youtube-downloader

name	youtube-downloader
description	Download videos from YouTube URLs. Use when user wants to download a YouTube video for processing, editing, or transcription. Supports different quality options, audio-only extraction, and playlist downloads.
allowed-tools	Bash(yt-dlp:*)
compatibility	Requires yt-dlp and FFmpeg
metadata	{"version":"1.0","platforms":"YouTube"}

YouTube Downloader

This skill enables AI agents to download videos from YouTube URLs for further processing, editing, or transcription.

When to Use

• User wants to download a YouTube video
• User provides a YouTube URL that needs to be processed
• User wants to extract audio from a YouTube video
• User wants to download a YouTube playlist

Setup

Ensure yt-dlp is installed:

pip install yt-dlp

Available Scripts

scripts/download.py

Download a video from YouTube URL.

Usage:

python skills/youtube-downloader/scripts/download.py <url> [options]

Options:

• --output, -o: Output path (default: ./downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s)
• --format, -f: Video format (default: best[ext=mp4])
• --audio-only: Extract audio only
• --audio-format: Audio format when using --audio-only (default: mp3)
• --quality: Quality preset (best, 1080, 720, 480, 360)
• --playlist: Download entire playlist
• --subtitle: Download subtitles
• --write-description: Write video description
• --write-info-json: Write video metadata as JSON

Examples:

Download video in best quality:

python skills/youtube-downloader/scripts/download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

Download with custom output path:

python skills/youtube-downloader/scripts/download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --output "./my_video.mp4"

Extract audio only:

python skills/youtube-downloader/scripts/download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --audio-only --audio-format wav

Download 720p video:

python skills/youtube-downloader/scripts/download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --quality 720

Download with subtitles:

python skills/youtube-downloader/scripts/download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --subtitle --write-info-json

scripts/download_playlist.py

Download entire YouTube playlist.

Usage:

python skills/youtube-downloader/scripts/download_playlist.py <playlist_url> [options]

Options:

• --output, -o: Output directory (default: ./downloads/%(playlist_title)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s)
• --start: Start downloading from this video number
• --end: End downloading at this video number
• --format: Video format
• All other options from download.py

Example:

python skills/youtube-downloader/scripts/download_playlist.py "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYLIST_ID"

Output

Video Download

Returns a JSON with download information:

{
  "success": true,
  "video_path": "/path/to/video.mp4",
  "title": "Video Title",
  "duration": 1234.5,
  "uploader": "Channel Name",
  "upload_date": "20240101",
  "view_count": 1000000,
  "thumbnail": "/path/to/thumbnail.jpg"
}

Audio Download

Returns:

{
  "success": true,
  "audio_path": "/path/to/audio.mp3",
  "title": "Video Title",
  "duration": 1234.5
}

Quality Presets

Preset	Resolution	Description
best	Best available	Highest quality
1080	1920x1080	Full HD
720	1280x720	HD
480	854x480	SD
360	640x360	Low quality

Integration with Other Skills

After downloading, you can use these skills:

• video-transcriber: Transcribe the downloaded video
• scene-detector: Detect scene changes
• portrait-resizer: Convert to 9:16 portrait format
• autocut-shorts: Full workflow for creating short clips

Common Workflow

1. User provides YouTube URL
2. Download video using this skill
3. Transcribe using video-transcriber
4. Create short clips using autocut-shorts

Error Handling

• Network errors: Retry up to 3 times
• Invalid URL: Return clear error message
• Video not available: Return video status
• Age-restricted: May require authentication

Tips

• Use --audio-only when you only need the transcript (saves bandwidth)
• Use --write-info-json to get video metadata for analysis
• For long videos, consider downloading in segments
• Use --subtitle if available video has captions

References

• yt-dlp documentation: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp
• YouTube URL formats: Regular, Short, Playlist, Embed