1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
|
.TH "YOUTUBE\-DL" "1" "" "" ""
.SH NAME
.PP
youtube\-dl \- download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
.SH SYNOPSIS
.PP
\f[B]youtube\-dl\f[] [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
\f[B]youtube\-dl\f[] is a small command\-line program to download videos
from YouTube.com and a few more sites.
It requires the Python interpreter, version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+, and it is
not platform specific.
It should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on Mac OS X.
It is released to the public domain, which means you can modify it,
redistribute it or use it however you like.
.SH OPTIONS
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-h,\ \-\-help\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Print\ this\ help\ text\ and\ exit
\-\-version\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Print\ program\ version\ and\ exit
\-U,\ \-\-update\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Update\ this\ program\ to\ latest\ version.\ Make\ sure\ that\ you\ have\ sufficient\ permissions\ (run\ with\ sudo\ if\ needed)
\-i,\ \-\-ignore\-errors\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Continue\ on\ download\ errors,\ for\ example\ to\ skip\ unavailable\ videos\ in\ a\ playlist
\-\-abort\-on\-error\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Abort\ downloading\ of\ further\ videos\ (in\ the\ playlist\ or\ the\ command\ line)\ if\ an\ error\ occurs
\-\-dump\-user\-agent\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Display\ the\ current\ browser\ identification
\-\-list\-extractors\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ List\ all\ supported\ extractors
\-\-extractor\-descriptions\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Output\ descriptions\ of\ all\ supported\ extractors
\-\-default\-search\ PREFIX\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ this\ prefix\ for\ unqualified\ URLs.\ For\ example\ "gvsearch2:"\ downloads\ two\ videos\ from\ google\ videos\ for\ youtube\-dl\ "large\ apple".
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ the\ value\ "auto"\ to\ let\ youtube\-dl\ guess\ ("auto_warning"\ to\ emit\ a\ warning\ when\ guessing).\ "error"\ just\ throws\ an\ error.\ The
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ default\ value\ "fixup_error"\ repairs\ broken\ URLs,\ but\ emits\ an\ error\ if\ this\ is\ not\ possible\ instead\ of\ searching.
\-\-ignore\-config\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ read\ configuration\ files.\ When\ given\ in\ the\ global\ configuration\ file\ /etc/youtube\-dl.conf:\ Do\ not\ read\ the\ user\ configuration
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ in\ ~/.config/youtube\-dl/config\ (%APPDATA%/youtube\-dl/config.txt\ on\ Windows)
\-\-flat\-playlist\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ extract\ the\ videos\ of\ a\ playlist,\ only\ list\ them.
\-\-no\-color\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ emit\ color\ codes\ in\ output
\f[]
.fi
.SS Network Options:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-\-proxy\ URL\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ the\ specified\ HTTP/HTTPS\ proxy.\ Pass\ in\ an\ empty\ string\ (\-\-proxy\ "")\ for\ direct\ connection
\-\-socket\-timeout\ SECONDS\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Time\ to\ wait\ before\ giving\ up,\ in\ seconds
\-\-source\-address\ IP\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Client\-side\ IP\ address\ to\ bind\ to\ (experimental)
\-4,\ \-\-force\-ipv4\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Make\ all\ connections\ via\ IPv4\ (experimental)
\-6,\ \-\-force\-ipv6\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Make\ all\ connections\ via\ IPv6\ (experimental)
\-\-cn\-verification\-proxy\ URL\ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ this\ proxy\ to\ verify\ the\ IP\ address\ for\ some\ Chinese\ sites.\ The\ default\ proxy\ specified\ by\ \-\-proxy\ (or\ none,\ if\ the\ options\ is
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ not\ present)\ is\ used\ for\ the\ actual\ downloading.\ (experimental)
\f[]
.fi
.SS Video Selection:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-\-playlist\-start\ NUMBER\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Playlist\ video\ to\ start\ at\ (default\ is\ 1)
\-\-playlist\-end\ NUMBER\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Playlist\ video\ to\ end\ at\ (default\ is\ last)
\-\-playlist\-items\ ITEM_SPEC\ \ \ \ \ \ \ Playlist\ video\ items\ to\ download.\ Specify\ indices\ of\ the\ videos\ in\ the\ playlist\ seperated\ by\ commas\ like:\ "\-\-playlist\-items\ 1,2,5,8"
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ if\ you\ want\ to\ download\ videos\ indexed\ 1,\ 2,\ 5,\ 8\ in\ the\ playlist.\ You\ can\ specify\ range:\ "\-\-playlist\-items\ 1\-3,7,10\-13",\ it\ will
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ download\ the\ videos\ at\ index\ 1,\ 2,\ 3,\ 7,\ 10,\ 11,\ 12\ and\ 13.
\-\-match\-title\ REGEX\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ only\ matching\ titles\ (regex\ or\ caseless\ sub\-string)
\-\-reject\-title\ REGEX\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Skip\ download\ for\ matching\ titles\ (regex\ or\ caseless\ sub\-string)
\-\-max\-downloads\ NUMBER\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Abort\ after\ downloading\ NUMBER\ files
\-\-min\-filesize\ SIZE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ any\ videos\ smaller\ than\ SIZE\ (e.g.\ 50k\ or\ 44.6m)
\-\-max\-filesize\ SIZE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ any\ videos\ larger\ than\ SIZE\ (e.g.\ 50k\ or\ 44.6m)
\-\-date\ DATE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ only\ videos\ uploaded\ in\ this\ date
\-\-datebefore\ DATE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ only\ videos\ uploaded\ on\ or\ before\ this\ date\ (i.e.\ inclusive)
\-\-dateafter\ DATE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ only\ videos\ uploaded\ on\ or\ after\ this\ date\ (i.e.\ inclusive)
\-\-min\-views\ COUNT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ any\ videos\ with\ less\ than\ COUNT\ views
\-\-max\-views\ COUNT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ any\ videos\ with\ more\ than\ COUNT\ views
\-\-match\-filter\ FILTER\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Generic\ video\ filter\ (experimental).\ Specify\ any\ key\ (see\ help\ for\ \-o\ for\ a\ list\ of\ available\ keys)\ to\ match\ if\ the\ key\ is\ present,
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ !key\ to\ check\ if\ the\ key\ is\ not\ present,key\ >\ NUMBER\ (like\ "comment_count\ >\ 12",\ also\ works\ with\ >=,\ <,\ <=,\ !=,\ =)\ to\ compare\ against
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ a\ number,\ and\ &\ to\ require\ multiple\ matches.\ Values\ which\ are\ not\ known\ are\ excluded\ unless\ you\ put\ a\ question\ mark\ (?)\ after\ the
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ operator.For\ example,\ to\ only\ match\ videos\ that\ have\ been\ liked\ more\ than\ 100\ times\ and\ disliked\ less\ than\ 50\ times\ (or\ the\ dislike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ functionality\ is\ not\ available\ at\ the\ given\ service),\ but\ who\ also\ have\ a\ description,\ use\ \ \-\-match\-filter\ "like_count\ >\ 100\ &
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ dislike_count\ <?\ 50\ &\ description"\ .
\-\-no\-playlist\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ only\ the\ video,\ if\ the\ URL\ refers\ to\ a\ video\ and\ a\ playlist.
\-\-yes\-playlist\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ the\ playlist,\ if\ the\ URL\ refers\ to\ a\ video\ and\ a\ playlist.
\-\-age\-limit\ YEARS\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ only\ videos\ suitable\ for\ the\ given\ age
\-\-download\-archive\ FILE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ only\ videos\ not\ listed\ in\ the\ archive\ file.\ Record\ the\ IDs\ of\ all\ downloaded\ videos\ in\ it.
\-\-include\-ads\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ advertisements\ as\ well\ (experimental)
\f[]
.fi
.SS Download Options:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-r,\ \-\-rate\-limit\ LIMIT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Maximum\ download\ rate\ in\ bytes\ per\ second\ (e.g.\ 50K\ or\ 4.2M)
\-R,\ \-\-retries\ RETRIES\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Number\ of\ retries\ (default\ is\ 10),\ or\ "infinite".
\-\-buffer\-size\ SIZE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Size\ of\ download\ buffer\ (e.g.\ 1024\ or\ 16K)\ (default\ is\ 1024)
\-\-no\-resize\-buffer\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ automatically\ adjust\ the\ buffer\ size.\ By\ default,\ the\ buffer\ size\ is\ automatically\ resized\ from\ an\ initial\ value\ of\ SIZE.
\-\-playlist\-reverse\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ playlist\ videos\ in\ reverse\ order
\-\-xattr\-set\-filesize\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Set\ file\ xattribute\ ytdl.filesize\ with\ expected\ filesize\ (experimental)
\-\-hls\-prefer\-native\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ the\ native\ HLS\ downloader\ instead\ of\ ffmpeg\ (experimental)
\-\-external\-downloader\ COMMAND\ \ \ \ Use\ the\ specified\ external\ downloader.\ Currently\ supports\ aria2c,curl,wget
\-\-external\-downloader\-args\ ARGS\ \ Give\ these\ arguments\ to\ the\ external\ downloader
\f[]
.fi
.SS Filesystem Options:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-a,\ \-\-batch\-file\ FILE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ File\ containing\ URLs\ to\ download\ (\[aq]\-\[aq]\ for\ stdin)
\-\-id\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ only\ video\ ID\ in\ file\ name
\-o,\ \-\-output\ TEMPLATE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Output\ filename\ template.\ Use\ %(title)s\ to\ get\ the\ title,\ %(uploader)s\ for\ the\ uploader\ name,\ %(uploader_id)s\ for\ the\ uploader
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ nickname\ if\ different,\ %(autonumber)s\ to\ get\ an\ automatically\ incremented\ number,\ %(ext)s\ for\ the\ filename\ extension,\ %(format)s\ for
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ the\ format\ description\ (like\ "22\ \-\ 1280x720"\ or\ "HD"),\ %(format_id)s\ for\ the\ unique\ id\ of\ the\ format\ (like\ YouTube\[aq]s\ itags:\ "137"),
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ %(upload_date)s\ for\ the\ upload\ date\ (YYYYMMDD),\ %(extractor)s\ for\ the\ provider\ (youtube,\ metacafe,\ etc),\ %(id)s\ for\ the\ video\ id,
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ %(playlist_title)s,\ %(playlist_id)s,\ or\ %(playlist)s\ (=title\ if\ present,\ ID\ otherwise)\ for\ the\ playlist\ the\ video\ is\ in,
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ %(playlist_index)s\ for\ the\ position\ in\ the\ playlist.\ %(height)s\ and\ %(width)s\ for\ the\ width\ and\ height\ of\ the\ video\ format.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ %(resolution)s\ for\ a\ textual\ description\ of\ the\ resolution\ of\ the\ video\ format.\ %%\ for\ a\ literal\ percent.\ Use\ \-\ to\ output\ to\ stdout.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Can\ also\ be\ used\ to\ download\ to\ a\ different\ directory,\ for\ example\ with\ \-o\ \[aq]/my/downloads/%(uploader)s/%(title)s\-%(id)s.%(ext)s\[aq]\ .
\-\-autonumber\-size\ NUMBER\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Specify\ the\ number\ of\ digits\ in\ %(autonumber)s\ when\ it\ is\ present\ in\ output\ filename\ template\ or\ \-\-auto\-number\ option\ is\ given
\-\-restrict\-filenames\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Restrict\ filenames\ to\ only\ ASCII\ characters,\ and\ avoid\ "&"\ and\ spaces\ in\ filenames
\-A,\ \-\-auto\-number\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ [deprecated;\ use\ \ \-o\ "%(autonumber)s\-%(title)s.%(ext)s"\ ]\ Number\ downloaded\ files\ starting\ from\ 00000
\-t,\ \-\-title\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ [deprecated]\ Use\ title\ in\ file\ name\ (default)
\-l,\ \-\-literal\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ [deprecated]\ Alias\ of\ \-\-title
\-w,\ \-\-no\-overwrites\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ overwrite\ files
\-c,\ \-\-continue\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Force\ resume\ of\ partially\ downloaded\ files.\ By\ default,\ youtube\-dl\ will\ resume\ downloads\ if\ possible.
\-\-no\-continue\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ resume\ partially\ downloaded\ files\ (restart\ from\ beginning)
\-\-no\-part\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ use\ .part\ files\ \-\ write\ directly\ into\ output\ file
\-\-no\-mtime\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ use\ the\ Last\-modified\ header\ to\ set\ the\ file\ modification\ time
\-\-write\-description\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ video\ description\ to\ a\ .description\ file
\-\-write\-info\-json\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ video\ metadata\ to\ a\ .info.json\ file
\-\-write\-annotations\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ video\ annotations\ to\ a\ .annotations.xml\ file
\-\-load\-info\ FILE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ JSON\ file\ containing\ the\ video\ information\ (created\ with\ the\ "\-\-write\-info\-json"\ option)
\-\-cookies\ FILE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ File\ to\ read\ cookies\ from\ and\ dump\ cookie\ jar\ in
\-\-cache\-dir\ DIR\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Location\ in\ the\ filesystem\ where\ youtube\-dl\ can\ store\ some\ downloaded\ information\ permanently.\ By\ default\ $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube\-dl
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ or\ ~/.cache/youtube\-dl\ .\ At\ the\ moment,\ only\ YouTube\ player\ files\ (for\ videos\ with\ obfuscated\ signatures)\ are\ cached,\ but\ that\ may
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ change.
\-\-no\-cache\-dir\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Disable\ filesystem\ caching
\-\-rm\-cache\-dir\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Delete\ all\ filesystem\ cache\ files
\f[]
.fi
.SS Thumbnail images:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-\-write\-thumbnail\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ thumbnail\ image\ to\ disk
\-\-write\-all\-thumbnails\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ all\ thumbnail\ image\ formats\ to\ disk
\-\-list\-thumbnails\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate\ and\ list\ all\ available\ thumbnail\ formats
\f[]
.fi
.SS Verbosity / Simulation Options:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-q,\ \-\-quiet\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Activate\ quiet\ mode
\-\-no\-warnings\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Ignore\ warnings
\-s,\ \-\-simulate\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ the\ video\ and\ do\ not\ write\ anything\ to\ disk
\-\-skip\-download\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ the\ video
\-g,\ \-\-get\-url\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ URL
\-e,\ \-\-get\-title\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ title
\-\-get\-id\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ id
\-\-get\-thumbnail\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ thumbnail\ URL
\-\-get\-description\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ video\ description
\-\-get\-duration\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ video\ length
\-\-get\-filename\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ output\ filename
\-\-get\-format\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ output\ format
\-j,\ \-\-dump\-json\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ JSON\ information.\ See\ \-\-output\ for\ a\ description\ of\ available\ keys.
\-J,\ \-\-dump\-single\-json\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ JSON\ information\ for\ each\ command\-line\ argument.\ If\ the\ URL\ refers\ to\ a\ playlist,\ dump\ the\ whole\ playlist
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ information\ in\ a\ single\ line.
\-\-print\-json\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Be\ quiet\ and\ print\ the\ video\ information\ as\ JSON\ (video\ is\ still\ being\ downloaded).
\-\-newline\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Output\ progress\ bar\ as\ new\ lines
\-\-no\-progress\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ print\ progress\ bar
\-\-console\-title\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Display\ progress\ in\ console\ titlebar
\-v,\ \-\-verbose\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Print\ various\ debugging\ information
\-\-dump\-pages\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Print\ downloaded\ pages\ encoded\ using\ base64\ to\ debug\ problems\ (very\ verbose)
\-\-write\-pages\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ downloaded\ intermediary\ pages\ to\ files\ in\ the\ current\ directory\ to\ debug\ problems
\-\-print\-traffic\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Display\ sent\ and\ read\ HTTP\ traffic
\-C,\ \-\-call\-home\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Contact\ the\ youtube\-dl\ server\ for\ debugging
\-\-no\-call\-home\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ NOT\ contact\ the\ youtube\-dl\ server\ for\ debugging
\f[]
.fi
.SS Workarounds:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-\-encoding\ ENCODING\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Force\ the\ specified\ encoding\ (experimental)
\-\-no\-check\-certificate\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Suppress\ HTTPS\ certificate\ validation
\-\-prefer\-insecure\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ an\ unencrypted\ connection\ to\ retrieve\ information\ about\ the\ video.\ (Currently\ supported\ only\ for\ YouTube)
\-\-user\-agent\ UA\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Specify\ a\ custom\ user\ agent
\-\-referer\ URL\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Specify\ a\ custom\ referer,\ use\ if\ the\ video\ access\ is\ restricted\ to\ one\ domain
\-\-add\-header\ FIELD:VALUE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Specify\ a\ custom\ HTTP\ header\ and\ its\ value,\ separated\ by\ a\ colon\ \[aq]:\[aq].\ You\ can\ use\ this\ option\ multiple\ times
\-\-bidi\-workaround\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Work\ around\ terminals\ that\ lack\ bidirectional\ text\ support.\ Requires\ bidiv\ or\ fribidi\ executable\ in\ PATH
\-\-sleep\-interval\ SECONDS\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Number\ of\ seconds\ to\ sleep\ before\ each\ download.
\f[]
.fi
.SS Video Format Options:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-f,\ \-\-format\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Video\ format\ code,\ see\ the\ "FORMAT\ SELECTION"\ for\ all\ the\ info
\-\-all\-formats\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ all\ available\ video\ formats
\-\-prefer\-free\-formats\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Prefer\ free\ video\ formats\ unless\ a\ specific\ one\ is\ requested
\-F,\ \-\-list\-formats\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ List\ all\ available\ formats
\-\-youtube\-skip\-dash\-manifest\ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ the\ DASH\ manifest\ on\ YouTube\ videos
\-\-merge\-output\-format\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ If\ a\ merge\ is\ required\ (e.g.\ bestvideo+bestaudio),\ output\ to\ given\ container\ format.\ One\ of\ mkv,\ mp4,\ ogg,\ webm,\ flv.Ignored\ if\ no
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ merge\ is\ required
\f[]
.fi
.SS Subtitle Options:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-\-write\-sub\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ subtitle\ file
\-\-write\-auto\-sub\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ automatic\ subtitle\ file\ (YouTube\ only)
\-\-all\-subs\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Download\ all\ the\ available\ subtitles\ of\ the\ video
\-\-list\-subs\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ List\ all\ available\ subtitles\ for\ the\ video
\-\-sub\-format\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Subtitle\ format,\ accepts\ formats\ preference,\ for\ example:\ "srt"\ or\ "ass/srt/best"
\-\-sub\-lang\ LANGS\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Languages\ of\ the\ subtitles\ to\ download\ (optional)\ separated\ by\ commas,\ use\ IETF\ language\ tags\ like\ \[aq]en,pt\[aq]
\f[]
.fi
.SS Authentication Options:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-u,\ \-\-username\ USERNAME\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Login\ with\ this\ account\ ID
\-p,\ \-\-password\ PASSWORD\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Account\ password.\ If\ this\ option\ is\ left\ out,\ youtube\-dl\ will\ ask\ interactively.
\-2,\ \-\-twofactor\ TWOFACTOR\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Two\-factor\ auth\ code
\-n,\ \-\-netrc\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ .netrc\ authentication\ data
\-\-video\-password\ PASSWORD\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Video\ password\ (vimeo,\ smotri)
\f[]
.fi
.SS Post\-processing Options:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
\-x,\ \-\-extract\-audio\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Convert\ video\ files\ to\ audio\-only\ files\ (requires\ ffmpeg\ or\ avconv\ and\ ffprobe\ or\ avprobe)
\-\-audio\-format\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Specify\ audio\ format:\ "best",\ "aac",\ "vorbis",\ "mp3",\ "m4a",\ "opus",\ or\ "wav";\ "best"\ by\ default
\-\-audio\-quality\ QUALITY\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Specify\ ffmpeg/avconv\ audio\ quality,\ insert\ a\ value\ between\ 0\ (better)\ and\ 9\ (worse)\ for\ VBR\ or\ a\ specific\ bitrate\ like\ 128K\ (default
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 5)
\-\-recode\-video\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Encode\ the\ video\ to\ another\ format\ if\ necessary\ (currently\ supported:\ mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv)
\-k,\ \-\-keep\-video\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Keep\ the\ video\ file\ on\ disk\ after\ the\ post\-processing;\ the\ video\ is\ erased\ by\ default
\-\-no\-post\-overwrites\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ overwrite\ post\-processed\ files;\ the\ post\-processed\ files\ are\ overwritten\ by\ default
\-\-embed\-subs\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Embed\ subtitles\ in\ the\ video\ (only\ for\ mkv\ and\ mp4\ videos)
\-\-embed\-thumbnail\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Embed\ thumbnail\ in\ the\ audio\ as\ cover\ art
\-\-add\-metadata\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ metadata\ to\ the\ video\ file
\-\-metadata\-from\-title\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ Parse\ additional\ metadata\ like\ song\ title\ /\ artist\ from\ the\ video\ title.\ The\ format\ syntax\ is\ the\ same\ as\ \-\-output,\ the\ parsed
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ parameters\ replace\ existing\ values.\ Additional\ templates:\ %(album)s,\ %(artist)s.\ Example:\ \-\-metadata\-from\-title\ "%(artist)s\ \-
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ %(title)s"\ matches\ a\ title\ like\ "Coldplay\ \-\ Paradise"
\-\-xattrs\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Write\ metadata\ to\ the\ video\ file\[aq]s\ xattrs\ (using\ dublin\ core\ and\ xdg\ standards)
\-\-fixup\ POLICY\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Automatically\ correct\ known\ faults\ of\ the\ file.\ One\ of\ never\ (do\ nothing),\ warn\ (only\ emit\ a\ warning),\ detect_or_warn\ (the\ default;
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ fix\ file\ if\ we\ can,\ warn\ otherwise)
\-\-prefer\-avconv\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Prefer\ avconv\ over\ ffmpeg\ for\ running\ the\ postprocessors\ (default)
\-\-prefer\-ffmpeg\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Prefer\ ffmpeg\ over\ avconv\ for\ running\ the\ postprocessors
\-\-ffmpeg\-location\ PATH\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Location\ of\ the\ ffmpeg/avconv\ binary;\ either\ the\ path\ to\ the\ binary\ or\ its\ containing\ directory.
\-\-exec\ CMD\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Execute\ a\ command\ on\ the\ file\ after\ downloading,\ similar\ to\ find\[aq]s\ \-exec\ syntax.\ Example:\ \-\-exec\ \[aq]adb\ push\ {}\ /sdcard/Music/\ &&\ rm
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ {}\[aq]
\-\-convert\-subtitles\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ Convert\ the\ subtitles\ to\ other\ format\ (currently\ supported:\ srt|ass|vtt)
\f[]
.fi
.SH CONFIGURATION
.PP
You can configure youtube\-dl by placing default arguments (such as
\f[C]\-\-extract\-audio\ \-\-no\-mtime\f[] to always extract the audio
and not copy the mtime) into \f[C]/etc/youtube\-dl.conf\f[] and/or
\f[C]~/.config/youtube\-dl/config\f[].
On Windows, the configuration file locations are
\f[C]%APPDATA%\\youtube\-dl\\config.txt\f[] and
\f[C]C:\\Users\\<user\ name>\\youtube\-dl.conf\f[].
.SH OUTPUT TEMPLATE
.PP
The \f[C]\-o\f[] option allows users to indicate a template for the
output file names.
The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when downloading a
single file, like in
\f[C]youtube\-dl\ \-o\ funny_video.flv\ "http://some/video"\f[].
However, it may contain special sequences that will be replaced when
downloading each video.
The special sequences have the format \f[C]%(NAME)s\f[].
To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parenthesis,
followed by a lowercase S.
Allowed names are:
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]id\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the video identifier.
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]url\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the video URL.
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]uploader\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the nickname of the
person who uploaded the video.
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]upload_date\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the upload date
in YYYYMMDD format.
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]title\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the video title.
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]ext\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the appropriate extension
(like flv or mp4).
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]epoch\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the Unix epoch when
creating the file.
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]autonumber\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by a five\-digit
number that will be increased with each download, starting at zero.
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]playlist\f[]: The name or the id of the playlist that contains the
video.
.IP \[bu] 2
\f[C]playlist_index\f[]: The index of the video in the playlist, a
five\-digit number.
.PP
The current default template is \f[C]%(title)s\-%(id)s.%(ext)s\f[].
.PP
In some cases, you don\[aq]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 \f[C]\-\-restrict\-filenames\f[] flag to get a
shorter title:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-get\-filename\ \-o\ "%(title)s.%(ext)s"\ BaW_jenozKc
youtube\-dl\ test\ video\ \[aq]\[aq]_ä↭𝕐.mp4\ \ \ \ #\ All\ kinds\ of\ weird\ characters
$\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-get\-filename\ \-o\ "%(title)s.%(ext)s"\ BaW_jenozKc\ \-\-restrict\-filenames
youtube\-dl_test_video_.mp4\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ A\ simple\ file\ name
\f[]
.fi
.SH FORMAT SELECTION
.PP
By default youtube\-dl tries to download the best quality, but sometimes
you may want to download other format.
The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example
\f[C]\-f\ 22\f[].
You can get the list of available formats using
\f[C]\-\-list\-formats\f[], you can also use a file extension (currently
it supports aac, m4a, mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, webm) or the special names
\f[C]best\f[], \f[C]bestvideo\f[], \f[C]bestaudio\f[] and
\f[C]worst\f[].
.PP
If you want to download multiple videos and they don\[aq]t have the same
formats available, you can specify the order of preference using
slashes, as in \f[C]\-f\ 22/17/18\f[].
You can also filter the video results by putting a condition in
brackets, as in \f[C]\-f\ "best[height=720]"\f[] (or
\f[C]\-f\ "[filesize>10M]"\f[]).
This works for filesize, height, width, tbr, abr, vbr, asr, and fps and
the comparisons <, <=, >, >=, =, != and for ext, acodec, vcodec,
container, and protocol and the comparisons =, != .
Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a
question mark (?) after the operator.
You can combine format filters, so
\f[C]\-f\ "[height\ <=?\ 720][tbr>500]"\f[] selects up to 720p videos
(or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500
KBit/s.
Use commas to download multiple formats, such as
\f[C]\-f\ 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio\f[].
You can merge the video and audio of two formats into a single file
using \f[C]\-f\ <video\-format>+<audio\-format>\f[] (requires ffmpeg or
avconv), for example \f[C]\-f\ bestvideo+bestaudio\f[].
.PP
Since the end of April 2015 and version 2015.04.26 youtube\-dl uses
\f[C]\-f\ bestvideo+bestaudio/best\f[] as default format selection (see
#5447, #5456).
If ffmpeg or avconv are installed this results in downloading
\f[C]bestvideo\f[] and \f[C]bestaudio\f[] separately and muxing them
together into a single file giving the best overall quality available.
Otherwise it falls back to \f[C]best\f[] and results in downloading best
available quality served as a single file.
\f[C]best\f[] is also needed for videos that don\[aq]t come from YouTube
because they don\[aq]t provide the audio and video in two different
files.
If you want to only download some dash formats (for example if you are
not interested in getting videos with a resolution higher than 1080p),
you can add \f[C]\-f\ bestvideo[height<=?1080]+bestaudio/best\f[] to
your configuration file.
Note that if you use youtube\-dl to stream to \f[C]stdout\f[] (and most
likely to pipe it to your media player then), i.e.
you explicitly specify output template as \f[C]\-o\ \-\f[], youtube\-dl
still uses \f[C]\-f\ best\f[] format selection in order to start content
delivery immediately to your player and not to wait until
\f[C]bestvideo\f[] and \f[C]bestaudio\f[] are downloaded and muxed.
.PP
If you want to preserve the old format selection behavior (prior to
youtube\-dl 2015.04.26), i.e.
you want to download best available quality media served as a single
file, you should explicitly specify your choice with \f[C]\-f\ best\f[].
You may want to add it to the configuration file (#configuration) in
order not to type it every time you run youtube\-dl.
.SH VIDEO SELECTION
.PP
Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the options
\f[C]\-\-date\f[], \f[C]\-\-datebefore\f[] or \f[C]\-\-dateafter\f[],
they accept dates in two formats:
.IP \[bu] 2
Absolute dates: Dates in the format \f[C]YYYYMMDD\f[].
.IP \[bu] 2
Relative dates: Dates in the format
\f[C](now|today)[+\-][0\-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?\f[]
.PP
Examples:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ Download\ only\ the\ videos\ uploaded\ in\ the\ last\ 6\ months
$\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-dateafter\ now\-6months
#\ Download\ only\ the\ videos\ uploaded\ on\ January\ 1,\ 1970
$\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-date\ 19700101
$\ #\ will\ only\ download\ the\ videos\ uploaded\ in\ the\ 200x\ decade
$\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-dateafter\ 20000101\ \-\-datebefore\ 20091231
\f[]
.fi
.SH FAQ
.SS How do I update youtube\-dl?
.PP
If you\[aq]ve followed our manual installation
instructions (http://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html), you can
simply run \f[C]youtube\-dl\ \-U\f[] (or, on Linux,
\f[C]sudo\ youtube\-dl\ \-U\f[]).
.PP
If you have used pip, a simple
\f[C]sudo\ pip\ install\ \-U\ youtube\-dl\f[] is sufficient to update.
.PP
If you have installed youtube\-dl using a package manager like
\f[I]apt\-get\f[] or \f[I]yum\f[], use the standard system update
mechanism to update.
Note that distribution packages are often outdated.
As a rule of thumb, youtube\-dl releases at least once a month, and
often weekly or even daily.
Simply go to http://yt\-dl.org/ to find out the current version.
Unfortunately, there is nothing we youtube\-dl developers can do if your
distributions serves a really outdated version.
You can (and should) complain to your distribution in their bugtracker
or support forum.
.PP
As a last resort, you can also uninstall the version installed by your
package manager and follow our manual installation instructions.
For that, remove the distribution\[aq]s package, with a line like
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
sudo\ apt\-get\ remove\ \-y\ youtube\-dl
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Afterwards, simply follow our manual installation
instructions (http://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html):
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
sudo\ wget\ https://yt\-dl.org/latest/youtube\-dl\ \-O\ /usr/local/bin/youtube\-dl
sudo\ chmod\ a+x\ /usr/local/bin/youtube\-dl
hash\ \-r
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Again, from then on you\[aq]ll be able to update with
\f[C]sudo\ youtube\-dl\ \-U\f[].
.SS I\[aq]m getting an error
\f[C]Unable\ to\ extract\ OpenGraph\ title\f[] on YouTube playlists
.PP
YouTube changed their playlist format in March 2014 and later on, so
you\[aq]ll need at least youtube\-dl 2014.07.25 to download all YouTube
videos.
.PP
If you have installed youtube\-dl with a package manager, pip, setup.py
or a tarball, please use that to update.
Note that Ubuntu packages do not seem to get updated anymore.
Since we are not affiliated with Ubuntu, there is little we can do.
Feel free to report
bugs (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/youtube-dl/+filebug) to
the Ubuntu packaging
guys (mailto:ubuntu-motu@lists.ubuntu.com?subject=outdated%20version%20of%20youtube-dl)
\- all they have to do is update the package to a somewhat recent
version.
See above for a way to update.
.SS Do I always have to pass \f[C]\-citw\f[]?
.PP
By default, youtube\-dl intends to have the best options (incidentally,
if you have a convincing case that these should be different, please
file an issue where you explain that (https://yt-dl.org/bug)).
Therefore, it is unnecessary and sometimes harmful to copy long option
strings from webpages.
In particular, the only option out of \f[C]\-citw\f[] that is regularly
useful is \f[C]\-i\f[].
.SS Can you please put the \-b option back?
.PP
Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube\-dl now
defaults to downloading the highest available quality as reported by
YouTube, which will be 1080p or 720p in some cases, so you no longer
need the \f[C]\-b\f[] option.
For some specific videos, maybe YouTube does not report them to be
available in a specific high quality format you\[aq]re interested in.
In that case, simply request it with the \f[C]\-f\f[] option and
youtube\-dl will try to download it.
.SS I get HTTP error 402 when trying to download a video. What\[aq]s
this?
.PP
Apparently YouTube requires you to pass a CAPTCHA test if you download
too much.
We\[aq]re considering to provide a way to let you solve the
CAPTCHA (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/154), but at the
moment, your best course of action is pointing a webbrowser to the
youtube URL, solving the CAPTCHA, and restart youtube\-dl.
.SS I have downloaded a video but how can I play it?
.PP
Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such as
vlc (http://www.videolan.org) or mplayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/).
.SS I extracted a video URL with \-g, but it does not play on another
machine / in my webbrowser.
.PP
It depends a lot on the service.
In many cases, requests for the video (to download/play it) must come
from the same IP address and with the same cookies.
Use the \f[C]\-\-cookies\f[] option to write the required cookies into a
file, and advise your downloader to read cookies from that file.
Some sites also require a common user agent to be used, use
\f[C]\-\-dump\-user\-agent\f[] to see the one in use by youtube\-dl.
.PP
It may be beneficial to use IPv6; in some cases, the restrictions are
only applied to IPv4.
Some services (sometimes only for a subset of videos) do not restrict
the video URL by IP address, cookie, or user\-agent, but these are the
exception rather than the rule.
.PP
Please bear in mind that some URL protocols are \f[B]not\f[] supported
by browsers out of the box, including RTMP.
If you are using \-g, your own downloader must support these as well.
.PP
If you want to play the video on a machine that is not running
youtube\-dl, you can relay the video content from the machine that runs
youtube\-dl.
You can use \f[C]\-o\ \-\f[] to let youtube\-dl stream a video to
stdout, or simply allow the player to download the files written by
youtube\-dl in turn.
.SS ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info
.PP
YouTube has switched to a new video info format in July 2011 which is
not supported by old versions of youtube\-dl.
See above (#how-do-i-update-youtube-dl) for how to update youtube\-dl.
.SS ERROR: unable to download video
.PP
YouTube requires an additional signature since September 2012 which is
not supported by old versions of youtube\-dl.
See above (#how-do-i-update-youtube-dl) for how to update youtube\-dl.
.SS Video URL contains an ampersand and I\[aq]m getting some strange
output \f[C][1]\ 2839\f[] or
\f[C]\[aq]v\[aq]\ is\ not\ recognized\ as\ an\ internal\ or\ external\ command\f[]
.PP
That\[aq]s actually the output from your shell.
Since ampersand is one of the special shell characters it\[aq]s
interpreted by shell preventing you from passing the whole URL to
youtube\-dl.
To disable your shell from interpreting the ampersands (or any other
special characters) you have to either put the whole URL in quotes or
escape them with a backslash (which approach will work depends on your
shell).
.PP
For example if your URL is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=4&v=BaW_jenozKc you should end up with
following command:
.PP
\f[C]youtube\-dl\ \[aq]https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=4&v=BaW_jenozKc\[aq]\f[]
.PP
or
.PP
\f[C]youtube\-dl\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=4\\&v=BaW_jenozKc\f[]
.PP
For Windows you have to use the double quotes:
.PP
\f[C]youtube\-dl\ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=4&v=BaW_jenozKc"\f[]
.SS ExtractorError: Could not find JS function u\[aq]OF\[aq]
.PP
In February 2015, the new YouTube player contained a character sequence
in a string that was misinterpreted by old versions of youtube\-dl.
See above (#how-do-i-update-youtube-dl) for how to update youtube\-dl.
.SS HTTP Error 429: Too Many Requests or 402: Payment Required
.PP
These two error codes indicate that the service is blocking your IP
address because of overuse.
Contact the service and ask them to unblock your IP address, or \- if
you have acquired a whitelisted IP address already \- use the
\f[C]\-\-proxy\f[] or \f[C]\-\-network\-address\f[]
options (#network-options) to select another IP address.
.SS SyntaxError: Non\-ASCII character
.PP
The error
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
File\ "youtube\-dl",\ line\ 2
SyntaxError:\ Non\-ASCII\ character\ \[aq]\\x93\[aq]\ ...
\f[]
.fi
.PP
means you\[aq]re using an outdated version of Python.
Please update to Python 2.6 or 2.7.
.SS What is this binary file? Where has the code gone?
.PP
Since June 2012 (#342) youtube\-dl is packed as an executable zipfile,
simply unzip it (might need renaming to \f[C]youtube\-dl.zip\f[] first
on some systems) or clone the git repository, as laid out above.
If you modify the code, you can run it by executing the
\f[C]__main__.py\f[] file.
To recompile the executable, run \f[C]make\ youtube\-dl\f[].
.SS The exe throws a \f[I]Runtime error from Visual C++\f[]
.PP
To run the exe you need to install first the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008
Redistributable
Package (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29).
.SS On Windows, how should I set up ffmpeg and youtube\-dl? Where should
I put the exe files?
.PP
If you put youtube\-dl and ffmpeg in the same directory that you\[aq]re
running the command from, it will work, but that\[aq]s rather
cumbersome.
.PP
To make a different directory work \- either for ffmpeg, or for
youtube\-dl, or for both \- simply create the directory (say,
\f[C]C:\\bin\f[], or \f[C]C:\\Users\\<User\ name>\\bin\f[]), put all the
executables directly in there, and then set your PATH environment
variable (https://www.java.com/en/download/help/path.xml) to include
that directory.
.PP
From then on, after restarting your shell, you will be able to access
both youtube\-dl and ffmpeg (and youtube\-dl will be able to find
ffmpeg) by simply typing \f[C]youtube\-dl\f[] or \f[C]ffmpeg\f[], no
matter what directory you\[aq]re in.
.SS How do I put downloads into a specific folder?
.PP
Use the \f[C]\-o\f[] to specify an output template (#output-template),
for example \f[C]\-o\ "/home/user/videos/%(title)s\-%(id)s.%(ext)s"\f[].
If you want this for all of your downloads, put the option into your
configuration file (#configuration).
.SS How do I download a video starting with a \f[C]\-\f[] ?
.PP
Either prepend \f[C]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\f[] or separate the
ID from the options with \f[C]\-\-\f[]:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
youtube\-dl\ \-\-\ \-wNyEUrxzFU
youtube\-dl\ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\-wNyEUrxzFU"
\f[]
.fi
.SS Can you add support for this anime video site, or site which shows
current movies for free?
.PP
As a matter of policy (as well as legality), youtube\-dl does not
include support for services that specialize in infringing copyright.
As a rule of thumb, if you cannot easily find a video that the service
is quite obviously allowed to distribute (i.e.
that has been uploaded by the creator, the creator\[aq]s distributor, or
is published under a free license), the service is probably unfit for
inclusion to youtube\-dl.
.PP
A note on the service that they don\[aq]t host the infringing content,
but just link to those who do, is evidence that the service should
\f[B]not\f[] be included into youtube\-dl.
The same goes for any DMCA note when the whole front page of the service
is filled with videos they are not allowed to distribute.
A "fair use" note is equally unconvincing if the service shows
copyright\-protected videos in full without authorization.
.PP
Support requests for services that \f[B]do\f[] purchase the rights to
distribute their content are perfectly fine though.
If in doubt, you can simply include a source that mentions the
legitimate purchase of content.
.SS How can I speed up work on my issue?
.PP
(Also known as: Help, my important issue not being solved!) The
youtube\-dl core developer team is quite small.
While we do our best to solve as many issues as possible, sometimes that
can take quite a while.
To speed up your issue, here\[aq]s what you can do:
.PP
First of all, please do report the issue at our issue
tracker (https://yt-dl.org/bugs).
That allows us to coordinate all efforts by users and developers, and
serves as a unified point.
Unfortunately, the youtube\-dl project has grown too large to use
personal email as an effective communication channel.
.PP
Please read the bug reporting instructions (#bugs) below.
A lot of bugs lack all the necessary information.
If you can, offer proxy, VPN, or shell access to the youtube\-dl
developers.
If you are able to, test the issue from multiple computers in multiple
countries to exclude local censorship or misconfiguration issues.
.PP
If nobody is interested in solving your issue, you are welcome to take
matters into your own hands and submit a pull request (or coerce/pay
somebody else to do so).
.PP
Feel free to bump the issue from time to time by writing a small comment
("Issue is still present in youtube\-dl version ...from France, but
fixed from Belgium"), but please not more than once a month.
Please do not declare your issue as \f[C]important\f[] or
\f[C]urgent\f[].
.SS How can I detect whether a given URL is supported by youtube\-dl?
.PP
For one, have a look at the list of supported
sites (docs/supportedsites.md).
Note that it can sometimes happen that the site changes its URL scheme
(say, from http://example.com/video/1234567 to
http://example.com/v/1234567 ) and youtube\-dl reports an URL of a
service in that list as unsupported.
In that case, simply report a bug.
.PP
It is \f[I]not\f[] possible to detect whether a URL is supported or not.
That\[aq]s because youtube\-dl contains a generic extractor which
matches \f[B]all\f[] URLs.
You may be tempted to disable, exclude, or remove the generic extractor,
but the generic extractor not only allows users to extract videos from
lots of websites that embed a video from another service, but may also
be used to extract video from a service that it\[aq]s hosting itself.
Therefore, we neither recommend nor support disabling, excluding, or
removing the generic extractor.
.PP
If you want to find out whether a given URL is supported, simply call
youtube\-dl with it.
If you get no videos back, chances are the URL is either not referring
to a video or unsupported.
You can find out which by examining the output (if you run youtube\-dl
on the console) or catching an \f[C]UnsupportedError\f[] exception if
you run it from a Python program.
.SH DEVELOPER INSTRUCTIONS
.PP
Most users do not need to build youtube\-dl and can download the
builds (http://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html) or get them from
their distribution.
.PP
To run youtube\-dl as a developer, you don\[aq]t need to build anything
either.
Simply execute
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
python\ \-m\ youtube_dl
\f[]
.fi
.PP
To run the test, simply invoke your favorite test runner, or execute a
test file directly; any of the following work:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
python\ \-m\ unittest\ discover
python\ test/test_download.py
nosetests
\f[]
.fi
.PP
If you want to create a build of youtube\-dl yourself, you\[aq]ll need
.IP \[bu] 2
python
.IP \[bu] 2
make
.IP \[bu] 2
pandoc
.IP \[bu] 2
zip
.IP \[bu] 2
nosetests
.SS Adding support for a new site
.PP
If you want to add support for a new site, you can follow this quick
list (assuming your service is called \f[C]yourextractor\f[]):
.IP " 1." 4
Fork this repository (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/fork)
.IP " 2." 4
Check out the source code with
\f[C]git\ clone\ git\@github.com:YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/youtube\-dl.git\f[]
.IP " 3." 4
Start a new git branch with
\f[C]cd\ youtube\-dl;\ git\ checkout\ \-b\ yourextractor\f[]
.IP " 4." 4
Start with this simple template and save it to
\f[C]youtube_dl/extractor/yourextractor.py\f[]:
.RS 4
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ coding:\ utf\-8
from\ __future__\ import\ unicode_literals
from\ .common\ import\ InfoExtractor
class\ YourExtractorIE(InfoExtractor):
\ \ \ \ _VALID_URL\ =\ r\[aq]https?://(?:www\\.)?yourextractor\\.com/watch/(?P<id>[0\-9]+)\[aq]
\ \ \ \ _TEST\ =\ {
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]url\[aq]:\ \[aq]http://yourextractor.com/watch/42\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]md5\[aq]:\ \[aq]TODO:\ md5\ sum\ of\ the\ first\ 10241\ bytes\ of\ the\ video\ file\ (use\ \-\-test)\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]info_dict\[aq]:\ {
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]id\[aq]:\ \[aq]42\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]ext\[aq]:\ \[aq]mp4\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]title\[aq]:\ \[aq]Video\ title\ goes\ here\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]thumbnail\[aq]:\ \[aq]re:^https?://.*\\.jpg$\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ TODO\ more\ properties,\ either\ as:
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ *\ A\ value
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ *\ MD5\ checksum;\ start\ the\ string\ with\ md5:
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ *\ A\ regular\ expression;\ start\ the\ string\ with\ re:
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ *\ Any\ Python\ type\ (for\ example\ int\ or\ float)
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ }
\ \ \ \ }
\ \ \ \ def\ _real_extract(self,\ url):
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ video_id\ =\ self._match_id(url)
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ webpage\ =\ self._download_webpage(url,\ video_id)
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ TODO\ more\ code\ goes\ here,\ for\ example\ ...
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ title\ =\ self._html_search_regex(r\[aq]<h1>(.*?)</h1>\[aq],\ webpage,\ \[aq]title\[aq])
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ return\ {
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]id\[aq]:\ video_id,
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]title\[aq]:\ title,
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]description\[aq]:\ self._og_search_description(webpage),
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ TODO\ more\ properties\ (see\ youtube_dl/extractor/common.py)
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ }
\f[]
.fi
.RE
.IP " 5." 4
Add an import in
\f[C]youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py\f[] (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py).
.IP " 6." 4
Run
\f[C]python\ test/test_download.py\ TestDownload.test_YourExtractor\f[].
This \f[I]should fail\f[] at first, but you can continually re\-run it
until you\[aq]re done.
If you decide to add more than one test, then rename \f[C]_TEST\f[] to
\f[C]_TESTS\f[] and make it into a list of dictionaries.
The tests will be then be named
\f[C]TestDownload.test_YourExtractor\f[],
\f[C]TestDownload.test_YourExtractor_1\f[],
\f[C]TestDownload.test_YourExtractor_2\f[], etc.
.IP " 7." 4
Have a look at
\f[C]youtube_dl/common/extractor/common.py\f[] (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py)
for possible helper methods and a detailed description of what your
extractor should
return (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py#L38).
Add tests and code for as many as you want.
.IP " 8." 4
If you can, check the code with
flake8 (https://pypi.python.org/pypi/flake8).
.IP " 9." 4
When the tests pass, add (http://git-scm.com/docs/git-add) the new files
and commit (http://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit) them and
push (http://git-scm.com/docs/git-push) the result, like this:
.RS 4
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ git\ add\ youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py
$\ git\ add\ youtube_dl/extractor/yourextractor.py
$\ git\ commit\ \-m\ \[aq][yourextractor]\ Add\ new\ extractor\[aq]
$\ git\ push\ origin\ yourextractor
\f[]
.fi
.RE
.IP "10." 4
Finally, create a pull
request (https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-pull-request).
We\[aq]ll then review and merge it.
.PP
In any case, thank you very much for your contributions!
.SH EMBEDDING YOUTUBE\-DL
.PP
youtube\-dl makes the best effort to be a good command\-line program,
and thus should be callable from any programming language.
If you encounter any problems parsing its output, feel free to create a
report (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/new).
.PP
From a Python program, you can embed youtube\-dl in a more powerful
fashion, like this:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
from\ __future__\ import\ unicode_literals
import\ youtube_dl
ydl_opts\ =\ {}
with\ youtube_dl.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts)\ as\ ydl:
\ \ \ \ ydl.download([\[aq]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc\[aq]])
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Most likely, you\[aq]ll want to use various options.
For a list of what can be done, have a look at
youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py#L69).
For a start, if you want to intercept youtube\-dl\[aq]s output, set a
\f[C]logger\f[] object.
.PP
Here\[aq]s a more complete example of a program that outputs only errors
(and a short message after the download is finished), and
downloads/converts the video to an mp3 file:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
from\ __future__\ import\ unicode_literals
import\ youtube_dl
class\ MyLogger(object):
\ \ \ \ def\ debug(self,\ msg):
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ pass
\ \ \ \ def\ warning(self,\ msg):
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ pass
\ \ \ \ def\ error(self,\ msg):
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ print(msg)
def\ my_hook(d):
\ \ \ \ if\ d[\[aq]status\[aq]]\ ==\ \[aq]finished\[aq]:
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ print(\[aq]Done\ downloading,\ now\ converting\ ...\[aq])
ydl_opts\ =\ {
\ \ \ \ \[aq]format\[aq]:\ \[aq]bestaudio/best\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \[aq]postprocessors\[aq]:\ [{
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]key\[aq]:\ \[aq]FFmpegExtractAudio\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]preferredcodec\[aq]:\ \[aq]mp3\[aq],
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \[aq]preferredquality\[aq]:\ \[aq]192\[aq],
\ \ \ \ }],
\ \ \ \ \[aq]logger\[aq]:\ MyLogger(),
\ \ \ \ \[aq]progress_hooks\[aq]:\ [my_hook],
}
with\ youtube_dl.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts)\ as\ ydl:
\ \ \ \ ydl.download([\[aq]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc\[aq]])
\f[]
.fi
.SH BUGS
.PP
Bugs and suggestions should be reported at:
<https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues> .
Unless you were prompted so or there is another pertinent reason (e.g.
GitHub fails to accept the bug report), please do not send bug reports
via personal email.
For discussions, join us in the irc channel #youtube\-dl on freenode.
.PP
\f[B]Please include the full output of youtube\-dl when run with
\f[C]\-v\f[]\f[].
.PP
The output (including the first lines) contain important debugging
information.
Issues without the full output are often not reproducible and therefore
do not get solved in short order, if ever.
.PP
Please re\-read your issue once again to avoid a couple of common
mistakes (you can and should use this as a checklist):
.SS Is the description of the issue itself sufficient?
.PP
We often get issue reports that we cannot really decipher.
While in most cases we eventually get the required information after
asking back multiple times, this poses an unnecessary drain on our
resources.
Many contributors, including myself, are also not native speakers, so we
may misread some parts.
.PP
So please elaborate on what feature you are requesting, or what bug you
want to be fixed.
Make sure that it\[aq]s obvious
.IP \[bu] 2
What the problem is
.IP \[bu] 2
How it could be fixed
.IP \[bu] 2
How your proposed solution would look like
.PP
If your report is shorter than two lines, it is almost certainly missing
some of these, which makes it hard for us to respond to it.
We\[aq]re often too polite to close the issue outright, but the missing
info makes misinterpretation likely.
As a commiter myself, I often get frustrated by these issues, since the
only possible way for me to move forward on them is to ask for
clarification over and over.
.PP
For bug reports, this means that your report should contain the
\f[I]complete\f[] output of youtube\-dl when called with the \-v flag.
The error message you get for (most) bugs even says so, but you would
not believe how many of our bug reports do not contain this information.
.PP
If your server has multiple IPs or you suspect censorship, adding
\-\-call\-home may be a good idea to get more diagnostics.
If the error is \f[C]ERROR:\ Unable\ to\ extract\ ...\f[] and you cannot
reproduce it from multiple countries, add \f[C]\-\-dump\-pages\f[]
(warning: this will yield a rather large output, redirect it to the file
\f[C]log.txt\f[] by adding \f[C]>log.txt\ 2>&1\f[] to your
command\-line) or upload the \f[C]\&.dump\f[] files you get when you add
\f[C]\-\-write\-pages\f[] somewhere (https://gist.github.com/).
.PP
\f[B]Site support requests must contain an example URL\f[].
An example URL is a URL you might want to download, like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc .
There should be an obvious video present.
Except under very special circumstances, the main page of a video
service (e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/ ) is \f[I]not\f[] an example URL.
.SS Are you using the latest version?
.PP
Before reporting any issue, type youtube\-dl \-U.
This should report that you\[aq]re up\-to\-date.
About 20% of the reports we receive are already fixed, but people are
using outdated versions.
This goes for feature requests as well.
.SS Is the issue already documented?
.PP
Make sure that someone has not already opened the issue you\[aq]re
trying to open.
Search at the top of the window or at
https://github.com/rg3/youtube\-dl/search?type=Issues .
If there is an issue, feel free to write something along the lines of
"This affects me as well, with version 2015.01.01.
Here is some more information on the issue: ...".
While some issues may be old, a new post into them often spurs rapid
activity.
.SS Why are existing options not enough?
.PP
Before requesting a new feature, please have a quick peek at the list of
supported
options (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/master/README.md#synopsis).
Many feature requests are for features that actually exist already!
Please, absolutely do show off your work in the issue report and detail
how the existing similar options do \f[I]not\f[] solve your problem.
.SS Is there enough context in your bug report?
.PP
People want to solve problems, and often think they do us a favor by
breaking down their larger problems (e.g.
wanting to skip already downloaded files) to a specific request (e.g.
requesting us to look whether the file exists before downloading the
info page).
However, what often happens is that they break down the problem into two
steps: One simple, and one impossible (or extremely complicated one).
.PP
We are then presented with a very complicated request when the original
problem could be solved far easier, e.g.
by recording the downloaded video IDs in a separate file.
To avoid this, you must include the greater context where it is
non\-obvious.
In particular, every feature request that does not consist of adding
support for a new site should contain a use case scenario that explains
in what situation the missing feature would be useful.
.SS Does the issue involve one problem, and one problem only?
.PP
Some of our users seem to think there is a limit of issues they can or
should open.
There is no limit of issues they can or should open.
While it may seem appealing to be able to dump all your issues into one
ticket, that means that someone who solves one of your issues cannot
mark the issue as closed.
Typically, reporting a bunch of issues leads to the ticket lingering
since nobody wants to attack that behemoth, until someone mercifully
splits the issue into multiple ones.
.PP
In particular, every site support request issue should only pertain to
services at one site (generally under a common domain, but always using
the same backend technology).
Do not request support for vimeo user videos, Whitehouse podcasts, and
Google Plus pages in the same issue.
Also, make sure that you don\[aq]t post bug reports alongside feature
requests.
As a rule of thumb, a feature request does not include outputs of
youtube\-dl that are not immediately related to the feature at hand.
Do not post reports of a network error alongside the request for a new
video service.
.SS Is anyone going to need the feature?
.PP
Only post features that you (or an incapacitated friend you can
personally talk to) require.
Do not post features because they seem like a good idea.
If they are really useful, they will be requested by someone who
requires them.
.SS Is your question about youtube\-dl?
.PP
It may sound strange, but some bug reports we receive are completely
unrelated to youtube\-dl and relate to a different or even the
reporter\[aq]s own application.
Please make sure that you are actually using youtube\-dl.
If you are using a UI for youtube\-dl, report the bug to the maintainer
of the actual application providing the UI.
On the other hand, if your UI for youtube\-dl fails in some way you
believe is related to youtube\-dl, by all means, go ahead and report the
bug.
.SH COPYRIGHT
.PP
youtube\-dl is released into the public domain by the copyright holders.
.PP
This README file was originally written by Daniel Bolton
(<https://github.com/dbbolton>) and is likewise released into the public
domain.
|