youtube-dl

Download videos from youtube in node.js using youtube-dl.

I also made a pure Javascript youtube downloading module. The reason I'm maintaining this one is because it supports a lot more video sites besides youtube.

If you're only interested in downloading only from youtube, you should consider using the other module.

Usage

Downloading videos

var fs = require('fs');
var youtubedl = require('youtube-dl');
var video = youtubedl('http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90AiXO1pAiA',
  // Optional arguments passed to youtube-dl.
  ['--max-quality=18'],
  // Additional options can be given for calling `child_process.execFile()`.
  { cwd: __dirname });

// Will be called when the download starts.
video.on('info', function(info) {
  console.log('Download started');
  console.log('filename: ' + info.filename);
  console.log('size: ' + info.size);
});

video.pipe(fs.createWriteStream('myvideo.mp4'));

A similar example can be found in the example folder, and will produce an output that looks like the following when ran.

Got video info
saving to T-ara - Number Nine - MV - 티아라-Seku9G1kT0c.mp4
100.00%

Getting video information

var youtubedl = require('youtube-dl');
var url = 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKsjaOqDXgg';
// Optional arguments passed to youtube-dl.
var options = ['--username=user', '--password=hunter2'];
youtubedl.getInfo(url, options, function(err, info) {
  if (err) throw err;

  console.log('id:', info.id);
  console.log('title:', info.title);
  console.log('url:', info.url);
  console.log('thumbnail:', info.thumbnail);
  console.log('description:', info.description);
  console.log('filename:', info.filename);
  console.log('itag:', info.itag);
  console.log('resolution:', info.resolution);
});

Running that will produce something like

id: WKsjaOqDXgg
title: Ace Rimmer to the Rescue
url: http://r5---sn-p5qlsn7e.c.youtube.com/videoplayback?ms=au&ip=160.79.125.18&cp=U0hWTFVQVl9FTENONl9NSlpDOjgtU1VsODlkVmRH&id=58ab2368ea835e08&source=youtube&expire=1377558202&factor=1.25&key=yt1&ipbits=8&mt=1377534150&itag=34&sver=3&upn=-rGWz2vYpN4&fexp=912306%2C927900%2C919395%2C926518%2C936203%2C913819%2C929117%2C929121%2C929906%2C929907%2C929922%2C929127%2C929129%2C929131%2C929930%2C925726%2C925720%2C925722%2C925718%2C929917%2C906945%2C929919%2C929933%2C912521%2C932306%2C913428%2C904830%2C919373%2C930803%2C908536%2C904122%2C938701%2C936308%2C909549%2C900816%2C912711%2C904494%2C904497%2C900375%2C906001&sparams=algorithm%2Cburst%2Ccp%2Cfactor%2Cid%2Cip%2Cipbits%2Citag%2Csource%2Cupn%2Cexpire&mv=m&burst=40&algorithm=throttle-factor&signature=ABD3A847684AD9B39331E567568D3FA0DCFA4776.7895521E130A042FB3625A17242CE3C02A4460B7&ratebypass=yes
thumbnail: https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/WKsjaOqDXgg/hqdefault.jpg
description: An old Red Dwarf eposide where Ace Rimmer saves the Princess Bonjella.
filename: Ace Rimmer to the Rescue-WKsjaOqDXgg.flv
itag: 34
resolution: 360x640

Getting available formats

var youtubedl = require('youtube-dl');
var url = 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKsjaOqDXgg';
youtubedl.getFormats(url, function(err, formats) {
  if (err) throw err;

  formats.forEach(function(format) {
    console.log(format);
  });
});

Will print something like

{ itag: 34, filetype: 'flv', resolution: '360x640' }
{ itag: 18, filetype: 'mp4', resolution: '360x640' }
{ itag: 43, filetype: 'webm', resolution: '360x640' }
{ itag: 5, filetype: 'flv', resolution: '240x400' }
{ itag: 17, filetype: 'mp4', resolution: '144x176' }

For more usage info on youtube-dl and the arguments you can pass to it, do youtube-dl -h or go to the youtube-dl documentation.

Install

npm install youtube-dl

Tests

Tests are written with vows

npm test

License

MIT