## Filesystem Options:
-t, --title use title in file name
- -l, --literal use literal title in file name
+ --id use video ID in file name
+ -l, --literal [deprecated] alias of --title
-A, --auto-number number downloaded files starting from 00000
- -o, --output TEMPLATE output filename template. Use %(stitle)s to get the
+ -o, --output TEMPLATE output filename template. Use %(title)s to get the
title, %(uploader)s for the uploader name,
%(autonumber)s to get an automatically incremented
number, %(ext)s for the filename extension,
- %(upload_date)s for the upload date (YYYYMMDD), and
- %% for a literal percent. Use - to output to
- stdout.
+ %(upload_date)s for the upload date (YYYYMMDD),
+ %(extractor)s for the provider (youtube, metacafe,
+ etc), %(id)s for the video id and %% for a literal
+ percent. Use - to output to stdout.
+ --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters, and
+ avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
-a, --batch-file FILE file containing URLs to download ('-' for stdin)
-w, --no-overwrites do not overwrite files
-c, --continue resume partially downloaded files
-n, --netrc use .netrc authentication data
## Post-processing Options:
- --extract-audio convert video files to audio-only files (requires
+ -x, --extract-audio convert video files to audio-only files (requires
ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or avprobe)
--audio-format FORMAT "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a", or "wav";
best by default
-k, --keep-video keeps the video file on disk after the post-
processing; the video is erased by default
+# CONFIGURATION
+
+You can configure youtube-dl by placing default arguments (such as `--extract-audio --no-mtime` to always extract the audio and not copy the mtime) into `/etc/youtube-dl.conf` and/or `~/.local/config/youtube-dl.conf`.
+
+# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
+
+The `-o` option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names. The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `youtube-dl -o funny_video.flv "http://some/video"`. However, it may contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences have the format `%(NAME)s`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parenthesis, followed by a lowercase S. Allowed names are:
+
+ - `id`: The sequence will be replaced by the video identifier.
+ - `url`: The sequence will be replaced by the video URL.
+ - `uploader`: The sequence will be replaced by the nickname of the person who uploaded the video.
+ - `upload_date`: The sequence will be replaced by the upload date in YYYYMMDD format.
+ - `title`: The sequence will be replaced by the video title.
+ext`: The sequence will be replaced by the appropriate extension (like flv or mp4).
+epoch`: The sequence will be replaced by the Unix epoch when creating the file.
+autonumber`: The sequence will be replaced by a five-digit number that will be increased with each download, starting at zero.
+
+The current default template is `%(id)s.%(ext)s`, but that will be switchted to `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` (which can be requested with `-t` at the moment).
+
+In some cases, you don't want special characters such as 中, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the `--restrict-filenames` flag to get a shorter title:
+
+ $ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc
+ youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
+ $ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
+ youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
+
# FAQ
### Can you please put the -b option back?
youtube has switched to a new video info format in July 2011 which is not supported by old versions of youtube-dl. You can update youtube-dl with `sudo youtube-dl --update`.
+### ERROR: unable to download video ###
+
+youtube requires an additional signature since September 2012 which is not supported by old versions of youtube-dl. You can update youtube-dl with `sudo youtube-dl --update`.
+
+### SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character ###
+
+The error
+
+ File "youtube-dl", line 2
+ SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character '\x93' ...
+
+means you're using an outdated version of Python. Please update to Python 2.6 or 2.7.
+
+To run youtube-dl under Python 2.5, you'll have to manually check it out like this:
+
+ git clone git://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl.git
+ cd youtube-dl
+ python -m youtube_dl --help
+
+Please note that Python 2.5 is not supported anymore.
+
+### What is this binary file? Where has the code gone?
+
+Since June 2012 (#342) youtube-dl is packed as an executable zipfile, simply unzip it (might need renaming to `youtube-dl.zip` first on some systems) or clone the git repository, as laid out above. If you modify the code, you can run it by executing the `__main__.py` file. To recompile the executable, run `make youtube-dl`.
+
+### The exe throws a *Runtime error from Visual C++*
+
+To run the exe you need to install first the [Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package](http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29).
+
# COPYRIGHT
youtube-dl is released into the public domain by the copyright holders.