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ytdl-org
youtube-dl
Python2012–2026
ytdl-org / youtube-dl

youtube-dl

Command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and other video sites

Command LineCreative & Media
Explore on GitHubRead Hacker News discussions
188Distinct people
220Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
141.5KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

Command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and other video sites

GitHub

Where it is used

  • youtube-dl-api-server — youtube-dl-api-server uses youtube-dl to power a REST API that retrieves video information from various sites. Source

What people are saying

Here's a couple (albeit macOS focused) favorites of mine: - Deliveries: macOS / iOS package tracking https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/deliveries-a-package-tracker... -…

firloop used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 5:04:57 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year220 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2012-03-11 07:35:07 UTC to 2026-09-26 00:27:46 UTC.

020402012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments20122013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 12 mentions; 1 submissions, 11 comments2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 13 mentions; 1 submissions, 12 comments2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 10 mentions; 1 submissions, 9 comments2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 11 mentions; 2 submissions, 9 comments2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 21 mentions; 1 submissions, 20 comments2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 13 mentions; 2 submissions, 11 comments20192020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 51 mentions; 3 submissions, 48 comments2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 37 mentions; 5 submissions, 32 comments2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 17 mentions; 2 submissions, 15 comments2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 19 mentions; 2 submissions, 17 comments2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 8 mentions; 0 submissions, 8 comments2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 1 submissions, 2 comments2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments. Incomplete calendar period.2026*

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20122012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202
20132013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202
20142014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC12111
20152015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC13112
20162016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC1019
20172017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC1129
20182018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC21120
20192019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC13211
20202020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC51348
20212021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC37532
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC17215
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC19217
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC808
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC312
2026 (partial)2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101

What Hacker News says

220 sources
progbits·Sep 24, 2025
From https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/33186 > Currently, a new style of player JS is beginning to be sent where the challenge code is no longer modular but is hooked into other code throughout the player JS. So it's no longer a standalone script that can be interpreted but it depends on all the other code on the site? Which could still be interpreted maybe but is a lot more complex and might need DOM etc? Just guessing here, if anyone knows the details would love to hear more.
In Yt-dlp: Upcoming new requirements for YouTube downloads
Leftium·Sep 8, 2024
yt-dlp parameters distinguish between auto-generated and manual YouTube captions: # Downloads auto-generated captions yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub https://youtu.be/i-BkN3rTK0Q # Downloads manual captions yt-dlp --skip-download --write-sub https://youtu.be/i-BkN3rTK0Q # Fails with error: "There are no subtitles for the requested languages" yt-dlp --skip-download --write-sub https://youtu.be/ZMklf0vUl18 Docs: https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl?tab=readme-ov-file#su...
In Show HN: Transcribe YouTube Videos
1vuio0pswjnm7·Apr 16, 2024
For me, the less-complicated client called "DVD" is more reliable for downloading than the client called "Newpipe"; the later stops working intermittently. YMMV. Neither are as reliable as using own custom command line programs on desktop, or mobile via Termux. If Google makes a change I can fix/workaround immediately. No waiting for app developers. For me, Newpipe works well as a Soundcloud client. From the Kotlin source for "dvd": Video downloader app powered by yt-dlp (formerly youtube-dl). Features Download video/audio from 1000+ sites supported by yt-dlp. Run custom yt-dlp commands. Update yt-dlp version from settings. Share link via other apps. References dvd - https://github.com/yausername/dvd youtubedl-android - https://github.com/yausername/youtubedl-android yt-dlp - https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp (formerly youtube-dl - http
Read the rest
s://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
In Mobile Ad Blocker Will No Longer Stop YouTube's Ads

Showing the 15 most recent of 220 sources. Enable JavaScript to search and browse every indexed mention.

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