annotations to a
.annotations.xml file
+ --no-write-annotations Do not write video annotations (default)
+ --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
+ video metadata when using --write-info-json,
+ --write-description etc. (default)
+ --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
+ --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
+ --get-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
+ .info.json file
--load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
(created with the "--write-info-json"
option)
--cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
jar in
- --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-
- dlc can store some downloaded information
+ --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies (default)
+ --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
+ can store some downloaded information
permanently. By default
- $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dlc or
- ~/.cache/youtube-dlc . At the moment, only
+ $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl or
+ ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the moment, only
YouTube player files (for videos with
obfuscated signatures) are cached, but that
- may change.
+ may change
--no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
--rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
- --trim-file-name Limit the filename length (extension
+ --trim-file-name LENGTH Limit the filename length (extension
excluded)
-## Thumbnail images:
+## Thumbnail Images:
--write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
+ --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
+ (default)
--write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
--list-thumbnails Simulate and list all available thumbnail
formats
+## Internet Shortcut Options:
+ --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
+ on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
+ .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
+ --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
+ OS caches the URL based on the file path
+ --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
+ --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
+
## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
-q, --quiet Activate quiet mode
--no-warnings Ignore warnings
--get-filename Simulate, quiet but print output filename
--get-format Simulate, quiet but print output format
-j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
- See the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a description
- of available keys.
+ See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a description of
+ available keys
-J, --dump-single-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information
for each command-line argument. If the URL
refers to a playlist, dump the whole
- playlist information in a single line.
+ playlist information in a single line
--print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
- JSON (video is still being downloaded).
+ JSON (video is still being downloaded)
+ --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
+ written as far as no errors occur,even if
+ -s or another simulation switch is used
+ (Alias: --force-download-archive)
--newline Output progress bar as new lines
--no-progress Do not print progress bar
--console-title Display progress in console titlebar
files in the current directory to debug
problems
--print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
- -C, --call-home Contact the youtube-dlc server for
- debugging
- --no-call-home Do NOT contact the youtube-dlc server for
+ -C, --call-home [Broken] Contact the youtube-dlc server for
debugging
+ --no-call-home Do not contact the youtube-dlc server for
+ debugging (default)
## Workarounds:
--encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
--referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
access is restricted to one domain
--add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
- separated by a colon ':'. You can use this
+ separated by a colon ":". You can use this
option multiple times
--bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
of a range for randomized sleep before each
download (minimum possible number of
seconds to sleep) when used along with
- --max-sleep-interval.
+ --max-sleep-interval
--max-sleep-interval SECONDS Upper bound of a range for randomized sleep
before each download (maximum possible
number of seconds to sleep). Must only be
- used along with --min-sleep-interval.
- --sleep-subtitles Enforce sleep interval on subtitles as well.
-
+ used along with --min-sleep-interval
+ --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Enforce sleep interval on subtitles as well
## Video Format Options:
- -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see the "FORMAT
- SELECTION" for all the info
+ -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
+ for more details
+ -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
+ "Sorting Formats" for more details
+ --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
+ precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
+ Formats" for more details
+ --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
+ specified sort order (default), see
+ "Sorting Formats" for more details
+ --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
+ into a single file
+ --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
+ each output file (default)
+ --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
+ into a single file
+ --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
+ each output file (default)
--all-formats Download all available video formats
- --prefer-free-formats Prefer free video formats unless a specific
- one is requested
+ --prefer-free-formats Prefer free video formats over non-free
+ formats of same quality
-F, --list-formats List all available formats of requested
videos
+ --list-formats-as-table Present the output of -F in tabular form
+ (default)
+ --list-formats-old Present the output of -F in the old form
+ (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
+ --youtube-include-dash-manifest Download the DASH manifests and related
+ data on YouTube videos (default)
+ (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
--youtube-skip-dash-manifest Do not download the DASH manifests and
related data on YouTube videos
+ (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
+ --youtube-include-hls-manifest Download the HLS manifests and related data
+ on YouTube videos (default)
+ (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
--youtube-skip-hls-manifest Do not download the HLS manifests and
related data on YouTube videos
+ (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
--merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
## Subtitle Options:
- --write-sub Write subtitle file
- --write-auto-sub Write automatically generated subtitle file
+ --write-subs Write subtitle file
+ --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
+ --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
(YouTube only)
+ --no-write-auto-subs Do not write automatically generated
+ subtitle file (default)
--all-subs Download all the available subtitles of the
video
--list-subs List all available subtitles for the video
## Authentication Options:
-u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
-p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
- out, youtube-dlc will ask interactively.
+ out, youtube-dlc will ask interactively
-2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
-n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
- --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, smotri, youku)
+ --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
## Adobe Pass Options:
--ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
--ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
--ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
If this option is left out, youtube-dlc
- will ask interactively.
+ will ask interactively
--ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
operators
-## Post-processing Options:
+## Post-Processing Options:
-x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
- (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
- avprobe)
+ (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
--audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format: "best", "aac",
"flac", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", "vorbis", or
"wav"; "best" by default; No effect without
-x
- --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg/avconv audio quality, insert
- a value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse)
- for VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
+ --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality, insert a
+ value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse) for
+ VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
(default 5)
- --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video to another container format
- if necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv,
- target container format must support video
- / audio encoding, remuxing may fail)
- --recode-video FORMAT Encode the video to another format if
- necessary (currently supported:
- mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv|avi)
- --postprocessor-args ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessor
- -k, --keep-video Keep the video file on disk after the post-
- processing; the video is erased by default
- --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files; the
- post-processed files are overwritten by
- default
+ --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
+ necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv|flv
+ |webm|mov|avi|mp3|mka|m4a|ogg|opus). If
+ target container does not support the
+ video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
+ can specify multiple rules; eg.
+ "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to
+ m4a, mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv.
+ --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
+ re-encoding is necessary. The supported
+ formats are the same as --remux-video
+ --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
+ Specify the postprocessor/executable name
+ and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
+ to give the argument to the specified
+ postprocessor/executable. Supported
+ postprocessors are: SponSkrub,
+ ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
+ EmbedSubtitle, Metadata, Merger,
+ FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
+ SubtitlesConvertor and EmbedThumbnail. The
+ supported executables are: SponSkrub,
+ FFmpeg, FFprobe, and AtomicParsley. You can
+ use this option multiple times to give
+ different arguments to different
+ postprocessors. You can also specify
+ "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
+ specified executable only when being used
+ by the specified postprocessor. You can use
+ this option multiple times (Alias: --ppa)
+ -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
+ after post-processing
+ --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
+ post-processing (default)
+ --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
+ --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
--embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
webm and mkv videos)
+ --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
--embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
+ --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
--add-metadata Write metadata to the video file
- --metadata-from-title FORMAT Parse additional metadata like song title /
- artist from the video title. The format
- syntax is the same as --output. Regular
- expression with named capture groups may
+ --no-add-metadata Do not write metadata (default)
+ --parse-metadata FIELD:FORMAT Parse additional metadata like title/artist
+ from other fields. Give field name to
+ extract data from, and format of the field
+ seperated by a ":". Either regular
+ expression with named capture groups or a
+ similar syntax to the output template can
also be used. The parsed parameters replace
- existing values. Example: --metadata-from-
- title "%(artist)s - %(title)s" matches a
+ any existing values and can be use in
+ output templateThis option can be used
+ multiple times. Example: --parse-metadata
+ "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s" matches a
title like "Coldplay - Paradise". Example
- (regex): --metadata-from-title
- "(?P<artist>.+?) - (?P<title>.+)"
+ (regex): --parse-metadata
+ "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+?)"
--xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
(using dublin core and xdg standards)
--fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
default; fix file if we can, warn
otherwise)
- --prefer-avconv Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
- postprocessors
- --prefer-ffmpeg Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
- postprocessors (default)
- --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg/avconv binary;
- either the path to the binary or its
- containing directory.
+ --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
+ path to the binary or its containing
+ directory
--exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
downloading and post-processing, similar to
find's -exec syntax. Example: --exec 'adb
--convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to other format
(currently supported: srt|ass|vtt|lrc)
+## SponSkrub (SponsorBlock) Options:
+[SponSkrub](https://github.com/pukkandan/SponSkrub) is a utility to
+ mark/remove sponsor segments from downloaded YouTube videos using
+ [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
+
+ --sponskrub Use sponskrub to mark sponsored sections.
+ This is enabled by default if the sponskrub
+ binary exists (Youtube only)
+ --no-sponskrub Do not use sponskrub
+ --sponskrub-cut Cut out the sponsor sections instead of
+ simply marking them
+ --no-sponskrub-cut Simply mark the sponsor sections, not cut
+ them out (default)
+ --sponskrub-force Run sponskrub even if the video was already
+ downloaded
+ --no-sponskrub-force Do not cut out the sponsor sections if the
+ video was already downloaded (default)
+ --sponskrub-location PATH Location of the sponskrub binary; either
+ the path to the binary or its containing
+ directory
+
## Extractor Options:
+ --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
+ (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
--ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
+ (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
# CONFIGURATION
-You can configure youtube-dlc by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. On Linux and macOS, the system wide configuration file is located at `/etc/youtube-dlc.conf` and the user wide configuration file at `~/.config/youtube-dlc/config`. On Windows, the user wide configuration file locations are `%APPDATA%\youtube-dlc\config.txt` or `C:\Users\<user name>\youtube-dlc.conf`. Note that by default configuration file may not exist so you may need to create it yourself.
+You can configure youtube-dlc by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
+
+1. **Main Configuration**: The file given by `--config-location`
+1. **Portable Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` or `youtube-dlc.conf` in the same directory as the bundled binary. If you are running from source-code (`<root dir>/youtube_dlc/__main__.py`), the root directory is used instead.
+1. **Home Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` or `youtube-dlc.conf` in the home path given by `-P "home:<path>"`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
+1. **User Configuration**:
+ * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
+ * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
+ * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
+ * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
+ * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
+ * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
+
+ If none of these files are found, the search is performed again by replacing `yt-dlp` with `youtube-dlc`. Note that `~` points to `C:\Users\<user name>` on windows. Also, `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to `~/.config` if undefined
+1. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf` or `/etc/youtube-dlc.conf`
-For example, with the following configuration file youtube-dlc will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `Movies` directory in your home directory:
+For example, with the following configuration file youtube-dlc will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `YouTube` directory in your home directory:
```
# Lines starting with # are comments
# Use this proxy
--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
-# Save all videos under Movies directory in your home directory
--o ~/Movies/%(title)s.%(ext)s
+# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
+-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
```
-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`.
+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`.
-You can use `--ignore-config` if you want to disable the configuration file for a particular youtube-dlc run.
-
-You can also use `--config-location` if you want to use custom configuration file for a particular youtube-dlc run.
+You can use `--ignore-config` if you want to disable all configuration files for a particular youtube-dlc 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.
### Authentication with `.netrc` file
# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
-The `-o` option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names.
+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.
**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
-The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `youtube-dlc -o funny_video.flv "https://some/video"`. However, it may 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. Allowed names along with sequence type are:
+The basic usage of `-o` is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `youtube-dlc -o funny_video.flv "https://some/video"`. However, it may 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. Additionally, 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 inside the parantheses seperated from the field name using a `>`. For example, `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`.
+
+The available fields are:
- `id` (string): Video identifier
- `title` (string): Video title
- `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
- `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
- `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
+ - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH-mm-ss)
- `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
- `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
- `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
- `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
- `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
- `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
- - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
+ - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
- `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
- `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
- `width` (numeric): Width of the video
- `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
- `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
-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 `NA`.
+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).
For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `youtube-dlc test video` and id `BaW_jenozKcj`, this will result in a `youtube-dlc test video-BaW_jenozKcj.mp4` file created in the current directory.
To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
-The current default template is `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`.
+The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
In some cases, you don't want special characters such as δΈ, 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:
# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
$ youtube-dlc -o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
+# Download YouTube playlist videos in seperate directories according to their uploaded year
+$ youtube-dlc -o '%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
+
# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
$ youtube-dlc -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists
# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
-$ youtube-dlc -u user -p password -o '~/MyVideos/%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial/
+$ youtube-dlc -u user -p password -P '~/MyVideos' -o '%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial/
# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
-$ youtube-dlc -o "C:/MyVideos/%(series)s/%(season_number)s - %(season)s/%(episode_number)s - %(episode)s.%(ext)s" https://videomore.ru/kino_v_detalayah/5_sezon/367617
+$ youtube-dlc -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
# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
$ youtube-dlc -o - BaW_jenozKc
# FORMAT SELECTION
-By default youtube-dlc tries to download the best available quality, i.e. if you want the best quality you **don't need** to pass any special options, youtube-dlc will guess it for you by **default**.
-
-But sometimes you may want to download in a different format, for example when you are on a slow or intermittent connection. The key mechanism for achieving this is so-called *format selection* based on which you can explicitly specify desired format, select formats based on some criterion or criteria, setup precedence and much more.
+By default, youtube-dlc tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
+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 youtube-dlc to stream to `stdout` (`-o -`), the default becomes `-f best/bestvideo+bestaudio`.
-The general syntax for format selection is `--format FORMAT` or shorter `-f FORMAT` where `FORMAT` is a *selector expression*, i.e. an expression that describes format or formats you would like to download.
+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.
**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
- - `best`: Select the best quality format represented by a single file with video and audio.
- - `worst`: Select the worst quality format represented by a single file with video and audio.
- - `bestvideo`: Select the best quality video-only format (e.g. DASH video). May not be available.
- - `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. May not be available.
- - `bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio only-format. May not be available.
- - `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio only-format. May not be available.
+ - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
+ - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
+ - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
+ - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
+ - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality video-only format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
+ - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
+ - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
+ - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
+ - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
+ - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
+ - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]`
+ - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
-For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`.
+For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recomended to never actually 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.
-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 slash is left-associative, i.e. 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.
+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.
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`.
+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. If `--no-video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, if `--no-audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. For example, `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio` 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`.
+
+## Filtering Formats
+
You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
- `container`: Name of the container format
- `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`)
- `format_id`: A short description of the format
+ - `language`: Language code
Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain).
-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 video hoster.
+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 video hoster. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
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 merge the video and audio of two formats into a single file using `-f <video-format>+<audio-format>` (requires ffmpeg or avconv installed), for example `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg/avconv.
-
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]'`.
-Since the end of April 2015 and version 2015.04.26, youtube-dlc uses `-f bestvideo+bestaudio/best` as the default format selection (see [#5447](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/5447), [#5456](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/5456)). If ffmpeg or avconv are installed this results in downloading `bestvideo` and `bestaudio` separately and muxing them together into a single file giving the best overall quality available. Otherwise it falls back to `best` and results in downloading the best available quality served as a single file. `best` is also needed for videos that don't come from YouTube because they don't provide the audio and video in two different files. If you want to only download some DASH formats (for example if you are not interested in getting videos with a resolution higher than 1080p), you can add `-f bestvideo[height<=?1080]+bestaudio/best` to your configuration file. Note that if you use youtube-dlc to stream to `stdout` (and most likely to pipe it to your media player then), i.e. you explicitly specify output template as `-o -`, youtube-dlc still uses `-f best` format selection in order to start content delivery immediately to your player and not to wait until `bestvideo` and `bestaudio` are downloaded and muxed.
+## Sorting Formats
+
+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:
+
+ - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
+ - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
+ - `ie_pref`: The format preference as given by the extractor
+ - `lang`: Language preference as given by the extractor
+ - `quality`: The quality of the format. This is a metadata field available in some websites
+ - `source`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
+ - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8-native` > `m3u8` > `http-dash-segments` > other > `mms`/`rtsp` > unknown > `f4f`/`f4m`)
+ - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other > unknown)
+ - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other > unknown)
+ - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
+ - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is prefered.
+ - `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`.
+ - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
+ - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
+ - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
+ - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
+ - `height`: Height of video
+ - `width`: Width of video
+ - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
+ - `fps`: Framerate of video
+ - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
+ - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
+ - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
+ - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
+ - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
+
+Note that any other **numerical** field made available by the extractor can also be used. All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in decending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a prefered value for the fields, seperated 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 prefered 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` > `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.
+
+The fields `hasvid`, `ie_pref`, `lang`, `quality` 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: `res,fps,codec,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.
+
+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 repects. 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`.
-If you want to preserve the old format selection behavior (prior to youtube-dlc 2015.04.26), i.e. you want to download the best available quality media served as a single file, you should explicitly specify your choice with `-f best`. You may want to add it to the [configuration file](#configuration) in order not to type it every time you run youtube-dlc.
+**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
-#### Format selection examples
+## Format Selection examples
Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
```bash
-# Download best mp4 format available or any other best if no mp4 available
-$ youtube-dlc -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best'
+# Download and merge the best best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
+# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv+ba/b'
-# Download best format available but no better than 480p
-$ youtube-dlc -f 'bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio/best[height<=480]'
+# Download best format that contains video,
+# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*+ba/b'
-# Download best video only format but no bigger than 50 MB
-$ youtube-dlc -f 'best[filesize<50M]'
+# Same as above
+$ youtube-dlc
-# Download best format available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol
-$ youtube-dlc -f '(bestvideo+bestaudio/best)[protocol^=http]'
+# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
+# For this case, an output template should be used since
+# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv,ba' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
-# Download the best video format and the best audio format without merging them
-$ youtube-dlc -f 'bestvideo,bestaudio' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
-```
-Note that in the last example, an output template is recommended as bestvideo and bestaudio may have the same file name.
-# VIDEO SELECTION
+# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
+# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but better result
-Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the options `--date`, `--datebefore` or `--dateafter`. They accept dates in two formats:
+# Download the worst video available (old method)
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'wv*+wa/w'
- - Absolute dates: Dates in the format `YYYYMMDD`.
- - Relative dates: Dates in the format `(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?`
-
-Examples:
+# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
+$ youtube-dlc -S '+res'
-```bash
-# Download only the videos uploaded in the last 6 months
-$ youtube-dlc --dateafter now-6months
+# Download the smallest video available
+$ youtube-dlc -S '+size,+br'
+
+
+
+# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b'
+
+# Download the best video with the best extension
+# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
+$ youtube-dlc -S 'ext'
+
+
+
+# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
+# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w'
+
+# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
+# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
+$ youtube-dlc -S 'height:480'
+
+# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
+# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
+# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
+# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
+$ youtube-dlc -S 'res:480'
+
+
+
+# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
+# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'b[filesize<50M] / w'
+
+# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
+# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'b' -S 'filesize:50M'
-# Download only the videos uploaded on January 1, 1970
-$ youtube-dlc --date 19700101
+# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
+$ youtube-dlc -f 'b' -S 'filesize~50M'
-$ # Download only the videos uploaded in the 200x decade
-$ youtube-dlc --dateafter 20000101 --datebefore 20091231
+
+
+# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
+# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
+$ youtube-dlc -f '(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)'
+
+# Download best video available via the best protocol
+# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
+$ youtube-dlc -S 'proto'
+
+
+
+# Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
+$ youtube-dlc -f '(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)'
+
+# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
+# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
+$ youtube-dlc -S 'codec:h264'
+
+# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
+# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
+$ youtube-dlc -S '+codec:h264'
+
+
+
+# More complex examples
+
+# Download the best video no better than 720p prefering framerate greater than 30,
+# or the worst video (still prefering framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
+$ youtube-dlc -f '((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)'
+
+# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
+# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
+# prefering larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
+$ youtube-dlc -S 'res:720,fps'
+
+
+
+# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
+# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
+# prefering better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
+$ youtube-dlc -S '+res:480,codec,br'
```
+
+# PLUGINS
+
+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.
+
+**Note**: `<root-dir>` is the directory of the binary (`<root-dir>/youtube-dlc`), or the root directory of the module if you are running directly from source-code (`<root dir>/youtube_dlc/__main__.py`)
+
+# MORE
+For FAQ, Developer Instructions etc., see the [original README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)
projects / yt-dlp.git / blobdiff