* [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
* [Update](#update)
+ * [Release Files](#release-files)
* [Dependencies](#dependencies)
* [Compile](#compile)
* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
* [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
* [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
* [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
- * [SponSkrub (SponsorBlock) Options](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options)
+ * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
* [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
* [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
* [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
+* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
+* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
+ * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
+ * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
* [MORE](#more)
-</div>
# NEW FEATURES
The major new features from the latest release of [blackjack4494/yt-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) are:
-* **[SponSkrub Integration](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options)**: You can use [SponSkrub](https://github.com/yt-dlp/SponSkrub) to mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
+* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
* **[Format Sorting](#sorting-formats)**: The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now preferred instead of simply using larger bitrate. Furthermore, you can now specify the sort order using `-S`. This allows for much easier format selection than what is possible by simply using `--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
* Most (but not all) age-gated content can be downloaded without cookies
* Partial workaround for throttling issue
* Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
- * `255kbps` audio is extracted from youtube music if premium cookies are given
- * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded
+ * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from youtube music when premium cookies are given
+ * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded ([except self-uploaded music](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/723))
* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[:PROFILE]`
* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
-* **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo MSO, Spectrum MSO, SlingTV MSO, Cablevision MSO, Rcs, Gedi, bitwave.tv, mildom, audius, zee5, mtv.it, wimtv, pluto.tv, niconico users, discoveryplus.in, mediathek, NFHSNetwork, nebula, ukcolumn, whowatch, MxplayerShow, parlview (au), YoutubeWebArchive, fancode, Saitosan, ShemarooMe, telemundo, VootSeries, SonyLIVSeries, HotstarSeries, VidioPremier, VidioLive, RCTIPlus, TBS Live, douyin, pornflip, ParamountPlusSeries, ScienceChannel, Utreon, OpenRec, BandcampMusic, blackboardcollaborate, eroprofile albums, mirrativ
+* **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo MSO, Spectrum MSO, SlingTV MSO, Cablevision MSO, RCN MSO, Rcs, Gedi, bitwave.tv, mildom, audius, zee5, mtv.it, wimtv, pluto.tv, niconico users, discoveryplus.in, mediathek, NFHSNetwork, nebula, ukcolumn, whowatch, MxplayerShow, parlview (au), YoutubeWebArchive, fancode, Saitosan, ShemarooMe, telemundo, VootSeries, SonyLIVSeries, HotstarSeries, VidioPremier, VidioLive, RCTIPlus, TBS Live, douyin, pornflip, ParamountPlusSeries, ScienceChannel, Utreon, OpenRec, BandcampMusic, blackboardcollaborate, eroprofile albums, mirrativ, BannedVideo, bilibili categories, Epicon, filmmodu, GabTV, HungamaAlbum, ManotoTV, Niconico search, Patreon User, peloton, ProjectVeritas, radiko, StarTV, tiktok user, Tokentube, voicy, TV2HuSeries, biliintl, 17live, NewgroundsUser, peertube channel/playlist, ZenYandex, CAM4, CGTN, damtomo, gotostage, Koo, Mediaite, Mediaklikk, MuseScore, nzherald, Olympics replay, radlive, SovietsCloset, Streamanity, Theta, Chingari, ciscowebex, Gettr, GoPro, N1, Theta, Veo, Vupload, NovaPlay, SkyNewsAU, EUScreen, Gronkh, microsoftstream, on24, trovo channels
-* **Fixed/improved extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, akamai, ina, rumble, tennistv, amcnetworks, la7 podcasts, linuxacadamy, nitter, twitcasting, viu, crackle, curiositystream, mediasite, rmcdecouverte, sonyliv, tubi, tenplay, patreon, videa, yahoo, BravoTV, crunchyroll playlist, RTP, viki, Hotstar, vidio, vimeo, mediaset, Mxplayer, nbcolympics, ParamountPlus, Newgrounds
+* **Fixed/improved extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, akamai, ina, rumble, tennistv, amcnetworks, la7 podcasts, linuxacadamy, nitter, twitcasting, viu, crackle, curiositystream, mediasite, rmcdecouverte, sonyliv, tubi, tenplay, patreon, videa, yahoo, BravoTV, crunchyroll, RTP, viki, Hotstar, vidio, vimeo, mediaset, Mxplayer, nbcolympics, ParamountPlus, Newgrounds, SAML Verizon login, Hungama, afreecatv, aljazeera, ATV, bitchute, camtube, CDA, eroprofile, facebook, HearThisAtIE, iwara, kakao, Motherless, Nova, peertube, pornhub, reddit, tiktok, TV2, TV2Hu, tv5mondeplus, VH1, Viafree, XHamster, 9Now, AnimalPlanet, Arte, CBC, Chingari, comedycentral, DIYNetwork, niconico, dw, funimation, globo, HiDive, NDR, Nuvid, Oreilly, pbs, plutotv, reddit, redtube, soundcloud, SpankBang, VrtNU, bbc, Bilibili, LinkedInLearning, parliamentlive, PolskieRadio, Streamable, vidme, francetv, 7plus, tagesschau
* **Subtitle extraction from manifests**: Subtitles can be extracted from streaming media manifests. See [commit/be6202f](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/be6202f12b97858b9d716e608394b51065d0419f) for details
### Differences in default behavior
-Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc.
+Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
-* The options `--id`, `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
+* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
* `avconv` is not supported as as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
-* The default [output template](#output-template) is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`. There is no real reason for this change. This was changed before yt-dlp was ever made public and now there are no plans to change it back to `%(title)s.%(id)s.%(ext)s`. Instead, you may use `--compat-options filename`
+* The default [output template](#output-template) is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`. There is no real reason for this change. This was changed before yt-dlp was ever made public and now there are no plans to change it back to `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`. Instead, you may use `--compat-options filename`
* The default [format sorting](#sorting-formats) is different from youtube-dl and prefers higher resolution and better codecs rather than higher bitrates. You can use the `--format-sort` option to change this to any order you prefer, or use `--compat-options format-sort` to use youtube-dl's sorting order
* The default format selector is `bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be prefered. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
* Unlike youtube-dlc, yt-dlp does not allow merging multiple audio/video streams into one file by default (since this conflicts with the use of `-f bv*+ba`). If needed, this feature must be enabled using `--audio-multistreams` and `--video-multistreams`. You can also use `--compat-options multistreams` to enable both
* If `ffmpeg` is used as the downloader, the downloading and merging of formats happen in a single step when possible. Use `--compat-options no-direct-merge` to revert this
* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
* Some private fields such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use `--no-clean-infojson` or `--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
-* When `--embed-subs` and `--write-subs` are used together, the subtitles are written to disk and also embedded in the media file. You can use just `--embed-subs` to embed the subs and automatically delete the seperate file. See [#630 (comment)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/630#issuecomment-893659460) for more info. `--compat-options no-keep-subs` can be used to revert this.
+* When `--embed-subs` and `--write-subs` are used together, the subtitles are written to disk and also embedded in the media file. You can use just `--embed-subs` to embed the subs and automatically delete the seperate file. See [#630 (comment)](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/630#issuecomment-893659460) for more info. `--compat-options no-keep-subs` can be used to revert this
For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options
# INSTALLATION
-yt-dlp is not platform specific. So it should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS
You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
-* Download the binary from the [latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest) (recommended method)
-* Use [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp): `python3 -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp`
-* Use pip+git: `python3 -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp.git@release`
-* Install master branch: `python3 -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp`
-Note that on some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
+#### Using the release binary
+
+You can simply download the [correct binary file](#release-files) for your OS: **[[Windows](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)] [[UNIX-like](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)]**
-UNIX users (Linux, macOS, BSD) can also install the [latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest) one of the following ways:
+In UNIX-like OSes (MacOS, Linux, BSD), you can also install the same in one of the following ways:
```
sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
```
+PS: The manpages, shell completion files etc. are available in [yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
+
+#### With [PIP](https://pypi.org/project/pip)
+
+You can install the [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) with:
+```
+python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp
+```
+
+On some systems (like Termux), it is not possible to install pycryptodomex. In that case, install without dependancies:
+```
+python3 -m pip install --no-deps -U yt-dlp
+```
+
+You can also install the master branch with:
+```
+python3 -m pip3 install -U https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/archive/master.zip
+```
+
+Note that on some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
+
+#### With [Homebrew](https://brew.sh)
+
+macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew can also install it by:
+
+```
+brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp
+```
+
### UPDATE
-You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the provided release.
-If you are using `pip`, simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program.
+You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are [using the provided release](#using-the-release-binary)
+
+If you [installed with pip](#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
+
+If you [installed using Homebrew](#with-homebrew), run `brew upgrade yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
+
+### RELEASE FILES
+
+#### Recommended
+
+File|Description
+:---|:---
+[yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independant binary. Needs Python (recommended for **UNIX-like systems**)
+[yt-dlp.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary (recommended for **Windows**)
+
+#### Alternatives
+
+File|Description
+:---|:---
+[yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable
+[yt-dlp_x86.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_x86.exe)|Windows (Vista SP2+) standalone x86 (32-bit) binary
+[yt-dlp_min.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_min.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary built with `py2exe`.<br/> Does not contain `pycryptodomex`, needs VC++14
+[yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
+[yt-dlp_macos.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos.zip)|Unpackaged MacOS (10.15+) executable (no auto-update)
+
+#### Misc
+
+File|Description
+:---|:---
+[yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball. Also contains manpages, completions, etc
+[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
+[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
### DEPENDENCIES
Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
-<!-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 -->
+<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
+<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
On windows, [Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)](https://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/5/165255E7-1014-4D0A-B094-B6A430A6BFFC/vcredist_x86.exe) is also necessary to run yt-dlp. You probably already have this, but if the executable throws an error due to missing `MSVCR100.dll` you need to install it manually.
+-->
While all the other dependancies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
* [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for [merging seperate video and audio files](#format-selection) as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. Licence [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
-* [**sponskrub**](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) - For using the [sponskrub options](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options). Licenced under [GPLv3+](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub/blob/master/LICENCE.md)
-* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen) - For embedding thumbnail in certain formats. Licenced under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
-* [**pycryptodome**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome) - For decrypting various data. Licenced under [BSD2](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
-* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets) - For downloading over websocket. Licenced under [BSD3](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
-* [**keyring**](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring) - For decrypting cookies of chromium-based browsers on Linux. Licenced under [MIT](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring/blob/main/LICENSE)
-* [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For embedding thumbnail in mp4/m4a if mutagen is not present. Licenced under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
-* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licenced under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
-* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licenced under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
-* [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licenced under [BSD3](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
+* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen) - For embedding thumbnail in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
+* [**pycryptodomex**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome) - For decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data. Licensed under [BSD2](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
+* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets) - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD3](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
+* [**keyring**](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring) - For decrypting cookies of chromium-based browsers on Linux. Licensed under [MIT](https://github.com/jaraco/keyring/blob/main/LICENSE)
+* [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For embedding thumbnail in mp4/m4a if mutagen is not present. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
+* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
+* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
+* [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licensed under [BSD3](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
+* [**sponskrub**](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) - For using the now **deprecated** [sponskrub options](#sponskrub-options). Licensed under [GPLv3+](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub/blob/master/LICENCE.md)
* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
-Note that the windows releases are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen, pycryptodome and websockets included.
+The Windows and MacOS standalone release binaries are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen, pycryptodomex and websockets included.
-### COMPILE
-
-**For Windows**:
-To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen, pycryptodome, websockets)
+**Note**: There are some regressions in newer ffmpeg versions that causes various issues when used alongside yt-dlp. Since ffmpeg is such an important dependancy, we provide [custom builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds/wiki/Latest#latest-autobuilds) with patches for these issues at [yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds). See [the readme](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#patches-applied) for details on the specifc issues solved by these builds
- python3 -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller mutagen pycryptodome websockets
-Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, just run `py pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (32/64 bit) as the python used to build it.
+### COMPILE
-You can also build the executable without any version info or metadata by using:
+**For Windows**:
+To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen, pycryptodomex, websockets). Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, (optionally) build lazy extractors using `devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py`, and then just run `pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (32/64 bit) as the python used to build it.
- pyinstaller.exe yt_dlp\__main__.py --onefile --name yt-dlp
+ py -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
+ py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
+ py pyinst.py
Note that pyinstaller [does not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment
You will need the required build tools: `python`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`, `zip`, `pytest`
Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files
-**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts\update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
+**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts/update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
# USAGE AND OPTIONS
-U, --update 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
- (default) (Alias: --no-abort-on-error)
+ -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
+ The download will be considered successful
+ even if the postprocessing fails
+ --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download
+ errors; e.g. to skip unavailable videos in
+ a playlist (default)
--abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
--dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
extractor
--default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
- from google videos for youtube-dl "large
- apple". Use the value "auto" to let
- youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
+ from google videos for the search term
+ "large apple". Use the value "auto" to let
+ yt-dlp 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
--flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
only list them
--no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
- --mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
+ --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate).
+ Currently only supported for YouTube
--no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
--no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
--compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
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
- --match-title REGEX Download only matching titles (regex or
- caseless sub-string)
- --reject-title REGEX Skip download for matching titles (regex or
- caseless sub-string)
--max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
--min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
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 on 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
--dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
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. Any field (see
"OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a
number or a string using the operators
stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
comments and ignored
+ --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
-P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
downloaded. Specify the type of file and
the path separated by a colon ":". All the
filenames
--no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
filenames (default)
- --windows-filenames Force filenames to be windows compatible
- --no-windows-filenames Make filenames windows compatible only if
- using windows (default)
+ --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
+ --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
+ using Windows (default)
--trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
extension) to the specified number of
characters
--write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
(this may contain personal information)
--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)
--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[:PROFILE]
Load cookies from a user profile of the
given web browser. Currently supported
- browsers are: brave|chrome|chromium|edge|fi
- refox|opera|safari|vivaldi. You can specify
- the user profile name or directory using
- "BROWSER:PROFILE_NAME" or
+ browsers are: brave, chrome, chromium,
+ edge, firefox, opera, safari, vivaldi. You
+ can specify the user profile name or
+ directory using "BROWSER:PROFILE_NAME" or
"BROWSER:PROFILE_PATH". If no profile is
given, the most recently accessed one is
used
--cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
can store some downloaded information (such
as client ids and signatures) permanently.
- By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl or
- ~/.cache/youtube-dl
+ By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/yt-dlp or
+ ~/.cache/yt-dlp
--no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
--rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
anything to disk
--no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
options are used
- --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Usefull
- for extracting metadata even if the videos
- are not actually available for download
+ --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
+ extracting metadata even if the videos are
+ not actually available for download
(experimental)
--no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
formats are found (default)
(Alias: --force-download-archive)
--newline Output progress bar as new lines
--no-progress Do not print progress bar
+ --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
--console-title Display progress in console titlebar
+ --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
+ Template for progress outputs, optionally
+ prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
+ "download-title:" (the console title),
+ "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
+ The video's fields are accessible under the
+ "info" key and the progress attributes are
+ accessible under "progress" key. E.g.:
+ --console-title --progress-template
+ "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
-v, --verbose Print various debugging information
--dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
to debug problems (very verbose)
## Workarounds:
--encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
- --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
+ --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
--prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
information about the video (Currently
supported only for YouTube)
containers irrespective of quality
--no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
containers (default)
- --check-formats Check that the formats selected are
+ --check-formats Check that the selected formats are
actually downloadable
- --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats selected are
+ --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
actually downloadable
+ --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
+ downloadable
-F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
--merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
-2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
-n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
+ --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
+ either the path or its containing
+ directory. Defaults to ~/.netrc
--video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
--ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
to give the argument to the specified
postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
- Merger, ExtractAudio, SplitChapters,
+ Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
+ ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
- VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor, SponSkrub,
FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
- FFmpeg, FFprobe, and SponSkrub. You can
- also specify "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the
- arguments to the specified executable only
- when being used by the specified
- postprocessor. Additionally, for
- ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be appended
- to the prefix optionally followed by a
- number to pass the argument before the
- specified input/output file. Eg: --ppa
- "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
- this option multiple times to give
+ FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
+ "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
+ specified executable only when being used
+ by the specified postprocessor.
+ Additionally, for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o"
+ can be appended to the prefix optionally
+ followed by a number to pass the argument
+ before the specified input/output file. Eg:
+ --ppa "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can
+ use this option multiple times to give
different arguments to different
postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
-k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
--no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
--embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
--no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
- --embed-metadata Embed metadata including chapter markers
- (if supported by the format) to the video
- file (Alias: --add-metadata)
- --no-embed-metadata Do not write metadata (default)
+ --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also adds
+ chapters to file unless --no-add-chapters
+ is used (Alias: --add-metadata)
+ --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
(Alias: --no-add-metadata)
+ --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
+ (Alias: --add-chapters)
+ --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default)
+ (Alias: --no-add-chapters)
--parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
for details
files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
--no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters
(default)
-
-## SponSkrub (SponsorBlock) Options:
-[SponSkrub](https://github.com/yt-dlp/SponSkrub) is a utility to
- mark/remove sponsor segments from downloaded YouTube videos using
+ --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
+ given regular expression. Time ranges
+ prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
+ of chapters to remove the specified range.
+ Eg: --remove-chapters "*10:15-15:00"
+ --remove-chapters "intro". This option can
+ be used multiple times
+ --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
+ (default)
+ --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes around the chapters before
+ removing/splitting them. Requires a
+ reencode and thus is very slow, but the
+ resulting video may have fewer artifacts
+ around the cuts
+ --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
+ when cutting/splitting (default)
+ --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS] The (case sensitive) name of plugin
+ postprocessors to be enabled, and
+ (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
+ seperated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
+ semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
+ The "when" argument determines when the
+ postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
+ "pre_process" (after extraction),
+ "before_dl" (before video download),
+ "post_process" (after video download;
+ default) or "after_move" (after moving file
+ to their final locations). This option can
+ be used multiple times to add different
+ postprocessors
+
+## SponsorBlock Options:
+Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
+ introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
[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
+ --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
+ for, separated by commas. Available
+ categories are all, sponsor, intro, outro,
+ selfpromo, interaction, preview,
+ music_offtopic. You can prefix the category
+ with a "-" to exempt it. See
+ https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/index.php/Segment_Categories
+ for description of the categories. Eg:
+ --sponsorblock-query all,-preview
+ --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
+ the video file, separated by commas. If a
+ category is present in both mark and
+ remove, remove takes precedence. The syntax
+ and available categories are the same as
+ for --sponsorblock-mark
+ --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
+ The title template for SponsorBlock
+ chapters created by --sponsorblock-mark.
+ The same syntax as the output template is
+ used, but the only available fields are
+ start_time, end_time, category, categories,
+ name, category_names. Defaults to
+ "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
+ --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
+ --sponsorblock-remove
+ --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
+ https://sponsor.ajay.app
## Extractor Options:
--extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor
* `~/yt-dlp.conf`
* `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
- Note that `~` points to `C:\Users\<user name>` on windows. Also, `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to `~/.config` if undefined
+ `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to `~/.config` if undefined. On windows, `~` points to %HOME% if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`.
1. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
For example, with the following configuration file yt-dlp will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `YouTube` directory in your home directory:
### Authentication with `.netrc` file
-You may also want to configure automatic credentials storage for extractors that support authentication (by providing login and password with `--username` and `--password`) in order not to pass credentials as command line arguments on every yt-dlp execution and prevent tracking plain text passwords in the shell command history. You can achieve this using a [`.netrc` file](https://stackoverflow.com/tags/.netrc/info) on a per extractor basis. For that you will need to create a `.netrc` file in your `$HOME` and restrict permissions to read/write by only you:
+You may also want to configure automatic credentials storage for extractors that support authentication (by providing login and password with `--username` and `--password`) in order not to pass credentials as command line arguments on every yt-dlp execution and prevent tracking plain text passwords in the shell command history. You can achieve this using a [`.netrc` file](https://stackoverflow.com/tags/.netrc/info) on a per extractor basis. For that you will need to create a `.netrc` file in `--netrc-location` and restrict permissions to read/write by only you:
```
touch $HOME/.netrc
chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
```
After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
```
-machine <extractor> login <login> password <password>
+machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
```
For example:
```
```
To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
-On Windows you may also need to setup the `%HOME%` environment variable manually. For example:
-```
-set HOME=%USERPROFILE%
-```
+The default location of the .netrc file is `$HOME` (`~`) in UNIX. On Windows, it is `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
The simplest usage of `-o` is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `yt-dlp -o funny_video.flv "https://some/video"` (hard-coding file extension like this is _not_ recommended and could break some post-processing).
-It may however also contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences may be formatted according to [python string formatting operations](https://docs.python.org/2/library/stdtypes.html#string-formatting). For example, `%(NAME)s` or `%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations.
+It may however also contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences may be formatted according to [Python string formatting operations](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-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.
The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
1. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using `:`. Eg: `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. `%()s` refers to the entire infodict. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
1. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
1. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. Eg: `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
-1. **Default**: A default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` seperator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
-1. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, `j`, `l`, `q` can be used for converting to **j**son, a comma seperated **l**ist and a string **q**uoted for the terminal respectively
+1. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified seperated with a `,`. Eg: `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
+1. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` seperator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
+1. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, `B`, `j`, `l`, `q` can be used for converting to **B**ytes, **j**son, a comma seperated **l**ist (alternate form flag `#` makes it new line `\n` seperated) and a string **q**uoted for the terminal, respectively
+1. **Unicode normalization**: The format type `U` can be used for NFC [unicode normalization](https://docs.python.org/3/library/unicodedata.html#unicodedata.normalize). The alternate form flag (`#`) changes the normalization to NFD and the conversion flag `+` can be used for NFKC/NFKD compatibility equivalence normalization. Eg: `%(title)+.100U` is NFKC
To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
```
-%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
+%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
```
-Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files separately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template separated by a colon `:`. The different file types supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation`, `infojson`, `pl_thumbnail`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`. For example, `-o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' -o 'thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s'` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video.
+Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files separately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template separated by a colon `:`. The different file types supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation` (deprecated), `infojson`, `link`, `pl_thumbnail`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`. For example, `-o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' -o 'thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s'` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video. If any of the templates (except default) is empty, that type of file will not be written. Eg: `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
The available fields are:
- `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
- `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
- `creator` (string): The creator of the video
- - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
- `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
- `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
+ - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
+ - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
- `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
- `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
- `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
- `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
- `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
- `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
+ - `dynamic_range` (string): The dynamic range of the video
- `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
- `container` (string): Name of the container format
- `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
- `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
- `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
- `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
+ - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
- `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
- - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
+ - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
+ - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
- `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
- `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
- `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
- `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
- `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the actual filename may be different due to post-processing. Use `--exec echo` to get the name after all postprocessing is complete
+
+Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
-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).
+ - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
+ - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
+ - `categories` (list): The SponsorBlock categories the chapter belongs to
+ - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
+ - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
+ - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
-For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `yt-dlp test video` and id `BaW_jenozKc`, this will result in a `yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKc.mp4` file created in the current directory.
+Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `yt-dlp test video` and id `BaW_jenozKc`, this will result in a `yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKc.mp4` file created in the current directory.
-For numeric sequences you can use numeric related formatting, for example, `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
+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).
+
+**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
+
+For numeric sequences you can use [numeric related formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting), for example, `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
Output templates can also contain arbitrary hierarchical path, e.g. `-o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s'` which will result in downloading each video in a directory corresponding to this path template. Any missing directory will be automatically created for you.
By default, yt-dlp 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 yt-dlp to stream to `stdout` (`-o -`), the default becomes `-f best/bestvideo+bestaudio`.
+**Deprecation warning**: Latest versions of yt-dlp can stream multiple formats to the stdout simultaneously using ffmpeg. So, in future versions, the default for this will be set to `-f bv*+ba/b` similar to normal downloads. If you want to preserve the `-f b/bv+ba` setting, it is recommended to explicitly specify it in the configuration options.
+
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).
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. Unless `--video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, unless `--audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. For example, `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --video-multistreams --audio-multistreams` will download and merge all 3 given formats. The resulting file will have 2 video streams and 2 audio streams. But `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --no-video-multistreams` will download and merge only `bestvideo` and `bestaudio`. `best` is ignored since another format containing a video stream (`bestvideo`) has already been selected. The order of the formats is therefore important. `-f best+bestaudio --no-audio-multistreams` will download and merge both formats while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
+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.
+
+**Deprecation warning**: Since the *below* described behavior is complex and counter-intuitive, this will be removed and multistreams will be enabled by default in the future. A new operator will be instead added to limit formats to single audio/video
+
+Unless `--video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, unless `--audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. For example, `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --video-multistreams --audio-multistreams` will download and merge all 3 given formats. The resulting file will have 2 video streams and 2 audio streams. But `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --no-video-multistreams` will download and merge only `bestvideo` and `bestaudio`. `best` is ignored since another format containing a video stream (`bestvideo`) has already been selected. The order of the formats is therefore important. `-f best+bestaudio --no-audio-multistreams` will download and merge both formats while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
## Filtering Formats
- `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.
+ - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
- `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
+ - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
- `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
+
+**Deprecation warning**: Many of these fields have (currently undocumented) aliases, that may be removed in a future version. It is recommended to use only the documented field names.
+
+All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a `:`. Eg: `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two preferred values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg: `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `vp9.2` > `av01` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. Eg: `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
-Note that any other **numerical** field made available by the extractor can also be used. All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a `:`. Eg: `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two preferred values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg: `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `vp9.2` > `av01` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. Eg: `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
+The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--format-sort-force`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,hdr:12,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. The extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
-The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--force-format-sort`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. Note that the extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
+Note that the default has `codec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not prefered. Similarly, the default for hdr is `hdr:12`; i.e. dolby vision is not prefered. These choices are made since DV and AV1 formats are not yet fully compatible with most devices. This may be changed in the future as more devices become capable of smoothly playing back these formats.
If your format selector is `worst`, the last item is selected after sorting. This means it will select the format that is worst in all respects. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps`.
This option also has a few special uses:
* You can download an additional URL based on the metadata of the currently downloaded video. To do this, set the field `additional_urls` to the URL that you want to download. Eg: `--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
-* You can use this to change the metadata that is embedded in the media file. To do this, set the value of the corresponding field with a `meta_` prefix. For example, any value you set to `meta_description` field will be added to the `description` field in the file. For example, you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis"
+* You can use this to change the metadata that is embedded in the media file. To do this, set the value of the corresponding field with a `meta_` prefix. For example, any value you set to `meta_description` field will be added to the `description` field in the file. For example, you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis". Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url
$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata 'description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)' --add-metadata
+# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
+$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ':(?P<formats>)' -j
+
# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata 'title,uploader' '[ _]' '-'
# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
-Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) seperated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. Eg: `--extractor-args "youtube:player_client=android_agegate,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
+Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) separated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. Eg: `--extractor-args "youtube:player_client=android_agegate,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
The following extractors use this feature:
-* **youtube**
- * `skip`: `hls` or `dash` (or both) to skip download of the respective manifests
- * `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android`, `ios`, `mweb`. These also have `_music`, `_embedded`, `_agegate`, and `_creator` variants (Eg: `web_embedded`) (`mweb` has only `_agegate`). By default, `android,web` is used, but the agegate and creator variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly the music variants are added for `music.youtube.com` urls. You can also use `all` to use all the clients
- * `player_skip`: `configs` - skip any requests for client configs and use defaults
- * `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats (These formats don't download properly)
- * `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side).
- * `max_comments`: Maximum amount of comments to download (default all).
- * `max_comment_depth`: Maximum depth for nested comments. YouTube supports depths 1 or 2 (default).
-
-* **funimation**
- * `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `funimation:language=english,japanese`
- * `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
-
-* **vikiChannel**
- * `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
+
+#### youtube
+* `skip`: `hls` or `dash` (or both) to skip download of the respective manifests
+* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android`, `ios`, `mweb`. These also have `_music`, `_embedded`, `_agegate`, and `_creator` variants (Eg: `web_embedded`) (`mweb` has only `_agegate`). By default, `android,web` is used, but the agegate and creator variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly the music variants are added for `music.youtube.com` urls. You can also use `all` to use all the clients
+* `player_skip`: Skip some network requests that are generally needed for robust extraction. One or more of `configs` (skip client configs), `webpage` (skip initial webpage), `js` (skip js player). While these options can help reduce the number of requests needed or avoid some rate-limiting, they could cause some issues. See [#860](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/860) for more details
+* `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats (These formats don't download properly)
+* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
+* `max_comments`: Maximum amount of comments to download (default all)
+* `max_comment_depth`: Maximum depth for nested comments. YouTube supports depths 1 or 2 (default)
+
+#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
+* `skip`: One or more of `webpage` (skip initial webpage download), `authcheck` (allow the download of playlists requiring authentication when no initial webpage is downloaded. This may cause unwanted behavior, see [#1122](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/1122) for more details)
+
+#### funimation
+* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `funimation:language=english,japanese`
+* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
+
+#### vikichannel
+* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
# 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.
+Plugins are loaded from `<root-dir>/ytdlp_plugins/<type>/__init__.py`; where `<root-dir>` is the directory of the binary (`<root-dir>/yt-dlp`), or the root directory of the module if you are running directly from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`). Plugins are currently not supported for the `pip` version
+
+Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`. Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it. Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
+
+See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example plugins.
+
+Note that **all** plugins are imported even if not invoked, and that **there are no checks** performed on plugin code. Use plugins at your own risk and only if you trust the code
+
+If you are a plugin author, add [ytdlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/ytdlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
+
+
+
+# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
+
+yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
+
+Your program should avoid parsing the normal stdout since they may change in future versions. Instead they should use options such as `-J`, `--print`, `--progress-template`, `--exec` etc to create console output that you can reliably reproduce and parse.
+
+From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
+
+```python
+import yt_dlp
+
+ydl_opts = {}
+with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
+ ydl.download(['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'])
+```
+
+Most likely, you'll want to use various options. For a list of options available, have a look at [`yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py`](yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L154-L452).
+
+Here's a more complete example of a program that outputs only errors (and a short message after the download is finished), converts the video to an mp3 file, implements a custom postprocessor and prints the final info_dict as json:
+
+```python
+import json
+
+import yt_dlp
+from yt_dlp.postprocessor.common import PostProcessor
+
+
+class MyLogger:
+ def debug(self, msg):
+ # For compatability with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
+ # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
+ if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
+ pass
+ else:
+ self.info(msg)
+
+ def info(self, msg):
+ pass
+
+ def warning(self, msg):
+ pass
+
+ def error(self, msg):
+ print(msg)
+
+
+class MyCustomPP(PostProcessor):
+ def run(self, info):
+ self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
+ return [], info
+
+
+def my_hook(d):
+ if d['status'] == 'finished':
+ print('Done downloading, now converting ...')
+
+
+ydl_opts = {
+ 'format': 'bestaudio/best',
+ 'postprocessors': [{
+ 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
+ 'preferredcodec': 'mp3',
+ 'preferredquality': '192',
+ }],
+ 'logger': MyLogger(),
+ 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
+}
+
+with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
+ ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP())
+ info = ydl.extract_info('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc')
+ print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
+```
+
+See the public functions in [`yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py`](yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py) for other available functions. Eg: `ydl.download`, `ydl.download_with_info_file`
+
+**Tip**: If you are porting your code from youtube-dl to yt-dlp, one important point to look out for is that we do not guarantee the return value of `YoutubeDL.extract_info` to be json serializable, or even be a dictionary. It will be dictionary-like, but if you want to ensure it is a serializable dictionary, pass it through `YoutubeDL.sanitize_info` as shown in the example above
-**Note**: `<root-dir>` is the directory of the binary (`<root-dir>/yt-dlp`), or the root directory of the module if you are running directly from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`)
# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
--print-json -j --no-simulate
--autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)03d
--autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
+ --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
--metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
--hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
--hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
--list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
--list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
- --sponskrub-args ARGS --ppa "sponskrub:ARGS"
--youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
--youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
--youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
--write-srt --write-subs
--yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
+#### Sponskrub Options
+Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of `--sponsorblock`
+
+ --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
+ --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
+ --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
+ --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
+ --sponskrub-force Not applicable
+ --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
+ --sponskrub-location Not applicable
+ --sponskrub-args Not applicable
+
#### No longer supported
These options may no longer work as intended
#### Removed
These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
- --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
-A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
-t, --title -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
-l, --literal -o accepts literal names
+# CONTRIBUTING
+See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp) for instructions on [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue) and [Contributing code to the project](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
# MORE
-For FAQ, Developer Instructions etc., see the [original README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)
+For FAQ see the [youtube-dl README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)