yt-dlp

yt-dlp Skill

This skill provides common commands for downloading media using yt-dlp.

Basic Usage

# Download a video (best quality)
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."

# List available formats
yt-dlp -F "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."

# Download specific format
yt-dlp -f 22 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."

Advanced Usage

Format Selection

# Best video + best audio
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo+bestaudio" "URL"

# Best video with height ≤ 720
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio" "URL"

# Specific format by ID
yt-dlp -f "137+140" "URL"

# Audio only in specific format
yt-dlp -f "bestaudio[ext=m4a]" "URL"

Output Templates

# Custom filename template
yt-dlp -o "%(title)s - %(uploader)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Organize by uploader
yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Include upload date
yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

Common Tasks

Extracting Audio

# Extract best quality audio as MP3
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 "URL"

# Extract audio and keep the original video
yt-dlp -x -k "URL"

Video Selection

# Download best video and best audio separately and merge them
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo+bestaudio" "URL"

# Download video smaller than 50MB
yt-dlp -f "best[filesize<50M]" "URL"

Playlists

# Download entire playlist
yt-dlp --yes-playlist "URL_TO_PLAYLIST"

# Download only specific items from a playlist
yt-dlp --playlist-items 1,2,5,10-15 "URL"

Metadata and Subtitles

# Write subtitles to file
yt-dlp --write-subs --sub-langs "en.*" "URL"

# Embed subtitles in video file
yt-dlp --embed-subs "URL"

# Embed metadata and thumbnail
yt-dlp --add-metadata --embed-thumbnail "URL"

Post-Processing

Video Conversion

# Remux to different container
yt-dlp --remux-video mp4 "URL"

# Re-encode video
yt-dlp --recode-video mp4 "URL"

# Split by chapters
yt-dlp --split-chapters "URL"

SponsorBlock Integration

# Remove sponsor segments
yt-dlp --sponsorblock-remove sponsor "URL"

# Mark sponsor segments as chapters
yt-dlp --sponsorblock-mark sponsor "URL"

Cheat Sheet

Output Templates

Control the output filename:

yt-dlp -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"
yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

Authentication

# Use browser cookies (handy for age-restricted videos)
yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome "URL"

# Use netrc file
yt-dlp -n "URL"

Useful Options

Format Selection Examples

# Best quality MP4
-f "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]"

# Audio only
-f "bestaudio"

# Video under 1080p
-f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]"

# Specific codec
-f "bestvideo[vcodec^=avc]+bestaudio"

Output Template Fields

Common fields for -o template:

• %(title)s - Video title
• %(uploader)s - Channel/uploader name
• %(upload_date)s - Upload date (YYYYMMDD)
• %(duration)s - Duration in seconds
• %(view_count)s - View count
• %(id)s - Video ID
• %(ext)s - File extension
• %(playlist_title)s - Playlist name
• %(playlist_index)s - Position in playlist