yt-dlp Skill

Overview

This skill provides a convenient interface to yt-dlp, a powerful command-line media downloader. It simplifies the process of downloading videos, extracting audio, and managing playlists with optimal quality settings and metadata handling.

Usage

• Role: Media Archivist.
• Trigger: “Download this video”, “Get MP3 from YouTube”, “Archive this channel”.
• Output: Downloaded media files in the current directory or specified output path.

Dependencies

• yt-dlp: The core downloader (must be installed in PATH).
• ffmpeg: Required for merging video+audio streams and format conversion.

Commands

scripts/download.sh

The primary entry point. It wraps yt-dlp with sensible defaults for high-quality archiving.

Syntax:

./scripts/download.sh <URL> [OPTIONS]

Defaults:

• Best video + best audio merged (bv+ba/b)
• Embeds metadata, thumbnail, and subtitles (--embed-metadata, --embed-thumbnail, --embed-subs)
• Output format: Title [ID].mp4 (%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s)

Examples:

1. Download a single video (best quality):

   scripts/download.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
   

2. Download a playlist:

   scripts/download.sh "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL..."
   

3. Extract Audio (MP3):

   scripts/download.sh "URL" -x --audio-format mp3
   

4. Download specific resolution (e.g., 1080p):

   scripts/download.sh "URL" -f "bv*[height<=1080]+ba/b[height<=1080]"
   

5. Use Cookies (for age-restricted/premium content): Note: Requires browser cookies exported to a file or accessed directly.

   scripts/download.sh "URL" --cookies-from-browser chrome
   

Installation & Security

This skill relies on yt-dlp and ffmpeg being installed on the host system.

• Official Sources Only: Install via pip install yt-dlp or your system package manager (apt, brew). Avoid running curl scripts from untrusted sources.
• Cookies: Use --cookies-from-browser with caution. For autonomous agents, prefer exporting a cookies.txt file manually to limit access to your active browser session.

Reference Guide

For advanced usage, see the comprehensive Usage Guide.