| name | video-downloader |
| description | Download YouTube videos with customizable quality and format options. Use this skill when the user asks to download, save, or grab YouTube videos. Supports various quality settings (best, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p), multiple formats (mp4, webm, mkv), and audio-only downloads as MP3. |
Model routing: Sonnet for implementation; Haiku for verification/scoring; Opus only for explicit architectural decisions.
video-downloader
Quick Start
The simplest way to download a video:
python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"
This downloads the video in best available quality as MP4 to ~/Downloads/.
Note: Playlists are skipped by default — pass a single video URL.
Options
Quality Settings
Use -q or --quality to specify video quality:
best (default): Highest quality available
1080p: Full HD
720p: HD
480p: Standard definition
360p: Lower quality
worst: Lowest quality available
Example:
python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -q 720p
Format Options
Use -f or --format to specify output format (video downloads only):
mp4 (default): Most compatible
webm: Modern format
mkv: Matroska container
Example:
python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -f webm
Audio Only
Use -a or --audio-only to download only audio as MP3:
python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -a
Custom Output Directory
Use -o or --output to specify a different output directory:
python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -o /path/to/directory
Complete Examples
- Download video in 1080p as MP4:
python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -q 1080p
- Download audio only as MP3:
python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -a
- Download in 720p as WebM to custom directory:
python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -q 720p -f webm -o /custom/path
Uses yt-dlp for robust downloading; auto-installs if not present.
Important Notes
- Downloads are saved to
~/Downloads/ by default
- Video filename is automatically generated from the video title
- The script handles installation of yt-dlp automatically
- Higher quality videos may take longer to download and use more disk space