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https://github.com/przemyslawpluta/node-youtube-dl

youtube-dl driver for node
https://github.com/przemyslawpluta/node-youtube-dl

node video-downloader youtube youtube-downloader

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youtube-dl driver for node

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# youtube-dl 

# **Deprecate notice**: use [youtube-dl-exec](https://github.com/microlinkhq/youtube-dl-exec) instead.



[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/przemyslawpluta/node-youtube-dl.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/przemyslawpluta/node-youtube-dl) [![npm version](https://badge.fury.io/js/youtube-dl.svg)](https://badge.fury.io/js/youtube-dl)



Download videos from youtube in node.js using [youtube-dl](http://rg3.github.com/youtube-dl/).



If you're only interested in downloading only from youtube, you should consider using [pure Javascript youtube downloading module](https://github.com/fent/node-ytdl).



## Installation



With [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/) do:



``` sh

npm install youtube-dl

```



## Usage



### Downloading videos



``` js

const fs = require('fs')

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



const video = youtubedl('http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90AiXO1pAiA',

  // Optional arguments passed to youtube-dl.

  ['--format=18'],

  // Additional options can be given for calling `child_process.execFile()`.

  { cwd: __dirname })



// Will be called when the download starts.

video.on('info', function(info) {

  console.log('Download started')

  console.log('filename: ' + info._filename)

  console.log('size: ' + info.size)

})



video.pipe(fs.createWriteStream('myvideo.mp4'))

```



It will produce an output that looks like the following when ran.



```bash

Got video info

saving to T-ara - Number Nine - MV - 티아라-Seku9G1kT0c.mp4

100.00%

```



### Resuming partially downloaded videos



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')

const fs = require('fs')

const output = 'myvideo.mp4'



let downloaded = 0



if (fs.existsSync(output)) {

  downloaded = fs.statSync(output).size

}



const video = youtubedl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=179MiZSibco',



  // Optional arguments passed to youtube-dl.

  ['--format=18'],



  // start will be sent as a range header

  { start: downloaded, cwd: __dirname })



// Will be called when the download starts.

video.on('info', function(info) {

  console.log('Download started')

  console.log('filename: ' + info._filename)



  // info.size will be the amount to download, add

  let total = info.size + downloaded

  console.log('size: ' + total)



  if (downloaded > 0) {

    // size will be the amount already downloaded

    console.log('resuming from: ' + downloaded)



    // display the remaining bytes to download

    console.log('remaining bytes: ' + info.size)

  }

})



video.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(output, { flags: 'a' }))



// Will be called if download was already completed and there is nothing more to download.

video.on('complete', function complete(info) {

  'use strict'

  console.log('filename: ' + info._filename + ' already downloaded.')

})



video.on('end', function() {

  console.log('finished downloading!')

})

```



It will produce an output that looks like the following when ran.



**Output:**



``` sh

[~/nodejs/node-youtube-dl/example]$ node resume.js

Download started

filename: 1 1 1-179MiZSibco.mp4

size: 5109213

^C

```



``` sh

[~/nodejs/node-youtube-dl/example]$ node resume.js

Download started

filename: 1 1 1-179MiZSibco.mp4

size: 5109213

resuming from: 917504

remaining bytes: 4191709

finished downloading

```



### Getting video information



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



const url = 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKsjaOqDXgg'

// Optional arguments passed to youtube-dl.

const options = ['--username=user', '--password=hunter2']



youtubedl.getInfo(url, options, function(err, info) {

  if (err) throw err



  console.log('id:', info.id)

  console.log('title:', info.title)

  console.log('url:', info.url)

  console.log('thumbnail:', info.thumbnail)

  console.log('description:', info.description)

  console.log('filename:', info._filename)

  console.log('format id:', info.format_id)

})

```



Running that will produce something like



``` sh

id: WKsjaOqDXgg

title: Ace Rimmer to the Rescue

url: http://r5---sn-p5qlsn7e.c.youtube.com/videoplayback?ms=au&ip=160.79.125.18&cp=U0hWTFVQVl9FTENONl9NSlpDOjgtU1VsODlkVmRH&id=58ab2368ea835e08&source=youtube&expire=1377558202&factor=1.25&key=yt1&ipbits=8&mt=1377534150&itag=34&sver=3&upn=-rGWz2vYpN4&fexp=912306%2C927900%2C919395%2C926518%2C936203%2C913819%2C929117%2C929121%2C929906%2C929907%2C929922%2C929127%2C929129%2C929131%2C929930%2C925726%2C925720%2C925722%2C925718%2C929917%2C906945%2C929919%2C929933%2C912521%2C932306%2C913428%2C904830%2C919373%2C930803%2C908536%2C904122%2C938701%2C936308%2C909549%2C900816%2C912711%2C904494%2C904497%2C900375%2C906001&sparams=algorithm%2Cburst%2Ccp%2Cfactor%2Cid%2Cip%2Cipbits%2Citag%2Csource%2Cupn%2Cexpire&mv=m&burst=40&algorithm=throttle-factor&signature=ABD3A847684AD9B39331E567568D3FA0DCFA4776.7895521E130A042FB3625A17242CE3C02A4460B7&ratebypass=yes

thumbnail: https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/WKsjaOqDXgg/hqdefault.jpg

description: An old Red Dwarf eposide where Ace Rimmer saves the Princess Bonjella.

filename: Ace Rimmer to the Rescue-WKsjaOqDXgg.flv

format id: 34

```



You can use an array of urls to produce an array of response objects with matching array index (e.g. the 1st response object will match the first url etc...)



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



const url1 = 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKsjaOqDXgg'

const url2 = 'https://vimeo.com/6586873'



youtubedl.getInfo([url1, url2], function(err, info) {

  if (err) throw err



  console.log('title for the url1:', info[0].title)

  console.log('title for the url2:', info[1].title)

})

```



### Using a proxy



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



const video = youtubedl('http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90AiXO1pAiA',

  // Optional arguments passed to youtube-dl.

  ['--proxy', 'http://ip:port'],

```



### Downloading subtitles



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')

const url = 'https://youtu.be/PizwcirYuGY'



const options = {

  // Write automatic subtitle file (youtube only)

  auto: false,

  // Downloads all the available subtitles.

  all: false,

  // Subtitle format. YouTube generated subtitles

  // are available ttml or vtt.

  format: 'ttml',

  // Languages of subtitles to download, separated by commas.

  lang: 'en',

  // The directory to save the downloaded files in.

  cwd: __dirname,

}



youtubedl.getSubs(url, options, function(err, files) {

  if (err) throw err



  console.log('subtitle files downloaded:', files)

})

```



### Downloading thumbnails



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')

const url = 'https://youtu.be/PizwcirYuGY'



const options = {

  // Downloads available thumbnail.

  all: false,

  // The directory to save the downloaded files in.

  cwd: __dirname,

}



youtubedl.getThumbs(url, options, function(err, files) {

  if (err) throw err



  console.log('thumbnail file downloaded:', files)

})

```



For more usage info on youtube-dl and the arguments you can pass to it, do `youtube-dl -h` or go to the [youtube-dl documentation][].



### Downloading playlists



``` js



const path = require('path')

const fs   = require('fs')

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



function playlist(url) {



  'use strict'

  const video = youtubedl(url)



  video.on('error', function error(err) {

    console.log('error 2:', err)

  })



  let size = 0

  video.on('info', function(info) {

    size = info.size

    let output = path.join(__dirname + '/', size + '.mp4')

    video.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(output))

  })



  let pos = 0

  video.on('data', function data(chunk) {

    pos += chunk.length

    // `size` should not be 0 here.

    if (size) {

      let percent = (pos / size * 100).toFixed(2)

      process.stdout.cursorTo(0)

      process.stdout.clearLine(1)

      process.stdout.write(percent + '%')

    }

  })



  video.on('next', playlist)

}



playlist('https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEFA9E9D96CB7F807')



```



Note node-youtube-dl does not currently support playlist urls with the "list" format:

```

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=&list=

```

Please use instead the equivalent "playlist" format as the example below:

```

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=

```

The following snippet could be of use when making this format conversion.

```

function toSupportedFormat(url) {

    if (url.includes("list=")) {

        var playlistId = url.substring(url.indexOf('list=') + 5);

        return "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=" + playlistId;

    }

    return url;

}



var url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shF8Sv-OswM&list=PLzIUZKHPb1HbqsPMIFdE0My54iektZrNU"

url = toSupportedFormat(url);

console.log(url) // "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzIUZKHPb1HbqsPMIFdE0My54iektZrNU"

```



### Getting the list of extractors



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



youtubedl.getExtractors(true, function(err, list) {

  console.log('Found ' + list.length + ' extractors')



  for (let i = 0 i < list.length i++) {

    console.log(list[i])

  }

})

```



Will print something like



``` sh

Found 521 extractors

1up.com

220.ro

24video

3sat

```



### Getting the binary path



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



console.log(youtubedl.getYtdlBinary())

```



### Changing the binary path



```js

const path = require('path')

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



const customBinaryPath = path.resolve('custom/path/to-binary')



youtubedl.setYtdlBinary(customBinaryPath)

```



### Call the `youtube-dl` binary directly



This module doesn't have `youtube-dl` download the video. Instead, it uses the `url` key from the `--dump-json` CLI option to create a node stream. That way, it can be used like any other node stream.



If that, or none of the above support your use case, you can use `youtubedl.exec()` to call `youtube-dl` however you like.



``` js

const youtubedl = require('youtube-dl')



youtubedl.exec(url, ['-x', '--audio-format', 'mp3'], {}, function(err, output) {

  if (err) throw err



  console.log(output.join('\n'))

})

```



### Update



Since the youtube-dl binary is updated regularly, you can run `npm run update` to check for and download any updates for it. You can also require `youtube-dl/lib/downloader` in your app if you'd like to place `youtube-dl` binary in a specific directory and control when it gets updates.



``` js

const downloader = require('youtube-dl/lib/downloader')



downloader('path/to-binary', function error(err, done) {

  'use strict'

  if (err) throw err



  console.log(done)

})

```



This script parses a couple of flags from `argv`:



* `--platform=windows` forces downloading the Windows version of youtube-dl.

* `--overwrite` overwrites the existing youtube-dl executable if it exists.



### Update (promise version)



If you are using promises there's now a promise version, if you don't pass a function as second argument:



``` js

const downloader = require('youtube-dl/lib/downloader')



downloader('path/to-binary')

.then((message) => {

    console.log(message);

}).catch((err) => {

    console.log("err", err);

    exit(1);

});



```



### Environment Variables



Youtube-dl looks for certain environment variables to aid its operations. If Youtube-dl doesn't find them in the environment during the installation step, a lowercased variant of these variables will be used from the [npm config](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/config) or [yarn config](https://yarnpkg.com/lang/en/docs/cli/config/).



- **YOUTUBE\_DL\_DOWNLOAD\_HOST** - overwrite URL prefix that is used to download the binary file of Youtube-dl. Note: this includes protocol and might even include path prefix. Defaults to `https://yt-dl.org/downloads/latest/youtube-dl`.



### Tests



Tests are written with [vows](http://vowsjs.org/)



``` sh

npm test

```



## License



MIT



[youtube-dl]: http://rg3.github.com/youtube-dl/

[youtube-dl documentation]: http://rg3.github.com/youtube-dl/documentation.html