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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 [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
22 <!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "USAGE AND OPTIONS" SECTION HERE -->
24 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
25 * [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
26 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
27 * [INSTALLATION](#installation)
28 * [Detailed instructions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Installation)
29 * [Update](#update)
30 * [Release Files](#release-files)
31 * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
32 * [Compile](#compile)
33 * [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
34 * [General Options](#general-options)
35 * [Network Options](#network-options)
36 * [Geo-restriction](#geo-restriction)
37 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
38 * [Download Options](#download-options)
39 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
40 * [Thumbnail Options](#thumbnail-options)
41 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
42 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
43 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
44 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
45 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
46 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
47 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
48 * [SponsorBlock Options](#sponsorblock-options)
49 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
50 * [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
51 * [Configuration file encoding](#configuration-file-encoding)
52 * [Authentication with netrc](#authentication-with-netrc)
53 * [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
54 * [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
55 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
56 * [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
57 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
58 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
59 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
60 * [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
61 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
62 * [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
63 * [PLUGINS](#plugins)
64 * [Installing Plugins](#installing-plugins)
65 * [Developing Plugins](#developing-plugins)
66 * [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
67 * [Embedding examples](#embedding-examples)
68 * [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
69 * [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
70 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
71 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
72 * [WIKI](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki)
73 * [FAQ](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ)
74 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
77 # NEW FEATURES
79 * Forked from [**yt-dlc@f9401f2**](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee) and merged with [**youtube-dl@66ab08**](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/66ab0814c4baa2dc79c2dd5287bc0ad61a37c5b9) ([exceptions](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/21))
81 * **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in YouTube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
83 * **[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))
85 * **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.
87 * **YouTube improvements**:
88 * 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`)
89 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326) **\***
90 * Supports some (but not all) age-gated content without cookies
91 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start` (*experimental*)
92 * Channel URLs download all uploads of the channel, including shorts and live
94 * **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]`
96 * **Download time range**: Videos can be downloaded partially based on either timestamps or chapters using `--download-sections`
98 * **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
100 * **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
102 * **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
104 * **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)
106 * **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN etc.
108 * **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
110 * **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`)
112 * **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for details
114 * **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`
116 * **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
118 * **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
120 * **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
122 * **Self updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`, and downgraded using `--update-to` if required
124 * **Nightly builds**: [Automated nightly builds](#update-channels) can be used with `--update-to nightly`
126 See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
128 Features marked with a **\*** have been back-ported to youtube-dl
130 ### Differences in default behavior
132 Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
134 * yt-dlp supports only [Python 3.7+](## "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)
135 * The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
136 * `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
137 * yt-dlp stores config files in slightly different locations to youtube-dl. See [CONFIGURATION](#configuration) for a list of correct locations
138 * 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`
139 * 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
140 * 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
141 * 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
142 * `--no-abort-on-error` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
143 * 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
144 * `--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
145 * 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
146 * `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
147 * The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
148 * 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
149 * 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
150 * Unavailable videos are also listed for YouTube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
151 * 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.
152 * 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
153 * Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
154 * 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
155 * 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
156 * `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`
157 * 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
158 * 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
159 * 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
160 * 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
161 * 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.
163 For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
165 * `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options (Do NOT use)
166 * `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams,-playlist-match-filter`
167 * `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect,-playlist-match-filter`
168 * `--compat-options 2021`: Same as `--compat-options 2022,no-certifi,filename-sanitization,no-youtube-prefer-utc-upload-date`
169 * `--compat-options 2022`: Same as `--compat-options playlist-match-filter,no-external-downloader-progress,prefer-legacy-http-handler`. Use this to enable all future compat options
172 # INSTALLATION
174 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
175 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)
176 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)
177 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)
178 [](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
179 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
180 [](#release-files)
181 [](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases)
182 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
184 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
187 ## UPDATE
188 You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the [release binaries](#release-files)
190 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
192 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
194 <a id="update-channels"/>
196 There are currently two release channels for binaries, `stable` and `nightly`.
197 `stable` is the default channel, and many of its changes have been tested by users of the nightly channel.
198 The `nightly` channel has releases built after each push to the master branch, and will have the most recent fixes and additions, but also have more risk of regressions. They are available in [their own repo](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases).
200 When using `--update`/`-U`, a release binary will only update to its current channel.
201 `--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.
203 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.
205 Example usage:
206 * `yt-dlp --update-to nightly` change to `nightly` channel and update to its latest release
207 * `yt-dlp --update-to stable@2023.02.17` upgrade/downgrade to release to `stable` channel tag `2023.02.17`
208 * `yt-dlp --update-to 2023.01.06` upgrade/downgrade to tag `2023.01.06` if it exists on the current channel
209 * `yt-dlp --update-to example/yt-dlp@2023.03.01` upgrade/downgrade to the release from the `example/yt-dlp` repository, tag `2023.03.01`
211 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
212 ## RELEASE FILES
214 #### Recommended
216 File|Description
217 :---|:---
218 [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**)
219 [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**)
220 [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**)
222 #### Alternatives
224 File|Description
225 :---|:---
226 [yt-dlp_x86.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_x86.exe)|Windows (Vista SP2+) standalone x86 (32-bit) binary
227 [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))
228 [yt-dlp_linux](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux)|Linux standalone x64 binary
229 [yt-dlp_linux.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux.zip)|Unpackaged Linux executable (no auto-update)
230 [yt-dlp_linux_armv7l](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_armv7l)|Linux standalone armv7l (32-bit) binary
231 [yt-dlp_linux_aarch64](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_linux_aarch64)|Linux standalone aarch64 (64-bit) binary
232 [yt-dlp_win.zip](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_win.zip)|Unpackaged Windows executable (no auto-update)
233 [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)
234 [yt-dlp_macos_legacy](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos_legacy)|MacOS (10.9+) standalone x64 executable
236 #### Misc
238 File|Description
239 :---|:---
240 [yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball
241 [SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
242 [SHA2-512SUMS.sig](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS.sig)|GPG signature file for SHA512 sums
243 [SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
244 [SHA2-256SUMS.sig](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS.sig)|GPG signature file for SHA256 sums
246 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)
247 Example usage:
248 ```
249 curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/raw/master/public.key | gpg --import
250 gpg --verify SHA2-256SUMS.sig SHA2-256SUMS
251 gpg --verify SHA2-512SUMS.sig SHA2-512SUMS
252 ```
253 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
255 **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)
257 ## DEPENDENCIES
258 Python versions 3.7+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
260 <!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
261 <!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
262 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.
263 -->
265 While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
267 ### Strongly recommended
269 * [**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)
271 There are bugs in ffmpeg that causes 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
273 **Important**: What you need is ffmpeg *binary*, **NOT** [the python package of the same name](https://pypi.org/project/ffmpeg)
275 ### Networking
276 * [**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)
277 * [**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>
278 * [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets)\* - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
279 * [**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)
281 ### Metadata
283 * [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen)\* - For `--embed-thumbnail` in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
284 * [**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)
285 * [**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
287 ### Misc
289 * [**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)
290 * [**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)
291 * [**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)
292 * Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
294 ### Deprecated
296 * [**avconv** and **avprobe**](https://www.libav.org) - Now **deprecated** alternative to ffmpeg. License [depends on the build](https://libav.org/legal)
297 * [**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)
298 * [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg can be used instead with `--downloader ffmpeg`. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
299 * [**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)
301 To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
303 The standalone release binaries are built with the Python interpreter and the packages marked with **\*** included.
305 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
308 ## COMPILE
310 ### Standalone PyInstaller Builds
311 To build the standalone executable, you must have Python and `pyinstaller` (plus any of yt-dlp's [optional dependencies](#dependencies) if needed). Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, simply run `pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (x86/ARM, 32/64 bit) as the Python used.
313 python3 -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
314 python3 devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
315 python3 pyinst.py
317 On some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`.
319 `pyinst.py` 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).
321 **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.
323 **Important**: Running `pyinstaller` directly **without** using `pyinst.py` is **not** officially supported. This may or may not work correctly.
325 ### Platform-independent Binary (UNIX)
326 You will need the build tools `python` (3.7+), `zip`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`\* and `pytest`\*.
328 After installing these, simply run `make`.
330 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)
332 ### Standalone Py2Exe Builds (Windows)
334 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.
336 If you wish to build it anyway, install Python and py2exe, and then simply run `setup.py py2exe`
338 py -m pip install -U py2exe -r requirements.txt
339 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
340 py setup.py py2exe
342 ### Related scripts
344 * **`devscripts/update-version.py`** - Update the version number based on current date.
345 * **`devscripts/set-variant.py`** - Set the build variant of the executable.
346 * **`devscripts/make_changelog.py`** - Create a markdown changelog using short commit messages and update `CONTRIBUTORS` file.
347 * **`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.
349 Note: See their `--help` for more info.
351 ### Forking the project
352 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.
354 # USAGE AND OPTIONS
356 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
357 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
359 `Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
360 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
362 <!-- Auto generated -->
363 ## General Options:
364 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
365 --version Print program version and exit
366 -U, --update Update this program to the latest version
367 --no-update Do not check for updates (default)
368 --update-to [CHANNEL]@[TAG] Upgrade/downgrade to a specific version.
369 CHANNEL can be a repository as well. CHANNEL
370 and TAG default to "stable" and "latest"
371 respectively if omitted; See "UPDATE" for
372 details. Supported channels: stable, nightly
373 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
374 The download will be considered successful
375 even if the postprocessing fails
376 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download errors;
377 e.g. to skip unavailable videos in a
378 playlist (default)
379 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
380 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
381 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
382 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
383 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
384 extractors and exit
385 --use-extractors NAMES Extractor names to use separated by commas.
386 You can also use regexes, "all", "default"
387 and "end" (end URL matching); e.g. --ies
388 "holodex.*,end,youtube". Prefix the name
389 with a "-" to exclude it, e.g. --ies
390 default,-generic. Use --list-extractors for
391 a list of extractor names. (Alias: --ies)
392 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. E.g.
393 "gvsearch2:python" downloads two videos from
394 google videos for the search term "python".
395 Use the value "auto" to let yt-dlp guess
396 ("auto_warning" to emit a warning when
397 guessing). "error" just throws an error. The
398 default value "fixup_error" repairs broken
399 URLs, but emits an error if this is not
400 possible instead of searching
401 --ignore-config Don't load any more configuration files
402 except those given by --config-locations.
403 For backward compatibility, if this option
404 is found inside the system configuration
405 file, the user configuration is not loaded.
406 (Alias: --no-config)
407 --no-config-locations Do not load any custom configuration files
408 (default). When given inside a configuration
409 file, ignore all previous --config-locations
410 defined in the current file
411 --config-locations PATH Location of the main configuration file;
412 either the path to the config or its
413 containing directory ("-" for stdin). Can be
414 used multiple times and inside other
415 configuration files
416 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
417 only list them
418 --no-flat-playlist Fully extract the videos of a playlist
419 (default)
420 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
421 Currently only supported for YouTube
422 (Experimental)
423 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
424 (default)
425 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
426 available. Pass the minimum number of
427 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
428 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
429 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate)
430 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
431 --color [STREAM:]POLICY Whether to emit color codes in output,
432 optionally prefixed by the STREAM (stdout or
433 stderr) to apply the setting to. Can be one
434 of "always", "auto" (default), "never", or
435 "no_color" (use non color terminal
436 sequences). Can be used multiple times
437 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
438 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
439 configurations by reverting some of the
440 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
441 default behavior" for details
442 --alias ALIASES OPTIONS Create aliases for an option string. Unless
443 an alias starts with a dash "-", it is
444 prefixed with "--". Arguments are parsed
445 according to the Python string formatting
446 mini-language. E.g. --alias get-audio,-X
447 "-S=aext:{0},abr -x --audio-format {0}"
448 creates options "--get-audio" and "-X" that
449 takes an argument (ARG0) and expands to
450 "-S=aext:ARG0,abr -x --audio-format ARG0".
451 All defined aliases are listed in the --help
452 output. Alias options can trigger more
453 aliases; so be careful to avoid defining
454 recursive options. As a safety measure, each
455 alias may be triggered a maximum of 100
456 times. This option can be used multiple times
458 ## Network Options:
459 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy. To
460 enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper scheme,
461 e.g. socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/.
462 Pass in an empty string (--proxy "") for
463 direct connection
464 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
465 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
466 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
467 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
468 --enable-file-urls Enable file:// URLs. This is disabled by
469 default for security reasons.
471 ## Geo-restriction:
472 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
473 some geo-restricted sites. The default proxy
474 specified by --proxy (or none, if the option
475 is not present) is used for the actual
476 downloading
477 --xff VALUE How to fake X-Forwarded-For HTTP header to
478 try bypassing geographic restriction. One of
479 "default" (only when known to be useful),
480 "never", an IP block in CIDR notation, or a
481 two-letter ISO 3166-2 country code
483 ## Video Selection:
484 -I, --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Comma separated playlist_index of the items
485 to download. You can specify a range using
486 "[START]:[STOP][:STEP]". For backward
487 compatibility, START-STOP is also supported.
488 Use negative indices to count from the right
489 and negative STEP to download in reverse
490 order. E.g. "-I 1:3,7,-5::2" used on a
491 playlist of size 15 will download the items
492 at index 1,2,3,7,11,13,15
493 --min-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is smaller than
494 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
495 --max-filesize SIZE Abort download if filesize is larger than
496 SIZE, e.g. 50k or 44.6M
497 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
498 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
499 [now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]].
500 E.g. "--date today-2weeks" downloads only
501 videos uploaded on the same day two weeks ago
502 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
503 this date. The date formats accepted is the
504 same as --date
505 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
506 this date. The date formats accepted is the
507 same as --date
508 --match-filters FILTER Generic video filter. Any "OUTPUT TEMPLATE"
509 field can be compared with a number or a
510 string using the operators defined in
511 "Filtering Formats". You can also simply
512 specify a field to match if the field is
513 present, use "!field" to check if the field
514 is not present, and "&" to check multiple
515 conditions. Use a "\" to escape "&" or
516 quotes if needed. If used multiple times,
517 the filter matches if atleast one of the
518 conditions are met. E.g. --match-filter
519 !is_live --match-filter "like_count>?100 &
520 description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'" matches
521 only videos that are not live OR those that
522 have a like count more than 100 (or the like
523 field is not available) and also has a
524 description that contains the phrase "cats &
525 dogs" (caseless). Use "--match-filter -" to
526 interactively ask whether to download each
527 video
528 --no-match-filters Do not use any --match-filter (default)
529 --break-match-filters FILTER Same as "--match-filters" but stops the
530 download process when a video is rejected
531 --no-break-match-filters Do not use any --break-match-filters (default)
532 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
533 to a video and a playlist
534 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
535 a video and a playlist
536 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
537 age
538 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
539 archive file. Record the IDs of all
540 downloaded videos in it
541 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
542 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
543 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
544 a file that is in the archive
545 --break-per-input Alters --max-downloads, --break-on-existing,
546 --break-match-filter, and autonumber to
547 reset per input URL
548 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and similar options
549 terminates the entire download queue
550 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest of
551 the playlist is skipped
553 ## Download Options:
554 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
555 video that should be downloaded concurrently
556 (default is 1)
557 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second,
558 e.g. 50K or 4.2M
559 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
560 below which throttling is assumed and the
561 video data is re-extracted, e.g. 100K
562 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
563 "infinite"
564 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
565 error (default is 3), or "infinite"
566 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default is
567 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and ISM)
568 --retry-sleep [TYPE:]EXPR Time to sleep between retries in seconds
569 (optionally) prefixed by the type of retry
570 (http (default), fragment, file_access,
571 extractor) to apply the sleep to. EXPR can
572 be a number, linear=START[:END[:STEP=1]] or
573 exp=START[:END[:BASE=2]]. This option can be
574 used multiple times to set the sleep for the
575 different retry types, e.g. --retry-sleep
576 linear=1::2 --retry-sleep fragment:exp=1:20
577 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
578 hlsnative and ISM downloads (default)
579 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragments)
580 --abort-on-unavailable-fragments
581 Abort download if a fragment is unavailable
582 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
583 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
584 downloading is finished
585 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
586 downloading is finished (default)
587 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer, e.g. 1024 or 16K
588 (default is 1024)
589 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
590 from an initial value of --buffer-size
591 (default)
592 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
593 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
594 downloading, e.g. 10485760 or 10M (default
595 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
596 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
597 (experimental)
598 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
599 --lazy-playlist Process entries in the playlist as they are
600 received. This disables n_entries,
601 --playlist-random and --playlist-reverse
602 --no-lazy-playlist Process videos in the playlist only after
603 the entire playlist is parsed (default)
604 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
605 expected file size
606 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
607 allowing some players to play the video
608 while downloading, and reducing the chance
609 of file corruption if download is
610 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
611 live streams
612 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
613 videos. This is default when not downloading
614 live streams
615 --download-sections REGEX Download only chapters that match the
616 regular expression. A "*" prefix denotes
617 time-range instead of chapter. Negative
618 timestamps are calculated from the end.
619 "*from-url" can be used to download between
620 the "start_time" and "end_time" extracted
621 from the URL. Needs ffmpeg. This option can
622 be used multiple times to download multiple
623 sections, e.g. --download-sections
624 "*10:15-inf" --download-sections "intro"
625 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
626 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
627 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
628 use it for. Currently supports native,
629 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
630 wget. You can use this option multiple times
631 to set different downloaders for different
632 protocols. E.g. --downloader aria2c
633 --downloader "dash,m3u8:native" will use
634 aria2c for http/ftp downloads, and the
635 native downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
636 (Alias: --external-downloader)
637 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
638 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
639 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
640 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to different
641 positions using the same syntax as
642 --postprocessor-args. You can use this
643 option multiple times to give different
644 arguments to different downloaders (Alias:
645 --external-downloader-args)
647 ## Filesystem Options:
648 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
649 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
650 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
651 comments and ignored
652 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
653 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
654 downloaded. Specify the type of file and the
655 path separated by a colon ":". All the same
656 TYPES as --output are supported.
657 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
658 (default) and "temp" paths. All intermediary
659 files are first downloaded to the temp path
660 and then the final files are moved over to
661 the home path after download is finished.
662 This option is ignored if --output is an
663 absolute path
664 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
665 TEMPLATE" for details
666 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder for unavailable fields in
667 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" (default: "NA")
668 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters,
669 and avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
670 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
671 filenames (default)
672 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
673 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
674 using Windows (default)
675 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
676 extension) to the specified number of
677 characters
678 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
679 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files. This
680 option includes --no-continue
681 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
682 related files (default)
683 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
684 (default)
685 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
686 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
687 restart download of the entire file
688 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
689 into output file (default)
690 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly into
691 output file
692 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the file
693 modification time (default)
694 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
695 the file modification time
696 --write-description Write video description to a .description file
697 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
698 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
699 (this may contain personal information)
700 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
701 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
702 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
703 --write-description etc. (default)
704 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
705 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
706 --clean-info-json Remove some internal metadata such as
707 filenames from the infojson (default)
708 --no-clean-info-json Write all fields to the infojson
709 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
710 infojson. The comments are fetched even
711 without this option if the extraction is
712 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
713 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
714 extraction is known to be quick (Alias:
715 --no-get-comments)
716 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
717 (created with the "--write-info-json" option)
718 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies from
719 and dump cookie jar in
720 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
721 (default)
722 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE][::CONTAINER]
723 The name of the browser to load cookies
724 from. Currently supported browsers are:
725 brave, chrome, chromium, edge, firefox,
726 opera, safari, vivaldi. Optionally, the
727 KEYRING used for decrypting Chromium cookies
728 on Linux, the name/path of the PROFILE to
729 load cookies from, and the CONTAINER name
730 (if Firefox) ("none" for no container) can
731 be given with their respective seperators.
732 By default, all containers of the most
733 recently accessed profile are used.
734 Currently supported keyrings are: basictext,
735 gnomekeyring, kwallet, kwallet5, kwallet6
736 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
737 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where yt-dlp can
738 store some downloaded information (such as
739 client ids and signatures) permanently. By
740 default ${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/yt-dlp
741 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
742 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
744 ## Thumbnail Options:
745 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
746 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk (default)
747 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
748 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
749 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
751 ## Internet Shortcut Options:
752 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
753 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
754 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
755 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
756 OS caches the URL based on the file path
757 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
758 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
760 ## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
761 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with --verbose,
762 print the log to stderr
763 --no-quiet Deactivate quiet mode. (Default)
764 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
765 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
766 anything to disk
767 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
768 options are used
769 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
770 extracting metadata even if the videos are
771 not actually available for download
772 (experimental)
773 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
774 formats are found (default)
775 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
776 related files (Alias: --no-download)
777 -O, --print [WHEN:]TEMPLATE Field name or output template to print to
778 screen, optionally prefixed with when to
779 print it, separated by a ":". Supported
780 values of "WHEN" are the same as that of
781 --use-postprocessor (default: video).
782 Implies --quiet. Implies --simulate unless
783 --no-simulate or later stages of WHEN are
784 used. This option can be used multiple times
785 --print-to-file [WHEN:]TEMPLATE FILE
786 Append given template to the file. The
787 values of WHEN and TEMPLATE are same as that
788 of --print. FILE uses the same syntax as the
789 output template. This option can be used
790 multiple times
791 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
792 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
793 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
794 description of available keys
795 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
796 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
797 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
798 a playlist, the whole playlist information
799 is dumped in a single line
800 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
801 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
802 another simulation option is used (Alias:
803 --force-download-archive)
804 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
805 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
806 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
807 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
808 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
809 Template for progress outputs, optionally
810 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
811 "download-title:" (the console title),
812 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
813 The video's fields are accessible under the
814 "info" key and the progress attributes are
815 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.
816 --console-title --progress-template
817 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
818 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
819 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
820 to debug problems (very verbose)
821 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to files
822 in the current directory to debug problems
823 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
825 ## Workarounds:
826 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
827 --legacy-server-connect Explicitly allow HTTPS connection to servers
828 that do not support RFC 5746 secure
829 renegotiation
830 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
831 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
832 information about the video (Currently
833 supported only for YouTube)
834 --add-headers FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
835 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
836 option multiple times
837 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
838 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
839 or fribidi executable in PATH
840 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
841 during data extraction
842 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
843 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
844 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
845 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
846 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can only
847 be used along with --min-sleep-interval
848 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
849 subtitle download
851 ## Video Format Options:
852 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
853 for more details
854 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
855 "Sorting Formats" for more details
856 --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
857 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
858 Formats" for more details (Alias: --S-force)
859 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
860 specified sort order (default)
861 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
862 into a single file
863 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for each
864 output file (default)
865 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
866 into a single file
867 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for each
868 output file (default)
869 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
870 over non-free ones of same quality. Use with
871 "-S ext" to strictly prefer free containers
872 irrespective of quality
873 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
874 containers (default)
875 --check-formats Make sure formats are selected only from
876 those that are actually downloadable
877 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
878 actually downloadable
879 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
880 downloadable
881 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
882 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
883 --merge-output-format FORMAT Containers that may be used when merging
884 formats, separated by "/", e.g. "mp4/mkv".
885 Ignored if no merge is required. (currently
886 supported: avi, flv, mkv, mov, mp4, webm)
888 ## Subtitle Options:
889 --write-subs Write subtitle file
890 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
891 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
892 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
893 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
894 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
895 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
896 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
897 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format; accepts formats preference,
898 e.g. "srt" or "ass/srt/best"
899 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
900 be regex) or "all" separated by commas, e.g.
901 --sub-langs "en.*,ja". You can prefix the
902 language code with a "-" to exclude it from
903 the requested languages, e.g. --sub-langs
904 all,-live_chat. Use --list-subs for a list
905 of available language tags
907 ## Authentication Options:
908 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
909 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
910 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
911 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
912 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
913 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
914 either the path or its containing directory.
915 Defaults to ~/.netrc
916 --netrc-cmd NETRC_CMD Command to execute to get the credentials
917 for an extractor.
918 --video-password PASSWORD Video-specific password
919 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
920 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
921 a list of available MSOs
922 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
923 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
924 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
925 interactively
926 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system operators
927 --client-certificate CERTFILE Path to client certificate file in PEM
928 format. May include the private key
929 --client-certificate-key KEYFILE
930 Path to private key file for client
931 certificate
932 --client-certificate-password PASSWORD
933 Password for client certificate private key,
934 if encrypted. If not provided, and the key
935 is encrypted, yt-dlp will ask interactively
937 ## Post-Processing Options:
938 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
939 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
940 --audio-format FORMAT Format to convert the audio to when -x is
941 used. (currently supported: best (default),
942 aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis,
943 wav). You can specify multiple rules using
944 similar syntax as --remux-video
945 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality to use when
946 converting the audio with -x. Insert a value
947 between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for VBR or a
948 specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
949 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
950 necessary (currently supported: avi, flv,
951 gif, mkv, mov, mp4, webm, aac, aiff, alac,
952 flac, m4a, mka, mp3, ogg, opus, vorbis,
953 wav). If target container does not support
954 the video/audio codec, remuxing will fail.
955 You can specify multiple rules; e.g.
956 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to m4a,
957 mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv
958 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
959 necessary. The syntax and supported formats
960 are the same as --remux-video
961 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
962 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
963 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
964 to give the argument to the specified
965 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
966 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
967 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
968 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
969 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
970 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
971 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
972 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
973 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
974 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
975 specified executable only when being used by
976 the specified postprocessor. Additionally,
977 for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o" can be
978 appended to the prefix optionally followed
979 by a number to pass the argument before the
980 specified input/output file, e.g. --ppa
981 "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can use
982 this option multiple times to give different
983 arguments to different postprocessors.
984 (Alias: --ppa)
985 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
986 after post-processing
987 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
988 post-processing (default)
989 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
990 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
991 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
992 webm and mkv videos)
993 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
994 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
995 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
996 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
997 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
998 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json are
999 used (Alias: --add-metadata)
1000 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
1001 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
1002 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
1003 (Alias: --add-chapters)
1004 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default) (Alias:
1005 --no-add-chapters)
1006 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
1007 mkv/mka video files
1008 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
1009 to the video file
1010 --parse-metadata [WHEN:]FROM:TO
1011 Parse additional metadata like title/artist
1012 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
1013 for details. Supported values of "WHEN" are
1014 the same as that of --use-postprocessor
1015 (default: pre_process)
1016 --replace-in-metadata [WHEN:]FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
1017 Replace text in a metadata field using the
1018 given regex. This option can be used
1019 multiple times. Supported values of "WHEN"
1020 are the same as that of --use-postprocessor
1021 (default: pre_process)
1022 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
1023 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
1024 --concat-playlist POLICY Concatenate videos in a playlist. One of
1025 "never", "always", or "multi_video"
1026 (default; only when the videos form a single
1027 show). All the video files must have same
1028 codecs and number of streams to be
1029 concatable. The "pl_video:" prefix can be
1030 used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1031 the output filename for the concatenated
1032 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
1033 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
1034 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
1035 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
1036 default; fix file if we can, warn
1037 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
1038 already exists)
1039 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
1040 path to the binary or its containing directory
1041 --exec [WHEN:]CMD Execute a command, optionally prefixed with
1042 when to execute it, separated by a ":".
1043 Supported values of "WHEN" are the same as
1044 that of --use-postprocessor (default:
1045 after_move). Same syntax as the output
1046 template can be used to pass any field as
1047 arguments to the command. If no fields are
1048 passed, %(filepath,_filename|)q is appended
1049 to the end of the command. This option can
1050 be used multiple times
1051 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
1052 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
1053 (currently supported: ass, lrc, srt, vtt)
1054 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
1055 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
1056 (currently supported: jpg, png, webp). You
1057 can specify multiple rules using similar
1058 syntax as --remux-video
1059 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
1060 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix can
1061 be used with "--paths" and "--output" to set
1062 the output filename for the split files. See
1063 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
1064 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters (default)
1065 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
1066 given regular expression. The syntax is the
1067 same as --download-sections. This option can
1068 be used multiple times
1069 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
1070 (default)
1071 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes at cuts when
1072 downloading/splitting/removing sections.
1073 This is slow due to needing a re-encode, but
1074 the resulting video may have fewer artifacts
1075 around the cuts
1076 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
1077 when cutting/splitting (default)
1078 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS]
1079 The (case sensitive) name of plugin
1080 postprocessors to be enabled, and
1081 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
1082 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
1083 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
1084 The "when" argument determines when the
1085 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
1086 "pre_process" (after video extraction),
1087 "after_filter" (after video passes filter),
1088 "video" (after --format; before
1089 --print/--output), "before_dl" (before each
1090 video download), "post_process" (after each
1091 video download; default), "after_move"
1092 (after moving video file to it's final
1093 locations), "after_video" (after downloading
1094 and processing all formats of a video), or
1095 "playlist" (at end of playlist). This option
1096 can be used multiple times to add different
1097 postprocessors
1099 ## SponsorBlock Options:
1100 Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
1101 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
1102 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
1104 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
1105 for, separated by commas. Available
1106 categories are sponsor, intro, outro,
1107 selfpromo, preview, filler, interaction,
1108 music_offtopic, poi_highlight, chapter, all
1109 and default (=all). You can prefix the
1110 category with a "-" to exclude it. See [1]
1111 for description of the categories. E.g.
1112 --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
1113 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
1114 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
1115 the video file, separated by commas. If a
1116 category is present in both mark and remove,
1117 remove takes precedence. The syntax and
1118 available categories are the same as for
1119 --sponsorblock-mark except that "default"
1120 refers to "all,-filler" and poi_highlight,
1121 chapter are not available
1122 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
1123 An output template for the title of the
1124 SponsorBlock chapters created by
1125 --sponsorblock-mark. The only available
1126 fields are start_time, end_time, category,
1127 categories, name, category_names. Defaults
1128 to "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
1129 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
1130 --sponsorblock-remove
1131 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
1132 https://sponsor.ajay.app
1134 ## Extractor Options:
1135 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor errors
1136 (default is 3), or "infinite"
1137 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
1138 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
1139 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
1140 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
1141 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1142 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1143 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1144 formats at discontinuities such as ad breaks
1145 (default)
1146 --extractor-args IE_KEY:ARGS Pass ARGS arguments to the IE_KEY extractor.
1147 See "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You
1148 can use this option multiple times to give
1149 arguments for different extractors
1151 # CONFIGURATION
1153 You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
1155 1. **Main Configuration**:
1156 * The file given by `--config-location`
1157 1. **Portable Configuration**: (Recommended for portable installations)
1158 * If using a binary, `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the binary
1159 * If running from source-code, `yt-dlp.conf` in the parent directory of `yt_dlp`
1160 1. **Home Configuration**:
1161 * `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P`
1162 * If `-P` is not given, the current directory is searched
1163 1. **User Configuration**:
1164 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp.conf`
1165 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1166 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1167 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp.conf`
1168 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1169 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1170 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1171 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
1172 * `~/.yt-dlp/config`
1173 * `~/.yt-dlp/config.txt`
1175 See also: [Notes about environment variables](#notes-about-environment-variables)
1176 1. **System Configuration**:
1177 * `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
1178 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config`
1179 * `/etc/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1181 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:
1182 ```
1183 # Lines starting with # are comments
1185 # Always extract audio
1186 -x
1188 # Do not copy the mtime
1189 --no-mtime
1191 # Use this proxy
1192 --proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1194 # Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1195 -o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
1196 ```
1198 **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.
1200 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.
1202 ### Configuration file encoding
1204 The configuration files are decoded according to the UTF BOM if present, and in the encoding from system locale otherwise.
1206 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.
1208 ### Authentication with netrc
1210 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:
1211 ```
1212 touch ${HOME}/.netrc
1213 chmod a-rwx,u+rw ${HOME}/.netrc
1214 ```
1215 After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1216 ```
1217 machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
1218 ```
1219 E.g.
1220 ```
1221 machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1222 machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1223 ```
1224 To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
1226 The default location of the .netrc file is `~` (see below).
1228 As an alternative to using the `.netrc` file, which has the disadvantage of keeping your passwords in a plain text file, you can configure a custom shell command to provide the credentials for an extractor. This is done by providing the `--netrc-cmd` parameter, it shall output the credentials in the netrc format and return `0` on success, other values will be treated as an error. `{}` in the command will be replaced by the name of the extractor to make it possible to select the credentials for the right extractor.
1230 E.g. To use an encrypted `.netrc` file stored as `.authinfo.gpg`
1231 ```
1232 yt-dlp --netrc-cmd 'gpg --decrypt ~/.authinfo.gpg' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc
1233 ```
1236 ### Notes about environment variables
1237 * Environment variables are normally specified as `${VARIABLE}`/`$VARIABLE` on UNIX and `%VARIABLE%` on Windows; but is always shown as `${VARIABLE}` in this documentation
1238 * yt-dlp also allow using UNIX-style variables on Windows for path-like options; e.g. `--output`, `--config-location`
1239 * If unset, `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}` defaults to `~/.config` and `${XDG_CACHE_HOME}` to `~/.cache`
1240 * On Windows, `~` points to `${HOME}` if present; or, `${USERPROFILE}` or `${HOMEDRIVE}${HOMEPATH}` otherwise
1241 * On Windows, `${USERPROFILE}` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>` and `${APPDATA}` to `${USERPROFILE}\AppData\Roaming`
1243 # OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1245 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.
1247 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1248 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
1249 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1251 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).
1253 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.
1255 The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
1257 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
1259 1. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. E.g. `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
1261 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`
1263 1. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. E.g. `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
1265 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`
1267 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`
1269 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)
1271 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
1273 To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1274 ```
1275 %(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
1276 ```
1278 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.
1280 <a id="outtmpl-postprocess-note"/>
1282 **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.
1284 The available fields are:
1286 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1287 - `title` (string): Video title
1288 - `fulltitle` (string): Video title ignoring live timestamp and generic title
1289 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1290 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
1291 - `description` (string): The description of the video
1292 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1293 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1294 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1295 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
1296 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
1297 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date in UTC (YYYYMMDD)
1298 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
1299 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released in UTC
1300 - `modified_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was last modified
1301 - `modified_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was last modified in UTC
1302 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1303 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1304 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
1305 - `channel_follower_count` (numeric): Number of followers of the channel
1306 - `channel_is_verified` (boolean): Whether the channel is verified on the platform
1307 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1308 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
1309 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
1310 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1311 - `concurrent_view_count` (numeric): How many users are currently watching the video on the platform.
1312 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1313 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1314 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1315 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
1316 - `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)
1317 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
1318 - `live_status` (string): One of "not_live", "is_live", "is_upcoming", "was_live", "post_live" (was live, but VOD is not yet processed)
1319 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
1320 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
1321 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
1322 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
1323 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1324 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
1325 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1326 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
1327 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch of when the information extraction was completed
1328 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`, padded with leading zeros to 5 digits
1329 - `video_autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each video
1330 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
1331 - `playlist_id` (string): Identifier of the playlist that contains the video
1332 - `playlist_title` (string): Name of the playlist that contains the video
1333 - `playlist` (string): `playlist_id` or `playlist_title`
1334 - `playlist_count` (numeric): Total number of items in the playlist. May not be known if entire playlist is not extracted
1335 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1336 - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
1337 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1338 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
1339 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
1340 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1341 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
1342 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
1344 All the fields in [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats) can also be used
1346 Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1348 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1349 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1350 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1352 Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1354 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1355 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1356 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1357 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1358 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1359 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1360 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1362 Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1364 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1365 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1366 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1367 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1368 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1369 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1370 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1371 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1372 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1373 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1375 Available only when using `--download-sections` and for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
1377 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1378 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1379 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1380 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1382 Available only when used in `--print`:
1384 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1385 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the [actual filename may differ](#outtmpl-postprocess-note)
1386 - `formats_table` (table): The video format table as printed by `--list-formats`
1387 - `thumbnails_table` (table): The thumbnail format table as printed by `--list-thumbnails`
1388 - `subtitles_table` (table): The subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1389 - `automatic_captions_table` (table): The automatic subtitle format table as printed by `--list-subs`
1391 Available only after the video is downloaded (`post_process`/`after_move`):
1393 - `filepath`: Actual path of downloaded video file
1395 Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1397 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1398 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1399 - `categories` (list): The [SponsorBlock categories](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Category) the chapter belongs to
1400 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1401 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1402 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
1403 - `type` (string): The [SponsorBlock action type](https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Types#Action_Type) of the chapter
1405 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.
1407 **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).
1409 **Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
1411 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`.
1413 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.
1415 To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1417 The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
1419 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.
1421 #### Output template examples
1423 ```bash
1424 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
1425 test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1427 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
1428 youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.webm # All kinds of weird characters
1430 $ yt-dlp --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
1431 youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
1433 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
1434 $ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
1436 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
1437 $ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
1439 # Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
1440 $ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist_index&{} - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
1442 # Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
1443 $ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
1445 # Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
1446 $ 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"
1448 # Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
1449 $ 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"
1451 # Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1452 # and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1453 $ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1455 # Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1456 $ 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
1458 # Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
1459 $ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
1460 ```
1462 # FORMAT SELECTION
1464 By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1465 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`.
1467 **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.
1469 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.
1471 <!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1472 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
1473 <!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1475 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.
1477 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.
1479 You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1481 You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1483 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1484 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1485 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio or both (ie; `vcodec!=none or acodec!=none`)
1486 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1487 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1488 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1489 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
1490 - `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))
1491 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
1492 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1493 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
1494 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
1495 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
1496 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
1498 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.
1500 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.
1502 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.
1504 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`.
1506 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.
1508 **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
1510 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`.
1512 ## Filtering Formats
1514 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`).
1516 The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1518 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1519 - `filesize_approx`: An estimate for the number of bytes
1520 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1521 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1522 - `aspect_ratio`: Aspect ratio of the video, if known
1523 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1524 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1525 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1526 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1527 - `fps`: Frame rate
1528 - `audio_channels`: The number of audio channels
1529 - `stretched_ratio`: `width:height` of the video's pixels, if not square
1531 Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains), `~=` (matches regex) and following string meta fields:
1533 - `url`: Video URL
1534 - `ext`: File extension
1535 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1536 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1537 - `container`: Name of the container format
1538 - `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`)
1539 - `language`: Language code
1540 - `dynamic_range`: The dynamic range of the video
1541 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
1542 - `format`: A human-readable description of the format
1543 - `format_note`: Additional info about the format
1544 - `resolution`: Textual description of width and height
1546 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 `._-`.
1548 **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.
1550 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 KBit/s. 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.
1552 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.
1554 ## Sorting Formats
1556 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...`.
1558 The available fields are:
1560 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that have a video stream
1561 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that have an audio stream
1562 - `ie_pref`: The format preference
1563 - `lang`: The language preference
1564 - `quality`: The quality of the format
1565 - `source`: The preference of the source
1566 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1567 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
1568 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `ac4` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
1569 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
1570 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `mov` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
1571 - `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`
1572 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
1573 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
1574 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize
1575 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
1576 - `height`: Height of video
1577 - `width`: Width of video
1578 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1579 - `fps`: Framerate of video
1580 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
1581 - `channels`: The number of audio channels
1582 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1583 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1584 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1585 - `br`: Average bitrate in KBit/s, `tbr`/`vbr`/`abr`
1586 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
1588 **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.
1590 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.
1592 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.
1594 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.
1596 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`.
1598 **Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1600 ## Format Selection examples
1602 ```bash
1603 # Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
1604 # or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
1605 $ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
1607 # Download best format that contains video,
1608 # and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
1609 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
1611 # Same as above
1612 $ yt-dlp
1614 # Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1615 # For this case, an output template should be used since
1616 # by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
1617 $ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
1619 # Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1620 # and all audio-only formats into one file
1621 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
1623 # Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1624 # and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
1625 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
1628 # The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
1629 # and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
1631 # Download the worst video available (old method)
1632 $ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
1634 # Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
1635 $ yt-dlp -S "+res"
1637 # Download the smallest video available
1638 $ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
1642 # Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
1643 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
1645 # Download the best video with the best extension
1646 # (For video, mp4 > mov > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
1647 $ yt-dlp -S "ext"
1651 # Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1652 # or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
1653 $ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
1655 # Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1656 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1657 $ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
1659 # Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1660 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1661 # Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1662 # So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
1663 $ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
1667 # Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1668 # or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1669 $ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
1671 # Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1672 # or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1673 $ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
1675 # Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
1676 $ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
1680 # Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1681 # or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
1682 $ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
1684 # Download best video available via the best protocol
1685 # (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
1686 $ yt-dlp -S "proto"
1690 # Download the best video with either h264 or h265 codec,
1691 # or the best video if there is no such video
1692 $ yt-dlp -f "(bv*[vcodec~='^((he|a)vc|h26[45])']+ba) / (bv*+ba/b)"
1694 # Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1695 # or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
1696 $ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
1698 # Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1699 # or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1700 $ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
1704 # More complex examples
1706 # Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1707 # or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1708 $ yt-dlp -f "((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)"
1710 # Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1711 # or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1712 # preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1713 $ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
1717 # Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1718 # or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1719 # preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1720 $ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
1721 ```
1723 # MODIFYING METADATA
1725 The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
1727 `--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.
1729 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.
1731 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`.
1733 This option also has a few special uses:
1735 * 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
1737 * 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.
1739 **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.
1741 For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1743 Metadata fields | From
1744 :--------------------------|:------------------------------------------------
1745 `title` | `track` or `title`
1746 `date` | `upload_date`
1747 `description`, `synopsis` | `description`
1748 `purl`, `comment` | `webpage_url`
1749 `track` | `track_number`
1750 `artist` | `artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1751 `genre` | `genre`
1752 `album` | `album`
1753 `album_artist` | `album_artist`
1754 `disc` | `disc_number`
1755 `show` | `series`
1756 `season_number` | `season_number`
1757 `episode_id` | `episode` or `episode_id`
1758 `episode_sort` | `episode_number`
1759 `language` of each stream | the format's `language`
1761 **Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1764 ## Modifying metadata examples
1766 ```bash
1767 # Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
1768 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
1770 # Regex example
1771 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
1773 # Set title as "Series name S01E05"
1774 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
1776 # Prioritize uploader as the "artist" field in video metadata
1777 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" --embed-metadata
1779 # Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url,
1780 # handling multiple lines correctly
1781 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --embed-metadata
1783 # Do not set any "synopsis" in the video metadata
1784 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<meta_synopsis>)"
1786 # Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
1787 $ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "video::(?P<formats>)" --write-info-json
1789 # Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
1790 $ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
1792 ```
1794 # EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1796 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"`
1798 Note: In CLI, `ARG` can use `-` instead of `_`; e.g. `youtube:player-client"` becomes `youtube:player_client"`
1800 The following extractors use this feature:
1802 #### youtube
1803 * `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
1804 * `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
1805 * `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.
1806 * `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
1807 * `player_params`: YouTube player parameters to use for player requests. Will overwrite any default ones set by yt-dlp.
1808 * `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
1809 * `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`
1810 * 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
1811 * `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)
1812 * `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
1813 * `innertube_key`: Innertube API key to use for all API requests
1814 * `raise_incomplete_data`: `Incomplete Data Received` raises an error instead of reporting a warning
1816 #### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1817 * `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)
1818 * `approximate_date`: Extract approximate `upload_date` and `timestamp` in flat-playlist. This may cause date-based filters to be slightly off
1820 #### generic
1821 * `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
1822 * `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`
1823 * `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
1824 * `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`
1826 #### funimation
1827 * `language`: Audio languages to extract, e.g. `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1828 * `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1830 #### crunchyrollbeta (Crunchyroll)
1831 * `format`: Which stream type(s) to extract (default: `adaptive_hls`). Potentially useful values include `adaptive_hls`, `adaptive_dash`, `vo_adaptive_hls`, `vo_adaptive_dash`, `download_hls`, `download_dash`, `multitrack_adaptive_hls_v2`
1832 * `hardsub`: Preference order for which hardsub versions to extract, or `all` (default: `None` = no hardsubs), e.g. `crunchyrollbeta:hardsub=en-US,None`
1834 #### vikichannel
1835 * `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
1837 #### niconico
1838 * `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.**
1840 #### youtubewebarchive
1841 * `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1843 #### gamejolt
1844 * `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1846 #### hotstar
1847 * `res`: resolution to ignore - one or more of `sd`, `hd`, `fhd`
1848 * `vcodec`: vcodec to ignore - one or more of `h264`, `h265`, `dvh265`
1849 * `dr`: dynamic range to ignore - one or more of `sdr`, `hdr10`, `dv`
1851 #### niconicochannelplus
1852 * `max_comments`: Maximum number of comments to extract - default is `120`
1854 #### tiktok
1855 * `api_hostname`: Hostname to use for mobile API requests, e.g. `api-h2.tiktokv.com`
1856 * `app_version`: App version to call mobile APIs with - should be set along with `manifest_app_version`, e.g. `20.2.1`
1857 * `manifest_app_version`: Numeric app version to call mobile APIs with, e.g. `221`
1859 #### rokfinchannel
1860 * `tab`: Which tab to download - one of `new`, `top`, `videos`, `podcasts`, `streams`, `stacks`
1862 #### twitter
1863 * `api`: Select one of `graphql` (default), `legacy` or `syndication` as the API for tweet extraction. Has no effect if logged in
1865 #### stacommu, wrestleuniverse
1866 * `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
1868 #### twitch
1869 * `client_id`: Client ID value to be sent with GraphQL requests, e.g. `twitch:client_id=kimne78kx3ncx6brgo4mv6wki5h1ko`
1871 #### nhkradirulive (NHK らじる★らじる LIVE)
1872 * `area`: Which regional variation to extract. Valid areas are: `sapporo`, `sendai`, `tokyo`, `nagoya`, `osaka`, `hiroshima`, `matsuyama`, `fukuoka`. Defaults to `tokyo`
1874 #### nflplusreplay
1875 * `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
1877 **Note**: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
1879 <!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1882 # PLUGINS
1884 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!**
1886 Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`.
1887 - Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it.
1888 - Extractor plugins take priority over builtin extractors.
1889 - Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
1892 Plugins are loaded from the namespace packages `yt_dlp_plugins.extractor` and `yt_dlp_plugins.postprocessor`.
1894 In other words, the file structure on the disk looks something like:
1896 yt_dlp_plugins/
1897 extractor/
1898 myplugin.py
1899 postprocessor/
1900 myplugin.py
1902 yt-dlp looks for these `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folders in many locations (see below) and loads in plugins from **all** of them.
1904 See the [wiki for some known plugins](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Plugins)
1906 ## Installing Plugins
1908 Plugins can be installed using various methods and locations.
1910 1. **Configuration directories**:
1911 Plugin packages (containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder) can be dropped into the following standard [configuration locations](#configuration):
1912 * **User Plugins**
1913 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1914 * `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1915 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/` (recommended on Windows)
1916 * `${APPDATA}/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1917 * `~/.yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1918 * `~/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1919 * **System Plugins**
1920 * `/etc/yt-dlp/plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1921 * `/etc/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1922 2. **Executable location**: Plugin packages can similarly be installed in a `yt-dlp-plugins` directory under the executable location (recommended for portable installations):
1923 * Binary: where `<root-dir>/yt-dlp.exe`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1924 * Source: where `<root-dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`, `<root-dir>/yt-dlp-plugins/<package name>/yt_dlp_plugins/`
1926 3. **pip and other locations in `PYTHONPATH`**
1927 * 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.
1928 * Note: plugin files between plugin packages installed with pip must have unique filenames.
1929 * Any path in `PYTHONPATH` is searched in for the `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder.
1930 * Note: This does not apply for Pyinstaller/py2exe builds.
1933 `.zip`, `.egg` and `.whl` archives containing a `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace folder in their root are also supported as plugin packages.
1934 * e.g. `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/yt-dlp/plugins/mypluginpkg.zip` where `mypluginpkg.zip` contains `yt_dlp_plugins/<type>/myplugin.py`
1936 Run yt-dlp with `--verbose` to check if the plugin has been loaded.
1938 ## Developing Plugins
1940 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.
1942 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`).
1944 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.
1946 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.
1948 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.
1950 # EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1952 yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1954 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.
1956 From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1958 ```python
1959 from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
1961 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
1962 with YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1963 ydl.download(URLS)
1964 ```
1966 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.
1968 **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)
1970 ## Embedding examples
1972 #### Extracting information
1974 ```python
1975 import json
1976 import yt_dlp
1978 URL = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'
1980 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL) for a list of available options and public functions
1981 ydl_opts = {}
1982 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1983 info = ydl.extract_info(URL, download=False)
1985 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1986 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1987 ```
1988 #### Download using an info-json
1990 ```python
1991 import yt_dlp
1993 INFO_FILE = 'path/to/video.info.json'
1995 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
1996 error_code = ydl.download_with_info_file(INFO_FILE)
1998 print('Some videos failed to download' if error_code
1999 else 'All videos successfully downloaded')
2000 ```
2002 #### Extract audio
2004 ```python
2005 import yt_dlp
2007 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2009 ydl_opts = {
2010 'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
2011 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor) for a list of available Postprocessors and their arguments
2012 'postprocessors': [{ # Extract audio using ffmpeg
2013 'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
2014 'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
2015 }]
2016 }
2018 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2019 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
2020 ```
2022 #### Filter videos
2024 ```python
2025 import yt_dlp
2027 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2029 def longer_than_a_minute(info, *, incomplete):
2030 """Download only videos longer than a minute (or with unknown duration)"""
2031 duration = info.get('duration')
2032 if duration and duration < 60:
2033 return 'The video is too short'
2035 ydl_opts = {
2036 'match_filter': longer_than_a_minute,
2037 }
2039 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2040 error_code = ydl.download(URLS)
2041 ```
2043 #### Adding logger and progress hook
2045 ```python
2046 import yt_dlp
2048 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2050 class MyLogger:
2051 def debug(self, msg):
2052 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
2053 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
2054 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
2055 pass
2056 else:
2057 self.info(msg)
2059 def info(self, msg):
2060 pass
2062 def warning(self, msg):
2063 pass
2065 def error(self, msg):
2066 print(msg)
2069 # ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in help(yt_dlp.YoutubeDL)
2070 def my_hook(d):
2071 if d['status'] == 'finished':
2072 print('Done downloading, now post-processing ...')
2075 ydl_opts = {
2076 'logger': MyLogger(),
2077 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
2078 }
2080 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2081 ydl.download(URLS)
2082 ```
2084 #### Add a custom PostProcessor
2086 ```python
2087 import yt_dlp
2089 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2091 # ℹ️ See help(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor)
2092 class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
2093 def run(self, info):
2094 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
2095 return [], info
2098 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL() as ydl:
2099 # ℹ️ "when" can take any value in yt_dlp.utils.POSTPROCESS_WHEN
2100 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP(), when='pre_process')
2101 ydl.download(URLS)
2102 ```
2105 #### Use a custom format selector
2107 ```python
2108 import yt_dlp
2110 URLS = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']
2112 def format_selector(ctx):
2113 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
2114 NOTE: This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
2116 # formats are already sorted worst to best
2117 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
2119 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
2120 best_video = next(f for f in formats
2121 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
2123 # find compatible audio extension
2124 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
2125 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
2126 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
2127 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
2129 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
2130 yield {
2131 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
2132 'ext': best_video['ext'],
2133 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
2134 # Must be + separated list of protocols
2135 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
2136 }
2139 ydl_opts = {
2140 'format': format_selector,
2141 }
2143 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
2144 ydl.download(URLS)
2145 ```
2147 <!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "NEW FEATURES" SECTION HERE -->
2149 # DEPRECATED OPTIONS
2151 These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
2153 #### Almost redundant options
2154 While these options are almost the same as their new counterparts, there are some differences that prevents them being redundant
2156 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
2157 -F, --list-formats --print formats_table
2158 --list-thumbnails --print thumbnails_table --print playlist:thumbnails_table
2159 --list-subs --print automatic_captions_table --print subtitles_table
2161 #### Redundant options
2162 While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
2164 --get-description --print description
2165 --get-duration --print duration_string
2166 --get-filename --print filename
2167 --get-format --print format
2168 --get-id --print id
2169 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
2170 -e, --get-title --print title
2171 -g, --get-url --print urls
2172 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
2173 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
2174 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
2175 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
2176 --break-on-reject Use --break-match-filter
2177 --user-agent UA --add-header "User-Agent:UA"
2178 --referer URL --add-header "Referer:URL"
2179 --playlist-start NUMBER -I NUMBER:
2180 --playlist-end NUMBER -I :NUMBER
2181 --playlist-reverse -I ::-1
2182 --no-playlist-reverse Default
2183 --no-colors --color no_color
2186 #### Not recommended
2187 While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
2189 --force-generic-extractor --ies generic,default
2190 --exec-before-download CMD --exec "before_dl:CMD"
2191 --no-exec-before-download --no-exec
2192 --all-formats -f all
2193 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
2194 --print-json -j --no-simulate
2195 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting, e.g. %(autonumber)03d
2196 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
2197 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2198 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
2199 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
2200 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
2201 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
2202 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
2203 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
2204 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
2205 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
2206 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
2207 --geo-bypass --xff "default"
2208 --no-geo-bypass --xff "never"
2209 --geo-bypass-country CODE --xff CODE
2210 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK --xff IP_BLOCK
2213 #### Developer options
2214 These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
2216 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
2217 --load-pages Load pages dumped by --write-pages
2218 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
2219 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
2220 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
2223 #### Old aliases
2224 These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
2226 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
2227 --clean-infojson --clean-info-json
2228 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
2229 --dump-headers --print-traffic
2230 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
2231 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
2232 --load-info --load-info-json
2233 --no-clean-infojson --no-clean-info-json
2234 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
2235 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
2236 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
2237 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
2238 --split-tracks --split-chapters
2239 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
2240 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
2241 --write-srt --write-subs
2242 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
2244 #### Sponskrub Options
2245 Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
2247 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
2248 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
2249 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
2250 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
2251 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
2252 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
2253 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
2254 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
2256 #### No longer supported
2257 These options may no longer work as intended
2259 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
2260 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
2261 -C, --call-home Not implemented
2262 --no-call-home Default
2263 --include-ads No longer supported
2264 --no-include-ads Default
2265 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
2266 --no-write-annotations Default
2267 --compat-options seperate-video-versions No longer needed
2269 #### Removed
2270 These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
2272 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2273 -t, -l, --title, --literal -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
2275 # CONTRIBUTING
2276 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)
2278 # WIKI
2279 See the [Wiki](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki) for more information