Skill

youtube-downloader

Downloads YouTube videos using yt-dlp Python script with quality (best-360p), format (mp4/webm/mkv), audio-only MP3, and output options.

Python

Bash

automation

Install

npx claudepluginhub davepoon/buildwithclaude --plugin all-skills

Tool Access

This skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.

Preview

Download YouTube videos with full control over quality and format settings.

Supporting Assets

scripts/download_video.py

SKILL.md

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Stats

Parent Repo Stars2696

Parent Repo Forks300

Last CommitMar 27, 2026

Actions

View Source View Plugin View on GitHub View README

YouTube Video Downloader

Download YouTube videos with full control over quality and format settings.

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 /mnt/user-data/outputs/.

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

Supported URLs

HTTPS only — http:// links are rejected.
YouTube hosts only — allowed hostnames include youtube.com (and subdomains such as www, m, music), youtu.be, and youtube-nocookie.com (including www). Other sites are rejected.

yt-dlp installation

The script does not install packages into your system Python (no --break-system-packages).

If yt-dlp is on your PATH, it is used.
Otherwise it creates a local virtualenv at video-downloader/.venv, installs yt-dlp there with pip, and runs that binary.
If venv creation or install fails, follow the printed message or install globally, for example: pipx install yt-dlp, brew install yt-dlp, or your OS package manager.

The .venv directory is gitignored and stays inside the skill folder.

How It Works

The skill uses yt-dlp, a robust YouTube downloader that:

Resolves yt-dlp via PATH or the skill-local .venv as described above
Fetches video information before downloading
Selects the best available streams matching your criteria
Merges video and audio streams when needed
Supports a wide range of YouTube video formats

Important Notes

Downloads are saved to /mnt/user-data/outputs/ by default
Video filename is automatically generated from the video title
Only single videos are downloaded (playlists are skipped by default)
Higher quality videos may take longer to download and use more disk space