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youtube-download

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Downloads a YouTube video using yt-dlp. Use this when you need to download a video from YouTube to the local machine for offline viewing or processing.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/blob/HEAD/skills/development/youtube-download/SKILL.md

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YouTube Video Downloader

This skill downloads YouTube videos using yt-dlp, always using the latest version via uvx.

Usage

Download a video to the default location (~/Downloads):

uvx yt-dlp -o "~/Downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Download to a custom location:

uvx yt-dlp -o "/path/to/folder/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Requirements

  • uv - The Python package runner (provides uvx command)

No pre-installation of yt-dlp is needed. The uvx command automatically fetches and runs the latest version.

Common Options

Download best quality (default):

uvx yt-dlp -o "~/Downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Download audio only (mp3) - downloads to Synology music folder:

uvx yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 -o "~/Library/CloudStorage/SynologyDrive-sync/music/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Download specific quality (e.g., 720p):

uvx yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]" -o "~/Downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

List available formats:

uvx yt-dlp -F "VIDEO_URL"

Output Template

The -o flag uses a template for the output filename:

  • %(title)s - Video title
  • %(ext)s - File extension
  • %(id)s - Video ID
  • %(uploader)s - Channel name

Notes

  • The default output format is webm (what YouTube natively provides for best quality)
  • The download location defaults to ~/Downloads but can be changed based on user preference
  • MP3 downloads go to ~/Library/CloudStorage/SynologyDrive-sync/music/ (Synology NAS music folder)
  • uvx ensures you always have the latest yt-dlp version without manual updates
  • YouTube URLs should be quoted to handle special characters