youtube-downloader

YouTube & Video Downloader Skill

Download videos and audio from YouTube and 1000+ other websites using yt-dlp, the most powerful and actively maintained YouTube downloader.

When to Use This Skill

Use when you need to:

• Download YouTube videos in any quality (144p to 8K, HDR, 60fps)
• Extract audio from videos (MP3, M4A, FLAC, WAV, Opus)
• Download entire playlists or channels
• Get video subtitles/captions in multiple languages
• Download live streams or premieres
• Archive content before it's deleted
• Download from 1000+ websites (not just YouTube)
• Batch download multiple videos
• Download with custom naming and organization
• Extract video metadata and thumbnails

Supported Websites (1000+)

Video Platforms

• YouTube (videos, playlists, channels, shorts, live streams)
• Vimeo, Dailymotion, Twitter/X, Facebook
• TikTok, Instagram (videos, reels, stories)
• Twitch (VODs, clips, live streams)
• Reddit (v.redd.it videos)
• Pornhub (videos)
• Youporn (videos)

Educational

• Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy
• edX, Pluralsight, LinkedIn Learning

News & Media

• CNN, BBC, NBC, CBS
• ESPN, Sky Sports

And 1000+ more...

Installation

yt-dlp requires Python 3.7+ and ffmpeg for format conversion:

# Install yt-dlp (if not already installed)
pip install -U yt-dlp

# Install ffmpeg (required for format conversion)
# Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt install ffmpeg

# macOS:
brew install ffmpeg

# Verify installation
yt-dlp --version
ffmpeg -version

Basic Usage

Download Best Quality Video

yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

Download Best Quality Audio (as M4A)

yt-dlp -f "bestaudio" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

Download and Convert to MP3

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

Download Specific Quality

# 1080p video with best audio
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]" "URL"

# 4K video
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=2160]+bestaudio/best" "URL"

# 720p video
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]" "URL"

Advanced Features

Download Entire Playlist

yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYLIST_ID"

Download Playlist Range

# Videos 1-10
yt-dlp --playlist-start 1 --playlist-end 10 "PLAYLIST_URL"

# Videos from #5 onwards
yt-dlp --playlist-start 5 "PLAYLIST_URL"

Download All Videos from Channel

yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/videos"

Download with Subtitles

# Download all available subtitles
yt-dlp --write-subs --write-auto-subs --sub-langs "en,es,fr" "URL"

# Download and embed subtitles
yt-dlp --write-subs --embed-subs --sub-langs "en.*" "URL"

# Download only subtitles (no video)
yt-dlp --skip-download --write-subs --write-auto-subs "URL"

Custom Naming and Organization

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

# By date uploaded
yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "URL"

# With video ID
yt-dlp -o "%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s" "URL"

Download Thumbnails

# Download and embed thumbnail
yt-dlp --write-thumbnail --embed-thumbnail "URL"

# Download thumbnail only
yt-dlp --write-thumbnail --skip-download "URL"

Download Metadata

# Write metadata to JSON file
yt-dlp --write-info-json "URL"

# Write metadata to description file
yt-dlp --write-description "URL"

Quality Selection Guide

Video Quality Formats

# Best overall quality (may be WebM)
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo+bestaudio/best" "URL"

# Best MP4 format (most compatible)
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]" "URL"

# 4K (2160p) maximum
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=2160]+bestaudio" "URL"

# 1080p maximum
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio" "URL"

# 720p maximum
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio" "URL"

# 60fps preferred
yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[fps>30]+bestaudio/best" "URL"

Audio Quality Formats

# Best audio quality (extract as M4A)
yt-dlp -f "bestaudio" "URL"

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

# Extract as FLAC (lossless)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format flac "URL"

# Extract as Opus (efficient)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format opus "URL"

# Extract as WAV (uncompressed)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format wav "URL"

List Available Formats

Before downloading, check what formats are available:

yt-dlp -F "URL"

This shows all available video and audio streams with:

• Format ID
• Extension
• Resolution
• FPS
• Codec
• File size
• Bitrate

Then download specific format:

yt-dlp -f FORMAT_ID "URL"

Batch Download

From File

Create a text file with URLs (one per line):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO3

Download all:

yt-dlp -a urls.txt

With Archive

Track downloaded videos to avoid re-downloading:

yt-dlp --download-archive archive.txt "PLAYLIST_URL"

This creates archive.txt with IDs of downloaded videos. On subsequent runs, yt-dlp skips already downloaded videos.

Filtering and Selection

Date Filters

# Videos from 2024
yt-dlp --dateafter 20240101 "CHANNEL_URL"

# Videos before 2023
yt-dlp --datebefore 20230101 "CHANNEL_URL"

# Videos between dates
yt-dlp --dateafter 20230101 --datebefore 20231231 "CHANNEL_URL"

View Count Filters

# Videos with 1M+ views
yt-dlp --match-filter "view_count > 1000000" "CHANNEL_URL"

# Videos with less than 10K views
yt-dlp --match-filter "view_count < 10000" "CHANNEL_URL"

Duration Filters

# Videos longer than 10 minutes
yt-dlp --match-filter "duration > 600" "PLAYLIST_URL"

# Videos shorter than 5 minutes
yt-dlp --match-filter "duration < 300" "PLAYLIST_URL"

Live Streams

Download Live Stream

# Wait for stream to start and download
yt-dlp --wait-for-video 60 "LIVE_STREAM_URL"

# Download stream as it's happening (may be incomplete if interrupted)
yt-dlp "LIVE_STREAM_URL"

Rate Limiting and Network Options

# Limit download speed (e.g., 1MB/s)
yt-dlp --limit-rate 1M "URL"

# Set number of retries
yt-dlp --retries 10 "URL"

# Wait between downloads (in seconds)
yt-dlp --sleep-interval 5 "PLAYLIST_URL"

# Use specific proxy
yt-dlp --proxy "http://proxy.server:port" "URL"

# Use cookies from browser (bypass age restrictions)
yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome "URL"

Geo-Restriction Bypass

# Use proxy
yt-dlp --proxy "socks5://proxy.server:1080" "URL"

# Use specific geo-bypass country
yt-dlp --geo-bypass-country US "URL"

Post-Processing

Video Post-Processing

# Merge video and audio to MP4
yt-dlp --merge-output-format mp4 "URL"

# Re-encode to H.264
yt-dlp --recode-video mp4 "URL"

# Add metadata
yt-dlp --add-metadata "URL"

# Embed thumbnail
yt-dlp --embed-thumbnail "URL"

Audio Post-Processing

# Extract audio and convert to MP3
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 "URL"

# Add metadata to audio file
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --add-metadata "URL"

Common Use Cases

1. Download Music from YouTube

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 \
  -o "%(artist)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  --add-metadata \
  --embed-thumbnail \
  "MUSIC_VIDEO_URL"

2. Download Educational Course

yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  --write-subs --embed-subs \
  --write-info-json \
  "COURSE_PLAYLIST_URL"

3. Archive Channel (New Videos Only)

yt-dlp --download-archive downloaded.txt \
  -o "%(uploader)s/%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best" \
  "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/videos"

4. Download Podcast as Audio

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp