yt_dlp

Extract media metadata, transcripts, and audio from YouTube and other sites.

1|Updated Mar 11, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/antonyfmunoz/OS --skill yt-dlp-antonyfmunoz
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: yt_dlp
Source: https://github.com/antonyfmunoz/OS/tree/main/skills/tools/yt_dlp
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/antonyfmunoz/OS --skill yt-dlp-antonyfmunoz

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

yt-dlp removes the need to manually manage YouTube/video downloads and transcription inputs by letting you programmatically fetch metadata, audio, and subtitles from a URL.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • YouTube research without API keys: search via ytsearchN:query and pull structured metadata as JSON using metadata-only runs.
  • Transcript and subtitle acquisition: fetch auto-generated captions (VTT) without downloading the full video for downstream cleaning and analysis.
  • Audio extraction for speech-to-text pipelines: download and convert audio to MP3 to feed Whisper/Groq-style transcription workflows.
  • Controlled format selection and rate safety: choose bestaudio/bestvideo+bestaudio and reduce throttling risk with retry/sleep/limit-rate options.

Quick Start

Ask your AI to search YouTube for "AI automation" and return JSON metadata plus English auto-transcripts for the top 5 results using yt-dlp.

Frequently Asked Questions about yt_dlp

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

FAQPage Schema
How do I download YouTube transcripts and subtitles without downloading the full video?

You can fetch YouTube transcripts and subtitles without downloading the video using write-auto-subs with skip-download, which acquires auto-generated VTT captions for downstream cleaning and analysis.

Can I extract YouTube metadata in bulk for search and research workflows?

Yes, you can extract YouTube metadata in bulk using ytsearchN:query to search and pull structured JSON metadata for top results without needing any API keys.

What's the best way to extract audio from YouTube videos for speech-to-text pipelines?

The best way to extract audio for speech-to-text pipelines is using extract-audio to download and convert audio to MP3, requiring ffmpeg, to feed Whisper or Groq-style transcription workflows.

Does this YouTube downloader require API keys to fetch video metadata?

No, this YouTube downloader does not require API keys to fetch video metadata; it uses a CLI/library downloader to retrieve structured JSON metadata directly from URLs.

Can I download audio and transcripts from playlists and channels, not just single videos?

Yes, you can download audio, transcripts, and metadata from playlists and channels, as well as single videos, applying to caption pipelines and audio extraction across multiple video sources.

How do I prevent throttling when downloading media from URLs at scale?

You can prevent throttling when downloading media at scale by applying retry, sleep, and limit-rate options alongside controlled format selection to reduce throttling risk during extraction.