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surfingalien
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youtube-downloader

Download YouTube videos and audio with configurable quality and format options.

1|Updated May 6, 2026
Search Tags:#video#youtube#yt-dlp#download#audio extraction#mp4#mp3
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/surfingalien/FinSurfing --skill youtube-downloader-surfingalien
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: youtube-downloader
Source: https://github.com/surfingalien/FinSurfing/tree/main/Downloads/FinSurfing/.agents/skills/youtube-downloader
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/surfingalien/FinSurfing --skill youtube-downloader-surfingalien

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill requires yt-dlp, and includes scripts (resource) components.

What problem does it solve? Manually saving YouTube videos or extracting audio requires juggling browser extensions or ad-heavy websites. This Skill provides a scriptable, command-line way to download YouTube content with precise control over quality, format, and output location. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Quality Control: Choose from best, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p, or worst quality to balance fidelity against file size. - Format Selection: Output video as MP4, WebM, or MKV, or extract audio-only as MP3. - Automatic Setup: The script installs yt-dlp automatically if it is missing and fetches video metadata before downloading. - Use Case: A researcher needs offline copies of conference talks. Run the script with each video URL at 720p to build a local archive, or use audio-only mode to collect podcast-style MP3s. ## Quick Start Ask the assistant to download a specific YouTube video URL at your preferred quality, for example requesting the video in 720p MP4 or as an audio-only MP3.

Frequently Asked Questions about youtube-downloader

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I download a YouTube video from the command line?▼

Run the download script with the video URL as the argument, for example python scripts/download_video.py followed by the URL. It downloads in best quality as MP4 by default, and you can add flags to adjust quality or format.

How to extract audio from a YouTube video as MP3?▼

Use the audio-only flag (-a or --audio-only) when running the script. It invokes yt-dlp with audio extraction enabled and saves the result as a best-quality MP3 file in the output directory.

What video quality options does yt-dlp support?▼

This script supports best, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p, and worst quality settings. Specific resolutions use a height filter so yt-dlp selects the best stream at or below the requested resolution.

Does this YouTube downloader work with playlists?▼

No, the script passes the --no-playlist flag to yt-dlp, so only single videos are downloaded. If you paste a playlist URL, only the individual video is fetched rather than the entire playlist.

Why does the YouTube download fail with an error?▼

Failures typically occur when yt-dlp is outdated, the video is region-locked or age-restricted, or the URL is invalid. The script auto-installs yt-dlp if missing, but updating it with pip often resolves extraction errors.

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