video-download

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)

yt-dlp -U

pip install -U yt-dlp

Commands

Download best quality

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

Download specific resolution

# 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

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

Download subtitles

# 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)

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

List available formats

yt-dlp "URL" -F

Specify output directory

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

Quality Presets

-f "bestvideo+bestaudio/best"

-f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]"

-f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]"

-f "bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio/best[height<=480]"

-f "worstvideo+worstaudio/worst"

Output Template Variables

-o

%(title)s

%(ext)s

%(id)s

%(uploader)s

%(upload_date)s

%(duration)s

%(resolution)s

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.