yt-dlp Video Downloader

Download videos from thousands of websites using yt-dlp.

Prerequisites

Before downloading, verify dependencies are installed:

# Check yt-dlp
which yt-dlp || echo "yt-dlp not installed. Install with: pip install yt-dlp"

# Check ffmpeg (required for audio extraction and format merging)
which ffmpeg || echo "ffmpeg not installed. Install with: brew install ffmpeg"

If not installed, install them first:

pip install yt-dlp
brew install ffmpeg  # macOS

Quick Start

Basic Download (Best Quality)

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" "VIDEO_URL"

YouTube Download (Recommended - with cookies)

YouTube often blocks direct downloads with 403 errors. Always use browser cookies for YouTube:

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" --cookies-from-browser chrome "YOUTUBE_URL"

Supported browsers: chrome, firefox, safari, edge, brave, opera

Download with Custom Output Path

yt-dlp -P "/path/to/save" -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Common Tasks

1. Download Video (Default - Best Quality)

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" "VIDEO_URL"

2. Extract Audio Only (MP3)

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" -x --audio-format mp3 "VIDEO_URL"

3. Download with Subtitles

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" --write-subs --sub-langs all "VIDEO_URL"

4. Download Specific Quality

720p:

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]" "VIDEO_URL"

1080p:

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]" "VIDEO_URL"

Best available:

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" -f "bestvideo+bestaudio/best" "VIDEO_URL"

5. List Available Formats (Before Download)

yt-dlp -F "VIDEO_URL"

Then download specific format by ID:

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" -f FORMAT_ID "VIDEO_URL"

6. Download Playlist

# Download entire playlist
yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "PLAYLIST_URL"

# Download specific range (e.g., items 1-5)
yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" -I 1:5 "PLAYLIST_URL"

7. Download with Thumbnail

yt-dlp -P "~/Downloads/yt-dlp" --write-thumbnail "VIDEO_URL"

Workflow

When user provides a video URL:

1. Identify the platform:

   • YouTube/YouTube Music → Always use --cookies-from-browser chrome
   • Other sites → Try without cookies first

2. Ask what they want (if not specified):

   • Just download the video?
   • Extract audio only?
   • Need subtitles?
   • Specific quality?

3. Construct the command based on requirements

4. Execute the download using Shell tool with required_permissions: ["all", "network"]