video-download

Original：🇺🇸 English
Translated

Download video and audio from YouTube and 1000+ sites using yt-dlp. No API keys needed. Use when: (1) Downloading a video from YouTube or other sites, (2) Extracting audio from a video URL, (3) Downloading subtitles/captions from a video, (4) Getting video metadata without downloading.

6installs
Sourceheygen-com/skills
Added on

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add heygen-com/skills video-download

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter
yt-dlp-usagevideo-downloadaudio-extractionsubtitle-downloadmetadata-retrieval

SKILL.md Content

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video-download

Download video and audio from URLs using yt-dlp directly. No wrapper scripts needed.

Prerequisites

  • yt-dlp: 
    brew install yt-dlp
    or 
    pip install yt-dlp
  • ffmpeg: 
    brew install ffmpeg
    or 
    apt install ffmpeg
    (required for merging video+audio streams)
Update yt-dlp periodically to keep up with site changes: 
yt-dlp -U
or 
pip install -U yt-dlp
.

Commands

Download best quality

bash
yt-dlp "URL" -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" --merge-output-format mp4

Download specific resolution

bash
# 720p
yt-dlp "URL" -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]" --merge-output-format mp4

# 1080p
yt-dlp "URL" -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]" --merge-output-format mp4

Audio only

bash
yt-dlp "URL" -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0

Download subtitles

bash
# Download video with English subtitles
yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs en --merge-output-format mp4

# Download video with multiple subtitle languages
yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs "en,es,fr" --merge-output-format mp4

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

Get metadata (no download)

bash
yt-dlp "URL" --dump-json --no-download

List available formats

bash
yt-dlp "URL" -F

Specify output directory

bash
yt-dlp "URL" -o "./downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s" --merge-output-format mp4

Quality Presets

QualityFormat flag
Best
-f "bestvideo+bestaudio/best"
(default)
1080p
-f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]"
720p
-f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]"
480p
-f "bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio/best[height<=480]"
Worst
-f "worstvideo+worstaudio/worst"

Output Template Variables

Common variables for 
-o
templates:
VariableDescription
%(title)s
Video title
%(ext)s
File extension
%(id)s
Video ID
%(uploader)s
Channel/uploader name
%(upload_date)s
Upload date (YYYYMMDD)
%(duration)s
Duration in seconds
%(resolution)s
Video resolution

Tips

  • Always use 
    --merge-output-format mp4
    to avoid ending up with 
    .webm
    or 
    .mkv
    files.
  • Use 
    --no-download
    with 
    --dump-json
    for metadata-only queries -- no files written to disk.
  • If a download fails with HTTP errors, update yt-dlp first (
    yt-dlp -U
    ).
  • Use 
    -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio"
    to save bandwidth when full resolution is not needed.
  • yt-dlp automatically handles rate limiting and retries.
  • The 
    --dump-json
    output includes 
    title
    , 
    duration
    , 
    uploader
    , 
    view_count
    , 
    description
    , 
    formats
    , 
    subtitles
    , and much more.

Troubleshooting

  • "yt-dlp: command not found": Install it (
    pip install yt-dlp
    ) and ensure your PATH includes pip's bin directory.
  • "ffmpeg: command not found": Install ffmpeg. Without it, downloads fail when video and audio are separate streams (common on YouTube for HD).
  • Downloads fail or return errors: Run 
    yt-dlp -U
    to update. Sites change frequently and yt-dlp ships fixes regularly.