claude-video-download — Video Downloading via yt-dlp

Pre-Flight

1. Check yt-dlp is installed: command -v yt-dlp || echo "Run /video setup"
2. Confirm user owns or has rights to download the content

Important: Content Rights

Always remind the user:

• Only download content you own or have permission to use
• Respect copyright and platform terms of service
• Downloaded content is for personal use unless otherwise licensed

Common Operations

List Available Formats (no download)

yt-dlp -F "URL"

Shows all available video and audio formats with resolution, codec, bitrate, and file size.

Best Quality Download

# Best video + best audio, merged to MP4
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best" \
  --merge-output-format mp4 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

Specific Resolution

# 1080p max
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]" \
  --merge-output-format mp4 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# 720p max
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]" \
  --merge-output-format mp4 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# 4K
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=2160]+bestaudio" \
  --merge-output-format mp4 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

Audio-Only Download

# Best audio as MP3
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Best audio as M4A (AAC)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format m4a -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Best audio as WAV (lossless)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format wav -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Best audio as Opus (most efficient)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format opus -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

Download with Subtitles

# Download video + all available subtitles
yt-dlp --write-subs --sub-langs all -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Download video + auto-generated subtitles
yt-dlp --write-auto-subs --sub-langs en -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Download subtitles only (no video)
yt-dlp --write-subs --sub-langs en --skip-download -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Embed subtitles into MP4
yt-dlp --write-subs --sub-langs en --embed-subs \
  --merge-output-format mp4 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

Download with Metadata

# Embed thumbnail and metadata
yt-dlp --embed-thumbnail --embed-metadata \
  --merge-output-format mp4 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

Playlist Download

# Download entire playlist
yt-dlp -o "%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)03d - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "PLAYLIST_URL"

# Download specific range from playlist
yt-dlp --playlist-start 5 --playlist-end 10 \
  -o "%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)03d - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "PLAYLIST_URL"

# Download playlist as audio only
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  -o "%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)03d - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "PLAYLIST_URL"

Clip Download (specific time range)

# Download only a portion (requires ffmpeg)
yt-dlp --download-sections "*00:01:00-00:02:00" -o "%(title)s_clip.%(ext)s" "URL"

Output Templates

Video Info (No Download)

# Print video info as JSON
yt-dlp --dump-json "URL" | jq '{title, duration, view_count, upload_date, resolution}'

# Just print title and duration
yt-dlp --print "%(title)s (%(duration_string)s)" "URL"

Rate Limiting and Safety

# Limit download speed (be nice to servers)
yt-dlp --limit-rate 10M -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# Sleep between downloads in a playlist
yt-dlp --sleep-interval 5 --max-sleep-interval 15 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "PLAYLIST_URL"

Supported Sites

yt-dlp supports 1000+ sites including: YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Twitch, Dailymotion, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and many more. Run yt-dlp --list-extractors for the full list.