How do I install the Video Download skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add calesthio/video-download in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Video Download free to use?

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Who published Video Download?

calesthio (@calesthio) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Video Download by calesthio — Agent Skill

Name: Video Download
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: calesthio

Video Download

Download video and audio from YouTube and 1000+ sites using yt-dlp. No API keys needed. Use when: (1) Downloading a video from YouTube or other sites, (2) Extracting audio from a video URL, (3) Downloading subtitles/captions from a video, (4) Getting video metadata without downloading.

calesthio Updated Sep 9, 2026

File contents

video-download

Download video and audio from URLs using yt-dlp directly. No wrapper scripts needed.

Prerequisites

yt-dlp: brew install yt-dlp or pip install yt-dlp
ffmpeg: brew install ffmpeg or apt install ffmpeg (required for merging video+audio streams)

Update yt-dlp periodically to keep up with site changes: yt-dlp -U or pip install -U yt-dlp.

Commands

Download best quality

yt-dlp "URL" -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" --merge-output-format mp4

Download specific resolution

# 720p
yt-dlp "URL" -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]" --merge-output-format mp4

# 1080p
yt-dlp "URL" -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]" --merge-output-format mp4

Audio only

yt-dlp "URL" -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0

Download subtitles

# Download video with English subtitles
yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs en --merge-output-format mp4

# Download video with multiple subtitle languages
yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs "en,es,fr" --merge-output-format mp4

# Download only subtitles (no video)
yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs en --skip-download

Get metadata (no download)

yt-dlp "URL" --dump-json --no-download

List available formats

yt-dlp "URL" -F

Specify output directory

yt-dlp "URL" -o "./downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s" --merge-output-format mp4

Quality Presets

Quality	Format flag
Best	`-f "bestvideo+bestaudio/best"` (default)
1080p	`-f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]"`
720p	`-f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]"`
480p	`-f "bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio/best[height<=480]"`
Worst	`-f "worstvideo+worstaudio/worst"`

Output Template Variables

Common variables for -o templates:

Variable	Description
`%(title)s`	Video title
`%(ext)s`	File extension
`%(id)s`	Video ID
`%(uploader)s`	Channel/uploader name
`%(upload_date)s`	Upload date (YYYYMMDD)
`%(duration)s`	Duration in seconds
`%(resolution)s`	Video resolution

Tips

Always use --merge-output-format mp4 to avoid ending up with .webm or .mkv files.
Use --no-download with --dump-json for metadata-only queries -- no files written to disk.
If a download fails with HTTP errors, update yt-dlp first (yt-dlp -U).
Use -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio" to save bandwidth when full resolution is not needed.
yt-dlp automatically handles rate limiting and retries.
The --dump-json output includes title, duration, uploader, view_count, description, formats, subtitles, and much more.

Troubleshooting

"yt-dlp: command not found": Install it (pip install yt-dlp) and ensure your PATH includes pip's bin directory.
"ffmpeg: command not found": Install ffmpeg. Without it, downloads fail when video and audio are separate streams (common on YouTube for HD).
Downloads fail or return errors: Run yt-dlp -U to update. Sites change frequently and yt-dlp ships fixes regularly.

---name: video-downloaddescription: Download video and audio from YouTube and 1000+ sites using yt-dlp. No API keys needed. Use when: (1) Downloading a video from YouTube or other sites, (2) Extracting audio from a video URL, (3) Downloading subtitles/captions from a video, (4) Getting video metadata without downloading.--- # video-download Download video and audio from URLs using yt-dlp directly. No wrapper scripts needed. ## Prerequisites - **yt-dlp**: `brew install yt-dlp` or `pip install yt-dlp` - **ffmpeg**: `brew install ffmpeg` or `apt install ffmpeg` (required for merging video+audio streams) Update yt-dlp periodically to keep up with site changes: `yt-dlp -U` or `pip install -U yt-dlp`. ## Commands ### Download best quality ```bash yt-dlp "URL" -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" --merge-output-format mp4 ``` ### Download specific resolution ```bash # 720p yt-dlp "URL" -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]" --merge-output-format mp4 # 1080p yt-dlp "URL" -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]" --merge-output-format mp4 ``` ### Audio only ```bash yt-dlp "URL" -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 ``` ### Download subtitles ```bash # Download video with English subtitles yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs en --merge-output-format mp4 # Download video with multiple subtitle languages yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs "en,es,fr" --merge-output-format mp4 # Download only subtitles (no video) yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs en --skip-download ``` ### Get metadata (no download) ```bash yt-dlp "URL" --dump-json --no-download ``` ### List available formats ```bash yt-dlp "URL" -F ``` ### Specify output directory ```bash yt-dlp "URL" -o "./downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s" --merge-output-format mp4 ``` ## Quality Presets | Quality | Format flag | |---------|-------------| | Best | `-f "bestvideo+bestaudio/best"` (default) | | 1080p | `-f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]"` | | 720p | `-f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]"` | | 480p | `-f "bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio/best[height<=480]"` | | Worst | `-f "worstvideo+worstaudio/worst"` | ## Output Template Variables Common variables for `-o` templates: | Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | `%(title)s` | Video title | | `%(ext)s` | File extension | | `%(id)s` | Video ID | | `%(uploader)s` | Channel/uploader name | | `%(upload_date)s` | Upload date (YYYYMMDD) | | `%(duration)s` | Duration in seconds | | `%(resolution)s` | Video resolution | ## Tips - Always use `--merge-output-format mp4` to avoid ending up with `.webm` or `.mkv` files. - Use `--no-download` with `--dump-json` for metadata-only queries -- no files written to disk. - If a download fails with HTTP errors, update yt-dlp first (`yt-dlp -U`). - Use `-f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio"` to save bandwidth when full resolution is not needed. - yt-dlp automatically handles rate limiting and retries. - The `--dump-json` output includes `title`, `duration`, `uploader`, `view_count`, `description`, `formats`, `subtitles`, and much more. ## Troubleshooting - **"yt-dlp: command not found"**: Install it (`pip install yt-dlp`) and ensure your PATH includes pip's bin directory. - **"ffmpeg: command not found"**: Install ffmpeg. Without it, downloads fail when video and audio are separate streams (common on YouTube for HD). - **Downloads fail or return errors**: Run `yt-dlp -U` to update. Sites change frequently and yt-dlp ships fixes regularly.

Frequently asked questions