README.md
1<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
2<div align="center">
3
4[](#readme)
5
6[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
7[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/actions)
8[](LICENSE)
9[](Collaborators.md#collaborators)
10[](supportedsites.md)
11[](https://discord.gg/H5MNcFW63r)
12[](https://yt-dlp.readthedocs.io)
13[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits)
14[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits)
15[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
16[](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp)
17
18</div>
19<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
20
21yt-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
23<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "USAGE AND OPTIONS" SECTION HERE -->
24
25<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
26* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
27 * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
28* [INSTALLATION](#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 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
52* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
53 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
54 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
55* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
56 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
57 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
58 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
59* [MODIFYING METADATA](#modifying-metadata)
60 * [Modifying metadata examples](#modifying-metadata-examples)
61* [EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS](#extractor-arguments)
62* [PLUGINS](#plugins)
63* [EMBEDDING YT-DLP](#embedding-yt-dlp)
64* [DEPRECATED OPTIONS](#deprecated-options)
65* [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-to-yt-dlp)
66 * [Opening an Issue](CONTRIBUTING.md#opening-an-issue)
67 * [Developer Instructions](CONTRIBUTING.md#developer-instructions)
68* [MORE](#more)
69<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
70
71
72# NEW FEATURES
73
74* Based on **youtube-dl 2021.12.17 [commit/5014bd6](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/5014bd67c22b421207b2650d4dc874b95b36dda1)** and **youtube-dlc 2020.11.11-3 [commit/f9401f2](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/commit/f9401f2a91987068139c5f757b12fc711d4c0cee)**: You get all the features and patches of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) in addition to the latest [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
75
76* **[SponsorBlock Integration](#sponsorblock-options)**: You can mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
77
78* **[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))
79
80* **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from [animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including `--write-comments`, `BiliBiliSearch`, `BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico improvements are not available. See [#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
81
82* **Youtube improvements**:
83 * All Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) and private playlists supports downloading multiple pages of content
84 * Search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`), search URLs and in-channel search works
85 * Mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
86 * Some (but not all) age-gated content can be downloaded without cookies
87 * Fix for [n-sig based throttling](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326)
88 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
89 * `255kbps` audio is extracted (if available) from youtube music when premium cookies are given
90 * Youtube music Albums, channels etc can be downloaded ([except self-uploaded music](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/723))
91 * Download livestreams from the start using `--live-from-start`
92
93* **Cookies from browser**: Cookies can be automatically extracted from all major web browsers using `--cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]`
94
95* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
96
97* **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
98
99* **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use `aria2c` as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats
100
101* **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)
102
103* **New MSOs**: Philo, Spectrum, SlingTV, Cablevision, RCN
104
105* **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
106
107* **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`)
108
109* **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
110
111* **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`
112
113* **Other new options**: Many new options have been added such as `--print`, `--wait-for-video`, `--sleep-requests`, `--convert-thumbnails`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive`, `--force-overwrites`, `--break-on-reject` etc
114
115* **Improvements**: Regex and other operators in `--match-filter`, multiple `--postprocessor-args` and `--downloader-args`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection), merge multi-video/audio etc
116
117* **Plugins**: Extractors and PostProcessors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
118
119* **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using `yt-dlp -U`
120
121See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
122
123### Differences in default behavior
124
125Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc:
126
127* The options `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
128* `avconv` is not supported as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
129* 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`
130* 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
131* 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
132* 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
133* `--ignore-errors` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
134* 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
135* `--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
136* 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`](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#modifying-metadata) to modify this to your liking or use `--compat-options embed-metadata` to revert this
137* `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
138* The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
139* All *experiences* of a funimation episode are considered as a single video. This behavior breaks existing archives. Use `--compat-options seperate-video-versions` to extract information from only the default player
140* Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
141* Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to `/video`. Append a `/featured` to the URL to download only the videos in the home page. If the channel does not have a videos tab, we try to download the equivalent `UU` playlist instead. Also, `/live` URLs raise an error if there are no live videos instead of silently downloading the entire channel. You may use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to revert all these redirections
142* Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
143* 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
144* Thumbnail embedding in `mp4` is done with mutagen if possible. Use `--compat-options embed-thumbnail-atomicparsley` to force the use of AtomicParsley instead
145* Some private fields such as filenames are removed by default from the infojson. Use `--no-clean-infojson` or `--compat-options no-clean-infojson` to revert this
146* 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
147
148For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
149* `--compat-options all`: Use all compat options
150* `--compat-options youtube-dl`: Same as `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
151* `--compat-options youtube-dlc`: Same as `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
152
153
154# INSTALLATION
155
156You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
157
158### Using the release binary
159
160You can simply download the [correct binary file](#release-files) for your OS: **[[Windows](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.exe)] [[UNIX-like](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)]**
161
162In UNIX-like OSes (MacOS, Linux, BSD), you can also install the same in one of the following ways:
163
164```
165sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
166sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
167```
168
169```
170sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
171sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
172```
173
174```
175sudo aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp --dir /usr/local/bin -o yt-dlp
176sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
177```
178
179PS: The manpages, shell completion files etc. are available in [yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)
180
181### With [PIP](https://pypi.org/project/pip)
182
183You can install the [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp) with:
184```
185python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp
186```
187
188You can install without any of the optional dependencies using:
189```
190python3 -m pip install --no-deps -U yt-dlp
191```
192
193If you want to be on the cutting edge, you can also install the master branch with:
194```
195python3 -m pip install --force-reinstall https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/archive/master.zip
196```
197
198Note that on some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
199
200### With [Homebrew](https://brew.sh)
201
202macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew can also install it by:
203
204```
205brew install yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp
206```
207
208## UPDATE
209You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are [using the provided release](#using-the-release-binary)
210
211If you [installed with pip](#with-pip), simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program
212
213If you [installed using Homebrew](#with-homebrew), run `brew upgrade yt-dlp/taps/yt-dlp`
214
215<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
216## RELEASE FILES
217
218#### Recommended
219
220File|Description
221:---|:---
222[yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp)|Platform-independant binary. Needs Python (recommended for **UNIX-like systems**)
223[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**)
224
225#### Alternatives
226
227File|Description
228:---|:---
229[yt-dlp_macos](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos)|MacOS (10.15+) standalone executable
230[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
231[yt-dlp_min.exe](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_min.exe)|Windows (Win7 SP1+) standalone x64 binary built with `py2exe`.<br/> Does not contain `pycryptodomex`, needs VC++14
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
235#### Misc
236
237File|Description
238:---|:---
239[yt-dlp.tar.gz](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp.tar.gz)|Source tarball. Also contains manpages, completions, etc
240[SHA2-512SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-512SUMS)|GNU-style SHA512 sums
241[SHA2-256SUMS](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/SHA2-256SUMS)|GNU-style SHA256 sums
242<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
243
244## DEPENDENCIES
245Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are supported. Other versions and implementations may or may not work correctly.
246
247<!-- Python 3.5+ uses VC++14 and it is already embedded in the binary created
248<!x-- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 --x>
249On 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.
250-->
251
252While all the other dependencies are optional, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended
253
254* [**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)
255* [**mutagen**](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen) - For embedding thumbnail in certain formats. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen/blob/master/COPYING)
256* [**pycryptodomex**](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome) - For decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data. Licensed under [BSD2](https://github.com/Legrandin/pycryptodome/blob/master/LICENSE.rst)
257* [**websockets**](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets) - For downloading over websocket. Licensed under [BSD3](https://github.com/aaugustin/websockets/blob/main/LICENSE)
258* [**secretstorage**](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage) - For accessing the Gnome keyring while decrypting cookies of Chromium-based browsers on Linux. Licensed under [BSD](https://github.com/mitya57/secretstorage/blob/master/LICENSE)
259* [**AtomicParsley**](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley) - For embedding thumbnail in mp4/m4a if mutagen is not present. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley/blob/master/COPYING)
260* [**rtmpdump**](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu) - For downloading `rtmp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu)
261* [**mplayer**](http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html) or [**mpv**](https://mpv.io) - For downloading `rstp` streams. ffmpeg will be used as a fallback. Licensed under [GPLv2+](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/Copyright)
262* [**phantomjs**](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs) - Used in extractors where javascript needs to be run. Licensed under [BSD3](https://github.com/ariya/phantomjs/blob/master/LICENSE.BSD)
263* [**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)
264* Any external downloader that you want to use with `--downloader`
265
266To use or redistribute the dependencies, you must agree to their respective licensing terms.
267
268The Windows and MacOS standalone release binaries are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen, pycryptodomex and websockets included.
269
270**Note**: There are some regressions in newer ffmpeg versions 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/wiki/Latest#latest-autobuilds) with patches for these issues at [yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds). See [the readme](https://github.com/yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds#patches-applied) for details on the specific issues solved by these builds
271
272
273## COMPILE
274
275**For Windows**:
276To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen, pycryptodomex, websockets). Once you have all the necessary dependencies installed, (optionally) build lazy extractors using `devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py`, and then just run `pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (32/64 bit) as the python used to build it.
277
278 py -m pip install -U pyinstaller -r requirements.txt
279 py devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
280 py pyinst.py
281
282Note that pyinstaller [does not support](https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller#requirements-and-tested-platforms) Python installed from the Windows store without using a virtual environment
283
284**For Unix**:
285You will need the required build tools: `python`, `make` (GNU), `pandoc`, `zip`, `pytest`
286Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files
287
288**Note**: In either platform, `devscripts/update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
289
290You can also fork the project on github and run your fork's [build workflow](.github/workflows/build.yml) to automatically build a release
291
292# USAGE AND OPTIONS
293
294<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
295 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
296
297`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
298<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
299
300<!-- Auto generated -->
301## General Options:
302 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
303 --version Print program version and exit
304 -U, --update Update this program to latest version. Make
305 sure that you have sufficient permissions
306 (run with sudo if needed)
307 -i, --ignore-errors Ignore download and postprocessing errors.
308 The download will be considered successful
309 even if the postprocessing fails
310 --no-abort-on-error Continue with next video on download
311 errors; e.g. to skip unavailable videos in
312 a playlist (default)
313 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
314 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
315 --dump-user-agent Display the current user-agent and exit
316 --list-extractors List all supported extractors and exit
317 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
318 extractors and exit
319 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
320 extractor
321 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
322 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
323 from google videos for the search term
324 "large apple". Use the value "auto" to let
325 yt-dlp guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
326 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
327 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
328 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
329 this is not possible instead of searching
330 --ignore-config, --no-config Disable loading any configuration files
331 except the one provided by --config-location.
332 When given inside a configuration
333 file, no further configuration files are
334 loaded. Additionally, (for backward
335 compatibility) if this option is found
336 inside the system configuration file, the
337 user configuration is not loaded
338 --config-location PATH Location of the main configuration file;
339 either the path to the config or its
340 containing directory
341 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
342 only list them
343 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
344 --live-from-start Download livestreams from the start.
345 Currently only supported for YouTube
346 --no-live-from-start Download livestreams from the current time
347 (default)
348 --wait-for-video MIN[-MAX] Wait for scheduled streams to become
349 available. Pass the minimum number of
350 seconds (or range) to wait between retries
351 --no-wait-for-video Do not wait for scheduled streams (default)
352 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (even with --simulate).
353 Currently only supported for YouTube
354 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
355 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
356 --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
357 with youtube-dl or youtube-dlc
358 configurations by reverting some of the
359 changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
360 default behavior" for details
361
362## Network Options:
363 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
364 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
365 scheme. For example
366 socks5://127.0.0.1:1080/. Pass in an empty
367 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
368 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
369 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
370 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
371 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
372
373## Geo-restriction:
374 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
375 some geo-restricted sites. The default
376 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
377 option is not present) is used for the
378 actual downloading
379 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
380 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
381 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
382 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
383 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
384 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
385 country code
386 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
387 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
388 notation
389
390## Video Selection:
391 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is 1)
392 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
393 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
394 indices of the videos in the playlist
395 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
396 1,2,5,8" if you want to download videos
397 indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
398 specify range: "--playlist-items
399 1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
400 at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13
401 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
402 SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
403 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
404 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
405 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded on this date.
406 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
407 "(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
408 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
409 this date. The date formats accepted is the
410 same as --date
411 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
412 this date. The date formats accepted is the
413 same as --date
414 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Any field (see
415 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a
416 number or a string using the operators
417 defined in "Filtering formats". You can
418 also simply specify a field to match if the
419 field is present and "!field" to check if
420 the field is not present. In addition,
421 Python style regular expression matching
422 can be done using "~=", and multiple
423 filters can be checked with "&". Use a "\"
424 to escape "&" or quotes if needed. Eg:
425 --match-filter "!is_live & like_count>?100
426 & description~='(?i)\bcats \& dogs\b'"
427 matches only videos that are not live, has
428 a like count more than 100 (or the like
429 field is not available), and also has a
430 description that contains the phrase "cats
431 & dogs" (ignoring case)
432 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
433 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
434 to a video and a playlist
435 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
436 a video and a playlist
437 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
438 age
439 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
440 archive file. Record the IDs of all
441 downloaded videos in it
442 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
443 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
444 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
445 a file that is in the archive
446 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
447 a file that has been filtered out
448 --break-per-input Make --break-on-existing and --break-on-
449 reject act only on the current input URL
450 --no-break-per-input --break-on-existing and --break-on-reject
451 terminates the entire download queue
452 --skip-playlist-after-errors N Number of allowed failures until the rest
453 of the playlist is skipped
454
455## Download Options:
456 -N, --concurrent-fragments N Number of fragments of a dash/hlsnative
457 video that should be downloaded
458 concurrently (default is 1)
459 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
460 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
461 --throttled-rate RATE Minimum download rate in bytes per second
462 below which throttling is assumed and the
463 video data is re-extracted (e.g. 100K)
464 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
465 "infinite"
466 --file-access-retries RETRIES Number of times to retry on file access
467 error (default is 10), or "infinite"
468 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
469 is 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
470 ISM)
471 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
472 hlsnative and ISM (default)
473 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
474 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
475 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
476 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
477 downloading is finished
478 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
479 downloading is finished (default)
480 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
481 (default is 1024)
482 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
483 from an initial value of --buffer-size
484 (default)
485 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
486 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
487 downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
488 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
489 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
490 (experimental)
491 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
492 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
493 (default)
494 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
495 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
496 expected file size
497 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
498 allowing some players to play the video
499 while downloading, and reducing the chance
500 of file corruption if download is
501 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
502 live streams
503 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
504 videos. This is default when not
505 downloading live streams
506 --downloader [PROTO:]NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
507 use (optionally) prefixed by the protocols
508 (http, ftp, m3u8, dash, rstp, rtmp, mms) to
509 use it for. Currently supports native,
510 aria2c, avconv, axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie,
511 wget (Recommended: aria2c). You can use
512 this option multiple times to set different
513 downloaders for different protocols. For
514 example, --downloader aria2c --downloader
515 "dash,m3u8:native" will use aria2c for
516 http/ftp downloads, and the native
517 downloader for dash/m3u8 downloads
518 (Alias: --external-downloader)
519 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
520 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
521 the arguments separated by a colon ":". For
522 ffmpeg, arguments can be passed to
523 different positions using the same syntax
524 as --postprocessor-args. You can use this
525 option multiple times to give different
526 arguments to different downloaders
527 (Alias: --external-downloader-args)
528
529## Filesystem Options:
530 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ("-" for
531 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
532 with "#", ";" or "]" are considered as
533 comments and ignored
534 --no-batch-file Do not read URLs from batch file (default)
535 -P, --paths [TYPES:]PATH The paths where the files should be
536 downloaded. Specify the type of file and
537 the path separated by a colon ":". All the
538 same TYPES as --output are supported.
539 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
540 (default) and "temp" paths. All
541 intermediary files are first downloaded to
542 the temp path and then the final files are
543 moved over to the home path after download
544 is finished. This option is ignored if
545 --output is an absolute path
546 -o, --output [TYPES:]TEMPLATE Output filename template; see "OUTPUT
547 TEMPLATE" for details
548 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder value for unavailable meta
549 fields in output filename template
550 (default: "NA")
551 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
552 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
553 filenames
554 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
555 filenames (default)
556 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be Windows-compatible
557 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames Windows-compatible only if
558 using Windows (default)
559 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
560 extension) to the specified number of
561 characters
562 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
563 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files.
564 This option includes --no-continue
565 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
566 related files (default)
567 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
568 (default)
569 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
570 fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
571 restart download of the entire file
572 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
573 into output file (default)
574 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
575 into output file
576 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
577 file modification time (default)
578 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
579 the file modification time
580 --write-description Write video description to a .description
581 file
582 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
583 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
584 (this may contain personal information)
585 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
586 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
587 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
588 --write-description etc. (default)
589 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
590 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
591 --clean-infojson Remove some private fields such as
592 filenames from the infojson. Note that it
593 could still contain some personal
594 information (default)
595 --no-clean-infojson Write all fields to the infojson
596 --write-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
597 infojson. The comments are fetched even
598 without this option if the extraction is
599 known to be quick (Alias: --get-comments)
600 --no-write-comments Do not retrieve video comments unless the
601 extraction is known to be quick
602 (Alias: --no-get-comments)
603 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
604 (created with the "--write-info-json"
605 option)
606 --cookies FILE Netscape formatted file to read cookies
607 from and dump cookie jar in
608 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies from/to file
609 (default)
610 --cookies-from-browser BROWSER[+KEYRING][:PROFILE]
611 The name of the browser and (optionally)
612 the name/path of the profile to load
613 cookies from, separated by a ":". Currently
614 supported browsers are: brave, chrome,
615 chromium, edge, firefox, opera, safari,
616 vivaldi. By default, the most recently
617 accessed profile is used. The keyring used
618 for decrypting Chromium cookies on Linux
619 can be (optionally) specified after the
620 browser name separated by a "+". Currently
621 supported keyrings are: basictext,
622 gnomekeyring, kwallet
623 --no-cookies-from-browser Do not load cookies from browser (default)
624 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
625 can store some downloaded information (such
626 as client ids and signatures) permanently.
627 By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/yt-dlp or
628 ~/.cache/yt-dlp
629 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
630 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
631
632## Thumbnail Options:
633 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
634 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
635 (default)
636 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
637 --list-thumbnails List available thumbnails of each video.
638 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
639
640## Internet Shortcut Options:
641 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
642 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
643 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
644 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
645 OS caches the URL based on the file path
646 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
647 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
648
649## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
650 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode. If used with
651 --verbose, print the log to stderr
652 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
653 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
654 anything to disk
655 --no-simulate Download the video even if printing/listing
656 options are used
657 --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Useful for
658 extracting metadata even if the videos are
659 not actually available for download
660 (experimental)
661 --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
662 formats are found (default)
663 --skip-download Do not download the video but write all
664 related files (Alias: --no-download)
665 -O, --print TEMPLATE Quiet, but print the given fields for each
666 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
667 used. Either a field name or same syntax as
668 the output template can be used
669 -j, --dump-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
670 video. Simulate unless --no-simulate is
671 used. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a
672 description of available keys
673 -J, --dump-single-json Quiet, but print JSON information for each
674 url or infojson passed. Simulate unless
675 --no-simulate is used. If the URL refers to
676 a playlist, the whole playlist information
677 is dumped in a single line
678 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
679 written as far as no errors occur, even if
680 -s or another simulation option is used
681 (Alias: --force-download-archive)
682 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
683 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
684 --progress Show progress bar, even if in quiet mode
685 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
686 --progress-template [TYPES:]TEMPLATE
687 Template for progress outputs, optionally
688 prefixed with one of "download:" (default),
689 "download-title:" (the console title),
690 "postprocess:", or "postprocess-title:".
691 The video's fields are accessible under the
692 "info" key and the progress attributes are
693 accessible under "progress" key. E.g.:
694 --console-title --progress-template
695 "download-title:%(info.id)s-%(progress.eta)s"
696 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
697 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
698 to debug problems (very verbose)
699 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
700 files in the current directory to debug
701 problems
702 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
703
704## Workarounds:
705 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
706 --no-check-certificates Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
707 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
708 information about the video (Currently
709 supported only for YouTube)
710 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
711 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
712 access is restricted to one domain
713 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
714 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
715 option multiple times
716 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
717 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
718 or fribidi executable in PATH
719 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
720 during data extraction
721 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
722 download. This is the minimum time to sleep
723 when used along with --max-sleep-interval
724 (Alias: --min-sleep-interval)
725 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Maximum number of seconds to sleep. Can
726 only be used along with --min-sleep-interval
727 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
728 subtitle download
729
730## Video Format Options:
731 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
732 for more details
733 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
734 "Sorting Formats" for more details
735 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
736 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
737 Formats" for more details
738 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
739 specified sort order (default), see
740 "Sorting Formats" for more details
741 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
742 into a single file
743 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
744 each output file (default)
745 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
746 into a single file
747 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
748 each output file (default)
749 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
750 over non-free ones of same quality. Use
751 with "-S ext" to strictly prefer free
752 containers irrespective of quality
753 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
754 containers (default)
755 --check-formats Check that the selected formats are
756 actually downloadable
757 --check-all-formats Check all formats for whether they are
758 actually downloadable
759 --no-check-formats Do not check that the formats are actually
760 downloadable
761 -F, --list-formats List available formats of each video.
762 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
763 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
764 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
765 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
766 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
767
768## Subtitle Options:
769 --write-subs Write subtitle file
770 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
771 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
772 (Alias: --write-automatic-subs)
773 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write auto-generated subtitles
774 (default) (Alias: --no-write-automatic-subs)
775 --list-subs List available subtitles of each video.
776 Simulate unless --no-simulate is used
777 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
778 preference, for example: "srt" or
779 "ass/srt/best"
780 --sub-langs LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (can
781 be regex) or "all" separated by commas.
782 (Eg: --sub-langs "en.*,ja") You can prefix
783 the language code with a "-" to exempt it
784 from the requested languages. (Eg: --sub-
785 langs all,-live_chat) Use --list-subs for a
786 list of available language tags
787
788## Authentication Options:
789 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
790 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
791 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
792 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
793 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
794 --netrc-location PATH Location of .netrc authentication data;
795 either the path or its containing
796 directory. Defaults to ~/.netrc
797 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
798 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
799 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
800 a list of available MSOs
801 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
802 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
803 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
804 interactively
805 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
806 operators
807
808## Post-Processing Options:
809 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
810 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
811 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format to convert the audio
812 to when -x is used. Currently supported
813 formats are: best (default) or one of
814 best|aac|flac|mp3|m4a|opus|vorbis|wav|alac
815 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality, insert a
816 value between 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for
817 VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
818 (default 5)
819 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
820 necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv|flv
821 |webm|mov|avi|mp3|mka|m4a|ogg|opus). If
822 target container does not support the
823 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
824 can specify multiple rules; Eg.
825 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to
826 m4a, mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv.
827 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
828 re-encoding is necessary. The syntax and
829 supported formats are the same as --remux-video
830 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
831 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
832 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
833 to give the argument to the specified
834 postprocessor/executable. Supported PP are:
835 Merger, ModifyChapters, SplitChapters,
836 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
837 Metadata, EmbedSubtitle, EmbedThumbnail,
838 SubtitlesConvertor, ThumbnailsConvertor,
839 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
840 FixupTimestamp and FixupDuration. The
841 supported executables are: AtomicParsley,
842 FFmpeg and FFprobe. You can also specify
843 "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the arguments to the
844 specified executable only when being used
845 by the specified postprocessor.
846 Additionally, for ffmpeg/ffprobe, "_i"/"_o"
847 can be appended to the prefix optionally
848 followed by a number to pass the argument
849 before the specified input/output file. Eg:
850 --ppa "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You can
851 use this option multiple times to give
852 different arguments to different
853 postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
854 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
855 after post-processing
856 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
857 post-processing (default)
858 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
859 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
860 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
861 webm and mkv videos)
862 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
863 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
864 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
865 --embed-metadata Embed metadata to the video file. Also
866 embeds chapters/infojson if present unless
867 --no-embed-chapters/--no-embed-info-json
868 are used (Alias: --add-metadata)
869 --no-embed-metadata Do not add metadata to file (default)
870 (Alias: --no-add-metadata)
871 --embed-chapters Add chapter markers to the video file
872 (Alias: --add-chapters)
873 --no-embed-chapters Do not add chapter markers (default)
874 (Alias: --no-add-chapters)
875 --embed-info-json Embed the infojson as an attachment to
876 mkv/mka video files
877 --no-embed-info-json Do not embed the infojson as an attachment
878 to the video file
879 --parse-metadata FROM:TO Parse additional metadata like title/artist
880 from other fields; see "MODIFYING METADATA"
881 for details
882 --replace-in-metadata FIELDS REGEX REPLACE
883 Replace text in a metadata field using the
884 given regex. This option can be used
885 multiple times
886 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
887 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
888 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
889 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
890 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
891 default; fix file if we can, warn
892 otherwise), force (try fixing even if file
893 already exists)
894 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
895 path to the binary or its containing
896 directory
897 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
898 downloading and post-processing. Same
899 syntax as the output template can be used
900 to pass any field as arguments to the
901 command. An additional field "filepath"
902 that contains the final path of the
903 downloaded file is also available. If no
904 fields are passed, %(filepath)q is appended
905 to the end of the command. This option can
906 be used multiple times
907 --no-exec Remove any previously defined --exec
908 --exec-before-download CMD Execute a command before the actual
909 download. The syntax is the same as --exec
910 but "filepath" is not available. This
911 option can be used multiple times
912 --no-exec-before-download Remove any previously defined
913 --exec-before-download
914 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to another format
915 (currently supported: srt|vtt|ass|lrc)
916 (Alias: --convert-subtitles)
917 --convert-thumbnails FORMAT Convert the thumbnails to another format
918 (currently supported: jpg|png)
919 --split-chapters Split video into multiple files based on
920 internal chapters. The "chapter:" prefix
921 can be used with "--paths" and "--output"
922 to set the output filename for the split
923 files. See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for details
924 --no-split-chapters Do not split video based on chapters
925 (default)
926 --remove-chapters REGEX Remove chapters whose title matches the
927 given regular expression. Time ranges
928 prefixed by a "*" can also be used in place
929 of chapters to remove the specified range.
930 Eg: --remove-chapters "*10:15-15:00"
931 --remove-chapters "intro". This option can
932 be used multiple times
933 --no-remove-chapters Do not remove any chapters from the file
934 (default)
935 --force-keyframes-at-cuts Force keyframes around the chapters before
936 removing/splitting them. Requires a
937 re-encode and thus is very slow, but the
938 resulting video may have fewer artifacts
939 around the cuts
940 --no-force-keyframes-at-cuts Do not force keyframes around the chapters
941 when cutting/splitting (default)
942 --use-postprocessor NAME[:ARGS] The (case sensitive) name of plugin
943 postprocessors to be enabled, and
944 (optionally) arguments to be passed to it,
945 separated by a colon ":". ARGS are a
946 semicolon ";" delimited list of NAME=VALUE.
947 The "when" argument determines when the
948 postprocessor is invoked. It can be one of
949 "pre_process" (after extraction),
950 "before_dl" (before video download),
951 "post_process" (after video download;
952 default) or "after_move" (after moving file
953 to their final locations). This option can
954 be used multiple times to add different
955 postprocessors
956
957## SponsorBlock Options:
958Make chapter entries for, or remove various segments (sponsor,
959 introductions, etc.) from downloaded YouTube videos using the
960 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
961
962 --sponsorblock-mark CATS SponsorBlock categories to create chapters
963 for, separated by commas. Available
964 categories are all, default(=all), sponsor,
965 intro, outro, selfpromo, preview, filler,
966 interaction, music_offtopic, poi_highlight.
967 You can prefix the category with a "-" to
968 exempt it. See [1] for description of the
969 categories. Eg: --sponsorblock-mark all,-preview
970 [1] https://wiki.sponsor.ajay.app/w/Segment_Categories
971 --sponsorblock-remove CATS SponsorBlock categories to be removed from
972 the video file, separated by commas. If a
973 category is present in both mark and
974 remove, remove takes precedence. The syntax
975 and available categories are the same as
976 for --sponsorblock-mark except that
977 "default" refers to "all,-filler" and
978 poi_highlight is not available
979 --sponsorblock-chapter-title TEMPLATE
980 The title template for SponsorBlock
981 chapters created by --sponsorblock-mark.
982 The same syntax as the output template is
983 used, but the only available fields are
984 start_time, end_time, category, categories,
985 name, category_names. Defaults to
986 "[SponsorBlock]: %(category_names)l"
987 --no-sponsorblock Disable both --sponsorblock-mark and
988 --sponsorblock-remove
989 --sponsorblock-api URL SponsorBlock API location, defaults to
990 https://sponsor.ajay.app
991
992## Extractor Options:
993 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor
994 errors (default is 3), or "infinite"
995 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
996 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
997 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
998 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
999 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
1000 discontinuities such as ad breaks
1001 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
1002 formats at discontinuities such as ad
1003 breaks (default)
1004 --extractor-args KEY:ARGS Pass these arguments to the extractor. See
1005 "EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS" for details. You can
1006 use this option multiple times to give
1007 arguments for different extractors
1008
1009# CONFIGURATION
1010
1011You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
1012
10131. **Main Configuration**: The file given by `--config-location`
10141. **Portable Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the bundled binary. If you are running from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`), the root directory is used instead.
10151. **Home Configuration**: `yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by `-P "home:<path>"`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
10161. **User Configuration**:
1017 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
1018 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
1019 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
1020 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
1021 * `~/yt-dlp.conf`
1022 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
1023
1024 `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to `~/.config` if undefined. On windows, `%APPDATA%` generally points to `C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming` and `~` points to `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`), or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
10251. **System Configuration**: `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
1026
1027For example, with the following configuration file yt-dlp will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `YouTube` directory in your home directory:
1028```
1029# Lines starting with # are comments
1030
1031# Always extract audio
1032-x
1033
1034# Do not copy the mtime
1035--no-mtime
1036
1037# Use this proxy
1038--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
1039
1040# Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
1041-o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
1042```
1043
1044Note that 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`.
1045
1046You 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.
1047
1048### Authentication with `.netrc` file
1049
1050You 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:
1051```
1052touch $HOME/.netrc
1053chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
1054```
1055After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
1056```
1057machine <extractor> login <username> password <password>
1058```
1059For example:
1060```
1061machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
1062machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
1063```
1064To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
1065
1066The default location of the .netrc file is `$HOME` (`~`) in UNIX. On Windows, it is `%HOME%` if present, `%USERPROFILE%` (generally `C:\Users\<user name>`) or `%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%`
1067
1068# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
1069
1070The `-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.
1071
1072<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1073**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
1074<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1075
1076The 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).
1077
1078It may however also contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences may be formatted according to [Python string formatting operations](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting). For example, `%(NAME)s` or `%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations.
1079
1080The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
10811. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using `:`. Eg: `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)s`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`, `%(formats.:.format_id)s`. `%()s` refers to the entire infodict. Note that all the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
1082
10831. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
1084
10851. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. Eg: `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
1086
10871. **Alternatives**: Alternate fields can be specified separated with a `,`. Eg: `%(release_date>%Y,upload_date>%Y|Unknown)s`
1088
10891. **Replacement**: A replacement value can specified using a `&` separator. 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.
1090
10911. **Default**: A literal default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` separator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
1092
10931. **More Conversions**: In addition to the normal format types `diouxXeEfFgGcrs`, `B`, `j`, `l`, `q`, `D`, `S` can be used for converting to **B**ytes, **j**son (flag `#` for pretty-printing), a comma separated **l**ist (flag `#` for `\n` newline-separated), a string **q**uoted for the terminal (flag `#` to split a list into different arguments), to add **D**ecimal suffixes (Eg: 10M), and to **S**anitize as filename (flag `#` for restricted), respectively
1094
10951. **Unicode normalization**: The format type `U` can be used for NFC [unicode normalization](https://docs.python.org/3/library/unicodedata.html#unicodedata.normalize). The alternate form flag (`#`) changes the normalization to NFD and the conversion flag `+` can be used for NFKC/NFKD compatibility equivalence normalization. Eg: `%(title)+.100U` is NFKC
1096
1097To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
1098```
1099%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][,alternate][&replacement][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
1100```
1101
1102Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files separately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template separated by a colon `:`. The different file types supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation` (deprecated), `infojson`, `link`, `pl_thumbnail`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`. For example, `-o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" -o "thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s"` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video. If any of the templates (except default) is empty, that type of file will not be written. Eg: `--write-thumbnail -o "thumbnail:"` will write thumbnails only for playlists and not for video.
1103
1104The available fields are:
1105
1106 - `id` (string): Video identifier
1107 - `title` (string): Video title
1108 - `url` (string): Video URL
1109 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
1110 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
1111 - `description` (string): The description of the video
1112 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
1113 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
1114 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
1115 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
1116 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
1117 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
1118 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
1119 - `release_timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video was released
1120 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
1121 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
1122 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
1123 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
1124 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
1125 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH:mm:ss)
1126 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
1127 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
1128 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
1129 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
1130 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
1131 - `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)
1132 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
1133 - `live_status` (string): One of "is_live", "was_live", "is_upcoming", "not_live"
1134 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
1135 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
1136 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
1137 - `availability` (string): Whether the video is "private", "premium_only", "subscriber_only", "needs_auth", "unlisted" or "public"
1138 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
1139 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
1140 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
1141 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
1142 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
1143 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
1144 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
1145 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
1146 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1147 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1148 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
1149 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1150 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1151 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
1152 - `dynamic_range` (string): The dynamic range of the video
1153 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
1154 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
1155 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
1156 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
1157 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
1158 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
1159 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
1160 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
1161 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
1162 - `n_entries` (numeric): Total number of extracted items in the playlist
1163 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
1164 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according the final index
1165 - `playlist_autonumber` (numeric): Position of the video in the playlist download queue padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
1166 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
1167 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
1168 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
1169 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
1170 - `webpage_url` (string): A URL to the video webpage which if given to yt-dlp should allow to get the same result again
1171 - `webpage_url_basename` (string): The basename of the webpage URL
1172 - `webpage_url_domain` (string): The domain of the webpage URL
1173 - `original_url` (string): The URL given by the user (or same as `webpage_url` for playlist entries)
1174
1175Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
1176
1177 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
1178 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
1179 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
1180
1181Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
1182
1183 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
1184 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
1185 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
1186 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
1187 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
1188 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
1189 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
1190
1191Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
1192
1193 - `track` (string): Title of the track
1194 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
1195 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
1196 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
1197 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
1198 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
1199 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
1200 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
1201 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
1202 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
1203
1204Available for `chapter:` prefix when using `--split-chapters` for videos with internal chapters:
1205
1206 - `section_title` (string): Title of the chapter
1207 - `section_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter within the file
1208 - `section_start` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1209 - `section_end` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1210
1211Available only when used in `--print`:
1212
1213 - `urls` (string): The URLs of all requested formats, one in each line
1214 - `filename` (string): Name of the video file. Note that the actual filename may be different due to post-processing. Use `--exec echo` to get the name after all postprocessing is complete
1215
1216Available only in `--sponsorblock-chapter-title`:
1217
1218 - `start_time` (numeric): Start time of the chapter in seconds
1219 - `end_time` (numeric): End time of the chapter in seconds
1220 - `categories` (list): The SponsorBlock categories the chapter belongs to
1221 - `category` (string): The smallest SponsorBlock category the chapter belongs to
1222 - `category_names` (list): Friendly names of the categories
1223 - `name` (string): Friendly name of the smallest category
1224
1225Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `yt-dlp test video` and id `BaW_jenozKc`, this will result in a `yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKc.mp4` file created in the current directory.
1226
1227Note that some of the sequences are not guaranteed to be present since they depend on the metadata obtained by a particular extractor. Such sequences will be replaced with placeholder value provided with `--output-na-placeholder` (`NA` by default).
1228
1229**Tip**: Look at the `-j` output to identify which fields are available for the particular URL
1230
1231For numeric sequences you can use [numeric related formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#printf-style-string-formatting), for example, `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
1232
1233Output 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.
1234
1235To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
1236
1237The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
1238
1239In 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.
1240
1241<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1242#### Output template and Windows batch files
1243
1244If you are using an output template inside a Windows batch file then you must escape plain percent characters (`%`) by doubling, so that `-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"` should become `-o "%%(title)s-%%(id)s.%%(ext)s"`. However you should not touch `%`'s that are not plain characters, e.g. environment variables for expansion should stay intact: `-o "C:\%HOMEPATH%\Desktop\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"`.
1245<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1246
1247#### Output template examples
1248
1249```bash
1250$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "test video.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
1251test video.webm # Literal name with correct extension
1252
1253$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
1254youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭��.webm # All kinds of weird characters
1255
1256$ yt-dlp --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
1257youtube-dl_test_video_.webm # Restricted file name
1258
1259# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
1260$ yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
1261
1262# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directories according to their uploaded year
1263$ yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
1264
1265# Prefix playlist index with " - " separator, but only if it is available
1266$ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist_index|)s%(playlist_index& - |)s%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
1267
1268# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
1269$ yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists"
1270
1271# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
1272$ 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"
1273
1274# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
1275$ 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"
1276
1277# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext", subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\subs\uploader\title.ext"
1278# and put all temporary files in "C:\MyVideos\tmp"
1279$ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -P "temp:tmp" -P "subtitle:subs" -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenoz --write-subs
1280
1281# Download video as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\title.ext" and subtitles as "C:\MyVideos\uploader\subs\title.ext"
1282$ 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
1283
1284# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
1285$ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
1286```
1287
1288# FORMAT SELECTION
1289
1290By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
1291This 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`.
1292
1293**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.
1294
1295The 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.
1296
1297<!-- MANPAGE: BEGIN EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1298**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
1299<!-- MANPAGE: END EXCLUDED SECTION -->
1300
1301The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
1302
1303You 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.
1304
1305You can use `-f -` to interactively provide the format selector *for each video*
1306
1307You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
1308
1309 - `all`: Select **all formats** separately
1310 - `mergeall`: Select and **merge all formats** (Must be used with `--audio-multistreams`, `--video-multistreams` or both)
1311 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format that **contains either** a video or an audio
1312 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that **contains both** video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1313 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality **video-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
1314 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that **contains video**. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
1315 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality **audio-only** format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
1316 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that **contains audio**. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]`
1317 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format that contains either a video or an audio
1318 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
1319 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
1320 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
1321 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
1322 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
1323
1324For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recommended not to use `worst` and related options. When your format selector is `worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
1325
1326You 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.
1327
1328If 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, for example `-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.
1329
1330If 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`.
1331
1332You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg installed), for example `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg.
1333
1334**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
1335
1336Unless `--video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, unless `--audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. For example, `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --video-multistreams --audio-multistreams` will download and merge all 3 given formats. The resulting file will have 2 video streams and 2 audio streams. But `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --no-video-multistreams` will download and merge only `bestvideo` and `bestaudio`. `best` is ignored since another format containing a video stream (`bestvideo`) has already been selected. The order of the formats is therefore important. `-f best+bestaudio --no-audio-multistreams` will download and merge both formats while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
1337
1338## Filtering Formats
1339
1340You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
1341
1342The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
1343
1344 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
1345 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
1346 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
1347 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
1348 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1349 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1350 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
1351 - `fps`: Frame rate
1352
1353Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
1354
1355 - `ext`: File extension
1356 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
1357 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
1358 - `container`: Name of the container format
1359 - `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`)
1360 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
1361 - `language`: Language code
1362
1363Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain).
1364
1365Note that none of the aforementioned meta fields are guaranteed to be present since this solely depends on the metadata obtained by particular extractor, i.e. the metadata offered by the website. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
1366
1367Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a question mark (`?`) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so `-f "[height<=?720][tbr>500]"` selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s. You can also use the filters with `all` to download all formats that satisfy the filter. For example, `-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
1368
1369Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses, for example if you want to download the best pre-merged mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480 you can use `-f "(mp4,webm)[height<480]"`.
1370
1371## Sorting Formats
1372
1373You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`.
1374
1375The available fields are:
1376
1377 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1378 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
1379 - `ie_pref`: The format preference as given by the extractor
1380 - `lang`: Language preference as given by the extractor
1381 - `quality`: The quality of the format as given by the extractor
1382 - `source`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
1383 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8_native`/`m3u8` > `http_dash_segments`> `websocket_frag` > `mms`/`rtsp` > `f4f`/`f4m`)
1384 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (`av01` > `vp9.2` > `vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other)
1385 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (`flac`/`alac` > `wav`/`aiff` > `opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `eac3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other)
1386 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
1387 - `vext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is preferred.
1388 - `aext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
1389 - `ext`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
1390 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if known in advance
1391 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1392 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
1393 - `height`: Height of video
1394 - `width`: Width of video
1395 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1396 - `fps`: Framerate of video
1397 - `hdr`: The dynamic range of the video (`DV` > `HDR12` > `HDR10+` > `HDR10` > `HLG` > `SDR`)
1398 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1399 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1400 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1401 - `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
1402 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
1403
1404**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.
1405
1406All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated by a `:`. Eg: `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two preferred values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg: `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `vp9.2` > `av01` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. Eg: `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
1407
1408The fields `hasvid` and `ie_pref` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--format-sort-force`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `lang,quality,res,fps,hdr:12,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. The extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
1409
1410Note that the default has `codec: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.
1411
1412If 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`.
1413
1414**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1415
1416## Format Selection examples
1417
1418```bash
1419# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
1420# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
1421$ yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b"
1422
1423# Download best format that contains video,
1424# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
1425$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b"
1426
1427# Same as above
1428$ yt-dlp
1429
1430# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1431# For this case, an output template should be used since
1432# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
1433$ yt-dlp -f "bv,ba" -o "%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s"
1434
1435# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1436# and all audio-only formats into one file
1437$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+mergeall[vcodec=none]" --audio-multistreams
1438
1439# Download and merge the best format that has a video stream,
1440# and the best 2 audio-only formats into one file
1441$ yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba+ba.2" --audio-multistreams
1442
1443
1444# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
1445# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but (generally) better result
1446
1447# Download the worst video available (old method)
1448$ yt-dlp -f "wv*+wa/w"
1449
1450# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
1451$ yt-dlp -S "+res"
1452
1453# Download the smallest video available
1454$ yt-dlp -S "+size,+br"
1455
1456
1457
1458# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
1459$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b"
1460
1461# Download the best video with the best extension
1462# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
1463$ yt-dlp -S "ext"
1464
1465
1466
1467# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1468# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
1469$ yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w"
1470
1471# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1472# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1473$ yt-dlp -S "height:480"
1474
1475# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1476# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1477# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1478# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
1479$ yt-dlp -S "res:480"
1480
1481
1482
1483# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1484# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1485$ yt-dlp -f "b[filesize<50M] / w"
1486
1487# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1488# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1489$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M"
1490
1491# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
1492$ yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M"
1493
1494
1495
1496# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1497# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
1498$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)"
1499
1500# Download best video available via the best protocol
1501# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
1502$ yt-dlp -S "proto"
1503
1504
1505
1506# Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
1507$ yt-dlp -f "(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)"
1508
1509# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1510# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
1511$ yt-dlp -S "codec:h264"
1512
1513# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1514# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1515$ yt-dlp -S "+codec:h264"
1516
1517
1518
1519# More complex examples
1520
1521# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
1522# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1523$ yt-dlp -f "((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)"
1524
1525# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1526# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1527# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1528$ yt-dlp -S "res:720,fps"
1529
1530
1531
1532# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1533# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1534# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1535$ yt-dlp -S "+res:480,codec,br"
1536```
1537
1538# MODIFYING METADATA
1539
1540The metadata obtained by the extractors can be modified by using `--parse-metadata` and `--replace-in-metadata`
1541
1542`--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.
1543
1544The 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 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.
1545
1546Note that any field created by this can be used in the [output template](#output-template) and will also affect the media file's metadata added when using `--add-metadata`.
1547
1548This option also has a few special uses:
1549* You can download an additional URL based on the metadata of the currently downloaded video. To do this, set the field `additional_urls` to the URL that you want to download. Eg: `--parse-metadata "description:(?P<additional_urls>https?://www\.vimeo\.com/\d+)` will download the first vimeo video found in the description
1550* You can use this to change the metadata that is embedded in the media file. To do this, set the value of the corresponding field with a `meta_` prefix. For example, any value you set to `meta_description` field will be added to the `description` field in the file. For example, you can use this to set a different "description" and "synopsis". Any value set to the `meta_` field will overwrite all default values.
1551
1552For reference, these are the fields yt-dlp adds by default to the file metadata:
1553
1554Metadata fields|From
1555:---|:---
1556`title`|`track` or `title`
1557`date`|`upload_date`
1558`description`, `synopsis`|`description`
1559`purl`, `comment`|`webpage_url`
1560`track`|`track_number`
1561`artist`|`artist`, `creator`, `uploader` or `uploader_id`
1562`genre`|`genre`
1563`album`|`album`
1564`album_artist`|`album_artist`
1565`disc`|`disc_number`
1566`show`|`series`
1567`season_number`|`season_number`
1568`episode_id`|`episode` or `episode_id`
1569`episode_sort`|`episode_number`
1570`language` of each stream|From the format's `language`
1571**Note**: The file format may not support some of these fields
1572
1573
1574## Modifying metadata examples
1575
1576```bash
1577# Interpret the title as "Artist - Title"
1578$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s"
1579
1580# Regex example
1581$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+)"
1582
1583# Set title as "Series name S01E05"
1584$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "%(series)s S%(season_number)02dE%(episode_number)02d:%(title)s"
1585
1586# Set "comment" field in video metadata using description instead of webpage_url
1587$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata "description:(?s)(?P<meta_comment>.+)" --add-metadata
1588
1589# Remove "formats" field from the infojson by setting it to an empty string
1590$ yt-dlp --parse-metadata ":(?P<formats>)" -j
1591
1592# Replace all spaces and "_" in title and uploader with a `-`
1593$ yt-dlp --replace-in-metadata "title,uploader" "[ _]" "-"
1594
1595```
1596
1597# EXTRACTOR ARGUMENTS
1598
1599Some extractors accept additional arguments which can be passed using `--extractor-args KEY:ARGS`. `ARGS` is a `;` (semicolon) separated string of `ARG=VAL1,VAL2`. Eg: `--extractor-args "youtube:player-client=android_agegate,web;include_live_dash" --extractor-args "funimation:version=uncut"`
1600
1601The following extractors use this feature:
1602
1603#### youtube
1604* `skip`: `hls` or `dash` (or both) to skip download of the respective manifests
1605* `player_client`: Clients to extract video data from. The main clients are `web`, `android`, `ios`, `mweb`. These also have `_music`, `_embedded`, `_agegate`, and `_creator` variants (Eg: `web_embedded`) (`mweb` has only `_agegate`). By default, `android,web` is used, but the agegate and creator variants are added as required for age-gated videos. Similarly the music variants are added for `music.youtube.com` urls. You can also use `all` to use all the clients, and `default` for the default clients.
1606* `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
1607* `include_live_dash`: Include live dash formats even without `--live-from-start` (These formats don't download properly)
1608* `comment_sort`: `top` or `new` (default) - choose comment sorting mode (on YouTube's side)
1609* `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`.
1610 * 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.
1611* `max_comment_depth` Maximum depth for nested comments. YouTube supports depths 1 or 2 (default)
1612 * **Deprecated**: Set `max-replies` to `0` or `all` in `max_comments` instead (e.g. `max_comments=all,all,0` to get no replies)
1613
1614#### youtubetab (YouTube playlists, channels, feeds, etc.)
1615* `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)
1616
1617#### funimation
1618* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `funimation:language=english,japanese`
1619* `version`: The video version to extract - `uncut` or `simulcast`
1620
1621#### crunchyroll
1622* `language`: Languages to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:language=jaJp`
1623* `hardsub`: Which hard-sub versions to extract. Eg: `crunchyroll:hardsub=None,enUS`
1624
1625#### vikichannel
1626* `video_types`: Types of videos to download - one or more of `episodes`, `movies`, `clips`, `trailers`
1627
1628#### youtubewebarchive
1629* `check_all`: Try to check more at the cost of more requests. One or more of `thumbnails`, `captures`
1630
1631#### gamejolt
1632* `comment_sort`: `hot` (default), `you` (cookies needed), `top`, `new` - choose comment sorting mode (on GameJolt's side)
1633
1634NOTE: These options may be changed/removed in the future without concern for backward compatibility
1635
1636<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "INSTALLATION" SECTION HERE -->
1637
1638
1639# PLUGINS
1640
1641Plugins are loaded from `<root-dir>/ytdlp_plugins/<type>/__init__.py`; where `<root-dir>` is the directory of the binary (`<root-dir>/yt-dlp`), or the root directory of the module if you are running directly from source-code (`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`). Plugins are currently not supported for the `pip` version
1642
1643Plugins can be of `<type>`s `extractor` or `postprocessor`. Extractor plugins do not need to be enabled from the CLI and are automatically invoked when the input URL is suitable for it. Postprocessor plugins can be invoked using `--use-postprocessor NAME`.
1644
1645See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example plugins.
1646
1647Note 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
1648
1649If you are a plugin author, add [ytdlp-plugins](https://github.com/topics/ytdlp-plugins) as a topic to your repository for discoverability
1650
1651
1652
1653# EMBEDDING YT-DLP
1654
1655yt-dlp makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and thus should be callable from any programming language.
1656
1657Your 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.
1658
1659From a Python program, you can embed yt-dlp in a more powerful fashion, like this:
1660
1661```python
1662from yt_dlp import YoutubeDL
1663
1664ydl_opts = {'format': 'bestaudio'}
1665with YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1666 ydl.download(['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'])
1667```
1668
1669Most 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#L162).
1670
1671Here's a more complete example demonstrating various functionality:
1672
1673```python
1674import json
1675import yt_dlp
1676
1677
1678class MyLogger:
1679 def debug(self, msg):
1680 # For compatibility with youtube-dl, both debug and info are passed into debug
1681 # You can distinguish them by the prefix '[debug] '
1682 if msg.startswith('[debug] '):
1683 pass
1684 else:
1685 self.info(msg)
1686
1687 def info(self, msg):
1688 pass
1689
1690 def warning(self, msg):
1691 pass
1692
1693 def error(self, msg):
1694 print(msg)
1695
1696
1697# ℹ️ See the docstring of yt_dlp.postprocessor.common.PostProcessor
1698class MyCustomPP(yt_dlp.postprocessor.PostProcessor):
1699 # ℹ️ See docstring of yt_dlp.postprocessor.common.PostProcessor.run
1700 def run(self, info):
1701 self.to_screen('Doing stuff')
1702 return [], info
1703
1704
1705# ℹ️ See "progress_hooks" in the docstring of yt_dlp.YoutubeDL
1706def my_hook(d):
1707 if d['status'] == 'finished':
1708 print('Done downloading, now converting ...')
1709
1710
1711def format_selector(ctx):
1712 """ Select the best video and the best audio that won't result in an mkv.
1713 This is just an example and does not handle all cases """
1714
1715 # formats are already sorted worst to best
1716 formats = ctx.get('formats')[::-1]
1717
1718 # acodec='none' means there is no audio
1719 best_video = next(f for f in formats
1720 if f['vcodec'] != 'none' and f['acodec'] == 'none')
1721
1722 # find compatible audio extension
1723 audio_ext = {'mp4': 'm4a', 'webm': 'webm'}[best_video['ext']]
1724 # vcodec='none' means there is no video
1725 best_audio = next(f for f in formats if (
1726 f['acodec'] != 'none' and f['vcodec'] == 'none' and f['ext'] == audio_ext))
1727
1728 yield {
1729 # These are the minimum required fields for a merged format
1730 'format_id': f'{best_video["format_id"]}+{best_audio["format_id"]}',
1731 'ext': best_video['ext'],
1732 'requested_formats': [best_video, best_audio],
1733 # Must be + separated list of protocols
1734 'protocol': f'{best_video["protocol"]}+{best_audio["protocol"]}'
1735 }
1736
1737
1738# ℹ️ See docstring of yt_dlp.YoutubeDL for a description of the options
1739ydl_opts = {
1740 'format': format_selector,
1741 'postprocessors': [{
1742 # Embed metadata in video using ffmpeg.
1743 # ℹ️ See yt_dlp.postprocessor.FFmpegMetadataPP for the arguments it accepts
1744 'key': 'FFmpegMetadata',
1745 'add_chapters': True,
1746 'add_metadata': True,
1747 }],
1748 'logger': MyLogger(),
1749 'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
1750}
1751
1752
1753# Add custom headers
1754yt_dlp.utils.std_headers.update({'Referer': 'https://www.google.com'})
1755
1756# ℹ️ See the public functions in yt_dlp.YoutubeDL for for other available functions.
1757# Eg: "ydl.download", "ydl.download_with_info_file"
1758with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
1759 ydl.add_post_processor(MyCustomPP())
1760 info = ydl.extract_info('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc')
1761
1762 # ℹ️ ydl.sanitize_info makes the info json-serializable
1763 print(json.dumps(ydl.sanitize_info(info)))
1764```
1765
1766**Tip**: If you are porting your code from youtube-dl to yt-dlp, one important point to look out for is that we do not guarantee the return value of `YoutubeDL.extract_info` to be json serializable, or even be a dictionary. It will be dictionary-like, but if you want to ensure it is a serializable dictionary, pass it through `YoutubeDL.sanitize_info` as shown in the example above
1767
1768
1769<!-- MANPAGE: MOVE "NEW FEATURES" SECTION HERE -->
1770
1771# DEPRECATED OPTIONS
1772
1773These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
1774
1775#### Redundant options
1776While these options are redundant, they are still expected to be used due to their ease of use
1777
1778 --get-description --print description
1779 --get-duration --print duration_string
1780 --get-filename --print filename
1781 --get-format --print format
1782 --get-id --print id
1783 --get-thumbnail --print thumbnail
1784 -e, --get-title --print title
1785 -g, --get-url --print urls
1786 -j, --dump-json --print "%()j"
1787 --match-title REGEX --match-filter "title ~= (?i)REGEX"
1788 --reject-title REGEX --match-filter "title !~= (?i)REGEX"
1789 --min-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count >=? COUNT"
1790 --max-views COUNT --match-filter "view_count <=? COUNT"
1791
1792
1793#### Not recommended
1794While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
1795
1796 --all-formats -f all
1797 --all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
1798 --print-json -j --no-simulate
1799 --autonumber-size NUMBER Use string formatting. Eg: %(autonumber)03d
1800 --autonumber-start NUMBER Use internal field formatting like %(autonumber+NUMBER)s
1801 --id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1802 --metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
1803 --hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
1804 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
1805 --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
1806 --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
1807 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=dash" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
1808 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest --extractor-args "youtube:skip=hls" (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
1809 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
1810 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Default (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
1811
1812
1813#### Developer options
1814These options are not intended to be used by the end-user
1815
1816 --test Download only part of video for testing extractors
1817 --youtube-print-sig-code For testing youtube signatures
1818 --allow-unplayable-formats List unplayable formats also
1819 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Default
1820
1821
1822#### Old aliases
1823These are aliases that are no longer documented for various reasons
1824
1825 --avconv-location --ffmpeg-location
1826 --cn-verification-proxy URL --geo-verification-proxy URL
1827 --dump-headers --print-traffic
1828 --dump-intermediate-pages --dump-pages
1829 --force-write-download-archive --force-write-archive
1830 --load-info --load-info-json
1831 --no-split-tracks --no-split-chapters
1832 --no-write-srt --no-write-subs
1833 --prefer-unsecure --prefer-insecure
1834 --rate-limit RATE --limit-rate RATE
1835 --split-tracks --split-chapters
1836 --srt-lang LANGS --sub-langs LANGS
1837 --trim-file-names LENGTH --trim-filenames LENGTH
1838 --write-srt --write-subs
1839 --yes-overwrites --force-overwrites
1840
1841#### Sponskrub Options
1842Support for [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) has been deprecated in favor of the `--sponsorblock` options
1843
1844 --sponskrub --sponsorblock-mark all
1845 --no-sponskrub --no-sponsorblock
1846 --sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove all
1847 --no-sponskrub-cut --sponsorblock-remove -all
1848 --sponskrub-force Not applicable
1849 --no-sponskrub-force Not applicable
1850 --sponskrub-location Not applicable
1851 --sponskrub-args Not applicable
1852
1853#### No longer supported
1854These options may no longer work as intended
1855
1856 --prefer-avconv avconv is not officially supported by yt-dlp (Alias: --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
1857 --prefer-ffmpeg Default (Alias: --no-prefer-avconv)
1858 -C, --call-home Not implemented
1859 --no-call-home Default
1860 --include-ads No longer supported
1861 --no-include-ads Default
1862 --write-annotations No supported site has annotations now
1863 --no-write-annotations Default
1864
1865#### Removed
1866These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
1867
1868 -A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1869 -t, --title -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
1870 -l, --literal -o accepts literal names
1871
1872# CONTRIBUTING
1873See [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)
1874
1875# MORE
1876For FAQ see the [youtube-dl README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)
1877
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