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A CLI/Library written in typescript/javascript, which allows you to download videos from [YouTube](http://youtube.com) onto your system.

Package Exports

  • @ytdl/ytdl

This package does not declare an exports field, so the exports above have been automatically detected and optimized by JSPM instead. If any package subpath is missing, it is recommended to post an issue to the original package (@ytdl/ytdl) to support the "exports" field. If that is not possible, create a JSPM override to customize the exports field for this package.

Readme

ytdl

ytdl provides a library to integrate a Youtube Downloader for Node.js projects, and a CLI to download content from Youtube.

Note: You need ffmpeg to be installed on your computer for complete functionality. Without it, you won't be able to some formats/qualities of videos.

Contents

Installation

Library

Via npm

npm install @ytdl/ytdl

CLI

npm install @ytdl/ytdl -g

Via curl

As a single file (from latest Github Release):

# Needs both curl and wget
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ytdl-node/ytdl/master/bin/install-latest)"

From GitHub repository:

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ytdl-node/ytdl/master/bin/install)"

Via wget

As a single file (from latest Github Release):

# Needs both curl and wget
sh -c "$(wget -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ytdl-node/ytdl/master/bin/install-latest)"

From GitHub repository:

sh -c "$(wget -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ytdl-node/ytdl/master/bin/install)"

Via commands

git clone https://github.com/ytdl-node/ytdl.git
cd ytdl
npm install
./bin/ytdl -h
echo
echo "Add $(pwd)/bin to PATH"

API

Example

const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default; // Alternate: require('@ytdl/ytdl').init;

async function videoDownloader() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  await video.download('360p', 'ytdl.mp4');
}

videoDownloader();

OR

// Without using async-await.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ').then((video) => {
  video.download('360p', 'ytdl.mp4');
});

Brief

The function ytdl.init(link: string) or ytdl.default(link: string) returns a Promise which resolves with an object of type Ytdl.

A Ytdl object has the following properties:

  • info.videoId: string, stores the video ID.
  • info.videoTitle: string, stores the title of the video.
  • info.videoTime: string, stores the time of the video.
  • info.videoDescription: string, stores the description of the video.
  • info.size(quality[, options]): Number, stores the size of the stream in bytes.
  • info.all(): Object, returns an object consisting of id, title, time, description.
  • download(quality, filename[, options]): Promise<void>, downloads the video/audio from YouTube.
  • setLogLevel(level): void, allows you to enable or disable logging depending on the level.
  • downloadByItag(itag, filename): Promise<void>, downloads from YouTube using the itag property.
  • stream(quality[, options, headers]): Promise<any>, returns a Node.js stream.

Any reference to video refers to an object returned by ytdl.default('link').

options: object

  • audioOnly: true | false
  • videoOnly: true | false
// Example
const options = { audioOnly: true, videoOnly: false };

quality: string

  • For audio: low, medium, high, any.
  • For video: 144p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p.
// Example
const quality = 'low';

video.download(quality, path[, options])

const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function videoDownloader() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  await video.download('360p', 'ytdl.mp4');
}

videoDownloader();

OR

// Without using async-await.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ').then((video) => {
  video.download('360p', 'ytdl.mp4');
});
  • This function first searches for a stream which has both audio and video in it. If it doesn't find it, it will search for a separate audio and video stream and combine it using ffmpeg.

Currently ytdl uses the fluent-ffmpeg package which requires ffmpeg to be installed on the computer.

options:

  • audioOnly: true | false
  • videoOnly: true | false

audioOnly:

const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function videoDownloader() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  await video.download('medium', 'audio.mp3', { audioOnly: true });

  // quality: 'low', 'medium', 'high', 'any'
}

videoDownloader();

videoOnly:

Note: There will be no sound.

const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function videoDownloader() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  await video.download('720p', 'video.mp4', { videoOnly: true });

  // quality: '144p', '360p', '480p', '720p', '1080p'
}

videoDownloader();

video.downloadByItag(url, itag, path)

const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function videoDownloader() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  await video.downloadByItag(396, 'ytdl.mp4');
}

videoDownloader();

OR

// Without using async-await.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ').then((video) => {
  video.downloadByItag(396, 'ytdl.mp4');
});

video.stream(quality[, options, headers])

  • This function returns a Node.js stream.
  • This may be piped to fs.createWriteStream(filename) to save the stream into a file.

Note: The download function merges separate audio-only and video-only stream when a combined stream is unavailable. This function however will return the appropriate stream if and only if it is available. You may require to pass options, having properties audioOnly and videoOnly to get the desired stream. E.G. video.stream('480p', { videoOnly: true }).

const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;
const fs = require('fs');

async function download() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  const stream = await video.stream('360p');
  // The variable stream now holds a Node.js stream.
  // Sample use of stream is as follows:
  stream
    .pipe(fs.createWriteStream('ytdl.mp4'))
    .on('finish', (err) => {
      if (err) console.log(err);
      else console.log('Stream saved successfully.');
    });
}

download();

OR

// Without using async-await.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;
const fs = require('fs');

ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ').then((video) => {
  video.stream('360p').then((stream) => {
    // The variable stream now holds a Node.js stream.
    // Sample use of stream is as follows:
    stream
      .pipe(fs.createWriteStream('ytdl.mp4'))
      .on('finish', (err) => {
        if (err) console.log(err);
        else console.log('Stream saved successfully.');
      });
  });
});

video.setLogLevel(level)

  • level can be one of the following:
    • error
    • warn
    • info
    • http
    • verbose
    • debug
    • silly
  • A level lower in the list also enables the levels before it.
  • E.G., a log level of debug will also enable verbose, http, info, warn, error.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function videoDownloader() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');

  // This line will enable logging info to console while downloading content.
  video.setLogLevel('info');

  await video.downloadByItag(396, 'ytdl.mp4');
}

videoDownloader();

video.info.size(quality|itag[, options])

  • Returns size in bytes.
  • A number is treated as an itag whereas a string is treated as quality.
  • Options may be passed only with quality, else it will be ignored.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function videoSize() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  
  const size = video.info.size('360p'); // can pass options: { audioOnly: boolean, videoOnly: boolean }
  const sizeItag = video.info.size(396);

  console.log(`Video Size for 360p: ${Math.round(size/(1024*1024))}M`);
  console.log(`Video Size for itag = 396: ${Math.round(sizeItag/(1024*1024))}M`);
}

videoSize();

OR

const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ').then((video) => {
  const size = video.info.size('360p'); // can pass options: { audioOnly: boolean, videoOnly: boolean}
  const sizeItag = video.info.size(396);

  console.log(`Video Size for 360p: ${Math.round(size/(1024*1024))}M`);
  console.log(`Video Size for itag = 396: ${Math.round(sizeItag/(1024*1024))}M`);
});

video.info.all()

const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function videoInfo() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  
  const { id, title, time, description } = video.info.all();
  console.log(`Video Title: ${title}`);
}

videoInfo();

OR

// Without using async-await.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ').then((video) => {
  const { id, title, time, description } = video.info.all();
  console.log(`Video Title: ${title}`);
});

video.info.fetchFormatData(quality[, options])

  • Returns an object: { url: string, fmt: object }.
  • url holds the download URL for the video.
  • fmt holds other data about the format such as contentLength, fps, mimeType, etc.
  • options are same as in video.download.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function getData() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  
  const { url, fmt } = video.info.fetchFormatData('360p');
  console.log(`Download url: ${url}`);
  console.log(`Format data: ${fmt}`);
}

getData();

OR

ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ').then((video) => {
  const { url, fmt } = video.info.fetchFormatData('360p');
  console.log(`Download url: ${url}`);
  console.log(`Format data: ${fmt}`);
});

video.info.fetchFormatDataByItag(itag)

  • Same as video.info.fetchFormatData(quality); except, it fetches data by itag instead of quality.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl').default;

async function getData() {
  const video = await ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ');
  
  const { url, fmt } = video.info.fetchFormatDataByItag(18);
  console.log(`Download url: ${url}`);
  console.log(`Format data: ${fmt}`);
}

getData();

OR

ytdl('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ').then((video) => {
  const { url, fmt } = video.info.fetchFormatDataByItag(18);
  console.log(`Download url: ${url}`);
  console.log(`Format data: ${fmt}`);
});

ytdl.fetch(url)

  • This function may be used to fetch any data from a website and store it in a file (path).
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl');
const fs = require('fs');

const downloader = new ytdl.fetch('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ytdl-node/ytdl/master/README.md');
async function download() {
  await downloader.download('ytdl-README.md');
  // This returns a promise
  // The link could also be an audio/video file.
}

async function downloadFromStream() {
  const stream = await downloader.stream();
  // This returns a Node.js stream
  // This stream may be utilized in many ways, E.G.:
  stream.pipe(fs.createWriteStream('ytdl-README-from-stream.md'));
}

download();
downloadFromStream();

ytdl.mergeStreams(videoFile, audioFile, outputFile)

  • This will add the audio to the video file.
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl');

ytdl.mergeStreams('video.mp4', 'audio.mp3', 'output.mp4');
// This returns a Promise.

ytdl.cli()

  • This will create a CLI for YTDL.
  • You can run this by passing arguments.
    • node file.js -h OR npm start -h
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl');

ytdl.cli(process.argv);
  • This will prompt the user to enter a download link (can be used for CLI).
const ytdl = require('@ytdl/ytdl');

async function getLinkFromUser() {
  const link = await ytdl.getDownloadLink();
}

getLinkFromUser();

CLI (ytdl)

Example

ytdl -d -l "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ" -fn "rhapsody.mp3" -ao

Usage

Usage: ytdl [options]

Options:
  -V, --version               output the version number
  -l, --link <url>            set the url for the YouTube video
  -i, --info                  info about YouTube link
  -d, --download              download from YouTube link
  -fn, --filename <filename>  filename of downloaded content
  -q, --quality <quality>     quality of downloaded content
  -s, --size                  get the size of the video to be downloaded
  -ao, --audio-only           download only audio stream
  -vo, --video-only           download only video stream
  -h, --help                  display help for command

Contributing

Contributing guidelines have been established here.

License

MIT