Prepare for release.

[youtubedl] / README.txt

diff --git a/README.txt b/README.txt
index 5555b2a72b8d6b228e606a862e5e2a13b6698db9..5e2e5f75822e4fabc02b9cca3a16e0e80f2672a4 100644 (file)
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
 youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
 
 youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
 

-SYNOPSIS
-========
-
-youtube-dl OPTIONS URL [URL...]
+-   INSTALLATION
+-   DESCRIPTION
+-   OPTIONS
+-   CONFIGURATION
+-   OUTPUT TEMPLATE
+-   VIDEO SELECTION
+-   FAQ
+-   DEVELOPER INSTRUCTIONS
+-   BUGS
+-   COPYRIGHT

 
 INSTALLATION
 ============
 
 INSTALLATION
 ============


@@ -15,12 +21,20 @@ To install it right away for all UNIX users (Linux, OS X, etc.), type:
 
 If you do not have curl, you can alternatively use a recent wget:
 
 
 If you do not have curl, you can alternatively use a recent wget:
 

-    sudo wget https://yt-dl.org/downloads/2014.05.13/youtube-dl -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
+    sudo wget https://yt-dl.org/downloads/latest/youtube-dl -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl

     sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
 
 Windows users can download a .exe file and place it in their home
 directory or any other location on their PATH.
 
     sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
 
 Windows users can download a .exe file and place it in their home
 directory or any other location on their PATH.
 

+OS X users can install youtube-dl with Homebrew.
+
+    brew install youtube-dl
+
+You can also use pip:
+
+    sudo pip install youtube-dl
+

 Alternatively, refer to the developer instructions below for how to
 check out and work with the git repository. For further options,
 including PGP signatures, see
 Alternatively, refer to the developer instructions below for how to
 check out and work with the git repository. For further options,
 including PGP signatures, see


@@ -31,11 +45,13 @@ DESCRIPTION
 
 youtube-dl is a small command-line program to download videos from
 YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter,
 
 youtube-dl is a small command-line program to download videos from
 YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter,

-version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.3+, and it is not platform specific. It should
+version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+, and it is not platform specific. It should

 work on your Unix box, on Windows or on Mac OS X. It is released to the
 public domain, which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it
 however you like.
 
 work on your Unix box, on Windows or on Mac OS X. It is released to the
 public domain, which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it
 however you like.
 

+    youtube-dl [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
+

 OPTIONS
 =======
 
 OPTIONS
 =======
 


@@ -50,48 +66,41 @@ OPTIONS
                                      playlist or the command line) if an error
                                      occurs
     --dump-user-agent                display the current browser identification
                                      playlist or the command line) if an error
                                      occurs
     --dump-user-agent                display the current browser identification

-    --user-agent UA                  specify a custom user agent
-    --referer REF                    specify a custom referer, use if the video
-                                     access is restricted to one domain
-    --add-header FIELD:VALUE         specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
-                                     separated by a colon ':'. You can use this
-                                     option multiple times

     --list-extractors                List all supported extractors and the URLs
                                      they would handle
     --extractor-descriptions         Output descriptions of all supported
                                      extractors
     --list-extractors                List all supported extractors and the URLs
                                      they would handle
     --extractor-descriptions         Output descriptions of all supported
                                      extractors

-    --proxy URL                      Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS proxy. Pass in
-                                     an empty string (--proxy "") for direct
-                                     connection
-    --no-check-certificate           Suppress HTTPS certificate validation.
-    --prefer-insecure                Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
-                                     information about the video. (Currently
-                                     supported only for YouTube)
-    --cache-dir DIR                  Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
-                                     can store some downloaded information
-                                     permanently. By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME
-                                     /youtube-dl or ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the
-                                     moment, only YouTube player files (for
-                                     videos with obfuscated signatures) are
-                                     cached, but that may change.
-    --no-cache-dir                   Disable filesystem caching
-    --socket-timeout None            Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
-    --bidi-workaround                Work around terminals that lack
-                                     bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
-                                     or fribidi executable in PATH

     --default-search PREFIX          Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
                                      example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
                                      from google videos for  youtube-dl "large
                                      apple". Use the value "auto" to let
     --default-search PREFIX          Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
                                      example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
                                      from google videos for  youtube-dl "large
                                      apple". Use the value "auto" to let

-                                     youtube-dl guess. The default value "error"
-                                     just throws an error.
+                                     youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
+                                     warning when guessing). "error" just throws
+                                     an error. The default value "fixup_error"
+                                     repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
+                                     this is not possible instead of searching.

     --ignore-config                  Do not read configuration files. When given
                                      in the global configuration file /etc
     --ignore-config                  Do not read configuration files. When given
                                      in the global configuration file /etc

-                                     /youtube-dl.conf: do not read the user
-                                     configuration in ~/.config/youtube-dl.conf
-                                     (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt on
-                                     Windows)
-    --encoding ENCODING              Force the specified encoding (experimental)
+                                     /youtube-dl.conf: Do not read the user
+                                     configuration in ~/.config/youtube-
+                                     dl/config (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt
+                                     on Windows)
+    --flat-playlist                  Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
+                                     only list them.
+
+Network Options:
+----------------
+
+    --proxy URL                      Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS proxy. Pass in
+                                     an empty string (--proxy "") for direct
+                                     connection
+    --socket-timeout SECONDS         Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
+    --source-address IP              Client-side IP address to bind to
+                                     (experimental)
+    -4, --force-ipv4                 Make all connections via IPv4
+                                     (experimental)
+    -6, --force-ipv6                 Make all connections via IPv6
+                                     (experimental)

 
 Video Selection:
 ----------------
 
 Video Selection:
 ----------------


@@ -116,7 +125,8 @@ Video Selection:
                                      COUNT views
     --max-views COUNT                Do not download any videos with more than
                                      COUNT views
                                      COUNT views
     --max-views COUNT                Do not download any videos with more than
                                      COUNT views

-    --no-playlist                    download only the currently playing video
+    --no-playlist                    If the URL refers to a video and a
+                                     playlist, download only the video.

     --age-limit YEARS                download only videos suitable for the given
                                      age
     --download-archive FILE          Download only videos not listed in the
     --age-limit YEARS                download only videos suitable for the given
                                      age
     --download-archive FILE          Download only videos not listed in the


@@ -124,8 +134,6 @@ Video Selection:
                                      downloaded videos in it.
     --include-ads                    Download advertisements as well
                                      (experimental)
                                      downloaded videos in it.
     --include-ads                    Download advertisements as well
                                      (experimental)

-    --youtube-include-dash-manifest  Try to download the DASH manifest on
-                                     YouTube videos (experimental)

 
 Download Options:
 -----------------
 
 Download Options:
 -----------------


@@ -139,14 +147,14 @@ Download Options:
                                      size. By default, the buffer size is
                                      automatically resized from an initial value
                                      of SIZE.
                                      size. By default, the buffer size is
                                      automatically resized from an initial value
                                      of SIZE.

+    --playlist-reverse               Download playlist videos in reverse order

 
 Filesystem Options:
 -------------------
 
 
 Filesystem Options:
 -------------------
 

-    -t, --title                      use title in file name (default)
+    -a, --batch-file FILE            file containing URLs to download ('-' for
+                                     stdin)

     --id                             use only video ID in file name
     --id                             use only 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 %(title)s to
                                      get the title, %(uploader)s for the
                                      uploader name, %(uploader_id)s for the
     -o, --output TEMPLATE            output filename template. Use %(title)s to
                                      get the title, %(uploader)s for the
                                      uploader name, %(uploader_id)s for the


@@ -160,17 +168,19 @@ Filesystem Options:
                                      %(upload_date)s for the upload date
                                      (YYYYMMDD), %(extractor)s for the provider
                                      (youtube, metacafe, etc), %(id)s for the
                                      %(upload_date)s for the upload date
                                      (YYYYMMDD), %(extractor)s for the provider
                                      (youtube, metacafe, etc), %(id)s for the

-                                     video id, %(playlist)s for the playlist the
+                                     video id, %(playlist_title)s,
+                                     %(playlist_id)s, or %(playlist)s (=title if
+                                     present, ID otherwise) for the playlist the

                                      video is in, %(playlist_index)s for the
                                      video is in, %(playlist_index)s for the

-                                     position in the playlist and %% for a
-                                     literal percent. %(height)s and %(width)s
-                                     for the width and height of the video
-                                     format. %(resolution)s for a textual
+                                     position in the playlist. %(height)s and
+                                     %(width)s for the width and height of the
+                                     video format. %(resolution)s for a textual

                                      description of the resolution of the video
                                      description of the resolution of the video

-                                     format. Use - to output to stdout. Can also
-                                     be used to download to a different
-                                     directory, for example with -o '/my/downloa
-                                     ds/%(uploader)s/%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .
+                                     format. %% for a literal percent. Use - to
+                                     output to stdout. Can also be used to
+                                     download to a different directory, for
+                                     example with -o '/my/downloads/%(uploader)s
+                                     /%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .

     --autonumber-size NUMBER         Specifies the number of digits in
                                      %(autonumber)s when it is present in output
                                      filename template or --auto-number option
     --autonumber-size NUMBER         Specifies the number of digits in
                                      %(autonumber)s when it is present in output
                                      filename template or --auto-number option


@@ -178,19 +188,20 @@ Filesystem Options:
     --restrict-filenames             Restrict filenames to only ASCII
                                      characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
                                      filenames
     --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)
-    --load-info FILE                 json file containing the video information
-                                     (created with the "--write-json" option)
+    -A, --auto-number                [deprecated; use  -o
+                                     "%(autonumber)s-%(title)s.%(ext)s" ] number
+                                     downloaded files starting from 00000
+    -t, --title                      [deprecated] use title in file name
+                                     (default)
+    -l, --literal                    [deprecated] alias of --title

     -w, --no-overwrites              do not overwrite files
     -c, --continue                   force resume of partially downloaded files.
                                      By default, youtube-dl will resume
                                      downloads if possible.
     --no-continue                    do not resume partially downloaded files
                                      (restart from beginning)
     -w, --no-overwrites              do not overwrite files
     -c, --continue                   force resume of partially downloaded files.
                                      By default, youtube-dl will resume
                                      downloads if possible.
     --no-continue                    do not resume partially downloaded files
                                      (restart from beginning)

-    --cookies FILE                   file to read cookies from and dump cookie
-                                     jar in
-    --no-part                        do not use .part files
+    --no-part                        do not use .part files - write directly
+                                     into output file

     --no-mtime                       do not use the Last-modified header to set
                                      the file modification time
     --write-description              write video description to a .description
     --no-mtime                       do not use the Last-modified header to set
                                      the file modification time
     --write-description              write video description to a .description


@@ -199,6 +210,19 @@ Filesystem Options:
     --write-annotations              write video annotations to a .annotation
                                      file
     --write-thumbnail                write thumbnail image to disk
     --write-annotations              write video annotations to a .annotation
                                      file
     --write-thumbnail                write thumbnail image to disk

+    --load-info FILE                 json file containing the video information
+                                     (created with the "--write-json" option)
+    --cookies FILE                   file to read cookies from and dump cookie
+                                     jar in
+    --cache-dir DIR                  Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
+                                     can store some downloaded information
+                                     permanently. By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME
+                                     /youtube-dl or ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the
+                                     moment, only YouTube player files (for
+                                     videos with obfuscated signatures) are
+                                     cached, but that may change.
+    --no-cache-dir                   Disable filesystem caching
+    --rm-cache-dir                   Delete all filesystem cache files

 
 Verbosity / Simulation Options:
 -------------------------------
 
 Verbosity / Simulation Options:
 -------------------------------


@@ -219,6 +243,12 @@ Verbosity / Simulation Options:
     -j, --dump-json                  simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
                                      See --output for a description of available
                                      keys.
     -j, --dump-json                  simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
                                      See --output for a description of available
                                      keys.

+    -J, --dump-single-json           simulate, quiet but print JSON information
+                                     for each command-line argument. If the URL
+                                     refers to a playlist, dump the whole
+                                     playlist information in a single line.
+    --print-json                     Be quiet and print the video information as
+                                     JSON (video is still being downloaded).

     --newline                        output progress bar as new lines
     --no-progress                    do not print progress bar
     --console-title                  display progress in console titlebar
     --newline                        output progress bar as new lines
     --no-progress                    do not print progress bar
     --console-title                  display progress in console titlebar


@@ -229,22 +259,59 @@ Verbosity / Simulation Options:
                                      files in the current directory to debug
                                      problems
     --print-traffic                  Display sent and read HTTP traffic
                                      files in the current directory to debug
                                      problems
     --print-traffic                  Display sent and read HTTP traffic

+    -C, --call-home                  Contact the youtube-dl server for
+                                     debugging.
+    --no-call-home                   Do NOT contact the youtube-dl server for
+                                     debugging.
+
+Workarounds:
+------------
+
+    --encoding ENCODING              Force the specified encoding (experimental)
+    --no-check-certificate           Suppress HTTPS certificate validation.
+    --prefer-insecure                Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
+                                     information about the video. (Currently
+                                     supported only for YouTube)
+    --user-agent UA                  specify a custom user agent
+    --referer URL                    specify a custom referer, use if the video
+                                     access is restricted to one domain
+    --add-header FIELD:VALUE         specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
+                                     separated by a colon ':'. You can use this
+                                     option multiple times
+    --bidi-workaround                Work around terminals that lack
+                                     bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
+                                     or fribidi executable in PATH

 
 Video Format Options:
 ---------------------
 
     -f, --format FORMAT              video format code, specify the order of
 
 Video Format Options:
 ---------------------
 
     -f, --format FORMAT              video format code, specify the order of

-                                     preference using slashes: "-f 22/17/18".
-                                     "-f mp4" and "-f flv" are also supported.
-                                     You can also use the special names "best",
-                                     "bestvideo", "bestaudio", "worst",
-                                     "worstvideo" and "worstaudio". By default,
-                                     youtube-dl will pick the best quality.
+                                     preference using slashes, as in -f 22/17/18
+                                     .  Instead of format codes, you can select
+                                     by extension for the extensions aac, m4a,
+                                     mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, webm. You can also use
+                                     the special names "best", "bestvideo",
+                                     "bestaudio", "worst".  By default, youtube-
+                                     dl will pick the best quality. Use commas
+                                     to download multiple audio formats, such as
+                                     -f
+                                     136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio.
+                                     You can merge the video and audio of two
+                                     formats into a single file using -f <video-
+                                     format>+<audio-format> (requires ffmpeg or
+                                     avconv), for example -f
+                                     bestvideo+bestaudio.

     --all-formats                    download all available video formats
     --prefer-free-formats            prefer free video formats unless a specific
                                      one is requested
     --max-quality FORMAT             highest quality format to download
     -F, --list-formats               list all available formats
     --all-formats                    download all available video formats
     --prefer-free-formats            prefer free video formats unless a specific
                                      one is requested
     --max-quality FORMAT             highest quality format to download
     -F, --list-formats               list all available formats

+    --youtube-skip-dash-manifest     Do not download the DASH manifest on
+                                     YouTube videos
+    --merge-output-format FORMAT     If a merge is required (e.g.
+                                     bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
+                                     container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
+                                     webm, flv.Ignored if no merge is required

 
 Subtitle Options:
 -----------------
 
 Subtitle Options:
 -----------------


@@ -264,8 +331,9 @@ Subtitle Options:
 Authentication Options:
 -----------------------
 
 Authentication Options:
 -----------------------
 

-    -u, --username USERNAME          account username
+    -u, --username USERNAME          login with this account ID

     -p, --password PASSWORD          account password
     -p, --password PASSWORD          account password

+    -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR        two-factor auth code

     -n, --netrc                      use .netrc authentication data
     --video-password PASSWORD        video password (vimeo, smotri)
 
     -n, --netrc                      use .netrc authentication data
     --video-password PASSWORD        video password (vimeo, smotri)
 


@@ -276,7 +344,7 @@ Post-processing Options:
                                      (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
                                      avprobe)
     --audio-format FORMAT            "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a",
                                      (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
                                      avprobe)
     --audio-format FORMAT            "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a",

-                                     "opus", or "wav"; best by default
+                                     "opus", or "wav"; "best" by default

     --audio-quality QUALITY          ffmpeg/avconv audio quality specification,
                                      insert a value between 0 (better) and 9
                                      (worse) for VBR or a specific bitrate like
     --audio-quality QUALITY          ffmpeg/avconv audio quality specification,
                                      insert a value between 0 (better) and 9
                                      (worse) for VBR or a specific bitrate like


@@ -296,10 +364,19 @@ Post-processing Options:
     --add-metadata                   write metadata to the video file
     --xattrs                         write metadata to the video file's xattrs
                                      (using dublin core and xdg standards)
     --add-metadata                   write metadata to the video file
     --xattrs                         write metadata to the video file's xattrs
                                      (using dublin core and xdg standards)

+    --fixup POLICY                   (experimental) Automatically correct known
+                                     faults of the file. One of never (do
+                                     nothing), warn (only emit a warning),
+                                     detect_or_warn(check whether we can do
+                                     anything about it, warn otherwise

     --prefer-avconv                  Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
                                      postprocessors (default)
     --prefer-ffmpeg                  Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
                                      postprocessors
     --prefer-avconv                  Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
                                      postprocessors (default)
     --prefer-ffmpeg                  Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
                                      postprocessors

+    --exec CMD                       Execute a command on the file after
+                                     downloading, similar to find's -exec
+                                     syntax. Example: --exec 'adb push {}
+                                     /sdcard/Music/ && rm {}'

 
 CONFIGURATION
 =============
 
 CONFIGURATION
 =============


@@ -308,7 +385,8 @@ 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 ~/.config/youtube-dl/config. On
 Windows, the configuration file locations are
 --extract-audio --no-mtime to always extract the audio and not copy the
 mtime) into /etc/youtube-dl.conf and/or ~/.config/youtube-dl/config. On
 Windows, the configuration file locations are

-%APPDATA%\youtube-dl\config.txt and C:\Users\<Yourname>\youtube-dl.conf.
+%APPDATA%\youtube-dl\config.txt and
+C:\Users\<user name>\youtube-dl.conf.

 
 OUTPUT TEMPLATE
 ===============
 
 OUTPUT TEMPLATE
 ===============


@@ -347,10 +425,12 @@ In some cases, you don't want special characters such as 中, spaces, or
 or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the
 --restrict-filenames flag to get a shorter title:
 
 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
+``` {.bash}
+$ 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
+```

 
 VIDEO SELECTION
 ===============
 
 VIDEO SELECTION
 ===============


@@ -364,18 +444,74 @@ Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the options --date,
 
 Examples:
 
 
 Examples:
 

-    # Download only the videos uploaded in the last 6 months
-    $ youtube-dl --dateafter now-6months
+``` {.bash}
+# Download only the videos uploaded in the last 6 months
+$ youtube-dl --dateafter now-6months

 
 

-    # Download only the videos uploaded on January 1, 1970
-    $ youtube-dl --date 19700101
+# Download only the videos uploaded on January 1, 1970
+$ youtube-dl --date 19700101

 
 

-    $ # will only download the videos uploaded in the 200x decade
-    $ youtube-dl --dateafter 20000101 --datebefore 20091231
+$ # will only download the videos uploaded in the 200x decade
+$ youtube-dl --dateafter 20000101 --datebefore 20091231
+```

 
 FAQ
 ===
 
 
 FAQ
 ===
 

+How do I update youtube-dl?
+
+If you've followed our manual installation instructions, you can simply
+run youtube-dl -U (or, on Linux, sudo youtube-dl -U).
+
+If you have used pip, a simple sudo pip install -U youtube-dl is
+sufficient to update.
+
+If you have installed youtube-dl using a package manager like apt-get or
+yum, use the standard system update mechanism to update. Note that
+distribution packages are often outdated. As a rule of thumb, youtube-dl
+releases at least once a month, and often weekly or even daily. Simply
+go to http://yt-dl.org/ to find out the current version. Unfortunately,
+there is nothing we youtube-dl developers can do if your distributions
+serves a really outdated version. You can (and should) complain to your
+distribution in their bugtracker or support forum.
+
+As a last resort, you can also uninstall the version installed by your
+package manager and follow our manual installation instructions. For
+that, remove the distribution's package, with a line like
+
+    sudo apt-get remove -y youtube-dl
+
+Afterwards, simply follow our manual installation instructions:
+
+    sudo wget https://yt-dl.org/latest/youtube-dl -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
+    sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
+    hash -r
+
+Again, from then on you'll be able to update with sudo youtube-dl -U.
+
+I'm getting an error Unable to extract OpenGraph title on YouTube playlists
+
+YouTube changed their playlist format in March 2014 and later on, so
+you'll need at least youtube-dl 2014.07.25 to download all YouTube
+videos.
+
+If you have installed youtube-dl with a package manager, pip, setup.py
+or a tarball, please use that to update. Note that Ubuntu packages do
+not seem to get updated anymore. Since we are not affiliated with
+Ubuntu, there is little we can do. Feel free to report bugs to the
+Ubuntu packaging guys - all they have to do is update the package to a
+somewhat recent version. See above for a way to update.
+
+Do I always have to pass in --max-quality FORMAT, or -citw?
+
+By default, youtube-dl intends to have the best options (incidentally,
+if you have a convincing case that these should be different, please
+file an issue where you explain that). Therefore, it is unnecessary and
+sometimes harmful to copy long option strings from webpages. In
+particular, --max-quality limits the video quality (so if you want the
+best quality, do NOT pass it in), and the only option out of -citw that
+is regularly useful is -i.
+

 Can you please put the -b option back?
 
 Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube-dl now
 Can you please put the -b option back?
 
 Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube-dl now


@@ -399,13 +535,29 @@ I have downloaded a video but how can I play it?
 Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such as vlc or
 mplayer.
 
 Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such as vlc or
 mplayer.
 

-The links provided by youtube-dl -g are not working anymore
+I extracted a video URL with -g, but it does not play on another machine / in my webbrowser.
+
+It depends a lot on the service. In many cases, requests for the video
+(to download/play it) must come from the same IP address and with the
+same cookies. Use the --cookies option to write the required cookies
+into a file, and advise your downloader to read cookies from that file.
+Some sites also require a common user agent to be used, use
+--dump-user-agent to see the one in use by youtube-dl.
+
+It may be beneficial to use IPv6; in some cases, the restrictions are
+only applied to IPv4. Some services (sometimes only for a subset of
+videos) do not restrict the video URL by IP address, cookie, or
+user-agent, but these are the exception rather than the rule.

 
 

-The URLs youtube-dl outputs require the downloader to have the correct
-cookies. Use the --cookies option to write the required cookies into a
-file, and advise your downloader to read cookies from that file. Some
-sites also require a common user agent to be used, use --dump-user-agent
-to see the one in use by youtube-dl.
+Please bear in mind that some URL protocols are not supported by
+browsers out of the box, including RTMP. If you are using -g, your own
+downloader must support these as well.
+
+If you want to play the video on a machine that is not running
+youtube-dl, you can relay the video content from the machine that runs
+youtube-dl. You can use -o - to let youtube-dl stream a video to stdout,
+or simply allow the player to download the files written by youtube-dl
+in turn.

 
 ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info
 
 
 ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info
 


@@ -442,6 +594,45 @@ 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.
 
 To run the exe you need to install first the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008
 Redistributable Package.
 

+On Windows, how should I set up ffmpeg and youtube-dl? Where should I put the exe files?
+
+If you put youtube-dl and ffmpeg in the same directory that you're
+running the command from, it will work, but that's rather cumbersome.
+
+To make a different directory work - either for ffmpeg, or for
+youtube-dl, or for both - simply create the directory (say, C:\bin, or
+C:\Users\<User name>\bin), put all the executables directly in there,
+and then set your PATH environment variable to include that directory.
+
+From then on, after restarting your shell, you will be able to access
+both youtube-dl and ffmpeg (and youtube-dl will be able to find ffmpeg)
+by simply typing youtube-dl or ffmpeg, no matter what directory you're
+in.
+
+How can I detect whether a given URL is supported by youtube-dl?
+
+For one, have a look at the list of supported sites. Note that it can
+sometimes happen that the site changes its URL scheme (say, from
+http://example.com/v/1234567 to http://example.com/v/1234567 ) and
+youtube-dl reports an URL of a service in that list as unsupported. In
+that case, simply report a bug.
+
+It is not possible to detect whether a URL is supported or not. That's
+because youtube-dl contains a generic extractor which matches all URLs.
+You may be tempted to disable, exclude, or remove the generic extractor,
+but the generic extractor not only allows users to extract videos from
+lots of websites that embed a video from another service, but may also
+be used to extract video from a service that it's hosting itself.
+Therefore, we neither recommend nor support disabling, excluding, or
+removing the generic extractor.
+
+If you want to find out whether a given URL is supported, simply call
+youtube-dl with it. If you get no videos back, chances are the URL is
+either not referring to a video or unsupported. You can find out which
+by examining the output (if you run youtube-dl on the console) or
+catching an UnsupportedError exception if you run it from a Python
+program.
+

 DEVELOPER INSTRUCTIONS
 ======================
 
 DEVELOPER INSTRUCTIONS
 ======================
 


@@ -481,49 +672,54 @@ list (assuming your service is called yourextractor):
 4.  Start with this simple template and save it to
     youtube_dl/extractor/yourextractor.py:
 
 4.  Start with this simple template and save it to
     youtube_dl/extractor/yourextractor.py:
 

-        # coding: utf-8
-        from __future__ import unicode_literals
-
-        import re
-
-        from .common import InfoExtractor
-
-
-        class YourExtractorIE(InfoExtractor):
-            _VALID_URL = r'https?://(?:www\.)?yourextractor\.com/watch/(?P<id>[0-9]+)'
-            _TEST = {
-                'url': 'http://yourextractor.com/watch/42',
-                'md5': 'TODO: md5 sum of the first 10KiB of the video file',
-                'info_dict': {
-                    'id': '42',
-                    'ext': 'mp4',
-                    'title': 'Video title goes here',
-                    # TODO more properties, either as:
-                    # * A value
-                    # * MD5 checksum; start the string with md5:
-                    # * A regular expression; start the string with re:
-                    # * Any Python type (for example int or float)
-                }
+    ``` {.python}
+    # coding: utf-8
+    from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+    from .common import InfoExtractor
+
+
+    class YourExtractorIE(InfoExtractor):
+        _VALID_URL = r'https?://(?:www\.)?yourextractor\.com/watch/(?P<id>[0-9]+)'
+        _TEST = {
+            'url': 'http://yourextractor.com/watch/42',
+            'md5': 'TODO: md5 sum of the first 10241 bytes of the video file (use --test)',
+            'info_dict': {
+                'id': '42',
+                'ext': 'mp4',
+                'title': 'Video title goes here',
+                'thumbnail': 're:^https?://.*\.jpg$',
+                # TODO more properties, either as:
+                # * A value
+                # * MD5 checksum; start the string with md5:
+                # * A regular expression; start the string with re:
+                # * Any Python type (for example int or float)

             }
             }

+        }

 
 

-            def _real_extract(self, url):
-                mobj = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)
-                video_id = mobj.group('id')
+        def _real_extract(self, url):
+            video_id = self._match_id(url)
+            webpage = self._download_webpage(url, video_id)

 
 

-                # TODO more code goes here, for example ...
-                webpage = self._download_webpage(url, video_id)
-                title = self._html_search_regex(r'<h1>(.*?)</h1>', webpage, 'title')
+            # TODO more code goes here, for example ...
+            title = self._html_search_regex(r'<h1>(.*?)</h1>', webpage, 'title')

 
 

-                return {
-                    'id': video_id,
-                    'title': title,
-                    # TODO more properties (see youtube_dl/extractor/common.py)
-                }
+            return {
+                'id': video_id,
+                'title': title,
+                'description': self._og_search_description(webpage),
+                # TODO more properties (see youtube_dl/extractor/common.py)
+            }
+    ```

 
 5.  Add an import in youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py.
 6.  Run python test/test_download.py TestDownload.test_YourExtractor.
     This should fail at first, but you can continually re-run it until
 
 5.  Add an import in youtube_dl/extractor/__init__.py.
 6.  Run python test/test_download.py TestDownload.test_YourExtractor.
     This should fail at first, but you can continually re-run it until

-    you're done.
+    you're done. If you decide to add more than one test, then rename
+    _TEST to _TESTS and make it into a list of dictionaries. The tests
+    will be then be named TestDownload.test_YourExtractor,
+    TestDownload.test_YourExtractor_1,
+    TestDownload.test_YourExtractor_2, etc.

 7.  Have a look at youtube_dl/common/extractor/common.py for possible
     helper methods and a detailed description of what your extractor
     should return. Add tests and code for as many as you want.
 7.  Have a look at youtube_dl/common/extractor/common.py for possible
     helper methods and a detailed description of what your extractor
     should return. Add tests and code for as many as you want.


@@ -541,22 +737,82 @@ list (assuming your service is called yourextractor):
 
 In any case, thank you very much for your contributions!
 
 
 In any case, thank you very much for your contributions!
 

+EMBEDDING YOUTUBE-DL
+====================
+
+youtube-dl makes the best effort to be a good command-line program, and
+thus should be callable from any programming language. If you encounter
+any problems parsing its output, feel free to create a report.
+
+From a Python program, you can embed youtube-dl in a more powerful
+fashion, like this:
+
+``` {.python}
+import youtube_dl
+
+ydl_opts = {}
+with youtube_dl.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
+    ydl.download(['http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'])
+```
+
+Most likely, you'll want to use various options. For a list of what can
+be done, have a look at youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py. For a start, if you
+want to intercept youtube-dl's output, set a logger object.
+
+Here's a more complete example of a program that outputs only errors
+(and a short message after the download is finished), and
+downloads/converts the video to an mp3 file:
+
+``` {.python}
+import youtube_dl
+
+
+class MyLogger(object):
+    def debug(self, msg):
+        pass
+
+    def warning(self, msg):
+        pass
+
+    def error(self, msg):
+        print(msg)
+
+
+def my_hook(d):
+    if d['status'] == 'finished':
+        print('Done downloading, now converting ...')
+
+
+ydl_opts = {
+    'format': 'bestaudio/best',
+    'postprocessors': [{
+        'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
+        'preferredcodec': 'mp3',
+        'preferredquality': '192',
+    }],
+    'logger': MyLogger(),
+    'progress_hooks': [my_hook],
+}
+with youtube_dl.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
+    ydl.download(['http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc'])
+```
+

 BUGS
 ====
 
 Bugs and suggestions should be reported at:
 https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues . Unless you were prompted so
 or there is another pertinent reason (e.g. GitHub fails to accept the
 BUGS
 ====
 
 Bugs and suggestions should be reported at:
 https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues . Unless you were prompted so
 or there is another pertinent reason (e.g. GitHub fails to accept the

-bug report), please do not send bug reports via personal email.
+bug report), please do not send bug reports via personal email. For
+discussions, join us in the irc channel #youtube-dl on freenode.
+
+Please include the full output of youtube-dl when run with -v.

 
 

-Please include the full output of the command when run with --verbose.

 The output (including the first lines) contain important debugging
 information. Issues without the full output are often not reproducible
 and therefore do not get solved in short order, if ever.
 
 The output (including the first lines) contain important debugging
 information. Issues without the full output are often not reproducible
 and therefore do not get solved in short order, if ever.
 

-For discussions, join us in the irc channel #youtube-dl on freenode.
-
-When you submit a request, please re-read it once to avoid a couple of
+Please re-read your issue once again to avoid a couple of common

 mistakes (you can and should use this as a checklist):
 
 Is the description of the issue itself sufficient?
 mistakes (you can and should use this as a checklist):
 
 Is the description of the issue itself sufficient?