yt-dlp
Operator: yt-dlp project
Downloads videos, audio, subtitles and metadata from YouTube and other video platforms.
Social Media (SOCMINT)
OPSEC caution
The --mark-watched option can mark videos as watched in the platform account used. By default, --no-mark-watched is enabled.
Product
yt-dlp, an open-source audio and video downloader.
Availability and source date
Active
As of: 17 October 2026.
No functionality test has been performed.
Use in OSINT research
Saves online videos together with subtitles, thumbnails and metadata for local analysis. Playlists and channel content can be downloaded in batches.
Queries
| Input | Result | Result type |
|---|---|---|
| URL | A video or audio file, plus available subtitles, thumbnails and metadata. | Retrieved |
Features
- Downloads videos, audio tracks, playlists and channel content.
- Saves subtitles and automatically generated subtitles.
- Saves thumbnails and metadata as JSON.
- Selects formats and merges separate audio and video tracks with FFmpeg.
- Maintains a download archive to skip videos already downloaded.
- Can be integrated into your own applications through a Python library.
Categories
- Social Media (SOCMINT)
- YouTube
Coverage
Dataset
Retrieves content directly from the supported platforms. No regional dataset of its own.
Access
Installation and deployment
Locally installable
Runs locally as a command-line program and Python library.
Requirements
Locally installable. YouTube requires EJS challenge scripts and a supported JavaScript runtime; Deno is recommended. FFmpeg is required to merge separate audio and video tracks. Some platform features require your own credentials.
Export
Video and audio files, subtitles, thumbnails and JSON metadata.
Provider
yt-dlp project
Country of establishment
Unknown
Interfaces
API
Available. A Python library with YoutubeDL for embedding in your own programs.
MCP
Not documented. Not described in the README or reviewed application documentation.
AI agents
Not documented. Not described in the README or reviewed application documentation.
Maintenance
Licence
Unlicense
Latest activity
Commit 10/2026
Stars
approx. 198,700 (as of 17 October 2026)
Legal note
Limitations
- For some YouTube sessions, individual access methods return only limited video formats. Open issue #17666 describes partial improvements in the development version.
Guides and practical reports
Official · External JS Scripts Setup Guide
yt-dlp-Projekt · 07/2026 · EN
Describes the JavaScript runtime and EJS setup required for current YouTube downloads.