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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 (Win7 SP1+) 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 (Win7 SP1+) standalone x86 (32-bit) binary
109 [yt-dlp_min.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_min.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary built with `py2exe`<br/> ([Not recommended](#standalone-py2exe-builds-windows))
110 [yt-dlp_linux](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux)|Linux standalone x64 binary
111 [yt-dlp_linux.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux.zip)|Unpackaged Linux executable (no auto-update)
112 [yt-dlp_linux_armv7l](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_armv7l)|Linux standalone armv7l (32-bit) binary
113 [yt-dlp_linux_aarch64](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_aarch64)|Linux standalone aarch64 (64-bit) binary
114 [yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
115 [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)
116 [yt-dlp_macos_legacy](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos_legacy)|MacOS (10.9+) standalone x64 executable
118 #### Misc
120 File|Description
121 :---|:---
122 [yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball
123 [SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
124 [SHA2-512SUMS.sig](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS.sig)|GPG signature file for SHA512 sums
125 [SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
126 [SHA2-256SUMS.sig](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS.sig)|GPG signature file for SHA256 sums
128 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)
129 Example usage:
130 ```
131 curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/raw/master/public.key | gpg --import
132 gpg --verify SHA2-256SUMS.sig SHA2-256SUMS
133 gpg --verify SHA2-512SUMS.sig SHA2-512SUMS
134 ```
135 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
137 **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)
140 ## UPDATE
141 You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the [release binaries](#release-files)
143 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
145 For other third-party package managers, see [the wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation#third-party-package-managers) or refer their documentation
147 <a id="update-channels"></a>
149 There are currently three release channels for binaries: `stable`, `nightly` and `master`.
151 * `stable` is the default channel, and many of its changes have been tested by users of the `nightly` and `master` channels.
152 * 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).
153 * 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).
155 When using `--update`/`-U`, a release binary will only update to its current channel.
156 `--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.
158 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.
160 Example usage:
162 * `yt-dlp --update-to master` switch to the `master` channel and update to its latest release
163 * `yt-dlp --update-to stable@2023.07.06` upgrade/downgrade to release to `stable` channel tag `2023.07.06`
164 * `yt-dlp --update-to 2023.10.07` upgrade/downgrade to tag `2023.10.07` if it exists on the current channel
165 * `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`
167 **Important**: Any user experiencing an issue with the `stable` release should install or update to the `nightly` release before submitting a bug report:
168 ```
169 # To update to nightly from stable executable/binary:
170 yt-dlp --update-to nightly
172 # To install nightly with pip:
173 python3 -m pip install -U --pre yt-dlp[default]
174 ```
176 ## DEPENDENCIES
177 Python versions 3.8+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
179 <!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
180 <!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
181 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.
182 -->
184 While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
186 ### Strongly recommended
188 * [**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)
190 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
192 **Important**: What you need is ffmpeg *binary*, **NOT** [the Python package of the same name](https://pypi.org/project/ffmpeg)
194 ### Networking
195 * [**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)
196 * [**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>
197 * [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets)\* - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
198 * [**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)
200 #### Impersonation
202 The following provide support for impersonating browser requests. This may be required for some sites that employ TLS fingerprinting.
204 * [**curl_cffi**](https://github.com/yifeikong/curl_cffi) (recommended) - Python binding for [curl-impersonate](https://github.com/lwthiker/curl-impersonate). Provides impersonation targets for Chrome, Edge and Safari. Licensed under [MIT](https://github.com/yifeikong/curl_cffi/blob/main/LICENSE)
205 * Can be installed with the `curl-cffi` group, e.g. `pip install yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]`
206 * Currently only included in `yt-dlp.exe` and `yt-dlp_macos` builds
209 ### Metadata
211 * [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen)\* - For `--embed-thumbnail` in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
212 * [**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)
213 * [**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
215 ### Misc
217 * [**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)
218 * [**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)
219 * [**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)
220 * Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
222 ### Deprecated
224 * [**avconv** and **avprobe**](https://www.libav.org) - Now **deprecated** alternative to ffmpeg. License [depends on the build](https://libav.org/legal)
225 * [**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)
226 * [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
227 * [**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)
229 To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
231 The standalone release binaries are built with the Python interpreter and the packages marked with **\*** included.
233 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
236 ## COMPILE
238 ### Standalone PyInstaller Builds
239 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.
241 You can run the following commands:
243 ```
244 python3 devscripts/install_deps.py --include pyinstaller
245 python3 devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
246 python3 -m bundle.pyinstaller
247 ```
249 On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`.
251 `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).
253 **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.
255 **Important**: Running `pyinstaller` directly **instead of** using `python -m bundle.pyinstaller` is **not** officially supported. This may or may not work correctly.
257 ### Platform-independent Binary (UNIX)
258 You will need the build tools `python` (3.8+), `zip`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`\* and `pytest`\*.
260 After installing these, simply run `make`.
262 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)
264 ### Standalone Py2Exe Builds (Windows)
266 While we provide the option to build with [py2exe](https://www.py2exe.org), it is recommended to build [using PyInstaller](#standalone-pyinstaller-builds) instead since the py2exe builds **cannot contain `pycryptodomex`/`certifi` and needs VC++14** on the target computer to run.
268 If you wish to build it anyway, install Python (if it is not already installed) and you can run the following commands:
270 ```
271 py devscripts/install_deps.py --include py2exe
272 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
273 py -m bundle.py2exe
274 ```
276 ### Related scripts
278 * **`devscripts/install_deps.py`** - Install dependencies for yt-dlp.
279 * **`devscripts/update-version.py`** - Update the version number based on current date.
280 * **`devscripts/set-variant.py`** - Set the build variant of the executable.
281 * **`devscripts/make_changelog.py`** - Create a markdown changelog using short commit messages and update `CONTRIBUTORS` file.
282 * **`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=1` if you wish to forcefully disable lazy extractor loading.
284 Note: See their `--help` for more info.
286 ### Forking the project
287 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.
289 # USAGE AND OPTIONS
291 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
292 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
294 `Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
295 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
297 <!-- Auto generated -->
298 ## General Options:
299 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
300 --version Print program version and exit
301 -U, --update Update this program to the latest version
302 --no-update Do not check for updates (default)
303 --update-to [CHANNEL]@[TAG] Upgrade/downgrade to a specific version.
304 CHANNEL can be a repository as well. CHANNEL
305 and TAG default to "stable" and "latest"
306 respectively if omitted; See "UPDATE" for
307 details. Supported channels: stable,
308 nightly, master
309 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
310 The download will be considered successful
311 even if the postprocessing fails
312 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download errors;
313 e.g. to skip unavailable videos in a
314 playlist (default)
315 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
316 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
317 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
318 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
319 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
320 extractors and exit
321 --use-extractors NAMES Extractor names to use separated by commas.
322 You can also use regexes, "all", "default"
323 and "end" (end URL matching); e.g. --ies
324 "holodex.*,end,youtube". Prefix the name
325 with a "-" to exclude it, e.g. --ies
326 default,-generic. Use --list-extractors for
327 a list of extractor names. (Alias: --ies)
328 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. E.g.
329 "gvsearch2:python" downloads two videos from
330 google videos for the search term "python".
331 Use the value "auto" to let yt-dlp guess
332 ("auto_warning" to emit a warning when
333 guessing). "error" just throws an error. The
334 default value "fixup_error" repairs broken
335 URLs, but emits an error if this is not
336 possible instead of searching
337 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
338 except those given to --config-locations.
339 For backward compatibility, if this option
340 is found inside the system configuration
341 file, the user configuration is not loaded.
342 (Alias: --no-config)
343 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
344 (default). When given inside a configuration
345 file, ignore all previous --config-locations
346 defined in the current file
347 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
348 either the path to the config or its
349 containing directory ("-" for stdin). Can be
350 used multiple times and inside other
351 configuration files
352 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
353 only list them
354 --no-flat-playlist Fully extract the videos of a playlist
355 (default)
356 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
357 Currently only supported for YouTube
358 (Experimental)
359 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
360 (default)
361 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
362 available. Pass the minimum number of
363 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
364 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
365 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate)
366 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
367 --color [STREAM:]POLICY Whether to emit color codes in output,
368 optionally prefixed by the STREAM (stdout or
369 stderr) to apply the setting to. Can be one
370 of "always", "auto" (default), "never", or
371 "no_color" (use non color terminal
372 sequences). Can be used multiple times
373 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
374 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
375 configurations by reverting some of the
376 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
377 default behavior" for details
378 --alias ALIASES OPTIONS Create aliases for an option string. Unless
379 an alias starts with a dash "-", it is
380 prefixed with "--". Arguments are parsed
381 according to the Python string formatting
382 mini-language. E.g. --alias get-audio,-X
383 "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}"
384 creates options "--get-audio" and "-X" that
385 takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to
386 "-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0".
387 All defined aliases are listed in the --help
388 output. Alias options can trigger more
389 aliases; so be careful to avoid defining
390 recursive options. As a safety measure, each
391 alias may be triggered a maximum of 100
392 times. This option can be used multiple times
394 ## Network Options:
395 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy. To
396 enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper scheme,
397 e.g. socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/.
398 Pass in an empty string (--proxy "") for
399 direct connection
400 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
401 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
402 --impersonate CLIENT[:OS] Client to impersonate for requests. E.g.
403 chrome, chrome-110, chrome:windows-10. Pass
404 --impersonate="" to impersonate any client.
405 --list-impersonate-targets List available clients to impersonate.
406 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
407 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
408 --enable-file-urls Enable file:// URLs. This is disabled by
409 default for security reasons.
411 ## Geo-restriction:
412 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
413 some geo-restricted sites. The default proxy
414 specified by --proxy (or none, if the option
415 is not present) is used for the actual
416 downloading
417 --xff VALUE How to fake X-Forwarded-For HTTP header to
418 try bypassing geographic restriction. One of
419 "default" (only when known to be useful),
420 "never", an IP block in CIDR notation, or a
421 two-letter ISO 3166-2 country code
423 ## Video Selection:
424 -I, --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Comma separated playlist_index of the items
425 to download. You can specify a range using
426 "[START]:[STOP][:STEP]". For backward
427 compatibility, START-STOP is also supported.
428 Use negative indices to count from the right
429 and negative STEP to download in reverse
430 order. E.g. "-I 1:3,7,-5::2" used on a
431 playlist of size 15 will download the items
432 at index 1,2,3,7,11,13,15
433 --min-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is smaller than
434 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
435 --max-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is larger than
436 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
437 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
438 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
439 [now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]].
440 E.g. "--date today-2weeks" downloads only
441 videos uploaded on the same day two weeks ago
442 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
443 this date. The date formats accepted is the
444 same as --date
445 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
446 this date. The date formats accepted is the
447 same as --date
448 --match-filters FILTER Generic video filter. Any "OUTPUT TEMPLATE"
449 field can be compared with a number or a
450 string using the operators defined in
451 "Filtering Formats". You can also simply
452 specify a field to match if the field is
453 present, use "!field" to check if the field
454 is not present, and "&" to check multiple
455 conditions. Use a "\" to escape "&" or
456 quotes if needed. If used multiple times,
457 the filter matches if atleast one of the
458 conditions are met. E.g. --match-filter
459 !is_live --match-filter "like_count>?100 &
460 description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'" matches
461 only videos that are not live OR those that
462 have a like count more than 100 (or the like
463 field is not available) and also has a
464 description that contains the phrase "cats &
465 dogs" (caseless). Use "--match-filter -" to
466 interactively ask whether to download each
467 video
468 --no-match-filters Do not use any --match-filter (default)
469 --break-match-filters FILTER Same as "--match-filters" but stops the
470 download process when a video is rejected
471 --no-break-match-filters Do not use any --break-match-filters (default)
472 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
473 to a video and a playlist
474 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
475 a video and a playlist
476 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
477 age
478 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
479 archive file. Record the IDs of all
480 downloaded videos in it
481 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
482 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
483 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
484 a file that is in the archive
485 --no-break-on-existing Do not stop the download process when
486 encountering a file that is in the archive
487 (default)
488 --break-per-input Alters --max-downloads, --break-on-existing,
489 --break-match-filter, and autonumber to
490 reset per input URL
491 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and similar options
492 terminates the entire download queue
493 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest of
494 the playlist is skipped
496 ## Download Options:
497 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
498 video that should be downloaded concurrently
499 (default is 1)
500 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
501 e.g. 50K or 4.2M
502 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
503 below which throttling is assumed and the
504 video data is re-extracted, e.g. 100K
505 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
506 "infinite"
507 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
508 error (default is 3), or "infinite"
509 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default is
510 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and ISM)
511 --retry-sleep [TYPE:]EXPR Time to sleep between retries in seconds
512 (optionally) prefixed by the type of retry
513 (http (default), fragment, file_access,
514 extractor) to apply the sleep to. EXPR can
515 be a number, linear=START[:END[:STEP=1]] or
516 exp=START[:END[:BASE=2]]. This option can be
517 used multiple times to set the sleep for the
518 different retry types, e.g. --retry-sleep
519 linear=1::2 --retry-sleep fragment:exp=1:20
520 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
521 hlsnative and ISM downloads (default)
522 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragments)
523 --abort-on-unavailable-fragments
524 Abort download if a fragment is unavailable
525 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
526 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
527 downloading is finished
528 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
529 downloading is finished (default)
530 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer, e.g. 1024 or 16K
531 (default is 1024)
532 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
533 from an initial value of --buffer-size
534 (default)
535 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
536 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
537 downloading, e.g. 10485760 or 10M (default
538 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
539 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
540 (experimental)
541 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
542 --lazy-playlist Process entries in the playlist as they are
543 received. This disables n_entries,
544 --playlist-random and --playlist-reverse
545 --no-lazy-playlist Process videos in the playlist only after
546 the entire playlist is parsed (default)
547 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
548 expected file size
549 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
550 allowing some players to play the video
551 while downloading, and reducing the chance
552 of file corruption if download is
553 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
554 live streams
555 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
556 videos. This is default when not downloading
557 live streams
558 --download-sections REGEX Download only chapters that match the
559 regular expression. A "*" prefix denotes
560 time-range instead of chapter. Negative
561 timestamps are calculated from the end.
562 "*from-url" can be used to download between
563 the "start_time" and "end_time" extracted
564 from the URL. Needs ffmpeg. This option can
565 be used multiple times to download multiple
566 sections, e.g. --download-sections
567 "*10:15-inf" --download-sections "intro"
568 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
569 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
570 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
571 use it for. Currently supports native,
572 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
573 wget. You can use this option multiple times
574 to set different downloaders for different
575 protocols. E.g. --downloader aria2c
576 --downloader "dash,m3u8:native" will use
577 aria2c for http/ftp downloads, and the
578 native downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
579 (Alias: --external-downloader)
580 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
581 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
582 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
583 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to different
584 positions using the same syntax as
585 --postprocessor-args. You can use this
586 option multiple times to give different
587 arguments to different downloaders (Alias:
588 --external-downloader-args)
590 ## Filesystem Options:
591 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
592 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
593 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
594 comments and ignored
595 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
596 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
597 downloaded. Specify the type of file and the
598 path separated by a colon ":". All the same
599 TYPES as --output are supported.
600 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
601 (default) and "temp" paths. All intermediary
602 files are first downloaded to the temp path
603 and then the final files are moved over to
604 the home path after download is finished.
605 This option is ignored if --output is an
606 absolute path
607 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
608 TEMPLATE" for details
609 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder for unavailable fields in
610 --output (default: "NA")
611 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters,
612 and avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
613 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
614 filenames (default)
615 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
616 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
617 using Windows (default)
618 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
619 extension) to the specified number of
620 characters
621 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
622 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files. This
623 option includes --no-continue
624 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
625 related files (default)
626 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
627 (default)
628 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
629 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
630 restart download of the entire file
631 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
632 into output file (default)
633 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly into
634 output file
635 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the file
636 modification time (default)
637 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
638 the file modification time
639 --write-description Write video description to a .description file
640 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
641 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
642 (this may contain personal information)
643 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
644 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
645 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
646 --write-description etc. (default)
647 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
648 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
649 --clean-info-json Remove some internal metadata such as
650 filenames from the infojson (default)
651 --no-clean-info-json Write all fields to the infojson
652 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
653 infojson. The comments are fetched even
654 without this option if the extraction is
655 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
656 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
657 extraction is known to be quick (Alias:
658 --no-get-comments)
659 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
660 (created with the "--write-info-json" option)
661 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies from
662 and dump cookie jar in
663 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
664 (default)
665 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]
666 The name of the browser to load cookies
667 from. Currently supported browsers are:
668 brave, chrome, chromium, edge, firefox,
669 opera, safari, vivaldi. Optionally, the
670 KEYRING used for decrypting Chromium cookies
671 on Linux, the name/path of the PROFILE to
672 load cookies from, and the CONTAINER name
673 (if Firefox) ("none" for no container) can
674 be given with their respective seperators.
675 By default, all containers of the most
676 recently accessed profile are used.
677 Currently supported keyrings are: basictext,
678 gnomekeyring, kwallet, kwallet5, kwallet6
679 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
680 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where yt-dlp can
681 store some downloaded information (such as
682 client ids and signatures) permanently. By
683 default ${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/yt-dlp
684 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
685 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
687 ## Thumbnail Options:
688 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
689 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk (default)
690 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
691 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
692 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
694 ## Internet Shortcut Options:
695 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
696 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
697 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
698 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
699 OS caches the URL based on the file path
700 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
701 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
703 ## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
704 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with --verbose,
705 print the log to stderr
706 --no-quiet Deactivate quiet mode. (Default)
707 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
708 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
709 anything to disk
710 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
711 options are used
712 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
713 extracting metadata even if the videos are
714 not actually available for download
715 (experimental)
716 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
717 formats are found (default)
718 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
719 related files (Alias: --no-download)
720 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
721 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
722 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
723 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
724 --use-postprocessor (default: video).
725 Implies --quiet. Implies --simulate unless
726 --no-simulate or later stages of WHEN are
727 used. This option can be used multiple times
728 --print-to-file [WHEN:]TEMPLATE FILE
729 Append given template to the file. The
730 values of WHEN and TEMPLATE are same as that
731 of --print. FILE uses the same syntax as the
732 output template. This option can be used
733 multiple times
734 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
735 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
736 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
737 description of available keys
738 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
739 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
740 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
741 a playlist, the whole playlist information
742 is dumped in a single line
743 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
744 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
745 another simulation option is used (Alias:
746 --force-download-archive)
747 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
748 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
749 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
750 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
751 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
752 Template for progress outputs, optionally
753 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
754 "download-title:" (the console title),
755 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
756 The video's fields are accessible under the
757 "info" key and the progress attributes are
758 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.
759 --console-title --progress-template
760 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
761 --progress-delta SECONDS Time between progress output (default: 0)
762 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
763 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
764 to debug problems (very verbose)
765 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to files
766 in the current directory to debug problems
767 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
769 ## Workarounds:
770 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
771 --legacy-server-connect Explicitly allow HTTPS connection to servers
772 that do not support RFC 5746 secure
773 renegotiation
774 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
775 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
776 information about the video (Currently
777 supported only for YouTube)
778 --add-headers FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
779 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
780 option multiple times
781 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
782 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
783 or fribidi executable in PATH
784 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
785 during data extraction
786 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
787 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
788 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
789 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
790 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can only
791 be used along with --min-sleep-interval
792 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
793 subtitle download
795 ## Video Format Options:
796 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
797 for more details
798 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
799 "Sorting Formats" for more details
800 --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
801 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
802 Formats" for more details (Alias: --S-force)
803 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
804 specified sort order (default)
805 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
806 into a single file
807 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for each
808 output file (default)
809 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
810 into a single file
811 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for each
812 output file (default)
813 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
814 over non-free ones of same quality. Use with
815 "-S ext" to strictly prefer free containers
816 irrespective of quality
817 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
818 containers (default)
819 --check-formats Make sure formats are selected only from
820 those that are actually downloadable
821 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
822 actually downloadable
823 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
824 downloadable
825 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
826 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
827 --merge-output-format FORMAT Containers that may be used when merging
828 formats, separated by "/", e.g. "mp4/mkv".
829 Ignored if no merge is required. (currently
830 supported: avi, flv, mkv, mov, mp4, webm)
832 ## Subtitle Options:
833 --write-subs Write subtitle file
834 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
835 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
836 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
837 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
838 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
839 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
840 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
841 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format; accepts formats preference,
842 e.g. "srt" or "ass/srt/best"
843 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
844 be regex) or "all" separated by commas, e.g.
845 --sub-langs "en.*,ja". You can prefix the
846 language code with a "-" to exclude it from
847 the requested languages, e.g. --sub-langs
848 all,-live_chat. Use --list-subs for a list
849 of available language tags
851 ## Authentication Options:
852 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
853 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
854 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
855 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
856 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
857 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
858 either the path or its containing directory.
859 Defaults to ~/.netrc
860 --netrc-cmd NETRC_CMD Command to execute to get the credentials
861 for an extractor.
862 --video-password PASSWORD Video-specific password
863 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
864 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
865 a list of available MSOs
866 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
867 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
868 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
869 interactively
870 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system operators
871 --client-certificate CERTFILE Path to client certificate file in PEM
872 format. May include the private key
873 --client-certificate-key KEYFILE
874 Path to private key file for client
875 certificate
876 --client-certificate-password PASSWORD
877 Password for client certificate private key,
878 if encrypted. If not provided, and the key
879 is encrypted, yt-dlp will ask interactively
881 ## Post-Processing Options:
882 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
883 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
884 --audio-format FORMAT Format to convert the audio to when -x is
885 used. (currently supported: best (default),
886 aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis,
887 wav). You can specify multiple rules using
888 similar syntax as --remux-video
889 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality to use when
890 converting the audio with -x. Insert a value
891 between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for VBR or a
892 specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
893 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
894 necessary (currently supported: avi, flv,
895 gif, mkv, mov, mp4, webm, aac, aiff, alac,
896 flac, m4a, mka, mp3, ogg, opus, vorbis,
897 wav). If target container does not support
898 the video/audio codec, remuxing will fail.
899 You can specify multiple rules; e.g.
900 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to m4a,
901 mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv
902 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
903 necessary. The syntax and supported formats
904 are the same as --remux-video
905 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
906 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
907 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
908 to give the argument to the specified
909 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
910 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
911 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
912 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
913 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
914 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
915 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
916 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
917 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
918 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
919 specified executable only when being used by
920 the specified postprocessor. Additionally,
921 for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be
922 appended to the prefix optionally followed
923 by a number to pass the argument before the
924 specified input/output file, e.g. --ppa
925 "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
926 this option multiple times to give different
927 arguments to different postprocessors.
928 (Alias: --ppa)
929 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
930 after post-processing
931 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
932 post-processing (default)
933 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
934 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
935 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
936 webm and mkv videos)
937 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
938 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
939 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
940 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
941 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
942 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json are
943 used (Alias: --add-metadata)
944 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
945 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
946 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
947 (Alias: --add-chapters)
948 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default) (Alias:
949 --no-add-chapters)
950 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
951 mkv/mka video files
952 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
953 to the video file
954 --parse-metadata [WHEN:]FROM:TO
955 Parse additional metadata like title/artist
956 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
957 for details. Supported values of "WHEN" are
958 the same as that of --use-postprocessor
959 (default: pre_process)
960 --replace-in-metadata [WHEN:]FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
961 Replace text in a metadata field using the
962 given regex. This option can be used
963 multiple times. Supported values of "WHEN"
964 are the same as that of --use-postprocessor
965 (default: pre_process)
966 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
967 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
968 --concat-playlist POLICY Concatenate videos in a playlist. One of
969 "never", "always", or "multi_video"
970 (default; only when the videos form a single
971 show). All the video files must have same
972 codecs and number of streams to be
973 concatable. The "pl_video:" prefix can be
974 used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
975 the output filename for the concatenated
976 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
977 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
978 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
979 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
980 default; fix file if we can, warn
981 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
982 already exists)
983 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
984 path to the binary or its containing directory
985 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
986 when to execute it, separated by a ":".
987 Supported values of "WHEN" are the same as
988 that of --use-postprocessor (default:
989 after_move). Same syntax as the output
990 template can be used to pass any field as
991 arguments to the command. If no fields are
992 passed, %(filepath,_filename|)q is appended
993 to the end of the command. This option can
994 be used multiple times
995 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
996 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
997 (currently supported: ass, lrc, srt, vtt)
998 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
999 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
1000 (currently supported: jpg, png, webp). You
1001 can specify multiple rules using similar
1002 syntax as --remux-video
1003 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
1004 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix can
1005 be used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1006 the output filename for the split files. See
1007 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
1008 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters (default)
1009 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
1010 given regular expression. The syntax is the
1011 same as --download-sections. This option can
1012 be used multiple times
1013 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
1014 (default)
1015 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes at cuts when
1016 downloading/splitting/removing sections.
1017 This is slow due to needing a re-encode, but
1018 the resulting video may have fewer artifacts
1019 around the cuts
1020 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
1021 when cutting/splitting (default)
1022 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS]
1023 The (case sensitive) name of plugin
1024 postprocessors to be enabled, and
1025 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
1026 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
1027 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
1028 The "when" argument determines when the
1029 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
1030 "pre_process" (after video extraction),
1031 "after_filter" (after video passes filter),
1032 "video" (after --format; before
1033 --print/--output), "before_dl" (before each
1034 video download), "post_process" (after each
1035 video download; default), "after_move"
1036 (after moving video file to it's final
1037 locations), "after_video" (after downloading
1038 and processing all formats of a video), or
1039 "playlist" (at end of playlist). This option
1040 can be used multiple times to add different
1041 postprocessors
1043 ## SponsorBlock Options:
1044 Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
1045 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
1046 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
1048 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
1049 for, separated by commas. Available
1050 categories are sponsor, intro, outro,
1051 selfpromo, preview, filler, interaction,
1052 music_offtopic, poi_highlight, chapter, all
1053 and default (=all). You can prefix the
1054 category with a "-" to exclude it. See [1]
1055 for description of the categories. E.g.
1056 --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
1057 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
1058 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
1059 the video file, separated by commas. If a
1060 category is present in both mark and remove,
1061 remove takes precedence. The syntax and
1062 available categories are the same as for
1063 --sponsorblock-mark except that "default"
1064 refers to "all,-filler" and poi_highlight,
1065 chapter are not available
1066 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
1067 An output template for the title of the
1068 SponsorBlock chapters created by
1069 --sponsorblock-mark. The only available
1070 fields are start_time, end_time, category,
1071 categories, name, category_names. Defaults
1072 to "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
1073 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
1074 --sponsorblock-remove
1075 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
1076 https://sponsor.ajay.app
1078 ## Extractor Options:
1079 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor errors
1080 (default is 3), or "infinite"
1081 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
1082 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1083 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1084 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
1085 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1086 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1087 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1088 formats at discontinuities such as ad breaks
1089 (default)
1090 --extractor-args IE_KEY:ARGS Pass ARGS arguments to the IE_KEY extractor.
1091 See "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You
1092 can use this option multiple times to give
1093 arguments for different extractors
1095 # CONFIGURATION
1097 You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
1099 1. **Main Configuration**:
1100 * The file given to `--config-location`
1101 1. **Portable Configuration**: (Recommended for portable installations)
1102 * If using a binary, `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the binary
1103 * If running from source-code, `yt-dlp.conf` in the parent directory of `yt_dlp`
1104 1. **Home Configuration**:
1105 * `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given to `-P`
1106 * If `-P` is not given, the current directory is searched
1107 1. **User Configuration**:
1108 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp.conf`
1109 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1110 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1111 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp.conf`
1112 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1113 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1114 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1115 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
1116 * `~/.yt-dlp/config`
1117 * `~/.yt-dlp/config.txt`
1119 See also: [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
1120 1. **System Configuration**:
1121 * `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
1122 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config`
1123 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1125 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:
1126 ```
1127 # Lines starting with # are comments
1129 # Always extract audio
1130 -x
1132 # Do not copy the mtime
1133 --no-mtime
1135 # Use this proxy
1136 --proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1138 # Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1139 -o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
1140 ```
1142 **Note**: Options in configuration file are just the same options aka switches used in regular command line calls; thus there **must be no whitespace** after `-` or `--`, e.g. `-o` or `--proxy` but not `- o` or `-- proxy`. They must also be quoted when necessary as-if it were a UNIX shell.
1144 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.
1146 ### Configuration file encoding
1148 The configuration files are decoded according to the UTF BOM if present, and in the encoding from system locale otherwise.
1150 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.
1152 ### Authentication with netrc
1154 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:
1155 ```
1156 touch ${HOME}/.netrc
1157 chmod a-rwx,u+rw ${HOME}/.netrc
1158 ```
1159 After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1160 ```
1161 machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
1162 ```
1163 E.g.
1164 ```
1165 machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1166 machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1167 ```
1168 To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
1170 The default location of the .netrc file is `~` (see below).
1172 As an alternative to using the `.netrc` file, which has the disadvantage of keeping your passwords in a plain text file, you can configure a custom shell command to provide the credentials for an extractor. This is done by providing the `--netrc-cmd` parameter, it shall output the credentials in the netrc format and return `0` on success, other values will be treated as an error. `{}` in the command will be replaced by the name of the extractor to make it possible to select the credentials for the right extractor.
1174 E.g. To use an encrypted `.netrc` file stored as `.authinfo.gpg`
1175 ```
1176 yt-dlp --netrc-cmd 'gpg --decrypt ~/.authinfo.gpg' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc
1177 ```
1180 ### Notes about environment variables
1181 * Environment variables are normally specified as `${VARIABLE}`/`$VARIABLE` on UNIX and `%VARIABLE%` on Windows; but is always shown as `${VARIABLE}` in this documentation
1182 * yt-dlp also allow using UNIX-style variables on Windows for path-like options; e.g. `--output`, `--config-location`
1183 * If unset, `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}` defaults to `~/.config` and `${XDG_CACHE_HOME}` to `~/.cache`
1184 * On Windows, `~` points to `${HOME}` if present; or, `${USERPROFILE}` or `${HOMEDRIVE}${HOMEPATH}` otherwise
1185 * On Windows, `${USERPROFILE}` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>` and `${APPDATA}` to `${USERPROFILE}\AppData\Roaming`
1187 # OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1189 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.
1191 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1192 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
1193 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1195 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).
1197 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.
1199 The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
1201 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:-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
1203 1. **Arithmetic**: Simple arithmetic can be done on numeric fields using `+`, `-` and `*`. E.g. `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
1205 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`
1207 1. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. E.g. `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
1209 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`
1211 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`
1213 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)
1215 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
1217 To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1218 ```
1219 %(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
1220 ```
1222 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.
1224 <a id="outtmpl-postprocess-note"></a>
1226 **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.
1228 The available fields are:
1230 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1231 - `title` (string): Video title
1232 - `fulltitle` (string): Video title ignoring live timestamp and generic title
1233 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1234 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
1235 - `description` (string): The description of the video
1236 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1237 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1238 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1239 - `uploader_url` (string): URL to the video uploader's profile
1240 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1241 - `creators` (list): The creators of the video
1242 - `creator` (string): The creators of the video; comma-separated
1243 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
1244 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date in UTC (YYYYMMDD)
1245 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
1246 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released in UTC
1247 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the video or album was released
1248 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
1249 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified in UTC
1250 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1251 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
1252 - `channel_url` (string): URL of the channel
1253 - `channel_follower_count` (numeric): Number of followers of the channel
1254 - `channel_is_verified` (boolean): Whether the channel is verified on the platform
1255 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1256 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
1257 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
1258 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1259 - `concurrent_view_count` (numeric): How many users are currently watching the video on the platform.
1260 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1261 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1262 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1263 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
1264 - `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)
1265 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
1266 - `live_status` (string): One of "not_live", "is_live", "is_upcoming", "was_live", "post_live" (was live, but VOD is not yet processed)
1267 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
1268 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
1269 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
1270 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
1271 - `media_type` (string): The type of media as classified by the site, e.g. "episode", "clip", "trailer"
1272 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1273 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
1274 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1275 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
1276 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch of when the information extraction was completed
1277 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`, padded with leading zeros to 5 digits
1278 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
1279 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
1280 - `playlist_id` (string): Identifier of the playlist that contains the video
1281 - `playlist_title` (string): Name of the playlist that contains the video
1282 - `playlist` (string): `playlist_id` or `playlist_title`
1283 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
1284 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1285 - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
1286 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1287 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
1288 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
1289 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1290 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
1291 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
1292 - `categories` (list): List of categories the video belongs to
1293 - `tags` (list): List of tags assigned to the video
1294 - `cast` (list): List of cast members
1296 All the fields in [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats) can also be used
1298 Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1300 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1301 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1302 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1304 Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1306 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1307 - `series_id` (string): Id of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1308 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1309 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1310 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1311 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1312 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1313 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1315 Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1317 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1318 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1319 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1320 - `artists` (list): Artist(s) of the track
1321 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track; comma-separated
1322 - `genres` (list): Genre(s) of the track
1323 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track; comma-separated
1324 - `composers` (list): Composer(s) of the piece
1325 - `composer` (string): Composer(s) of the piece; comma-separated
1326 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1327 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1328 - `album_artists` (list): All artists appeared on the album
1329 - `album_artist` (string): All artists appeared on the album; comma-separated
1330 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1332 Available only when using `--download-sections` and for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
1334 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1335 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1336 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1337 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1339 Available only when used in `--print`:
1341 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1342 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the [actual filename may differ](#outtmpl-postprocess-note)
1343 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1344 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1345 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1346 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1348 Available only after the video is downloaded (`post_process`/`after_move`):
1350 - `filepath`: Actual path of downloaded video file
1352 Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1354 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1355 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1356 - `categories` (list): The [SponsorBlock categories](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Category) the chapter belongs to
1357 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1358 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1359 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
1360 - `type` (string): The [SponsorBlock action type](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Action_Type) of the chapter
1362 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.
1364 **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).
1366 **Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
1368 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`.
1370 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.
1372 To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1374 The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
1376 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.
1378 #### Output template examples
1380 ```bash
1381 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
1382 test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1384 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
1385 youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
1387 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
1388 youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
1390 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
1391 $ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
1393 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
1394 $ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
1396 # Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
1397 $ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist_index&{} - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
1399 # Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
1400 $ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
1402 # Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
1403 $ 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"
1405 # Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
1406 $ 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"
1408 # Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1409 # and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1410 $ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1412 # Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1413 $ 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
1415 # Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
1416 $ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
1417 ```
1419 # FORMAT SELECTION
1421 By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1422 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`.
1424 **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.
1426 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.
1428 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1429 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
1430 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1432 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.
1434 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.
1436 You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1438 You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1440 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1441 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1442 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio or both (ie; `vcodec!=none or acodec!=none`)
1443 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1444 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1445 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1446 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
1447 - `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))
1448 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
1449 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1450 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
1451 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
1452 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
1453 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
1455 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.
1457 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.
1459 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.
1461 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`.
1463 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.
1465 **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
1467 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`.
1469 ## Filtering Formats
1471 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`).
1473 The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1475 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1476 - `filesize_approx`: An estimate for the number of bytes
1477 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1478 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1479 - `aspect_ratio`: Aspect ratio of the video, if known
1480 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1481 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1482 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1483 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1484 - `fps`: Frame rate
1485 - `audio_channels`: The number of audio channels
1486 - `stretched_ratio`: `width:height` of the video's pixels, if not square
1488 Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains), `~=` (matches regex) and following string meta fields:
1490 - `url`: Video URL
1491 - `ext`: File extension
1492 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1493 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1494 - `container`: Name of the container format
1495 - `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`)
1496 - `language`: Language code
1497 - `dynamic_range`: The dynamic range of the video
1498 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
1499 - `format`: A human-readable description of the format
1500 - `format_note`: Additional info about the format
1501 - `resolution`: Textual description of width and height
1503 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 `._-`.
1505 **Note**: None of the aforementioned meta fields are guaranteed to be present since this solely depends on the metadata obtained by particular extractor, i.e. the metadata offered by the website. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
1507 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.
1509 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.
1511 ## Sorting Formats
1513 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...`.
1515 The available fields are:
1517 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that have a video stream
1518 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that have an audio stream
1519 - `ie_pref`: The format preference
1520 - `lang`: The language preference
1521 - `quality`: The quality of the format
1522 - `source`: The preference of the source
1523 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1524 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
1525 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `ac4` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
1526 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
1527 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `mov` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
1528 - `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`
1529 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
1530 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
1531 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize
1532 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
1533 - `height`: Height of video
1534 - `width`: Width of video
1535 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1536 - `fps`: Framerate of video
1537 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
1538 - `channels`: The number of audio channels
1539 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1540 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1541 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec")
1542 - `br`: Average bitrate in [kbps](## "1000 bits/sec"), `tbr`/`vbr`/`abr`
1543 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
1545 **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.
1547 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.
1549 The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--format-sort-force`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,hdr:12,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.
1551 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.
1553 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`.
1555 **Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1557 ## Format Selection examples
1559 ```bash
1560 # Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
1561 # or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
1562 $ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
1564 # Download best format that contains video,
1565 # and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
1566 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
1568 # Same as above
1569 $ yt-dlp
1571 # Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1572 # For this case, an output template should be used since
1573 # by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
1574 $ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
1576 # Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1577 # and all audio-only formats into one file
1578 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
1580 # Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1581 # and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
1582 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
1585 # The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
1586 # and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
1588 # Download the worst video available (old method)
1589 $ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
1591 # Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
1592 $ yt-dlp -S "+res"
1594 # Download the smallest video available
1595 $ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
1599 # Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
1600 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
1602 # Download the best video with the best extension
1603 # (For video, mp4 > mov > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
1604 $ yt-dlp -S "ext"
1608 # Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1609 # or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
1610 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
1612 # Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1613 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1614 $ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
1616 # Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1617 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1618 # Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1619 # So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
1620 $ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
1624 # Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1625 # or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1626 $ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
1628 # Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1629 # or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1630 $ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
1632 # Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
1633 $ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
1637 # Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1638 # or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
1639 $ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
1641 # Download best video available via the best protocol
1642 # (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
1643 $ yt-dlp -S "proto"
1647 # Download the best video with either h264 or h265 codec,
1648 # or the best video if there is no such video
1649 $ yt-dlp -f "(bv*[vcodec~='^((he|a)vc|h26[45])']+ba) / (bv*+ba/b)"
1651 # Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1652 # or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
1653 $ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
1655 # Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1656 # or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1657 $ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
1661 # More complex examples
1663 # Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1664 # or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1665 $ yt-dlp -f "((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)"
1667 # Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1668 # or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1669 # preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1670 $ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
1674 # Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1675 # or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1676 # preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1677 $ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
1678 ```
1680 # MODIFYING METADATA
1682 The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
1684 `--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.
1686 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.
1688 Note that these options preserve their relative order, allowing replacements to be made in parsed fields and viceversa. 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`.
1690 This option also has a few special uses:
1692 * 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
1694 * 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.
1696 **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.
1698 For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1700 Metadata fields | From
1701 :--------------------------|:------------------------------------------------
1702 `title` | `track` or `title`
1703 `date` | `upload_date`
1704 `description`, `synopsis` | `description`
1705 `purl`, `comment` | `webpage_url`
1706 `track` | `track_number`
1707 `artist` | `artist`, `artists`, `creator`, `creators`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1708 `composer` | `composer` or `composers`
1709 `genre` | `genre` or `genres`
1710 `album` | `album`
1711 `album_artist` | `album_artist` or `album_artists`
1712 `disc` | `disc_number`
1713 `show` | `series`
1714 `season_number` | `season_number`
1715 `episode_id` | `episode` or `episode_id`
1716 `episode_sort` | `episode_number`
1717 `language` of each stream | the format's `language`
1719 **Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1722 ## Modifying metadata examples
1724 ```bash
1725 # Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
1726 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
1728 # Regex example
1729 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
1731 # Set title as "Series name S01E05"
1732 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
1734 # Prioritize uploader as the "artist" field in video metadata
1735 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" --embed-metadata
1737 # Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url,
1738 # handling multiple lines correctly
1739 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --embed-metadata
1741 # Do not set any "synopsis" in the video metadata
1742 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<meta_synopsis>)"
1744 # Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
1745 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "video::(?P<formats>)" --write-info-json
1747 # Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
1748 $ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
1750 ```
1752 # EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1754 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=android_embedded,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
1756 Note: In CLI, `ARG` can use `-` instead of `_`; e.g. `youtube:player-client"` becomes `youtube:player_client"`
1758 The following extractors use this feature:
1760 #### youtube
1761 * `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
1762 * `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
1763 * `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android` and `ios` with variants `_music`, `_embedded`, `_embedscreen`, `_creator` (e.g. `web_embedded`); and `mweb`, `mweb_embedscreen` and `tv_embedded` (agegate bypass) with no variants. By default, `ios,android,web` is used, but `tv_embedded` and `creator` variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly, the music variants are added for `music.youtube.com` urls. You can use `all` to use all the clients, and `default` for the default clients.
1764 * `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
1765 * `player_params`: YouTube player parameters to use for player requests. Will overwrite any default ones set by yt-dlp.
1766 * `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
1767 * `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`
1768 * 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
1769 * `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)
1770 * `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
1771 * `innertube_key`: Innertube API key to use for all API requests
1772 * `raise_incomplete_data`: `Incomplete Data Received` raises an error instead of reporting a warning
1774 #### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1775 * `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)
1776 * `approximate_date`: Extract approximate `upload_date` and `timestamp` in flat-playlist. This may cause date-based filters to be slightly off
1778 #### generic
1779 * `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`. Does not apply to ffmpeg
1780 * `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`
1781 * `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
1782 * `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`
1784 #### funimation
1785 * `language`: Audio languages to extract, e.g. `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1786 * `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1788 #### crunchyrollbeta (Crunchyroll)
1789 * `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`
1791 #### vikichannel
1792 * `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
1794 #### niconico
1795 * `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.**
1797 #### youtubewebarchive
1798 * `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1800 #### gamejolt
1801 * `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1803 #### hotstar
1804 * `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1805 * `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1806 * `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1808 #### niconicochannelplus
1809 * `max_comments`: Maximum number of comments to extract - default is `120`
1811 #### tiktok
1812 * `api_hostname`: Hostname to use for mobile API calls, e.g. `api22-normal-c-alisg.tiktokv.com`
1813 * `app_name`: Default app name to use with mobile API calls, e.g. `trill`
1814 * `app_version`: Default app version to use with mobile API calls - should be set along with `manifest_app_version`, e.g. `34.1.2`
1815 * `manifest_app_version`: Default numeric app version to use with mobile API calls, e.g. `2023401020`
1816 * `aid`: Default app ID to use with API calls, e.g. `1180`
1817 * `app_info`: 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`
1819 #### rokfinchannel
1820 * `tab`: Which tab to download - one of `new`, `top`, `videos`, `podcasts`, `streams`, `stacks`
1822 #### twitter
1823 * `api`: Select one of `graphql` (default), `legacy` or `syndication` as the API for tweet extraction. Has no effect if logged in
1825 #### stacommu, wrestleuniverse
1826 * `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
1828 #### twitch
1829 * `client_id`: Client ID value to be sent with GraphQL requests, e.g. `twitch:client_id=kimne78kx3ncx6brgo4mv6wki5h1ko`
1831 #### nhkradirulive (NHK らじる★らじる LIVE)
1832 * `area`: Which regional variation to extract. Valid areas are: `sapporo`, `sendai`, `tokyo`, `nagoya`, `osaka`, `hiroshima`, `matsuyama`, `fukuoka`. Defaults to `tokyo`
1834 #### nflplusreplay
1835 * `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
1837 #### jiosaavn
1838 * `bitrate`: Audio bitrates to request. One or more of `16`, `32`, `64`, `128`, `320`. Default is `128,320`
1840 #### afreecatvlive
1841 * `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`
1843 **Note**: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
1845 <!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1848 # PLUGINS
1850 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!**
1852 Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`.
1853 - Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it.
1854 - Extractor plugins take priority over builtin extractors.
1855 - Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
1858 Plugins are loaded from the namespace packages `yt_dlp_plugins.extractor` and `yt_dlp_plugins.postprocessor`.
1860 In other words, the file structure on the disk looks something like:
1862 yt_dlp_plugins/
1863 extractor/
1864 myplugin.py
1865 postprocessor/
1866 myplugin.py
1868 yt-dlp looks for these `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folders in many locations (see below) and loads in plugins from **all** of them.
1870 See the [wiki for some known plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Plugins)
1872 ## Installing Plugins
1874 Plugins can be installed using various methods and locations.
1876 1. **Configuration directories**:
1877 Plugin packages (containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder) can be dropped into the following standard [configuration locations](#configuration):
1878 * **User Plugins**
1879 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1880 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1881 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Windows)
1882 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1883 * `~/.yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1884 * `~/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1885 * **System Plugins**
1886 * `/etc/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1887 * `/etc/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1888 2. **Executable location**: Plugin packages can similarly be installed in a `yt-dlp-plugins` directory under the executable location (recommended for portable installations):
1889 * Binary: where `<root-dir>/yt-dlp.exe`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1890 * Source: where `<root-dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1892 3. **pip and other locations in `PYTHONPATH`**
1893 * 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.
1894 * Note: plugin files between plugin packages installed with pip must have unique filenames.
1895 * Any path in `PYTHONPATH` is searched in for the `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder.
1896 * Note: This does not apply for Pyinstaller/py2exe builds.
1899 `.zip`, `.egg` and `.whl` archives containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder in their root are also supported as plugin packages.
1901 * e.g. `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/mypluginpkg.zip` where `mypluginpkg.zip` contains `yt_dlp_plugins/<type>/myplugin.py`
1903 Run yt-dlp with `--verbose` to check if the plugin has been loaded.
1905 ## Developing Plugins
1907 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.
1909 All public classes with a name ending in `IE`/`PP` are imported from each file for extractors and postprocessors repectively. 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`).
1911 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.
1913 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.
1915 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.
1917 # EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1919 yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1921 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.
1923 From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1925 ```python
1926 from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
1928 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1929 with YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1930 ydl.download(URLS)
1931 ```
1933 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.
1935 **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)
1937 ## Embedding examples
1939 #### Extracting information
1941 ```python
1942 import json
1943 import yt_dlp
1945 URL = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1947 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL) for a list of available options and public functions
1948 ydl_opts = {}
1949 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1950 info = ydl.extract_info(URL, download=False)
1952 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1953 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1954 ```
1955 #### Download using an info-json
1957 ```python
1958 import yt_dlp
1960 INFO_FILE = 'path/to/video.info.json'
1962 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1963 error_code = ydl.download_with_info_file(INFO_FILE)
1965 print('Some videos failed to download' if error_code
1966 else 'All videos successfully downloaded')
1967 ```
1969 #### Extract audio
1971 ```python
1972 import yt_dlp
1974 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1976 ydl_opts = {
1977 'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
1978 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor) for a list of available Postprocessors and their arguments
1979 'postprocessors': [{ # Extract audio using ffmpeg
1980 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
1981 'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
1982 }]
1983 }
1985 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1986 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
1987 ```
1989 #### Filter videos
1991 ```python
1992 import yt_dlp
1994 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1996 def longer_than_a_minute(info, *, incomplete):
1997 """Download only videos longer than a minute (or with unknown duration)"""
1998 duration = info.get('duration')
1999 if duration and duration < 60:
2000 return 'The video is too short'
2002 ydl_opts = {
2003 'match_filter': longer_than_a_minute,
2004 }
2006 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2007 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
2008 ```
2010 #### Adding logger and progress hook
2012 ```python
2013 import yt_dlp
2015 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2017 class MyLogger:
2018 def debug(self, msg):
2019 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
2020 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
2021 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
2022 pass
2023 else:
2024 self.info(msg)
2026 def info(self, msg):
2027 pass
2029 def warning(self, msg):
2030 pass
2032 def error(self, msg):
2033 print(msg)
2036 # ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)
2037 def my_hook(d):
2038 if d['status'] == 'finished':
2039 print('Done downloading, now post-processing ...')
2042 ydl_opts = {
2043 'logger': MyLogger(),
2044 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
2045 }
2047 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2048 ydl.download(URLS)
2049 ```
2051 #### Add a custom PostProcessor
2053 ```python
2054 import yt_dlp
2056 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2058 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor)
2059 class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
2060 def run(self, info):
2061 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
2062 return [], info
2065 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
2066 # ℹ️ "when" can take any value in yt_dlp.utils.POSTPROCESS_WHEN
2067 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP(), when='pre_process')
2068 ydl.download(URLS)
2069 ```
2072 #### Use a custom format selector
2074 ```python
2075 import yt_dlp
2077 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2079 def format_selector(ctx):
2080 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
2081 NOTE: This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
2083 # formats are already sorted worst to best
2084 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
2086 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
2087 best_video = next(f for f in formats
2088 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
2090 # find compatible audio extension
2091 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
2092 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
2093 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
2094 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
2096 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
2097 yield {
2098 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
2099 'ext': best_video['ext'],
2100 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
2101 # Must be + separated list of protocols
2102 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
2103 }
2106 ydl_opts = {
2107 'format': format_selector,
2108 }
2110 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2111 ydl.download(URLS)
2112 ```
2115 # CHANGES FROM YOUTUBE-DL
2117 ### New features
2119 * Forked from [**yt-dlc@f9401f2**](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee) and merged with [**youtube-dl@be008e6**](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/be008e657d79832642e2158557c899249c9e31cd) ([exceptions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/21))
2121 * **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in YouTube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
2123 * **[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))
2125 * **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.
2127 * **YouTube improvements**:
2128 * 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`)
2129 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326) **\***
2130 * Supports some (but not all) age-gated content without cookies
2131 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start` (*experimental*)
2132 * Channel URLs download all uploads of the channel, including shorts and live
2134 * **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]`
2136 * **Download time range**: Videos can be downloaded partially based on either timestamps or chapters using `--download-sections`
2138 * **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
2140 * **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
2142 * **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
2144 * **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)
2146 * **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN etc.
2148 * **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
2150 * **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`)
2152 * **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for details
2154 * **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`
2156 * **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-filter` etc
2158 * **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--format`/`--match-filter`, 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
2160 * **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
2162 * **Self updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`, and downgraded using `--update-to` if required
2164 * **Automated builds**: [Nightly/master builds](#update-channels) can be used with `--update-to nightly` and `--update-to master`
2166 See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
2168 Features marked with a **\*** have been back-ported to youtube-dl
2170 ### Differences in default behavior
2172 Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
2174 * yt-dlp supports only [Python 3.8+](## "Windows 7"), and *may* 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)
2175 * The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
2176 * `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
2177 * yt-dlp stores config files in slightly different locations to youtube-dl. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for a list of correct locations
2178 * 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`
2179 * 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
2180 * 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
2181 * 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
2182 * `--no-abort-on-error` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
2183 * 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
2184 * `--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
2185 * 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
2186 * `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
2187 * The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
2188 * 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
2189 * 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
2190 * Unavailable videos are also listed for YouTube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
2191 * 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.
2192 * 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
2193 * Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
2194 * 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
2195 * 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
2196 * `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`
2197 * 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
2198 * ~~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~~
2199 * yt-dlp versions between 2021.09.01 and 2023.01.02 applies `--match-filter` 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
2200 * 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
2201 * 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.
2202 * The sub-modules `swfinterp`, `casefold` are removed.
2204 For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
2206 * `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options (Do NOT use)
2207 * `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams,-playlist-match-filter,-manifest-filesize-approx`
2208 * `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect,-playlist-match-filter,-manifest-filesize-approx`
2209 * `--compat-options 2021`: Same as `--compat-options 2022,no-certifi,filename-sanitization,no-youtube-prefer-utc-upload-date`
2210 * `--compat-options 2022`: Same as `--compat-options 2023,playlist-match-filter,no-external-downloader-progress,prefer-legacy-http-handler,manifest-filesize-approx`
2211 * `--compat-options 2023`: Currently does nothing. Use this to enable all future compat options
2213 ### Deprecated options
2215 These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
2217 #### Almost redundant options
2218 While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
2220 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
2221 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
2222 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table --print playlist:thumbnails_table
2223 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
2225 #### Redundant options
2226 While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
2228 --get-description --print description
2229 --get-duration --print duration_string
2230 --get-filename --print filename
2231 --get-format --print format
2232 --get-id --print id
2233 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
2234 -e, --get-title --print title
2235 -g, --get-url --print urls
2236 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
2237 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
2238 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
2239 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
2240 --break-on-reject Use --break-match-filter
2241 --user-agent UA --add-header "User-Agent:UA"
2242 --referer URL --add-header "Referer:URL"
2243 --playlist-start NUMBER -I NUMBER:
2244 --playlist-end NUMBER -I :NUMBER
2245 --playlist-reverse -I ::-1
2246 --no-playlist-reverse Default
2247 --no-colors --color no_color
2249 #### Not recommended
2250 While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
2252 --force-generic-extractor --ies generic,default
2253 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
2254 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
2255 --all-formats -f all
2256 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
2257 --print-json -j --no-simulate
2258 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting, e.g. %(autonumber)03d
2259 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
2260 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2261 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
2262 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
2263 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
2264 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
2265 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
2266 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
2267 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
2268 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
2269 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
2270 --geo-bypass --xff "default"
2271 --no-geo-bypass --xff "never"
2272 --geo-bypass-country CODE --xff CODE
2273 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK --xff IP_BLOCK
2275 #### Developer options
2276 These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
2278 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
2279 --load-pages Load pages dumped by --write-pages
2280 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
2281 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
2282 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
2284 #### Old aliases
2285 These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
2287 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
2288 --clean-infojson --clean-info-json
2289 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
2290 --dump-headers --print-traffic
2291 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
2292 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
2293 --load-info --load-info-json
2294 --no-clean-infojson --no-clean-info-json
2295 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
2296 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
2297 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
2298 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
2299 --split-tracks --split-chapters
2300 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
2301 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
2302 --write-srt --write-subs
2303 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
2305 #### Sponskrub Options
2306 Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
2308 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
2309 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
2310 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
2311 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
2312 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
2313 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
2314 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
2315 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
2317 #### No longer supported
2318 These options may no longer work as intended
2320 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
2321 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
2322 -C, --call-home Not implemented
2323 --no-call-home Default
2324 --include-ads No longer supported
2325 --no-include-ads Default
2326 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
2327 --no-write-annotations Default
2328 --compat-options seperate-video-versions No longer needed
2330 #### Removed
2331 These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
2333 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2334 -t, -l, --title, --literal -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2337 # CONTRIBUTING
2338 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)
2340 # WIKI
2341 See the [Wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki) for more information