yt-downloader

Download YouTube videos from the terminal. No installation required — run with npx, bunx, or install globally via npm.

Built on yt-dlp (via youtube-dl-exec) with a bundled ffmpeg binary.

Features

• Run instantly with npx yt-downloader <url>
• Interactive quality picker when no format flags are provided
• CLI flags for resolution, format ID, quality presets, and output path
• Real-time download progress bar
• Bundled ffmpeg — no separate install needed

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or later

Installation

# Run without installing
npx yt-download <url>

# Or with Bun
bunx yt-download <url>

# Install globally
npm install -g yt-download

Usage

Interactive mode

When no quality flags are passed, an interactive menu lets you pick from available resolutions:

npx yt-download https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

With flags

# Download at 1080p
npx yt-download <url> --resolution 1080

# Download best available quality
npx yt-download <url> --quality best

# Download audio only
npx yt-download <url> --audio-only

# Use a specific yt-dlp format ID
npx yt-download <url> --format-id 137

# Custom output directory and filename
npx yt-download <url> -o ~/Videos --filename "%(title)s.%(ext)s"

# Disable progress bar
npx yt-download <url> --no-progress

Options

| Flag | Description | Default | |------|-------------|---------| | <url> | YouTube video URL (required) | — | | -f, --format-id <id> | yt-dlp format ID (highest priority) | — | | -r, --resolution <height> | Target video height in pixels (720, 1080, 2160) | — | | -q, --quality <preset> | Preset: best, 1080, 720, audio-only | — | | -o, --output <dir> | Output directory | ~/Videos | | --filename <template> | Output filename template (yt-dlp syntax) | %(title)s.%(ext)s | | --audio-only | Download audio only | false | | --no-progress | Disable progress bar | progress enabled | | -h, --help | Show help | — | | -V, --version | Show version | — |

Format selection priority

When multiple quality flags are provided, only the highest-priority one is used:

1. --format-id
2. --resolution
3. --quality

If none of the above are set, the interactive menu is shown (unless --audio-only is passed).

--audio-only always downloads audio regardless of other quality flags.

Testing

npm test

Uses the built-in Node.js test runner (node:test) — no extra test dependencies required.

License

MIT