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1 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
2 <div align="center">
4 [](#readme)
6 [](#installation "Installation")
7 [](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp "PyPI")
8 [](Collaborators.md#collaborators "Donate")
9 [](https://matrix.to/#/#yt-dlp:matrix.org "Matrix")
10 [](https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r "Discord")
11 [](supportedsites.md "Supported Sites")
12 [](LICENSE "License")
13 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/actions "CI Status")
14 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits "Commit History")
15 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pulse/monthly "Last activity")
17 </div>
18 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
20 yt-dlp is a feature-rich command-line audio/video downloader with support for [thousands of sites](supportedsites.md). The project is a fork of [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc).
22 <!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "USAGE AND OPTIONS" SECTION HERE -->
24 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
25 * [INSTALLATION](#installation)
26 * [Detailed instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation)
27 * [Release Files](#release-files)
28 * [Update](#update)
29 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
30 * [Compile](#compile)
31 * [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
32 * [General Options](#general-options)
33 * [Network Options](#network-options)
34 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
35 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
36 * [Download Options](#download-options)
37 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
38 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
39 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
40 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
41 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
42 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
43 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
44 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
45 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
46 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
47 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
48 * [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
49 * [Configuration file encoding](#configuration-file-encoding)
50 * [Authentication with netrc](#authentication-with-netrc)
51 * [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
52 * [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
53 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
54 * [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
55 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
56 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
57 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
58 * [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
59 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
60 * [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
61 * [PLUGINS](#plugins)
62 * [Installing Plugins](#installing-plugins)
63 * [Developing Plugins](#developing-plugins)
64 * [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
65 * [Embedding examples](#embedding-examples)
66 * [CHANGES FROM YOUTUBE-DL](#changes-from-youtube-dl)
67 * [New features](#new-features)
68 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
69 * [Deprecated options](#deprecated-options)
70 * [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
71 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
72 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
73 * [WIKI](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki)
74 * [FAQ](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ)
75 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
78 # INSTALLATION
80 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
81 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)
82 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)
83 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)
84 [](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
85 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
86 [](#release-files)
87 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases)
88 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
90 You can install yt-dlp using [the binaries](#release-files), [pip](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) or one using a third-party package manager. See [the wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation) for detailed instructions
93 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
94 ## RELEASE FILES
96 #### Recommended
98 File|Description
99 :---|:---
100 [yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independent [zipimport](https://docs.python.org/3/library/zipimport.html) binary. Needs Python (recommended for **Linux/BSD**)
101 [yt-dlp.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)|Windows (Win8+) standalone x64 binary (recommended for **Windows**)
102 [yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|Universal MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable (recommended for **MacOS**)
104 #### Alternatives
106 File|Description
107 :---|:---
108 [yt-dlp_x86.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_x86.exe)|Windows (Win8+) standalone x86 (32-bit) binary
109 [yt-dlp_linux](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux)|Linux standalone x64 binary
110 [yt-dlp_linux_armv7l](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_armv7l)|Linux standalone armv7l (32-bit) binary
111 [yt-dlp_linux_aarch64](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_aarch64)|Linux standalone aarch64 (64-bit) binary
112 [yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
113 [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)
114 [yt-dlp_macos_legacy](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos_legacy)|MacOS (10.9+) standalone x64 executable
116 #### Misc
118 File|Description
119 :---|:---
120 [yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball
121 [SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
122 [SHA2-512SUMS.sig](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS.sig)|GPG signature file for SHA512 sums
123 [SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
124 [SHA2-256SUMS.sig](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS.sig)|GPG signature file for SHA256 sums
126 The public key that can be used to verify the GPG signatures is [available here](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/public.key)
127 Example usage:
128 ```
129 curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/raw/master/public.key | gpg --import
130 gpg --verify SHA2-256SUMS.sig SHA2-256SUMS
131 gpg --verify SHA2-512SUMS.sig SHA2-512SUMS
132 ```
133 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
135 **Note**: The manpages, shell completion (autocomplete) files etc. are available inside the [source tarball](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
138 ## UPDATE
139 You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the [release binaries](#release-files)
141 If you [installed with pip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
143 For other third-party package managers, see [the wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation#third-party-package-managers) or refer to their documentation
145 <a id="update-channels"></a>
147 There are currently three release channels for binaries: `stable`, `nightly` and `master`.
149 * `stable` is the default channel, and many of its changes have been tested by users of the `nightly` and `master` channels.
150 * The `nightly` channel has releases scheduled to build every day around midnight UTC, for a snapshot of the project's new patches and changes. This is the **recommended channel for regular users** of yt-dlp. The `nightly` releases are available from [yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases) or as development releases of the `yt-dlp` PyPI package (which can be installed with pip's `--pre` flag).
151 * The `master` channel features releases that are built after each push to the master branch, and these will have the very latest fixes and additions, but may also be more prone to regressions. They are available from [yt-dlp/yt-dlp-master-builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-master-builds/releases).
153 When using `--update`/`-U`, a release binary will only update to its current channel.
154 `--update-to CHANNEL` can be used to switch to a different channel when a newer version is available. `--update-to [CHANNEL@]TAG` can also be used to upgrade or downgrade to specific tags from a channel.
156 You may also use `--update-to <repository>` (`<owner>/<repository>`) to update to a channel on a completely different repository. Be careful with what repository you are updating to though, there is no verification done for binaries from different repositories.
158 Example usage:
160 * `yt-dlp --update-to master` switch to the `master` channel and update to its latest release
161 * `yt-dlp --update-to stable@2023.07.06` upgrade/downgrade to release to `stable` channel tag `2023.07.06`
162 * `yt-dlp --update-to 2023.10.07` upgrade/downgrade to tag `2023.10.07` if it exists on the current channel
163 * `yt-dlp --update-to example/yt-dlp@2023.09.24` upgrade/downgrade to the release from the `example/yt-dlp` repository, tag `2023.09.24`
165 **Important**: Any user experiencing an issue with the `stable` release should install or update to the `nightly` release before submitting a bug report:
166 ```
167 # To update to nightly from stable executable/binary:
168 yt-dlp --update-to nightly
170 # To install nightly with pip:
171 python3 -m pip install -U --pre "yt-dlp[default]"
172 ```
174 ## DEPENDENCIES
175 Python versions 3.9+ (CPython) and 3.10+ (PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
177 <!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
178 <!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
179 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.
180 -->
182 While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
184 ### Strongly recommended
186 * [**ffmpeg** and **ffprobe**](https://www.ffmpeg.org) - Required for [merging separate video and audio files](#format-selection), as well as for various [post-processing](#post-processing-options) tasks. License [depends on the build](https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html)
188 There are bugs in ffmpeg that cause various issues when used alongside yt-dlp. Since ffmpeg is such an important dependency, we provide [custom builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#ffmpeg-static-auto-builds) with patches for some of 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 specific issues solved by these builds
190 **Important**: What you need is ffmpeg *binary*, **NOT** [the Python package of the same name](https://pypi.org/project/ffmpeg)
192 ### Networking
193 * [**certifi**](https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi)\* - Provides Mozilla's root certificate bundle. Licensed under [MPLv2](https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi/blob/master/LICENSE)
194 * [**brotli**](https://github.com/google/brotli)\* or [**brotlicffi**](https://github.com/python-hyper/brotlicffi) - [Brotli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotli) content encoding support. Both licensed under MIT <sup>[1](https://github.com/google/brotli/blob/master/LICENSE) [2](https://github.com/python-hyper/brotlicffi/blob/master/LICENSE) </sup>
195 * [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets)\* - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
196 * [**requests**](https://github.com/psf/requests)\* - HTTP library. For HTTPS proxy and persistent connections support. Licensed under [Apache-2.0](https://github.com/psf/requests/blob/main/LICENSE)
198 #### Impersonation
200 The following provide support for impersonating browser requests. This may be required for some sites that employ TLS fingerprinting.
202 * [**curl_cffi**](https://github.com/lexiforest/curl_cffi) (recommended) - Python binding for [curl-impersonate](https://github.com/lexiforest/curl-impersonate). Provides impersonation targets for Chrome, Edge and Safari. Licensed under [MIT](https://github.com/lexiforest/curl_cffi/blob/main/LICENSE)
203 * Can be installed with the `curl-cffi` group, e.g. `pip install "yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]"`
204 * Currently included in `yt-dlp.exe`, `yt-dlp_linux` and `yt-dlp_macos` builds
207 ### Metadata
209 * [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen)\* - For `--embed-thumbnail` in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
210 * [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For `--embed-thumbnail` in `mp4`/`m4a` files when `mutagen`/`ffmpeg` cannot. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
211 * [**xattr**](https://github.com/xattr/xattr), [**pyxattr**](https://github.com/iustin/pyxattr) or [**setfattr**](http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/attr) - For writing xattr metadata (`--xattr`) on **Mac** and **BSD**. Licensed under [MIT](https://github.com/xattr/xattr/blob/master/LICENSE.txt), [LGPL2.1](https://github.com/iustin/pyxattr/blob/master/COPYING) and [GPLv2+](http://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/attr.git/tree/doc/COPYING) respectively
213 ### Misc
215 * [**pycryptodomex**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome)\* - For decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data. Licensed under [BSD-2-Clause](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
216 * [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
217 * [**secretstorage**](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage)\* - For `--cookies-from-browser` to access the **Gnome** keyring while decrypting cookies of **Chromium**-based browsers on **Linux**. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage/blob/master/LICENSE)
218 * Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
220 ### Deprecated
222 * [**avconv** and **avprobe**](https://www.libav.org) - Now **deprecated** alternative to ffmpeg. License [depends on the build](https://libav.org/legal)
223 * [**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)
224 * [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
225 * [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp`/`mms` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
227 To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
229 The standalone release binaries are built with the Python interpreter and the packages marked with **\*** included.
231 If you do not have the necessary dependencies for a task you are attempting, yt-dlp will warn you. All the currently available dependencies are visible at the top of the `--verbose` output
234 ## COMPILE
236 ### Standalone PyInstaller Builds
237 To build the standalone executable, you must have Python and `pyinstaller` (plus any of yt-dlp's [optional dependencies](#dependencies) if needed). The executable will be built for the same CPU architecture as the Python used.
239 You can run the following commands:
241 ```
242 python3 devscripts/install_deps.py --include pyinstaller
243 python3 devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
244 python3 -m bundle.pyinstaller
245 ```
247 On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`.
249 `python -m bundle.pyinstaller` accepts any arguments that can be passed to `pyinstaller`, such as `--onefile/-F` or `--onedir/-D`, which is further [documented here](https://pyinstaller.org/en/stable/usage.html#what-to-generate).
251 **Note**: Pyinstaller versions below 4.4 [do not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment.
253 **Important**: Running `pyinstaller` directly **instead of** using `python -m bundle.pyinstaller` is **not** officially supported. This may or may not work correctly.
255 ### Platform-independent Binary (UNIX)
256 You will need the build tools `python` (3.9+), `zip`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`\* and `pytest`\*.
258 After installing these, simply run `make`.
260 You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files. (The build tools marked with **\*** are not needed for this)
262 ### Related scripts
264 * **`devscripts/install_deps.py`** - Install dependencies for yt-dlp.
265 * **`devscripts/update-version.py`** - Update the version number based on the current date.
266 * **`devscripts/set-variant.py`** - Set the build variant of the executable.
267 * **`devscripts/make_changelog.py`** - Create a markdown changelog using short commit messages and update `CONTRIBUTORS` file.
268 * **`devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py`** - Create lazy extractors. Running this before building the binaries (any variant) will improve their startup performance. Set the environment variable `YTDLP_NO_LAZY_EXTRACTORS` to something nonempty to forcefully disable lazy extractor loading.
270 Note: See their `--help` for more info.
272 ### Forking the project
273 If you fork the project on GitHub, you can run your fork's [build workflow](.github/workflows/build.yml) to automatically build the selected version(s) as artifacts. Alternatively, you can run the [release workflow](.github/workflows/release.yml) or enable the [nightly workflow](.github/workflows/release-nightly.yml) to create full (pre-)releases.
275 # USAGE AND OPTIONS
277 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
278 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
280 `Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
281 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
283 <!-- Auto generated -->
284 ## General Options:
285 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
286 --version Print program version and exit
287 -U, --update Update this program to the latest version
288 --no-update Do not check for updates (default)
289 --update-to [CHANNEL]@[TAG] Upgrade/downgrade to a specific version.
290 CHANNEL can be a repository as well. CHANNEL
291 and TAG default to "stable" and "latest"
292 respectively if omitted; See "UPDATE" for
293 details. Supported channels: stable,
294 nightly, master
295 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
296 The download will be considered successful
297 even if the postprocessing fails
298 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download errors;
299 e.g. to skip unavailable videos in a
300 playlist (default)
301 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
302 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
303 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
304 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
305 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
306 extractors and exit
307 --use-extractors NAMES Extractor names to use separated by commas.
308 You can also use regexes, "all", "default"
309 and "end" (end URL matching); e.g. --ies
310 "holodex.*,end,youtube". Prefix the name
311 with a "-" to exclude it, e.g. --ies
312 default,-generic. Use --list-extractors for
313 a list of extractor names. (Alias: --ies)
314 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. E.g.
315 "gvsearch2:python" downloads two videos from
316 google videos for the search term "python".
317 Use the value "auto" to let yt-dlp guess
318 ("auto_warning" to emit a warning when
319 guessing). "error" just throws an error. The
320 default value "fixup_error" repairs broken
321 URLs, but emits an error if this is not
322 possible instead of searching
323 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
324 except those given to --config-locations.
325 For backward compatibility, if this option
326 is found inside the system configuration
327 file, the user configuration is not loaded.
328 (Alias: --no-config)
329 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
330 (default). When given inside a configuration
331 file, ignore all previous --config-locations
332 defined in the current file
333 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
334 either the path to the config or its
335 containing directory ("-" for stdin). Can be
336 used multiple times and inside other
337 configuration files
338 --plugin-dirs PATH Path to an additional directory to search
339 for plugins. This option can be used
340 multiple times to add multiple directories.
341 Note that this currently only works for
342 extractor plugins; postprocessor plugins can
343 only be loaded from the default plugin
344 directories
345 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
346 only list them
347 --no-flat-playlist Fully extract the videos of a playlist
348 (default)
349 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
350 Currently only supported for YouTube
351 (Experimental)
352 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
353 (default)
354 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
355 available. Pass the minimum number of
356 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
357 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
358 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate)
359 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
360 --color [STREAM:]POLICY Whether to emit color codes in output,
361 optionally prefixed by the STREAM (stdout or
362 stderr) to apply the setting to. Can be one
363 of "always", "auto" (default), "never", or
364 "no_color" (use non color terminal
365 sequences). Use "auto-tty" or "no_color-tty"
366 to decide based on terminal support only.
367 Can be used multiple times
368 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
369 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
370 configurations by reverting some of the
371 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
372 default behavior" for details
373 --alias ALIASES OPTIONS Create aliases for an option string. Unless
374 an alias starts with a dash "-", it is
375 prefixed with "--". Arguments are parsed
376 according to the Python string formatting
377 mini-language. E.g. --alias get-audio,-X
378 "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}"
379 creates options "--get-audio" and "-X" that
380 takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to
381 "-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0".
382 All defined aliases are listed in the --help
383 output. Alias options can trigger more
384 aliases; so be careful to avoid defining
385 recursive options. As a safety measure, each
386 alias may be triggered a maximum of 100
387 times. This option can be used multiple times
389 ## Network Options:
390 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy. To
391 enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper scheme,
392 e.g. socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/.
393 Pass in an empty string (--proxy "") for
394 direct connection
395 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
396 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
397 --impersonate CLIENT[:OS] Client to impersonate for requests. E.g.
398 chrome, chrome-110, chrome:windows-10. Pass
399 --impersonate="" to impersonate any client.
400 Note that forcing impersonation for all
401 requests may have a detrimental impact on
402 download speed and stability
403 --list-impersonate-targets List available clients to impersonate.
404 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
405 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
406 --enable-file-urls Enable file:// URLs. This is disabled by
407 default for security reasons.
409 ## Geo-restriction:
410 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
411 some geo-restricted sites. The default proxy
412 specified by --proxy (or none, if the option
413 is not present) is used for the actual
414 downloading
415 --xff VALUE How to fake X-Forwarded-For HTTP header to
416 try bypassing geographic restriction. One of
417 "default" (only when known to be useful),
418 "never", an IP block in CIDR notation, or a
419 two-letter ISO 3166-2 country code
421 ## Video Selection:
422 -I, --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Comma separated playlist_index of the items
423 to download. You can specify a range using
424 "[START]:[STOP][:STEP]". For backward
425 compatibility, START-STOP is also supported.
426 Use negative indices to count from the right
427 and negative STEP to download in reverse
428 order. E.g. "-I 1:3,7,-5::2" used on a
429 playlist of size 15 will download the items
430 at index 1,2,3,7,11,13,15
431 --min-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is smaller than
432 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
433 --max-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is larger than
434 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
435 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
436 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
437 [now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]].
438 E.g. "--date today-2weeks" downloads only
439 videos uploaded on the same day two weeks ago
440 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
441 this date. The date formats accepted are the
442 same as --date
443 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
444 this date. The date formats accepted are the
445 same as --date
446 --match-filters FILTER Generic video filter. Any "OUTPUT TEMPLATE"
447 field can be compared with a number or a
448 string using the operators defined in
449 "Filtering Formats". You can also simply
450 specify a field to match if the field is
451 present, use "!field" to check if the field
452 is not present, and "&" to check multiple
453 conditions. Use a "\" to escape "&" or
454 quotes if needed. If used multiple times,
455 the filter matches if at least one of the
456 conditions is met. E.g. --match-filters
457 !is_live --match-filters "like_count>?100 &
458 description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'" matches
459 only videos that are not live OR those that
460 have a like count more than 100 (or the like
461 field is not available) and also has a
462 description that contains the phrase "cats &
463 dogs" (caseless). Use "--match-filters -" to
464 interactively ask whether to download each
465 video
466 --no-match-filters Do not use any --match-filters (default)
467 --break-match-filters FILTER Same as "--match-filters" but stops the
468 download process when a video is rejected
469 --no-break-match-filters Do not use any --break-match-filters (default)
470 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
471 to a video and a playlist
472 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
473 a video and a playlist
474 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
475 age
476 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
477 archive file. Record the IDs of all
478 downloaded videos in it
479 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
480 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
481 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
482 a file that is in the archive
483 --no-break-on-existing Do not stop the download process when
484 encountering a file that is in the archive
485 (default)
486 --break-per-input Alters --max-downloads, --break-on-existing,
487 --break-match-filters, and autonumber to
488 reset per input URL
489 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and similar options
490 terminates the entire download queue
491 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest of
492 the playlist is skipped
494 ## Download Options:
495 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
496 video that should be downloaded concurrently
497 (default is 1)
498 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
499 e.g. 50K or 4.2M
500 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
501 below which throttling is assumed and the
502 video data is re-extracted, e.g. 100K
503 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
504 "infinite"
505 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
506 error (default is 3), or "infinite"
507 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default is
508 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and ISM)
509 --retry-sleep [TYPE:]EXPR Time to sleep between retries in seconds
510 (optionally) prefixed by the type of retry
511 (http (default), fragment, file_access,
512 extractor) to apply the sleep to. EXPR can
513 be a number, linear=START[:END[:STEP=1]] or
514 exp=START[:END[:BASE=2]]. This option can be
515 used multiple times to set the sleep for the
516 different retry types, e.g. --retry-sleep
517 linear=1::2 --retry-sleep fragment:exp=1:20
518 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
519 hlsnative and ISM downloads (default)
520 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragments)
521 --abort-on-unavailable-fragments
522 Abort download if a fragment is unavailable
523 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
524 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
525 downloading is finished
526 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
527 downloading is finished (default)
528 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer, e.g. 1024 or 16K
529 (default is 1024)
530 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
531 from an initial value of --buffer-size
532 (default)
533 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
534 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
535 downloading, e.g. 10485760 or 10M (default
536 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
537 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
538 (experimental)
539 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
540 --lazy-playlist Process entries in the playlist as they are
541 received. This disables n_entries,
542 --playlist-random and --playlist-reverse
543 --no-lazy-playlist Process videos in the playlist only after
544 the entire playlist is parsed (default)
545 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
546 expected file size
547 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
548 allowing some players to play the video
549 while downloading, and reducing the chance
550 of file corruption if download is
551 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
552 live streams
553 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
554 videos. This is default when not downloading
555 live streams
556 --download-sections REGEX Download only chapters that match the
557 regular expression. A "*" prefix denotes
558 time-range instead of chapter. Negative
559 timestamps are calculated from the end.
560 "*from-url" can be used to download between
561 the "start_time" and "end_time" extracted
562 from the URL. Needs ffmpeg. This option can
563 be used multiple times to download multiple
564 sections, e.g. --download-sections
565 "*10:15-inf" --download-sections "intro"
566 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
567 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
568 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
569 use it for. Currently supports native,
570 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
571 wget. You can use this option multiple times
572 to set different downloaders for different
573 protocols. E.g. --downloader aria2c
574 --downloader "dash,m3u8:native" will use
575 aria2c for http/ftp downloads, and the
576 native downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
577 (Alias: --external-downloader)
578 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
579 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
580 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
581 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to different
582 positions using the same syntax as
583 --postprocessor-args. You can use this
584 option multiple times to give different
585 arguments to different downloaders (Alias:
586 --external-downloader-args)
588 ## Filesystem Options:
589 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
590 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
591 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
592 comments and ignored
593 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
594 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
595 downloaded. Specify the type of file and the
596 path separated by a colon ":". All the same
597 TYPES as --output are supported.
598 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
599 (default) and "temp" paths. All intermediary
600 files are first downloaded to the temp path
601 and then the final files are moved over to
602 the home path after download is finished.
603 This option is ignored if --output is an
604 absolute path
605 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
606 TEMPLATE" for details
607 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder for unavailable fields in
608 --output (default: "NA")
609 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters,
610 and avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
611 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
612 filenames (default)
613 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
614 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
615 using Windows (default)
616 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
617 extension) to the specified number of
618 characters
619 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
620 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files. This
621 option includes --no-continue
622 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
623 related files (default)
624 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
625 (default)
626 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
627 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
628 restart download of the entire file
629 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
630 into output file (default)
631 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly into
632 output file
633 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the file
634 modification time (default)
635 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
636 the file modification time
637 --write-description Write video description to a .description file
638 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
639 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
640 (this may contain personal information)
641 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
642 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
643 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
644 --write-description etc. (default)
645 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
646 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
647 --clean-info-json Remove some internal metadata such as
648 filenames from the infojson (default)
649 --no-clean-info-json Write all fields to the infojson
650 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
651 infojson. The comments are fetched even
652 without this option if the extraction is
653 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
654 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
655 extraction is known to be quick (Alias:
656 --no-get-comments)
657 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
658 (created with the "--write-info-json" option)
659 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies from
660 and dump cookie jar in
661 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
662 (default)
663 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]
664 The name of the browser to load cookies
665 from. Currently supported browsers are:
666 brave, chrome, chromium, edge, firefox,
667 opera, safari, vivaldi, whale. Optionally,
668 the KEYRING used for decrypting Chromium
669 cookies on Linux, the name/path of the
670 PROFILE to load cookies from, and the
671 CONTAINER name (if Firefox) ("none" for no
672 container) can be given with their
673 respective separators. By default, all
674 containers of the most recently accessed
675 profile are used. Currently supported
676 keyrings are: basictext, gnomekeyring,
677 kwallet, kwallet5, kwallet6
678 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
679 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where yt-dlp can
680 store some downloaded information (such as
681 client ids and signatures) permanently. By
682 default ${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/yt-dlp
683 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
684 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
686 ## Thumbnail Options:
687 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
688 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk (default)
689 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
690 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
691 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
693 ## Internet Shortcut Options:
694 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
695 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
696 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
697 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
698 OS caches the URL based on the file path
699 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
700 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
702 ## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
703 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with --verbose,
704 print the log to stderr
705 --no-quiet Deactivate quiet mode. (Default)
706 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
707 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
708 anything to disk
709 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
710 options are used
711 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
712 extracting metadata even if the videos are
713 not actually available for download
714 (experimental)
715 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
716 formats are found (default)
717 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
718 related files (Alias: --no-download)
719 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
720 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
721 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
722 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
723 --use-postprocessor (default: video).
724 Implies --quiet. Implies --simulate unless
725 --no-simulate or later stages of WHEN are
726 used. This option can be used multiple times
727 --print-to-file [WHEN:]TEMPLATE FILE
728 Append given template to the file. The
729 values of WHEN and TEMPLATE are the same as
730 that of --print. FILE uses the same syntax
731 as the output template. This option can be
732 used multiple times
733 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
734 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
735 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
736 description of available keys
737 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
738 URL or infojson passed. Simulate unless
739 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
740 a playlist, the whole playlist information
741 is dumped in a single line
742 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
743 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
744 another simulation option is used (Alias:
745 --force-download-archive)
746 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
747 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
748 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
749 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
750 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
751 Template for progress outputs, optionally
752 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
753 "download-title:" (the console title),
754 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
755 The video's fields are accessible under the
756 "info" key and the progress attributes are
757 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.
758 --console-title --progress-template
759 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
760 --progress-delta SECONDS Time between progress output (default: 0)
761 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
762 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
763 to debug problems (very verbose)
764 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to files
765 in the current directory to debug problems
766 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
768 ## Workarounds:
769 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
770 --legacy-server-connect Explicitly allow HTTPS connection to servers
771 that do not support RFC 5746 secure
772 renegotiation
773 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
774 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
775 information about the video (Currently
776 supported only for YouTube)
777 --add-headers FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
778 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
779 option multiple times
780 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
781 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
782 or fribidi executable in PATH
783 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
784 during data extraction
785 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
786 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
787 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
788 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
789 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can only
790 be used along with --min-sleep-interval
791 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
792 subtitle download
794 ## Video Format Options:
795 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
796 for more details
797 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
798 "Sorting Formats" for more details
799 --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
800 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
801 Formats" for more details (Alias: --S-force)
802 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
803 specified sort order (default)
804 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
805 into a single file
806 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for each
807 output file (default)
808 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
809 into a single file
810 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for each
811 output file (default)
812 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
813 over non-free ones of the same quality. Use
814 with "-S ext" to strictly prefer free
815 containers irrespective of quality
816 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
817 containers (default)
818 --check-formats Make sure formats are selected only from
819 those that are actually downloadable
820 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
821 actually downloadable
822 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
823 downloadable
824 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
825 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
826 --merge-output-format FORMAT Containers that may be used when merging
827 formats, separated by "/", e.g. "mp4/mkv".
828 Ignored if no merge is required. (currently
829 supported: avi, flv, mkv, mov, mp4, webm)
831 ## Subtitle Options:
832 --write-subs Write subtitle file
833 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
834 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
835 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
836 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
837 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
838 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
839 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
840 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format; accepts formats preference
841 separated by "/", e.g. "srt" or "ass/srt/best"
842 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
843 be regex) or "all" separated by commas, e.g.
844 --sub-langs "en.*,ja" (where "en.*" is a
845 regex pattern that matches "en" followed by
846 0 or more of any character). You can prefix
847 the language code with a "-" to exclude it
848 from the requested languages, e.g. --sub-
849 langs all,-live_chat. Use --list-subs for a
850 list of available language tags
852 ## Authentication Options:
853 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
854 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
855 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
856 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
857 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
858 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
859 either the path or its containing directory.
860 Defaults to ~/.netrc
861 --netrc-cmd NETRC_CMD Command to execute to get the credentials
862 for an extractor.
863 --video-password PASSWORD Video-specific password
864 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
865 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
866 a list of available MSOs
867 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
868 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
869 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
870 interactively
871 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system operators
872 --client-certificate CERTFILE Path to client certificate file in PEM
873 format. May include the private key
874 --client-certificate-key KEYFILE
875 Path to private key file for client
876 certificate
877 --client-certificate-password PASSWORD
878 Password for client certificate private key,
879 if encrypted. If not provided, and the key
880 is encrypted, yt-dlp will ask interactively
882 ## Post-Processing Options:
883 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
884 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
885 --audio-format FORMAT Format to convert the audio to when -x is
886 used. (currently supported: best (default),
887 aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis,
888 wav). You can specify multiple rules using
889 similar syntax as --remux-video
890 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality to use when
891 converting the audio with -x. Insert a value
892 between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for VBR or a
893 specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
894 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
895 necessary (currently supported: avi, flv,
896 gif, mkv, mov, mp4, webm, aac, aiff, alac,
897 flac, m4a, mka, mp3, ogg, opus, vorbis,
898 wav). If the target container does not
899 support the video/audio codec, remuxing will
900 fail. You can specify multiple rules; e.g.
901 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to m4a,
902 mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv
903 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
904 necessary. The syntax and supported formats
905 are the same as --remux-video
906 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
907 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
908 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
909 to give the argument to the specified
910 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
911 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
912 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
913 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
914 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
915 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
916 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
917 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
918 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
919 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
920 specified executable only when being used by
921 the specified postprocessor. Additionally,
922 for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be
923 appended to the prefix optionally followed
924 by a number to pass the argument before the
925 specified input/output file, e.g. --ppa
926 "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
927 this option multiple times to give different
928 arguments to different postprocessors.
929 (Alias: --ppa)
930 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
931 after post-processing
932 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
933 post-processing (default)
934 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
935 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
936 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
937 webm and mkv videos)
938 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
939 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
940 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
941 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
942 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
943 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json are
944 used (Alias: --add-metadata)
945 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
946 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
947 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
948 (Alias: --add-chapters)
949 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default) (Alias:
950 --no-add-chapters)
951 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
952 mkv/mka video files
953 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
954 to the video file
955 --parse-metadata [WHEN:]FROM:TO
956 Parse additional metadata like title/artist
957 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
958 for details. Supported values of "WHEN" are
959 the same as that of --use-postprocessor
960 (default: pre_process)
961 --replace-in-metadata [WHEN:]FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
962 Replace text in a metadata field using the
963 given regex. This option can be used
964 multiple times. Supported values of "WHEN"
965 are the same as that of --use-postprocessor
966 (default: pre_process)
967 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
968 (using Dublin Core and XDG standards)
969 --concat-playlist POLICY Concatenate videos in a playlist. One of
970 "never", "always", or "multi_video"
971 (default; only when the videos form a single
972 show). All the video files must have the
973 same codecs and number of streams to be
974 concatenable. The "pl_video:" prefix can be
975 used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
976 the output filename for the concatenated
977 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
978 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
979 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
980 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
981 default; fix the file if we can, warn
982 otherwise), force (try fixing even if the
983 file already exists)
984 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
985 path to the binary or its containing directory
986 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
987 when to execute it, separated by a ":".
988 Supported values of "WHEN" are the same as
989 that of --use-postprocessor (default:
990 after_move). The same syntax as the output
991 template can be used to pass any field as
992 arguments to the command. If no fields are
993 passed, %(filepath,_filename|)q is appended
994 to the end of the command. This option can
995 be used multiple times
996 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
997 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
998 (currently supported: ass, lrc, srt, vtt).
999 Use "--convert-subs none" to disable
1000 conversion (default) (Alias: --convert-
1001 subtitles)
1002 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
1003 (currently supported: jpg, png, webp). You
1004 can specify multiple rules using similar
1005 syntax as "--remux-video". Use "--convert-
1006 thumbnails none" to disable conversion
1007 (default)
1008 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
1009 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix can
1010 be used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1011 the output filename for the split files. See
1012 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
1013 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters (default)
1014 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
1015 given regular expression. The syntax is the
1016 same as --download-sections. This option can
1017 be used multiple times
1018 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
1019 (default)
1020 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes at cuts when
1021 downloading/splitting/removing sections.
1022 This is slow due to needing a re-encode, but
1023 the resulting video may have fewer artifacts
1024 around the cuts
1025 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
1026 when cutting/splitting (default)
1027 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS]
1028 The (case-sensitive) name of plugin
1029 postprocessors to be enabled, and
1030 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
1031 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
1032 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
1033 The "when" argument determines when the
1034 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
1035 "pre_process" (after video extraction),
1036 "after_filter" (after video passes filter),
1037 "video" (after --format; before
1038 --print/--output), "before_dl" (before each
1039 video download), "post_process" (after each
1040 video download; default), "after_move"
1041 (after moving the video file to its final
1042 location), "after_video" (after downloading
1043 and processing all formats of a video), or
1044 "playlist" (at end of playlist). This option
1045 can be used multiple times to add different
1046 postprocessors
1048 ## SponsorBlock Options:
1049 Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
1050 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
1051 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
1053 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
1054 for, separated by commas. Available
1055 categories are sponsor, intro, outro,
1056 selfpromo, preview, filler, interaction,
1057 music_offtopic, poi_highlight, chapter, all
1058 and default (=all). You can prefix the
1059 category with a "-" to exclude it. See [1]
1060 for descriptions of the categories. E.g.
1061 --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
1062 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
1063 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
1064 the video file, separated by commas. If a
1065 category is present in both mark and remove,
1066 remove takes precedence. The syntax and
1067 available categories are the same as for
1068 --sponsorblock-mark except that "default"
1069 refers to "all,-filler" and poi_highlight,
1070 chapter are not available
1071 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
1072 An output template for the title of the
1073 SponsorBlock chapters created by
1074 --sponsorblock-mark. The only available
1075 fields are start_time, end_time, category,
1076 categories, name, category_names. Defaults
1077 to "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
1078 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
1079 --sponsorblock-remove
1080 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
1081 https://sponsor.ajay.app
1083 ## Extractor Options:
1084 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor errors
1085 (default is 3), or "infinite"
1086 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
1087 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1088 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1089 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
1090 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1091 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1092 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists into different
1093 formats at discontinuities such as ad breaks
1094 (default)
1095 --extractor-args IE_KEY:ARGS Pass ARGS arguments to the IE_KEY extractor.
1096 See "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You
1097 can use this option multiple times to give
1098 arguments for different extractors
1100 # CONFIGURATION
1102 You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option in a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
1104 1. **Main Configuration**:
1105 * The file given to `--config-location`
1106 1. **Portable Configuration**: (Recommended for portable installations)
1107 * If using a binary, `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the binary
1108 * If running from source-code, `yt-dlp.conf` in the parent directory of `yt_dlp`
1109 1. **Home Configuration**:
1110 * `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given to `-P`
1111 * If `-P` is not given, the current directory is searched
1112 1. **User Configuration**:
1113 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp.conf`
1114 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1115 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1116 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp.conf`
1117 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1118 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1119 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1120 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
1121 * `~/.yt-dlp/config`
1122 * `~/.yt-dlp/config.txt`
1124 See also: [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
1125 1. **System Configuration**:
1126 * `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
1127 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config`
1128 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1130 E.g. 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:
1131 ```
1132 # Lines starting with # are comments
1134 # Always extract audio
1135 -x
1137 # Do not copy the mtime
1138 --no-mtime
1140 # Use this proxy
1141 --proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1143 # Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1144 -o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
1145 ```
1147 **Note**: Options in a configuration file are just the same options aka switches used in regular command line calls; thus there **must be no whitespace** after `-` or `--`, e.g. `-o` or `--proxy` but not `- o` or `-- proxy`. They must also be quoted when necessary, as if it were a UNIX shell.
1149 You can use `--ignore-config` if you want to disable all configuration files for a particular yt-dlp run. If `--ignore-config` is found inside any configuration file, no further configuration will be loaded. For example, having the option in the portable configuration file prevents loading of home, user, and system configurations. Additionally, (for backward compatibility) if `--ignore-config` is found inside the system configuration file, the user configuration is not loaded.
1151 ### Configuration file encoding
1153 The configuration files are decoded according to the UTF BOM if present, and in the encoding from system locale otherwise.
1155 If you want your file to be decoded differently, add `# coding: ENCODING` to the beginning of the file (e.g. `# coding: shift-jis`). There must be no characters before that, even spaces or BOM.
1157 ### Authentication with netrc
1159 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:
1160 ```
1161 touch ${HOME}/.netrc
1162 chmod a-rwx,u+rw ${HOME}/.netrc
1163 ```
1164 After that, you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1165 ```
1166 machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
1167 ```
1168 E.g.
1169 ```
1170 machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1171 machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1172 ```
1173 To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
1175 The default location of the .netrc file is `~` (see below).
1177 As an alternative to using the `.netrc` file, which has the disadvantage of keeping your passwords in a plain text file, you can configure a custom shell command to provide the credentials for an extractor. This is done by providing the `--netrc-cmd` parameter, it shall output the credentials in the netrc format and return `0` on success, other values will be treated as an error. `{}` in the command will be replaced by the name of the extractor to make it possible to select the credentials for the right extractor.
1179 E.g. To use an encrypted `.netrc` file stored as `.authinfo.gpg`
1180 ```
1181 yt-dlp --netrc-cmd 'gpg --decrypt ~/.authinfo.gpg' 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1182 ```
1185 ### Notes about environment variables
1186 * Environment variables are normally specified as `${VARIABLE}`/`$VARIABLE` on UNIX and `%VARIABLE%` on Windows; but is always shown as `${VARIABLE}` in this documentation
1187 * yt-dlp also allows using UNIX-style variables on Windows for path-like options; e.g. `--output`, `--config-location`
1188 * If unset, `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}` defaults to `~/.config` and `${XDG_CACHE_HOME}` to `~/.cache`
1189 * On Windows, `~` points to `${HOME}` if present; or, `${USERPROFILE}` or `${HOMEDRIVE}${HOMEPATH}` otherwise
1190 * On Windows, `${USERPROFILE}` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>` and `${APPDATA}` to `${USERPROFILE}\AppData\Roaming`
1192 # OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1194 The `-o` option is used to indicate a template for the output file names while `-P` option is used to specify the path each type of file should be saved to.
1196 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1197 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
1198 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1200 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).
1202 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), e.g. `%(NAME)s` or `%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations.
1204 The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
1206 1. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a dot `.` separator; e.g. `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`. You can do Python slicing with colon `:`; E.g. `%(id.3:7)s`, `%(id.6:2:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. Curly braces `{}` can be used to build dictionaries with only specific keys; e.g. `%(formats.:.{format_id,height})#j`. An empty field name `%()s` refers to the entire infodict; e.g. `%(.{id,title})s`. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
1208 1. **Arithmetic**: Simple arithmetic can be done on numeric fields using `+`, `-` and `*`. E.g. `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
1210 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 `>`. E.g. `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
1212 1. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. E.g. `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
1214 1. **Replacement**: A replacement value can be specified using a `&` separator according to the [`str.format` mini-language](https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#format-specification-mini-language). If the field is *not* empty, this replacement value will be used instead of the actual field content. This is done after alternate fields are considered; thus the replacement is used if *any* of the alternative fields is *not* empty. E.g. `%(chapters&has chapters|no chapters)s`, `%(title&TITLE={:>20}|NO TITLE)s`
1216 1. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` separator. This overrides `--output-na-placeholder`. E.g. `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
1218 1. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, yt-dlp additionally supports converting to `B` = **B**ytes, `j` = **j**son (flag `#` for pretty-printing, `+` for Unicode), `h` = HTML escaping, `l` = a comma separated **l**ist (flag `#` for `\n` newline-separated), `q` = a string **q**uoted for the terminal (flag `#` to split a list into different arguments), `D` = add **D**ecimal suffixes (e.g. 10M) (flag `#` to use 1024 as factor), and `S` = **S**anitize as filename (flag `#` for restricted)
1220 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. E.g. `%(title)+.100U` is NFKC
1222 To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1223 ```
1224 %(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
1225 ```
1227 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`, `pl_video`. E.g. `-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 is empty, that type of file will not be written. E.g. `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
1229 <a id="outtmpl-postprocess-note"></a>
1231 **Note**: Due to post-processing (i.e. merging etc.), the actual output filename might differ. Use `--print after_move:filepath` to get the name after all post-processing is complete.
1233 The available fields are:
1235 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1236 - `title` (string): Video title
1237 - `fulltitle` (string): Video title ignoring live timestamp and generic title
1238 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1239 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
1240 - `description` (string): The description of the video
1241 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1242 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1243 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1244 - `uploader_url` (string): URL to the video uploader's profile
1245 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1246 - `creators` (list): The creators of the video
1247 - `creator` (string): The creators of the video; comma-separated
1248 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
1249 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date in UTC (YYYYMMDD)
1250 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
1251 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released in UTC
1252 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the video or album was released
1253 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
1254 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified in UTC
1255 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1256 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
1257 - `channel_url` (string): URL of the channel
1258 - `channel_follower_count` (numeric): Number of followers of the channel
1259 - `channel_is_verified` (boolean): Whether the channel is verified on the platform
1260 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1261 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
1262 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
1263 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1264 - `concurrent_view_count` (numeric): How many users are currently watching the video on the platform.
1265 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1266 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1267 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1268 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating given by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
1269 - `comment_count` (numeric): Number of comments on the video (For some extractors, comments are only downloaded at the end, and so this field cannot be used)
1270 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
1271 - `live_status` (string): One of "not_live", "is_live", "is_upcoming", "was_live", "post_live" (was live, but VOD is not yet processed)
1272 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
1273 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
1274 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
1275 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
1276 - `media_type` (string): The type of media as classified by the site, e.g. "episode", "clip", "trailer"
1277 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1278 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
1279 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1280 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
1281 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch of when the information extraction was completed
1282 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`, padded with leading zeros to 5 digits
1283 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
1284 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
1285 - `playlist_id` (string): Identifier of the playlist that contains the video
1286 - `playlist_title` (string): Name of the playlist that contains the video
1287 - `playlist` (string): `playlist_title` if available or else `playlist_id`
1288 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
1289 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1290 - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
1291 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1292 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
1293 - `playlist_channel` (string): Display name of the channel that uploaded the playlist
1294 - `playlist_channel_id` (string): Identifier of the channel that uploaded the playlist
1295 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which, if given to yt-dlp, should yield the same result again
1296 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1297 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
1298 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or the same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
1299 - `categories` (list): List of categories the video belongs to
1300 - `tags` (list): List of tags assigned to the video
1301 - `cast` (list): List of cast members
1303 All the fields in [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats) can also be used
1305 Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1307 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1308 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1309 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1311 Available for the video that is an episode of some series or program:
1313 - `series` (string): Title of the series or program the video episode belongs to
1314 - `series_id` (string): Id of the series or program the video episode belongs to
1315 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1316 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1317 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1318 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1319 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1320 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1322 Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1324 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1325 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1326 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1327 - `artists` (list): Artist(s) of the track
1328 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track; comma-separated
1329 - `genres` (list): Genre(s) of the track
1330 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track; comma-separated
1331 - `composers` (list): Composer(s) of the piece
1332 - `composer` (string): Composer(s) of the piece; comma-separated
1333 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1334 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1335 - `album_artists` (list): All artists appeared on the album
1336 - `album_artist` (string): All artists appeared on the album; comma-separated
1337 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1339 Available only when using `--download-sections` and for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
1341 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1342 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1343 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1344 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1346 Available only when used in `--print`:
1348 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1349 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the [actual filename may differ](#outtmpl-postprocess-note)
1350 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1351 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1352 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1353 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1355 Available only after the video is downloaded (`post_process`/`after_move`):
1357 - `filepath`: Actual path of downloaded video file
1359 Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1361 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1362 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1363 - `categories` (list): The [SponsorBlock categories](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Category) the chapter belongs to
1364 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1365 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1366 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
1367 - `type` (string): The [SponsorBlock action type](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Action_Type) of the chapter
1369 Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. E.g. 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.
1371 **Note**: 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).
1373 **Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
1375 For numeric sequences, you can use [numeric related formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting); e.g. `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
1377 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.
1379 To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1381 The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
1383 In some cases, you don't want special characters such as 中, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the `--restrict-filenames` flag to get a shorter title.
1385 #### Output template examples
1387 ```bash
1388 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
1389 test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1391 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
1392 youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
1394 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
1395 youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
1397 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
1398 $ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
1400 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
1401 $ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
1403 # Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
1404 $ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist_index&{} - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
1406 # Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
1407 $ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
1409 # Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
1410 $ yt-dlp -u user -p password -P "~/MyVideos" -o "%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial"
1412 # Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
1413 $ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -o "%(series)s/%(season_number)s - %(season)s/%(episode_number)s - %(episode)s.%(ext)s" "https://videomore.ru/kino_v_detalayah/5_sezon/367617"
1415 # Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1416 # and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1417 $ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --write-subs
1419 # Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1420 $ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "subtitle:%(uploader)s/subs/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --write-subs
1422 # Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
1423 $ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
1424 ```
1426 # FORMAT SELECTION
1428 By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1429 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`.
1431 **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.
1433 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.
1435 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1436 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
1437 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1439 The simplest case is requesting a specific format; e.g. 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.
1441 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.
1443 You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1445 You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1447 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1448 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1449 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio or both (i.e.; `vcodec!=none or acodec!=none`)
1450 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1451 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1452 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1453 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
1454 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that **contains audio**. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]` ([Do not use!](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/979#issuecomment-919629354))
1455 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
1456 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1457 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
1458 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
1459 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
1460 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
1462 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 `-S +size` or more rigorously, `-S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
1464 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.
1466 If you want to download multiple videos, and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred; e.g. `-f 22/17/18` will download format 22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
1468 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`.
1470 You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg installed); e.g. `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg.
1472 **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
1474 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. E.g. `-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 only `best` while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
1476 ## Filtering Formats
1478 You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"` since filters without a selector are interpreted as `best`).
1480 The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1482 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1483 - `filesize_approx`: An estimate for the number of bytes
1484 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1485 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1486 - `aspect_ratio`: Aspect ratio of the video, if known
1487 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1488 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1489 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1490 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1491 - `fps`: Frame rate
1492 - `audio_channels`: The number of audio channels
1493 - `stretched_ratio`: `width:height` of the video's pixels, if not square
1495 Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains), `~=` (matches regex) and following string meta fields:
1497 - `url`: Video URL
1498 - `ext`: File extension
1499 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1500 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1501 - `container`: Name of the container format
1502 - `protocol`: The protocol that will be used for the actual download, lower-case (`http`, `https`, `rtsp`, `rtmp`, `rtmpe`, `mms`, `f4m`, `ism`, `http_dash_segments`, `m3u8`, or `m3u8_native`)
1503 - `language`: Language code
1504 - `dynamic_range`: The dynamic range of the video
1505 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
1506 - `format`: A human-readable description of the format
1507 - `format_note`: Additional info about the format
1508 - `resolution`: Textual description of width and height
1510 Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain). The comparand of a string comparison needs to be quoted with either double or single quotes if it contains spaces or special characters other than `._-`.
1512 **Note**: None of the aforementioned meta fields are guaranteed to be present since this solely depends on the metadata obtained by the particular extractor, i.e. the metadata offered by the website. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
1514 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 "bv[height<=?720][tbr>500]"` selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 kbps. You can also use the filters with `all` to download all formats that satisfy the filter, e.g. `-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
1516 Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses; e.g. `-f "(mp4,webm)[height<480]"` will download the best pre-merged mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480.
1518 ## Sorting Formats
1520 You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1522 The available fields are:
1524 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that have a video stream
1525 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that have an audio stream
1526 - `ie_pref`: The format preference
1527 - `lang`: The language preference
1528 - `quality`: The quality of the format
1529 - `source`: The preference of the source
1530 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1531 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
1532 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `ac4` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
1533 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
1534 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `mov` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
1535 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > `mp3` > `m4a` > `aac`
1536 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
1537 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
1538 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize
1539 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
1540 - `height`: Height of video
1541 - `width`: Width of video
1542 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1543 - `fps`: Framerate of video
1544 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
1545 - `channels`: The number of audio channels
1546 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1547 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1548 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1549 - `br`: Average bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec"), `tbr`/`vbr`/`abr`
1550 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
1552 **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.
1554 All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. E.g. `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a `:`. E.g. `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. E.g. `+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. E.g. `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
1556 The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behavior can be changed by using `--format-sort-force`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,hdr:12,vcodec:vp9.2,channels,acodec,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. The extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
1558 Note that the default has `vcodec:vp9.2`; i.e. `av1` is not preferred. Similarly, the default for hdr is `hdr:12`; i.e. Dolby Vision is not preferred. 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.
1560 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`.
1562 **Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1564 ## Format Selection examples
1566 ```bash
1567 # Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
1568 # or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
1569 $ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
1571 # Download best format that contains video,
1572 # and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
1573 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
1575 # Same as above
1576 $ yt-dlp
1578 # Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1579 # For this case, an output template should be used since
1580 # by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
1581 $ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
1583 # Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1584 # and all audio-only formats into one file
1585 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
1587 # Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1588 # and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
1589 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
1592 # The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
1593 # and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
1595 # Download the worst video available (old method)
1596 $ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
1598 # Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
1599 $ yt-dlp -S "+res"
1601 # Download the smallest video available
1602 $ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
1606 # Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
1607 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
1609 # Download the best video with the best extension
1610 # (For video, mp4 > mov > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
1611 $ yt-dlp -S "ext"
1615 # Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1616 # or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
1617 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
1619 # Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1620 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1621 $ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
1623 # Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1624 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1625 # Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1626 # So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
1627 $ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
1631 # Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1632 # or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1633 $ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
1635 # Download the largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1636 # or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1637 $ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
1639 # Download the best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
1640 $ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
1644 # Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1645 # or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
1646 $ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
1648 # Download best video available via the best protocol
1649 # (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
1650 $ yt-dlp -S "proto"
1654 # Download the best video with either h264 or h265 codec,
1655 # or the best video if there is no such video
1656 $ yt-dlp -f "(bv*[vcodec~='^((he|a)vc|h26[45])']+ba) / (bv*+ba/b)"
1658 # Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1659 # or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
1660 $ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
1662 # Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1663 # or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1664 $ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
1668 # More complex examples
1670 # Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1671 # or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1672 $ yt-dlp -f "((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)"
1674 # Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1675 # or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1676 # preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1677 $ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
1681 # Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1682 # or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1683 # preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1684 $ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
1685 ```
1687 # MODIFYING METADATA
1689 The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
1691 `--replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE` is used to replace text in any metadata field using [Python regular expression](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html#regular-expression-syntax). [Backreferences](https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html?highlight=backreferences#re.sub) can be used in the replace string for advanced use.
1693 The general syntax of `--parse-metadata FROM:TO` is to give the name of a field or an [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, a single field name, 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.
1695 Note that these options preserve their relative order, allowing replacements to be made in parsed fields and vice versa. Also, any field thus created can be used in the [output template](#output-template) and will also affect the media file's metadata added when using `--embed-metadata`.
1697 This option also has a few special uses:
1699 * 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. E.g. `--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)"` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
1701 * 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". To modify the metadata of individual streams, use the `meta<n>_` prefix (e.g. `meta1_language`). Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
1703 **Note**: Metadata modification happens before format selection, post-extraction and other post-processing operations. Some fields may be added or changed during these steps, overriding your changes.
1705 For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1707 Metadata fields | From
1708 :--------------------------|:------------------------------------------------
1709 `title` | `track` or `title`
1710 `date` | `upload_date`
1711 `description`, `synopsis` | `description`
1712 `purl`, `comment` | `webpage_url`
1713 `track` | `track_number`
1714 `artist` | `artist`, `artists`, `creator`, `creators`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1715 `composer` | `composer` or `composers`
1716 `genre` | `genre` or `genres`
1717 `album` | `album`
1718 `album_artist` | `album_artist` or `album_artists`
1719 `disc` | `disc_number`
1720 `show` | `series`
1721 `season_number` | `season_number`
1722 `episode_id` | `episode` or `episode_id`
1723 `episode_sort` | `episode_number`
1724 `language` of each stream | the format's `language`
1726 **Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1729 ## Modifying metadata examples
1731 ```bash
1732 # Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
1733 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
1735 # Regex example
1736 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
1738 # Set title as "Series name S01E05"
1739 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
1741 # Prioritize uploader as the "artist" field in video metadata
1742 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" --embed-metadata
1744 # Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url,
1745 # handling multiple lines correctly
1746 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --embed-metadata
1748 # Do not set any "synopsis" in the video metadata
1749 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<meta_synopsis>)"
1751 # Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
1752 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "video::(?P<formats>)" --write-info-json
1754 # Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
1755 $ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
1757 ```
1759 # EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1761 Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) separated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. E.g. `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=mediaconnect,web;formats=incomplete" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
1763 Note: In CLI, `ARG` can use `-` instead of `_`; e.g. `youtube:player-client"` becomes `youtube:player_client"`
1765 The following extractors use this feature:
1767 #### youtube
1768 * `lang`: Prefer translated metadata (`title`, `description` etc) of this language code (case-sensitive). By default, the video primary language metadata is preferred, with a fallback to `en` translated. See [youtube.py](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c26f9b991a0681fd3ea548d535919cec1fbbd430/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py#L381-L390) for list of supported content language codes
1769 * `skip`: One or more of `hls`, `dash` or `translated_subs` to skip extraction of the m3u8 manifests, dash manifests and [auto-translated subtitles](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/4090#issuecomment-1158102032) respectively
1770 * `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `ios` and `android`, with variants `_music` and `_creator` (e.g. `ios_creator`); and `mweb`, `mediaconnect`, `android_testsuite`, `android_vr`, `web_safari`, `web_embedded`, `tv` and `tv_embedded` with no variants. By default, `ios,mweb` is used, and `web_creator,mediaconnect` is added as needed for age-gated videos when account age verification is required. Similarly, the `_music` variants are added for `music.youtube.com` URLs. Some clients, such as `web` and `android`, require a `po_token` for their formats to be downloadable. Some clients, such as the `_creator` variants, will only work with authentication. You can use `all` to use all the clients, and `default` for the default clients. You can prefix a client with `-` to exclude it, e.g. `youtube:player_client=all,-web`
1771 * `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
1772 * `player_params`: YouTube player parameters to use for player requests. Will overwrite any default ones set by yt-dlp.
1773 * `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
1774 * `max_comments`: Limit the amount of comments to gather. Comma-separated list of integers representing `max-comments,max-parents,max-replies,max-replies-per-thread`. Default is `all,all,all,all`
1775 * E.g. `all,all,1000,10` will get a maximum of 1000 replies total, with up to 10 replies per thread. `1000,all,100` will get a maximum of 1000 comments, with a maximum of 100 replies total
1776 * `formats`: Change the types of formats to return. `dashy` (convert HTTP to DASH), `duplicate` (identical content but different URLs or protocol; includes `dashy`), `incomplete` (cannot be downloaded completely - live dash and post-live m3u8)
1777 * `innertube_host`: Innertube API host to use for all API requests; e.g. `studio.youtube.com`, `youtubei.googleapis.com`. Note that cookies exported from one subdomain will not work on others
1778 * `innertube_key`: Innertube API key to use for all API requests. By default, no API key is used
1779 * `raise_incomplete_data`: `Incomplete Data Received` raises an error instead of reporting a warning
1780 * `data_sync_id`: Overrides the account Data Sync ID used in Innertube API requests. This may be needed if you are using an account with `youtube:player_skip=webpage,configs` or `youtubetab:skip=webpage`
1781 * `visitor_data`: Overrides the Visitor Data used in Innertube API requests. This should be used with `player_skip=webpage,configs` and without cookies. Note: this may have adverse effects if used improperly. If a session from a browser is wanted, you should pass cookies instead (which contain the Visitor ID)
1782 * `po_token`: Proof of Origin (PO) Token(s) to use for requesting video playback. Comma seperated list of PO Tokens in the format `CLIENT+PO_TOKEN`, e.g. `youtube:po_token=web+XXX,android+YYY`
1784 #### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1785 * `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)
1786 * `approximate_date`: Extract approximate `upload_date` and `timestamp` in flat-playlist. This may cause date-based filters to be slightly off
1788 #### generic
1789 * `fragment_query`: Passthrough any query in mpd/m3u8 manifest URLs to their fragments if no value is provided, or else apply the query string given as `fragment_query=VALUE`. Note that if the stream has an HLS AES-128 key, then the query parameters will be passed to the key URI as well, unless the `key_query` extractor-arg is passed, or unless an external key URI is provided via the `hls_key` extractor-arg. Does not apply to ffmpeg
1790 * `variant_query`: Passthrough the master m3u8 URL query to its variant playlist URLs if no value is provided, or else apply the query string given as `variant_query=VALUE`
1791 * `key_query`: Passthrough the master m3u8 URL query to its HLS AES-128 decryption key URI if no value is provided, or else apply the query string given as `key_query=VALUE`. Note that this will have no effect if the key URI is provided via the `hls_key` extractor-arg. Does not apply to ffmpeg
1792 * `hls_key`: An HLS AES-128 key URI *or* key (as hex), and optionally the IV (as hex), in the form of `(URI|KEY)[,IV]`; e.g. `generic:hls_key=ABCDEF1234567980,0xFEDCBA0987654321`. Passing any of these values will force usage of the native HLS downloader and override the corresponding values found in the m3u8 playlist
1793 * `is_live`: Bypass live HLS detection and manually set `live_status` - a value of `false` will set `not_live`, any other value (or no value) will set `is_live`
1794 * `impersonate`: Target(s) to try and impersonate with the initial webpage request; e.g. `generic:impersonate=safari,chrome-110`. Use `generic:impersonate` to impersonate any available target, and use `generic:impersonate=false` to disable impersonation (default)
1796 #### funimation
1797 * `language`: Audio languages to extract, e.g. `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1798 * `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1800 #### crunchyrollbeta (Crunchyroll)
1801 * `hardsub`: One or more hardsub versions to extract (in order of preference), or `all` (default: `None` = no hardsubs will be extracted), e.g. `crunchyrollbeta:hardsub=en-US,de-DE`
1803 #### vikichannel
1804 * `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
1806 #### niconico
1807 * `segment_duration`: Segment duration in milliseconds for HLS-DMC formats. Use it at your own risk since this feature **may result in your account termination.**
1809 #### youtubewebarchive
1810 * `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1812 #### gamejolt
1813 * `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1815 #### hotstar
1816 * `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1817 * `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1818 * `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1820 #### niconicochannelplus
1821 * `max_comments`: Maximum number of comments to extract - default is `120`
1823 #### tiktok
1824 * `api_hostname`: Hostname to use for mobile API calls, e.g. `api22-normal-c-alisg.tiktokv.com`
1825 * `app_name`: Default app name to use with mobile API calls, e.g. `trill`
1826 * `app_version`: Default app version to use with mobile API calls - should be set along with `manifest_app_version`, e.g. `34.1.2`
1827 * `manifest_app_version`: Default numeric app version to use with mobile API calls, e.g. `2023401020`
1828 * `aid`: Default app ID to use with mobile API calls, e.g. `1180`
1829 * `app_info`: Enable mobile API extraction with one or more app info strings in the format of `<iid>/[app_name]/[app_version]/[manifest_app_version]/[aid]`, where `iid` is the unique app install ID. `iid` is the only required value; all other values and their `/` separators can be omitted, e.g. `tiktok:app_info=1234567890123456789` or `tiktok:app_info=123,456/trill///1180,789//34.0.1/340001`
1830 * `device_id`: Enable mobile API extraction with a genuine device ID to be used with mobile API calls. Default is a random 19-digit string
1832 #### rokfinchannel
1833 * `tab`: Which tab to download - one of `new`, `top`, `videos`, `podcasts`, `streams`, `stacks`
1835 #### twitter
1836 * `api`: Select one of `graphql` (default), `legacy` or `syndication` as the API for tweet extraction. Has no effect if logged in
1838 #### stacommu, wrestleuniverse
1839 * `device_id`: UUID value assigned by the website and used to enforce device limits for paid livestream content. Can be found in browser local storage
1841 #### twitch
1842 * `client_id`: Client ID value to be sent with GraphQL requests, e.g. `twitch:client_id=kimne78kx3ncx6brgo4mv6wki5h1ko`
1844 #### nhkradirulive (NHK らじる★らじる LIVE)
1845 * `area`: Which regional variation to extract. Valid areas are: `sapporo`, `sendai`, `tokyo`, `nagoya`, `osaka`, `hiroshima`, `matsuyama`, `fukuoka`. Defaults to `tokyo`
1847 #### nflplusreplay
1848 * `type`: Type(s) of game replays to extract. Valid types are: `full_game`, `full_game_spanish`, `condensed_game` and `all_22`. You can use `all` to extract all available replay types, which is the default
1850 #### jiocinema
1851 * `refresh_token`: The `refreshToken` UUID from browser local storage can be passed to extend the life of your login session when logging in with `token` as username and the `accessToken` from browser local storage as password
1853 #### jiosaavn
1854 * `bitrate`: Audio bitrates to request. One or more of `16`, `32`, `64`, `128`, `320`. Default is `128,320`
1856 #### afreecatvlive
1857 * `cdn`: One or more CDN IDs to use with the API call for stream URLs, e.g. `gcp_cdn`, `gs_cdn_pc_app`, `gs_cdn_mobile_web`, `gs_cdn_pc_web`
1859 #### soundcloud
1860 * `formats`: Formats to request from the API. Requested values should be in the format of `{protocol}_{extension}` (omitting the bitrate), e.g. `hls_opus,http_aac`. The `*` character functions as a wildcard, e.g. `*_mp3`, and can be passed by itself to request all formats. Known protocols include `http`, `hls` and `hls-aes`; known extensions include `aac`, `opus` and `mp3`. Original `download` formats are always extracted. Default is `http_aac,hls_aac,http_opus,hls_opus,http_mp3,hls_mp3`
1862 #### orfon (orf:on)
1863 * `prefer_segments_playlist`: Prefer a playlist of program segments instead of a single complete video when available. If individual segments are desired, use `--concat-playlist never --extractor-args "orfon:prefer_segments_playlist"`
1865 #### bilibili
1866 * `prefer_multi_flv`: Prefer extracting flv formats over mp4 for older videos that still provide legacy formats
1868 #### digitalconcerthall
1869 * `prefer_combined_hls`: Prefer extracting combined/pre-merged video and audio HLS formats. This will exclude 4K/HEVC video and lossless/FLAC audio formats, which are only available as split video/audio HLS formats
1871 **Note**: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
1873 <!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1876 # PLUGINS
1878 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!**
1880 Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`.
1881 - Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it.
1882 - Extractor plugins take priority over built-in extractors.
1883 - Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
1886 Plugins are loaded from the namespace packages `yt_dlp_plugins.extractor` and `yt_dlp_plugins.postprocessor`.
1888 In other words, the file structure on the disk looks something like:
1890 yt_dlp_plugins/
1891 extractor/
1892 myplugin.py
1893 postprocessor/
1894 myplugin.py
1896 yt-dlp looks for these `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folders in many locations (see below) and loads in plugins from **all** of them.
1897 Set the environment variable `YTDLP_NO_PLUGINS` to something nonempty to disable loading plugins entirely.
1899 See the [wiki for some known plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Plugins)
1901 ## Installing Plugins
1903 Plugins can be installed using various methods and locations.
1905 1. **Configuration directories**:
1906 Plugin packages (containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder) can be dropped into the following standard [configuration locations](#configuration):
1907 * **User Plugins**
1908 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1909 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1910 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Windows)
1911 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1912 * `~/.yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1913 * `~/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1914 * **System Plugins**
1915 * `/etc/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1916 * `/etc/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1917 2. **Executable location**: Plugin packages can similarly be installed in a `yt-dlp-plugins` directory under the executable location (recommended for portable installations):
1918 * Binary: where `<root-dir>/yt-dlp.exe`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1919 * Source: where `<root-dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1921 3. **pip and other locations in `PYTHONPATH`**
1922 * Plugin packages can be installed and managed using `pip`. See [yt-dlp-sample-plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-sample-plugins) for an example.
1923 * Note: plugin files between plugin packages installed with pip must have unique filenames.
1924 * Any path in `PYTHONPATH` is searched in for the `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder.
1925 * Note: This does not apply for Pyinstaller builds.
1928 `.zip`, `.egg` and `.whl` archives containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder in their root are also supported as plugin packages.
1930 * e.g. `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/mypluginpkg.zip` where `mypluginpkg.zip` contains `yt_dlp_plugins/<type>/myplugin.py`
1932 Run yt-dlp with `--verbose` to check if the plugin has been loaded.
1934 ## Developing Plugins
1936 See the [yt-dlp-sample-plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-sample-plugins) repo for a template plugin package and the [Plugin Development](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Plugin-Development) section of the wiki for a plugin development guide.
1938 All public classes with a name ending in `IE`/`PP` are imported from each file for extractors and postprocessors respectively. This respects underscore prefix (e.g. `_MyBasePluginIE` is private) and `__all__`. Modules can similarly be excluded by prefixing the module name with an underscore (e.g. `_myplugin.py`).
1940 To replace an existing extractor with a subclass of one, set the `plugin_name` class keyword argument (e.g. `class MyPluginIE(ABuiltInIE, plugin_name='myplugin')` will replace `ABuiltInIE` with `MyPluginIE`). Since the extractor replaces the parent, you should exclude the subclass extractor from being imported separately by making it private using one of the methods described above.
1942 If you are a plugin author, add [yt-dlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/yt-dlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability.
1944 See the [Developer Instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions) on how to write and test an extractor.
1946 # EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1948 yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1950 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.
1952 From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1954 ```python
1955 from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
1957 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1958 with YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1959 ydl.download(URLS)
1960 ```
1962 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#L183) or `help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)` in a Python shell. If you are already familiar with the CLI, you can use [`devscripts/cli_to_api.py`](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/devscripts/cli_to_api.py) to translate any CLI switches to `YoutubeDL` params.
1964 **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 below](#extracting-information)
1966 ## Embedding examples
1968 #### Extracting information
1970 ```python
1971 import json
1972 import yt_dlp
1974 URL = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1976 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL) for a list of available options and public functions
1977 ydl_opts = {}
1978 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1979 info = ydl.extract_info(URL, download=False)
1981 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1982 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1983 ```
1984 #### Download using an info-json
1986 ```python
1987 import yt_dlp
1989 INFO_FILE = 'path/to/video.info.json'
1991 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1992 error_code = ydl.download_with_info_file(INFO_FILE)
1994 print('Some videos failed to download' if error_code
1995 else 'All videos successfully downloaded')
1996 ```
1998 #### Extract audio
2000 ```python
2001 import yt_dlp
2003 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2005 ydl_opts = {
2006 'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
2007 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor) for a list of available Postprocessors and their arguments
2008 'postprocessors': [{ # Extract audio using ffmpeg
2009 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
2010 'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
2011 }]
2012 }
2014 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2015 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
2016 ```
2018 #### Filter videos
2020 ```python
2021 import yt_dlp
2023 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2025 def longer_than_a_minute(info, *, incomplete):
2026 """Download only videos longer than a minute (or with unknown duration)"""
2027 duration = info.get('duration')
2028 if duration and duration < 60:
2029 return 'The video is too short'
2031 ydl_opts = {
2032 'match_filter': longer_than_a_minute,
2033 }
2035 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2036 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
2037 ```
2039 #### Adding logger and progress hook
2041 ```python
2042 import yt_dlp
2044 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2046 class MyLogger:
2047 def debug(self, msg):
2048 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
2049 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
2050 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
2051 pass
2052 else:
2053 self.info(msg)
2055 def info(self, msg):
2056 pass
2058 def warning(self, msg):
2059 pass
2061 def error(self, msg):
2062 print(msg)
2065 # ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)
2066 def my_hook(d):
2067 if d['status'] == 'finished':
2068 print('Done downloading, now post-processing ...')
2071 ydl_opts = {
2072 'logger': MyLogger(),
2073 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
2074 }
2076 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2077 ydl.download(URLS)
2078 ```
2080 #### Add a custom PostProcessor
2082 ```python
2083 import yt_dlp
2085 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2087 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor)
2088 class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
2089 def run(self, info):
2090 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
2091 return [], info
2094 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
2095 # ℹ️ "when" can take any value in yt_dlp.utils.POSTPROCESS_WHEN
2096 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP(), when='pre_process')
2097 ydl.download(URLS)
2098 ```
2101 #### Use a custom format selector
2103 ```python
2104 import yt_dlp
2106 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2108 def format_selector(ctx):
2109 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
2110 NOTE: This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
2112 # formats are already sorted worst to best
2113 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
2115 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
2116 best_video = next(f for f in formats
2117 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
2119 # find compatible audio extension
2120 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
2121 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
2122 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
2123 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
2125 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
2126 yield {
2127 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
2128 'ext': best_video['ext'],
2129 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
2130 # Must be + separated list of protocols
2131 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
2132 }
2135 ydl_opts = {
2136 'format': format_selector,
2137 }
2139 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2140 ydl.download(URLS)
2141 ```
2144 # CHANGES FROM YOUTUBE-DL
2146 ### New features
2148 * Forked from [**yt-dlc@f9401f2**](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee) and merged with [**youtube-dl@a08f2b7**](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/a08f2b7e4567cdc50c0614ee0a4ffdff49b8b6e6) ([exceptions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/21))
2150 * **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in YouTube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
2152 * **[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))
2154 * **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 NicoNico livestreams are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
2156 * **YouTube improvements**:
2157 * Supports Clips, Stories (`ytstories:<channel UCID>`), Search (including filters)**\***, YouTube Music Search, Channel-specific search, Search prefixes (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`)**\***, Mixes, and Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`, `:ytnotif`)
2158 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326) **\***
2159 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start` (*experimental*)
2160 * Channel URLs download all uploads of the channel, including shorts and live
2161 * Support for [logging in with OAuth](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Extractors#logging-in-with-oauth)
2163 * **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]`
2165 * **Download time range**: Videos can be downloaded partially based on either timestamps or chapters using `--download-sections`
2167 * **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
2169 * **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
2171 * **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
2173 * **New and fixed extractors**: Many new extractors have been added and a lot of existing ones have been fixed. See the [changelog](Changelog.md) or the [list of supported sites](supportedsites.md)
2175 * **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN etc.
2177 * **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
2179 * **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`)
2181 * **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for details
2183 * **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` and `--replace-in-metadata`
2185 * **Other new options**: Many new options have been added such as `--alias`, `--print`, `--concat-playlist`, `--wait-for-video`, `--retry-sleep`, `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-match-filters` etc
2187 * **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--format`/`--match-filters`, multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection), merge multi-video/audio, multiple `--config-locations`, `--exec` at different stages, etc
2189 * **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
2191 * **Self updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`, and downgraded using `--update-to` if required
2193 * **Automated builds**: [Nightly/master builds](#update-channels) can be used with `--update-to nightly` and `--update-to master`
2195 See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
2197 Features marked with a **\*** have been back-ported to youtube-dl
2199 ### Differences in default behavior
2201 Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
2203 * yt-dlp supports only [Python 3.9+](## "Windows 8"), and will remove support for more versions as they [become EOL](https://devguide.python.org/versions/#python-release-cycle); while [youtube-dl still supports Python 2.6+ and 3.2+](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/30568#issue-1118238743)
2204 * The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
2205 * `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
2206 * yt-dlp stores config files in slightly different locations to youtube-dl. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for a list of correct locations
2207 * 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`
2208 * 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
2209 * 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 preferred. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
2210 * 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
2211 * `--no-abort-on-error` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
2212 * 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
2213 * `--add-metadata` attaches the `infojson` to `mkv` files in addition to writing the metadata when used with `--write-info-json`. Use `--no-embed-info-json` or `--compat-options no-attach-info-json` to revert this
2214 * Some metadata are embedded into different fields when using `--add-metadata` as compared to youtube-dl. Most notably, `comment` field contains the `webpage_url` and `synopsis` contains the `description`. You can [use `--parse-metadata`](#modifying-metadata) to modify this to your liking or use `--compat-options embed-metadata` to revert this
2215 * `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
2216 * The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
2217 * Live chats (if available) are considered as subtitles. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent any live chat/danmaku from downloading
2218 * YouTube channel URLs download all uploads of the channel. To download only the videos in a specific tab, pass the tab's URL. If the channel does not show the requested tab, an error will be raised. 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
2219 * Unavailable videos are also listed for YouTube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
2220 * The upload dates extracted from YouTube are in UTC [when available](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/89e4d86171c7b7c997c77d4714542e0383bf0db0/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py#L3898-L3900). Use `--compat-options no-youtube-prefer-utc-upload-date` to prefer the non-UTC upload date.
2221 * 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
2222 * Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
2223 * Some internal metadata such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use `--no-clean-infojson` or `--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
2224 * 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 separate 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
2225 * `certifi` will be used for SSL root certificates, if installed. If you want to use system certificates (e.g. self-signed), use `--compat-options no-certifi`
2226 * yt-dlp's sanitization of invalid characters in filenames is different/smarter than in youtube-dl. You can use `--compat-options filename-sanitization` to revert to youtube-dl's behavior
2227 * ~~yt-dlp tries to parse the external downloader outputs into the standard progress output if possible (Currently implemented: [aria2c](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/5931)). You can use `--compat-options no-external-downloader-progress` to get the downloader output as-is~~
2228 * yt-dlp versions between 2021.09.01 and 2023.01.02 applies `--match-filters` to nested playlists. This was an unintentional side-effect of [8f18ac](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/8f18aca8717bb0dd49054555af8d386e5eda3a88) and is fixed in [d7b460](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/d7b460d0e5fc710950582baed2e3fc616ed98a80). Use `--compat-options playlist-match-filter` to revert this
2229 * yt-dlp versions between 2021.11.10 and 2023.06.21 estimated `filesize_approx` values for fragmented/manifest formats. This was added for convenience in [f2fe69](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/f2fe69c7b0d208bdb1f6292b4ae92bc1e1a7444a), but was reverted in [0dff8e](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/0dff8e4d1e6e9fb938f4256ea9af7d81f42fd54f) due to the potentially extreme inaccuracy of the estimated values. Use `--compat-options manifest-filesize-approx` to keep extracting the estimated values
2230 * yt-dlp uses modern http client backends such as `requests`. Use `--compat-options prefer-legacy-http-handler` to prefer the legacy http handler (`urllib`) to be used for standard http requests.
2231 * The sub-modules `swfinterp`, `casefold` are removed.
2232 * Passing `--simulate` (or calling `extract_info` with `download=False`) no longer alters the default format selection. See [#9843](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/9843) for details.
2234 For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
2236 * `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options (**Do NOT use this!**)
2237 * `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams,-playlist-match-filter,-manifest-filesize-approx,-allow-unsafe-ext`
2238 * `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect,-playlist-match-filter,-manifest-filesize-approx,-allow-unsafe-ext`
2239 * `--compat-options 2021`: Same as `--compat-options 2022,no-certifi,filename-sanitization,no-youtube-prefer-utc-upload-date`
2240 * `--compat-options 2022`: Same as `--compat-options 2023,playlist-match-filter,no-external-downloader-progress,prefer-legacy-http-handler,manifest-filesize-approx`
2241 * `--compat-options 2023`: Currently does nothing. Use this to enable all future compat options
2243 The following compat options restore vulnerable behavior from before security patches:
2245 * `--compat-options allow-unsafe-ext`: Allow files with any extension (including unsafe ones) to be downloaded ([GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j](<https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j>))
2247 > :warning: Only use if a valid file download is rejected because its extension is detected as uncommon
2248 >
2249 > **This option can enable remote code execution! Consider [opening an issue](<https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/new/choose>) instead!**
2251 ### Deprecated options
2253 These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
2255 #### Almost redundant options
2256 While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
2258 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
2259 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
2260 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table --print playlist:thumbnails_table
2261 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
2263 #### Redundant options
2264 While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
2266 --get-description --print description
2267 --get-duration --print duration_string
2268 --get-filename --print filename
2269 --get-format --print format
2270 --get-id --print id
2271 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
2272 -e, --get-title --print title
2273 -g, --get-url --print urls
2274 --match-title REGEX --match-filters "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
2275 --reject-title REGEX --match-filters "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
2276 --min-views COUNT --match-filters "view_count >=? COUNT"
2277 --max-views COUNT --match-filters "view_count <=? COUNT"
2278 --break-on-reject Use --break-match-filters
2279 --user-agent UA --add-headers "User-Agent:UA"
2280 --referer URL --add-headers "Referer:URL"
2281 --playlist-start NUMBER -I NUMBER:
2282 --playlist-end NUMBER -I :NUMBER
2283 --playlist-reverse -I ::-1
2284 --no-playlist-reverse Default
2285 --no-colors --color no_color
2287 #### Not recommended
2288 While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
2290 --force-generic-extractor --ies generic,default
2291 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
2292 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
2293 --all-formats -f all
2294 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
2295 --print-json -j --no-simulate
2296 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting, e.g. %(autonumber)03d
2297 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
2298 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2299 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
2300 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
2301 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
2302 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
2303 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
2304 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
2305 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
2306 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
2307 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
2308 --geo-bypass --xff "default"
2309 --no-geo-bypass --xff "never"
2310 --geo-bypass-country CODE --xff CODE
2311 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK --xff IP_BLOCK
2313 #### Developer options
2314 These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
2316 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
2317 --load-pages Load pages dumped by --write-pages
2318 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
2319 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
2320 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
2322 #### Old aliases
2323 These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
2325 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
2326 --clean-infojson --clean-info-json
2327 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
2328 --dump-headers --print-traffic
2329 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
2330 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
2331 --load-info --load-info-json
2332 --no-clean-infojson --no-clean-info-json
2333 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
2334 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
2335 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
2336 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
2337 --split-tracks --split-chapters
2338 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
2339 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
2340 --write-srt --write-subs
2341 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
2343 #### Sponskrub Options
2344 Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
2346 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
2347 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
2348 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
2349 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
2350 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
2351 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
2352 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
2353 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
2355 #### No longer supported
2356 These options may no longer work as intended
2358 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
2359 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
2360 -C, --call-home Not implemented
2361 --no-call-home Default
2362 --include-ads No longer supported
2363 --no-include-ads Default
2364 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
2365 --no-write-annotations Default
2366 --compat-options seperate-video-versions No longer needed
2367 --compat-options no-youtube-prefer-utc-upload-date No longer supported
2369 #### Removed
2370 These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
2372 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2373 -t, -l, --title, --literal -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2376 # CONTRIBUTING
2377 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)
2379 # WIKI
2380 See the [Wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki) for more information