yt-dlp

yt-dlp retrieves audio and video from thousands of online services and saves the selected media through a command-line interface. It gives Linux users a youtube-dl-derived utility for collecting multimedia while adding patches and capabilities from the inactive youtube-dlc project.

Its format selection filters available streams, output templates organize filenames and folders, and metadata options can modify or embed information in the resulting files. Configuration files, environment variables, simulation mode, verbosity controls, shell completion, and embedding support let users adapt it to scripts, media workflows, and applications.

The project combines youtube-dl code from the 2021.06.06 commit 379f52a with youtube-dlc code from the 2020.11.11-3 commit 98e248f, incorporating the latter’s features and patches alongside newer changes from youtube-dl. Separate video and audio streams and several post-processing operations require ffmpeg and ffprobe, and yt-dlp provides its own ffmpeg builds for this dependency. Python 3.10 or later with CPython, or 3.11 or later with PyPy, is supported, while other Python implementations may not work correctly.

This Linux release targets x86_64 (amd64) systems and requires snapd; its current version is 2026.08.19-34-g897341241. The Snapcraft files come from the snap-yt-dlp project and are not endorsed by the yt-dlp project, so the package source and format should be distinguished from upstream approval. yt-dlp is open-source under the Unlicense, although bundled executables can include GPLv3+ code and other components carry ISC or MIT terms.