YOUTUBE-DL(1)                                                    YOUTUBE-DL(1)



NAME
       youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms

SYNOPSIS
       youtube-dl OPTIONS (#options) URL [URL...]

DESCRIPTION
       youtube-dl  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 3.3+, 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.

OPTIONS
              -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
                                               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
              --user-agent UA                  specify a custom user agent
              --referer REF                    specify a custom referer, use if the video
                                               access is restricted to one domain
              --list-extractors                List all supported extractors and the URLs
                                               they would handle
              --extractor-descriptions         Output descriptions of all supported
                                               extractors
              --proxy URL                      Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS proxy. Pass in
                                               an empty string (--proxy "") for direct
                                               connection
              --no-check-certificate           Suppress HTTPS certificate validation.
              --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
              --socket-timeout None            Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
              --bidi-workaround                Work around terminals that lack
                                               bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
                                               or fribidi executable in PATH
              --default-search PREFIX          Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
                                               example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
                                               from google videos for  youtube-dl "large
                                               apple". By default (with value "auto")
                                               youtube-dl guesses.
              --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.conf
                                               (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt on
                                               Windows)

   Video Selection:
              --playlist-start NUMBER          playlist video to start at (default is 1)
              --playlist-end NUMBER            playlist video to end at (default is last)
              --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
              --no-playlist                    download only the currently playing video
              --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)
              --youtube-include-dash-manifest  Try to download the DASH manifest on
                                               YouTube videos (experimental)

   Download Options:
              -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)
              --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.

   Filesystem Options:
              -t, --title                      use title in file name (default)
              --id                             use only video ID in file name
              -l, --literal                    [deprecated] alias of --title
              -A, --auto-number                number downloaded files starting from 00000
              -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'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)s for the playlist the
                                               video is in, %(playlist_index)s for the
                                               position in the playlist and %% for a
                                               literal percent. Use - to output to stdout.
                                               Can also be used to download to a different
                                               directory, for example with -o '/my/downloa
                                               ds/%(uploader)s/%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .
              --autonumber-size NUMBER         Specifies 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, --batch-file FILE            file containing URLs to download ('-' for
                                               stdin)
              --load-info FILE                 json file containing the video information
                                               (created with the "--write-json" option)
              -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)
              --cookies FILE                   file to read cookies from and dump cookie
                                               jar in
              --no-part                        do not use .part files
              --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 .annotation
                                               file
              --write-thumbnail                write thumbnail image to disk

   Verbosity / Simulation Options:
              -q, --quiet                      activates quiet mode
              -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
              --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-intermediate-pages        print downloaded pages 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

   Video Format Options:
              -f, --format FORMAT              video format code, specify the order of
                                               preference using slashes: "-f 22/17/18".
                                               "-f mp4" and "-f flv" are also supported.
                                               You can also use the special names "best",
                                               "bestaudio", "worst", and "worstaudio". By
                                               default, youtube-dl will pick the best
                                               quality.
              --all-formats                    download all available video formats
              --prefer-free-formats            prefer free video formats unless a specific
                                               one is requested
              --max-quality FORMAT             highest quality format to download
              -F, --list-formats               list all available formats

   Subtitle Options:
              --write-sub                      write subtitle file
              --write-auto-sub                 write automatic subtitle file (youtube
                                               only)
              --all-subs                       downloads all the available subtitles of
                                               the video
              --list-subs                      lists all available subtitles for the video
              --sub-format FORMAT              subtitle format (default=srt) ([sbv/vtt]
                                               youtube only)
              --sub-lang LANGS                 languages of the subtitles to download
                                               (optional) separated by commas, use IETF
                                               language tags like 'en,pt'

   Authentication Options:
              -u, --username USERNAME          account username
              -p, --password PASSWORD          account password
              -n, --netrc                      use .netrc authentication data
              --video-password PASSWORD        video password (vimeo, smotri)

   Post-processing Options:
              -x, --extract-audio              convert video files to audio-only files
                                               (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
                                               avprobe)
              --audio-format FORMAT            "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a",
                                               "opus", or "wav"; best by default
              --audio-quality QUALITY          ffmpeg/avconv audio quality specification,
                                               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)
              -k, --keep-video                 keeps 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 mp4
                                               videos)
              --add-metadata                   write metadata to the video file
              --xattrs                         write metadata to the video file's xattrs
                                               (using dublin core and xdg standards)
              --prefer-avconv                  Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
                                               postprocessors (default)
              --prefer-ffmpeg                  Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
                                               postprocessors

CONFIGURATION
       You can configure youtube-dl by  placing  default  arguments  (such  as
       --extract-audio --no-mtime to always extract the audio and not copy the
       mtime) into /etc/youtube-dl.conf and/or ~/.config/youtube-dl.conf.   On
       Windows, the configuration file locations are %APPDATA%\youtube-dl\con‐
       fig.txt and C:\Users\<Yourname>\youtube-dl.conf.

OUTPUT TEMPLATE
       The -o option allows users to indicate a template for the  output  file
       names.  The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when down‐
       loading         a         single         file,         like          in
       youtube-dl -o funny_video.flv "http://some/video".    However,  it  may
       contain special sequences that will be replaced when  downloading  each
       video.   The  special  sequences have the format %(NAME)s.  To clarify,
       that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parenthesis, followed by
       a lowercase S.  Allowed names are:

       · id: The sequence will be replaced by the video identifier.

       · url: The sequence will be replaced by the video URL.

       · uploader: The sequence will be replaced by the nickname of the person
         who uploaded the video.

       · upload_date: The sequence will be replaced  by  the  upload  date  in
         YYYYMMDD format.

       · title: The sequence will be replaced by the video title.

       · ext: The sequence will be replaced by the appropriate extension (like
         flv or mp4).

       · epoch: The sequence will be replaced by the Unix epoch when  creating
         the file.

       · autonumber: The sequence will be replaced by a five-digit number that
         will be increased with each download, starting at zero.

       · playlist: The name or the id of the playlist that contains the video.

       · playlist_index: The index of the video in the playlist, a  five-digit
         number.

       The current default template is %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s.

       In some cases, you don't want special characters such as 中, spaces, or
       &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows  sys‐
       tem  or  the  filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel.  In these cases,
       add the --restrict-filenames flag to get a shorter title:

              $ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
              youtube-dl test video ''_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

VIDEO SELECTION
       Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the  options  --date,
       --datebefore or --dateafter, they accept dates in two formats:

       · Absolute dates: Dates in the format YYYYMMDD.

       · Relative        dates:        Dates        in        the       format
         (now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?

       Examples:

       $ # Download only the videos uploaded in the last 6 months $ youtube-dl
       --dateafter  now-6months $ # Download only the videos uploaded on Janu‐
       ary 1, 1970 $ youtube-dl --date 19700101 $ #  will  only  download  the
       videos  uploaded  in  the 200x decade $ youtube-dl --dateafter 20000101
       --datebefore 20091231

FAQ
   Can you please put the -b option back?
       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  -b option.  For some specific videos, maybe YouTube does not
       report them to be available in a specific high  quality  format  you're
       interested  in.  In that case, simply request it with the -f option and
       youtube-dl will try to download it.

   I get HTTP error 402 when trying to download a video. What's
       this?

       Apparently YouTube requires you to pass a CAPTCHA test if you  download
       too  much.   We'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.

   I have downloaded a video but how can I play it?
       Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such  as  vlc
       (http://www.videolan.org) or mplayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/).

   The links provided by youtube-dl -g are not working anymore
       The  URLs youtube-dl outputs require the downloader to have the correct
       cookies.  Use the --cookies 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
       --dump-user-agent to see the one in use by youtube-dl.

   ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info
       youtube  has  switched to a new video info format in July 2011 which is
       not supported by old versions of youtube-dl.  You can update youtube-dl
       with sudo youtube-dl --update.

   ERROR: unable to download video
       youtube  requires an additional signature since September 2012 which is
       not supported by old versions of youtube-dl.  You can update youtube-dl
       with sudo youtube-dl --update.

   SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character
       The error

              File "youtube-dl", line 2
              SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character '\x93' ...

       means  you're  using  an  outdated version of Python.  Please update to
       Python 2.6 or 2.7.

   What is this binary file? Where has the code gone?
       Since June 2012 (#342) youtube-dl is packed as an  executable  zipfile,
       simply  unzip  it  (might need renaming to youtube-dl.zip 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 __main__.py file.  To recom‐
       pile the executable, run make youtube-dl.

   The exe throws a Runtime error from Visual C++
       To run the exe you need to install first the Microsoft Visual C++  2008
       Redistributable      Package      (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/down‐
       load/details.aspx?id=29).

DEVELOPER INSTRUCTIONS
       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.

       To run youtube-dl as a developer, you  don't  need  to  build  anything
       either.  Simply execute

              python -m youtube_dl

       To  run the test, simply invoke your favorite test runner, or execute a
       test file directly; any of the following work:

              python -m unittest discover
              python test/test_download.py
              nosetests

       If you want to create a build of youtube-dl yourself, you'll need

       · python

       · make

       · pandoc

       · zip

       · nosetests

   Adding support for a new site
       If you want to add support for a new site, copy any  recently  modified
       (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/commits/master/youtube_dl/extractor)
       file in  youtube_dl/extractor,  add  an  import  in  youtube_dl/extrac‐
       tor/__init__.py            (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/mas‐
       ter/youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py).  Have a look at  youtube_dl/com‐
       mon/extractor/common.py    (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/mas‐
       ter/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/extrac‐
       tor/common.py#L38).     Don't    forget   to   run   the   tests   with
       python test/test_download.py Test_Download.test_YourExtractor!   For  a
       detailed  tutorial, refer to this blog post (http://filippo.io/add-sup‐
       port-for-a-new-video-site-to-youtube-dl/).

BUGS
       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.

       Please  include the full output of the command when run with --verbose.
       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.

       For discussions, join us in the irc channel #youtube-dl on freenode.

       When you submit a request, please re-read it once to avoid a couple  of
       mistakes (you can and should use this as a checklist):

   Is the description of the issue itself sufficient?
       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.

       So please elaborate on what feature you are requesting, or what bug you
       want to be fixed.  Make sure that it's obvious

       · What the problem is

       · How it could be fixed

       · How your proposed solution would look like

       If your report is shorter than two lines, it is almost certainly  miss‐
       ing  some of these, which makes it hard for us to respond to it.  We'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.

       For  bug  reports,  this means that your report should contain the com‐
       plete 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.

       Site support requests must contain an example URL.  An example URL is a
       URL       you       might       want       to       download,      like
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc .  There should be an  obvi‐
       ous  video  present.  Except under very special circumstances, the main
       page of a video service (e.g.   http://www.youtube.com/  )  is  not  an
       example URL.

   Are you using the latest version?
       Before  reporting  any  issue,  type youtube-dl -U.  This should report
       that you'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.

   Is the issue already documented?
       Make sure that someone has not already opened the issue  you'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.

   Why are existing options not enough?
       Before requesting a new feature, please have a quick peek at  the  list
       of   supported   options   (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/blob/mas‐
       ter/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  not
       solve your problem.

   Is there enough context in your bug report?
       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).

       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.

   Does the issue involve one problem, and one problem only?
       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.

       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't  post  bug  reports  alongside  feature
       requests.   As a rule of thumb, a feature request does not include out‐
       puts 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.

   Is anyone going to need the feature?
       Only post features that you (or an incapicated friend you  can  person‐
       ally  talk  to) require.  Do not post features because they seem like a
       good idea.  If they are really useful, they will be requested by  some‐
       one who requires them.

   Is your question about youtube-dl?
       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'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.

COPYRIGHT
       youtube-dl is released into the public domain by the copyright holders.

       This   README   file   was   originally   written   by   Daniel  Bolton
       (<https://github.com/dbbolton>) and is likewise released into the  pub‐
       lic domain.



                                                                 YOUTUBE-DL(1)