+<div align="center">
+
# YT-DLP
+A command-line program to download videos from YouTube and many other [video platforms](supportedsites.md)
-[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
-[](LICENSE)
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-[](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
-[](https://yt-dlp.readthedocs.io)
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+[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
+[](LICENSE)
+[](https://yt-dlp.readthedocs.io)
+[](https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r)
+[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits)
+[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits)
+[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
+[](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
-A command-line program to download videos from youtube.com and many other [video platforms](supportedsites.md)
+</div>
-This is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
+yt-dlp is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
+ * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
+ * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
* [Update](#update)
* [Compile](#compile)
-* [DESCRIPTION](#description)
-* [OPTIONS](#options)
+* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
+ * [General Options](#general-options)
* [Network Options](#network-options)
- * [Geo Restriction](#geo-restriction)
+ * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
* [Video Selection](#video-selection)
* [Download Options](#download-options)
* [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
- * [Thumbnail images](#thumbnail-images)
+ * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
* [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
* [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-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)
* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
* [MORE](#more)
+</div>
# NEW FEATURES
* **[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))
-* **Merged with youtube-dl v2021.04.01**: 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 youtube-dl [commit/d495292](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/d495292852b6c2f1bd58bc2141ff2b0265c952cf)**: (v2021.05.16) 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/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
+* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--write-comments`, `BiliBiliSearch`, `BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico improvements are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
* **Youtube improvements**:
- * All Youtube Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) works correctly and supports downloading multiple pages of content
- * Youtube search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`) along with Search URLs works correctly
+ * All Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) supports downloading multiple pages of content
+ * Search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`), search URLs and in-channel search works
+ * Mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
* 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
* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
-* **Multithreaded fragment downloads**: Fragment downloads can be natively multi-threaded. Use `--concurrent-fragments` (`-N`) option to set the number of threads used
+* **Multi-threaded fragment downloads**: Download multiple fragments of m3u8/mpd videos in parallel. Use `--concurrent-fragments` (`-N`) option to set the number of threads used
-* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use aria2c as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats. No more slow ffmpeg/native downloads
+* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
-* **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo MSO, Rcs, Gedi, bitwave.tv, mildom, audius, zee5, mtv.it, wimtv, pluto.tv
+* **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo 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
-* **Fixed extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, tiktok, akamai, ina, rumble, tennistv, amcnetworks
+* **Fixed 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
-* **Plugin extractors**: Extractors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
+* **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
* **Multiple paths and output templates**: You can give different [output templates](#output-template) and download paths for different types of files. You can also set a temporary path where intermediary files are downloaded to using `--paths` (`-P`)
* **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
+* **Output template improvements**: Output templates can now have date-time formatting, numeric offsets, object traversal etc. See [output template](#output-template) for details. Even more advanced operations can also be done with the help of `--parse-metadata`
-* **Improvements**: Multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--external-downloader-args`, Date/time formatting in `-o`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection) etc
+* **Other new options**: `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-on-reject` etc
+
+* **Improvements**: Multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection) etc
+
+* **Plugin extractors**: Extractors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
If you are coming from [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl), the amount of changes are very large. Compare [options](#options) and [supported sites](supportedsites.md) with youtube-dl's to get an idea of the massive number of features/patches [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) has accumulated.
+### Differences in default behavior
+
+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
+* `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 [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
+* `--ignore-errors` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
+* When writing metadata files such as thumbnails, description or infojson, the same information (if available) is also written for playlists. Use `--no-write-playlist-metafiles` or `--compat-options no-playlist-metafiles` to not write these files
+* `--add-metadata` attaches the `infojson` to `mkv` files in addition to writing the metadata when used with `--write-infojson`. Use `--compat-options no-attach-info-json` to revert this
+* `playlist_index` behaves differently when used with options like `--playlist-reverse` and `--playlist-items`. See [#302](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/302) for details. You can use `--compat-options playlist-index` if you want to keep the earlier behavior
+* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
+* Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
+* Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to `/video`. Append a `/featured` to the URL to download only the videos in the home page. If the channel does not have a videos tab, we try to download the equivalent `UU` playlist instead. Also, `/live` URLs raise an error if there are no live videos instead of silently downloading the entire channel. You may use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to revert all these redirections
+* Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
+* 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
+
+For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
+* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options
+* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
+* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
+
# 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): `python -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp`
-* Use pip+git: `python -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp.git@release`
-* Install master branch: `python -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp`
+* 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`
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:
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
```
+### DEPENDENCIES
+Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are officially supported. Other versions and implementations may or maynot work correctly.
+
+On windows, [Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86)](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999) 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.
+
+Although there are no other required dependencies, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended. Other optional dependencies are `sponskrub`, `AtomicParsley`, `mutagen`, `pycryptodome`, `phantomjs` and any of the supported external downloaders. Note that the windows releases are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen and pycryptodome included.
+
### UPDATE
-Starting from version `2021.02.09`, you can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the provided release.
+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.
### COMPILE
**For Windows**:
To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen and pycryptodome)
- python -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller mutagen pycryptodome
+ python3 -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller mutagen pycryptodome
-Once you have all the necessary dependancies 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. It is strongly reccomended to use python3 although python2.6+ is supported.
+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.
You can also build the executable without any version info or metadata by using:
pyinstaller.exe yt_dlp\__main__.py --onefile --name yt-dlp
+
+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
**For Unix**:
You will need the required build tools: `python`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`, `zip`, `nosetests`
**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts\update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
-# DESCRIPTION
-**yt-dlp** is a command-line program to download videos from youtube.com many other [video platforms](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.
+# USAGE AND OPTIONS
yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
-
-# OPTIONS
`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
-<!-- Autogenerated -->
+<!-- Auto generated -->
## General Options:
-h, --help Print this help text and exit
--mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
--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
+ with youtube-dl and youtube-dlc
+ configurations by reverting some of the
+ changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
+ default behavior" for details
## Network Options:
--proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
-4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
-6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
-## Geo Restriction:
+## Geo-restriction:
--geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
some geo-restricted sites. The default
proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
a file that is in the archive
--break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
a file that has been filtered out
+ --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest
+ of the playlist is skipped
--no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
## Download Options:
- -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments to download
- concurrently (default is 1)
+ -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
+ video that should be download concurrently
+ (default is 1)
-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
--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
-c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
(default)
--no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
- fragments. If the file is unfragmented,
+ fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
restart download of the entire file
--part Use .part files instead of writing directly
into output file (default)
could still contain some personal
information (default)
--no-clean-infojson Write all fields to the infojson
- --get-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
- .info.json file. The comments are fetched
- even without this option if the extraction
- is known to be quick
+ --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
+ infojson. The comments are fetched even
+ without this option if the extraction is
+ known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
+ --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
+ extraction is known to be quick
+ (Alias: --no-get-comments)
--load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
(created with the "--write-info-json"
option)
--no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
--rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
-## Thumbnail Images:
+## Thumbnail Options:
--write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
--no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
(default)
--no-warnings Ignore warnings
-s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
anything to disk
+ --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Usefull
+ for extracting metadata even if the video
+ is not actually available for download
+ (experimental)
+ --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
+ formats are found (default)
--skip-download Do not download the video but write all
related files (Alias: --no-download)
- -g, --get-url Simulate, quiet but print URL
- -e, --get-title Simulate, quiet but print title
- --get-id Simulate, quiet but print id
- --get-thumbnail Simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
- --get-description Simulate, quiet but print video description
- --get-duration Simulate, quiet but print video length
- --get-filename Simulate, quiet but print output filename
- --get-format Simulate, quiet but print output format
+ -O, --print TEMPLATE Simulate, quiet but print the given fields.
+ Either a field name or similar formatting
+ as the output template can be used
-j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a description of
available keys
--print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
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
+ written as far as no errors occur, even if
+ -s or another simulation option is used
(Alias: --force-download-archive)
--newline Output progress bar as new lines
--no-progress Do not print progress bar
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
+ actually downloadable (Experimental)
-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)
--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
--allow-unplayable-formats Allow unplayable formats to be listed and
- downloaded. All video postprocessing will
+ downloaded. All video post-processing will
also be turned off
--no-allow-unplayable-formats Do not allow unplayable formats to be
listed or downloaded (default)
(Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
--no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
(default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
- --all-subs Download all the available subtitles of the
- video
--list-subs List all available subtitles for the video
--sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
preference, for example: "srt" or
"ass/srt/best"
- --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download
- (optional) separated by commas, use --list-
- subs for available language tags
+ --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
+ be regex) or "all" separated by commas.
+ (Eg: --sub-langs en.*,ja) You can prefix
+ the language code with a "-" to exempt it
+ from the requested languages. (Eg: --sub-
+ langs all,-live_chat) Use --list-subs for a
+ list of available language tags
## Authentication Options:
-u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
-2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
-n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
--video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
-
-## Adobe Pass Options:
--ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
a list of available MSOs
## Post-Processing Options:
-x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
(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-format FORMAT Specify audio format to convert the audio
+ to when -x is used. Currently supported
+ formats are: best (default) or one of
+ aac|flac|mp3|m4a|opus|vorbis|wav
--audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality, insert a
value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse) for
VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
|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.
+ 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
+ re-encoding is necessary. The syntax and
+ 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, EmbedThumbnail and
- SplitChapters. The supported executables
- are: SponSkrub, FFmpeg, FFprobe, and
- AtomicParsley. 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
+ postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
+ Merger, ExtractAudio, SplitChapters,
+ Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
+ SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
+ VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor, SponSkrub,
+ FixupStretched, FixupM4a and FixupM3u8. 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
different arguments to different
postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
-k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
fields are passed, "%(filepath)s" is
appended to the end of the command
--convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
- (currently supported: srt|ass|vtt|lrc)
+ (currently supported: srt|vtt|ass|lrc)
(Alias: --convert-subtitles)
+ --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
+ (currently supported: jpg|png)
--split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix
can be used with "--paths" and "--output"
* `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
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/yt-dlp.conf`
+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:
```
**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
-The basic 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). 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. Date/time fields can also 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 separated from the field name using a `>`. For example, `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`.
+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.
-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 filetypes supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation`, `infojson`, `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.
+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)`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`. Note that 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`
+
+To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
+```
+%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][|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.
The available fields are:
- `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)
+ - `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
- `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
- `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
+Available only when used in `--print`:
+
+ - `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
+
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 `yt-dlp test video` and id `BaW_jenozKcj`, this will result in a `yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKcj.mp4` file created in the current directory.
**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
-The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
+The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
You can also use a file extension (currently `3gp`, `aac`, `flv`, `m4a`, `mp3`, `mp4`, `ogg`, `wav`, `webm` are supported) to download the best quality format of a particular file extension served as a single file, e.g. `-f webm` will download the best quality format with the `webm` extension served as a single file.
- `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`. It is however recomended not to use `worst` and related options. When your format selector is `worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
+For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recommended not to use `worst` and related options. When your format selector is `worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
You can select the n'th best format of a type by using `best<type>.<n>`. For example, `best.2` will select the 2nd best combined format. Similarly, `bv*.3` will select the 3rd best format that contains a video stream.
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. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
+Note that none of the aforementioned meta fields are guaranteed to be present since this solely depends on the metadata obtained by particular extractor, i.e. the metadata offered by the website. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a question mark (`?`) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so `-f "[height<=?720][tbr>500]"` selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s. You can also use the filters with `all` to download all formats that satisfy the filter. For example, `-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
- `lang`: Language preference as given by the extractor
- `quality`: The quality of the format as given by the extractor
- `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`)
+ - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native` > `m3u8` > `http_dash_segments` > other > `mms`/`rtsp` > unknown > `f4f`/`f4m`)
- `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `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`
- `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, 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 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` > `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`, `ie_pref`, `lang` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--force-format-sort`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `quality,res,fps,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. Note that the extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
-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 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`.
**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
```bash
-# Download and merge the best best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
+# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
$ yt-dlp -f 'bv+ba/b'
# 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
+# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
+# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
$ yt-dlp -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
+# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
$ yt-dlp -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
+# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
$ yt-dlp -S '+res:480,codec,br'
```
# MODIFYING METADATA
-The metadata obtained the the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata FROM:TO`. The general syntax is to give the name of a field or a template (with similar syntax to [output template](#output-template)) to extract data from, and the format to interpret it as, separated by a colon ":". Either a [python regular expression](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html#regular-expression-syntax) with named capture groups or a similar syntax to the [output template](#output-template) (only `%(field)s` formatting is supported) can be used for `TO`. The option can be used multiple times to parse and modify various fields.
+The metadata obtained the the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata FROM:TO`. The general syntax is to give the name of a field or a template (with similar syntax to [output template](#output-template)) to extract data from, and the format to interpret it as, separated by a colon `:`. Either a [python regular expression](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html#regular-expression-syntax) with named capture groups or a similar syntax to the [output template](#output-template) (only `%(field)s` formatting is supported) can be used for `TO`. The option can be used multiple times to parse and modify various fields.
Note that any field created by this can be used in the [output template](#output-template) and will also affect the media file's metadata added when using `--add-metadata`.
-You can also use this to change only 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. You can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis", for example.
+This option also has a few special uses:
+* 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. You can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis", for example
+* 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
## Modifying metadata examples
These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
- --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
- --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
+#### Not recommended
+While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
+
+ --get-description --print description
+ --get-duration --print duration_string
+ --get-filename --print filename
+ --get-format --print format
+ --get-id --print id
+ --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
+ -e, --get-title --print title
+ -g, --get-url --print urls
--all-formats -f all
+ --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
--autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)03d
+ --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
--metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
- --prefer-avconv avconv is no longer officially supported (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
- --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
--hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
--hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
- --avconv-location avconv is no longer officially supported
- -C, --call-home Not implemented
- --no-call-home Default
- --include-ads Not implemented
- --no-include-ads Default
- --write-srt --write-subs
+ --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"
+ --test Used by developers for testing extractors. Not intended for the end user
+ --youtube-print-sig-code Used for testing youtube signatures
+
+
+#### Old aliases
+These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
+
+ --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
+ --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
+ --dump-headers --print-traffic
+ --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
+ --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
+ --load-info --load-info-json
+ --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
--no-write-srt --no-write-subs
- --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
--prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
--rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
- --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
- --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
- --dump-headers --print-traffic
- --youtube-print-sig-code No longer supported
+ --split-tracks --split-chapters
+ --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
--trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
+ --write-srt --write-subs
--yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
- --load-info --load-info-json
- --split-tracks --split-chapters
- --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
- --sponskrub-args ARGS --ppa "sponskrub:ARGS"
- --test Only used for testing extractors
+
+#### No longer supported
+These options may no longer work as intended
+
+ --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
+ --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
+ -C, --call-home Not implemented
+ --no-call-home Default
+ --include-ads No longer supported
+ --no-include-ads Default
+
+#### 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
# MORE
projects / yt-dlp.git / blobdiff