Now unmaintained lol. I have exams and stuff.
- You may not use this software to download any material you do not have express permission to download. We will not aid any illicit activity or piracy!
- Think of us like a knife manufacturer. We have a legitimate use for knives, so the knife manufacturer shouldn't be held responsible for the rise in knifecrime rates in London. It is completely your choice to misuse this software and your choice it will remain, I will not be held responsible.
Download using pip via pypi.
$ pip install pytubeX(Mac/homebrew users may need to use pip3)
>>> from pytube import YouTube
>>> YouTube('www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKAMBWTmHpY').streams.get_highest_resolution().download()
>>>
>>> yt = YouTube('www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKAMBWTmHpY')
>>> yt.streams
... .filter(progressive=True, file_extension='mp4')
... .order_by('resolution')[-1]
... .download()A GUI frontend for pytube3 is available at YouTubeDownload
- Support for Both Progressive & DASH Streams
- Support for downloading complete playlist
- Easily Register
on_download_progress&on_download_completecallbacks - Command-line Interfaced Included
- Caption Track Support
- Outputs Caption Tracks to .srt format (SubRip Subtitle)
- Ability to Capture Thumbnail URL.
- Extensively Documented Source Code
- No Third-Party Dependencies
Let's begin with showing how easy it is to download a video with pytube:
>>> from pytube import YouTube
>>> YouTube('http://youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0').streams[0].download()This example will download the highest quality progressive download stream available.
Next, let's explore how we would view what video streams are available:
>>> yt = YouTube('http://youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0')
>>> print(yt.streams)
[<Stream: itag="22" mime_type="video/mp4" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.64001F" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="43" mime_type="video/webm" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp8.0" acodec="vorbis">,
<Stream: itag="18" mime_type="video/mp4" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.42001E" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="36" mime_type="video/3gpp" res="240p" fps="30fps" vcodec="mp4v.20.3" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="17" mime_type="video/3gpp" res="144p" fps="30fps" vcodec="mp4v.20.3" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="137" mime_type="video/mp4" res="1080p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.640028">,
<Stream: itag="248" mime_type="video/webm" res="1080p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="136" mime_type="video/mp4" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401f">,
<Stream: itag="247" mime_type="video/webm" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="135" mime_type="video/mp4" res="480p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401e">,
<Stream: itag="244" mime_type="video/webm" res="480p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="134" mime_type="video/mp4" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401e">,
<Stream: itag="243" mime_type="video/webm" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="133" mime_type="video/mp4" res="240p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d4015">,
<Stream: itag="242" mime_type="video/webm" res="240p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="160" mime_type="video/mp4" res="144p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d400c">,
<Stream: itag="278" mime_type="video/webm" res="144p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="140" mime_type="audio/mp4" abr="128kbps" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="171" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="128kbps" acodec="vorbis">,
<Stream: itag="249" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="50kbps" acodec="opus">,
<Stream: itag="250" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="70kbps" acodec="opus">,
<Stream: itag="251" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="160kbps" acodec="opus">]You may notice that some streams listed have both a video codec and audio codec, while others have just video or just audio, this is a result of YouTube supporting a streaming technique called Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH).
In the context of pytube, the implications are for the highest quality streams; you now need to download both the audio and video tracks and then post-process them with software like FFmpeg to merge them.
The legacy streams that contain the audio and video in a single file (referred to as "progressive download") are still available, but only for resolutions 720p and below.
To only view these progressive download streams:
>>> yt.streams.filter(progressive=True)
[<Stream: itag="22" mime_type="video/mp4" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.64001F" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="43" mime_type="video/webm" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp8.0" acodec="vorbis">,
<Stream: itag="18" mime_type="video/mp4" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.42001E" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="36" mime_type="video/3gpp" res="240p" fps="30fps" vcodec="mp4v.20.3" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="17" mime_type="video/3gpp" res="144p" fps="30fps" vcodec="mp4v.20.3" acodec="mp4a.40.2">]Conversely, if you only want to see the DASH streams (also referred to as "adaptive") you can do:
>>> yt.streams.filter(adaptive=True)
[<Stream: itag="137" mime_type="video/mp4" res="1080p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.640028">,
<Stream: itag="248" mime_type="video/webm" res="1080p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="136" mime_type="video/mp4" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401f">,
<Stream: itag="247" mime_type="video/webm" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="135" mime_type="video/mp4" res="480p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401e">,
<Stream: itag="244" mime_type="video/webm" res="480p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="134" mime_type="video/mp4" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401e">,
<Stream: itag="243" mime_type="video/webm" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="133" mime_type="video/mp4" res="240p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d4015">,
<Stream: itag="242" mime_type="video/webm" res="240p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="160" mime_type="video/mp4" res="144p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d400c">,
<Stream: itag="278" mime_type="video/webm" res="144p" fps="30fps" vcodec="vp9">,
<Stream: itag="140" mime_type="audio/mp4" abr="128kbps" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="171" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="128kbps" acodec="vorbis">,
<Stream: itag="249" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="50kbps" acodec="opus">,
<Stream: itag="250" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="70kbps" acodec="opus">,
<Stream: itag="251" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="160kbps" acodec="opus">]You can also download a complete Youtube playlist:
>>> from pytube import Playlist
>>> playlist = Playlist("https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLynhp4cZEpTbRs_PYISQ8v_uwO0_mDg_X")
>>> for video in playlist:
>>> video.streams.get_highest_resolution().download()This will download the highest progressive stream available (generally 720p) from the given playlist.
Pytube allows you to filter on every property available (see the documentation for the complete list), let's take a look at some of the most useful ones.
To list the audio only streams:
>>> yt.streams.filter(only_audio=True)
[<Stream: itag="140" mime_type="audio/mp4" abr="128kbps" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="171" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="128kbps" acodec="vorbis">,
<Stream: itag="249" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="50kbps" acodec="opus">,
<Stream: itag="250" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="70kbps" acodec="opus">,
<Stream: itag="251" mime_type="audio/webm" abr="160kbps" acodec="opus">]To list only mp4 streams:
>>> yt.streams.filter(subtype='mp4')
[<Stream: itag="22" mime_type="video/mp4" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.64001F" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="18" mime_type="video/mp4" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.42001E" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="137" mime_type="video/mp4" res="1080p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.640028">,
<Stream: itag="136" mime_type="video/mp4" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401f">,
<Stream: itag="135" mime_type="video/mp4" res="480p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401e">,
<Stream: itag="134" mime_type="video/mp4" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d401e">,
<Stream: itag="133" mime_type="video/mp4" res="240p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d4015">,
<Stream: itag="160" mime_type="video/mp4" res="144p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.4d400c">,
<Stream: itag="140" mime_type="audio/mp4" abr="128kbps" acodec="mp4a.40.2">]Multiple filters can also be specified:
>>> yt.streams.filter(subtype='mp4', progressive=True)
>>> # this can also be expressed as:
>>> yt.streams.filter(subtype='mp4').filter(progressive=True)
[<Stream: itag="22" mime_type="video/mp4" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.64001F" acodec="mp4a.40.2">,
<Stream: itag="18" mime_type="video/mp4" res="360p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.42001E" acodec="mp4a.40.2">]You also have an interface to select streams by their itag, without needing to filter:
>>> yt.streams.get_by_itag(22)
<Stream: itag="22" mime_type="video/mp4" res="720p" fps="30fps" vcodec="avc1.64001F" acodec="mp4a.40.2">If you need to optimize for a specific feature, such as the "highest resolution" or "lowest average bitrate":
>>> yt.streams.filter(progressive=True).order_by('resolution').desc()Note: Using order_by on a given attribute will filter out all streams missing that attribute.
If your application requires post-processing logic, pytube allows you to specify an "on download complete" callback function:
>>> def convert_to_aac(stream: Stream, file_path: str):
return # do work
>>> yt.register_on_complete_callback(convert_to_aac)Similarly, if your application requires on-download progress logic, pytube exposes a callback for this as well:
>>> def show_progress_bar(stream: Stream, chunk: bytes, bytes_remaining: int):
return # do work
>>> yt.register_on_progress_callback(show_progress_bar)pytubeX ships with a simple CLI interface (named pytube4) for downloading videos, playlists, and captions.
Let's start with downloading:
$ pytube4 http://youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0 --itag=18To view available streams:
$ pytube4 http://youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0 --listThe complete set of flags are:
usage: pytube4 [-h] [--version] [--itag ITAG] [-r RESOLUTION] [-l] [-v]
[--build-playback-report] [-c [CAPTION_CODE]] [-t TARGET]
[-a [AUDIO]] [-f [FFMPEG]]
[url]
Command line application to download youtube videos.
positional arguments:
url The YouTube /watch or /playlist url
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--version show program's version number and exit
--itag ITAG The itag for the desired stream
-r RESOLUTION, --resolution RESOLUTION
The resolution for the desired stream
-l, --list The list option causes pytube cli to return a list of
streams available to download
-v, --verbose Verbosity level, use up to 4 to increase logging -vvvv
--build-playback-report
Save the html and js to disk
-c [CAPTION_CODE], --caption-code [CAPTION_CODE]
Download srt captions for given language code. Prints
available language codes if no argument given
-t TARGET, --target TARGET
The output directory for the downloaded stream.
Default is current working directory
-a [AUDIO], --audio [AUDIO]
Download the audio for a given URL at the highest
bitrate availableDefaults to mp4 format if none is
specified
-f [FFMPEG], --ffmpeg [FFMPEG]
Downloads the audio and video stream for resolution
providedIf no resolution is provided, downloads the
best resolutionRuns the command line program ffmpeg to
combine the audio and video
Virtual environment is setup with pipenv and can be automatically activated with direnv
This project is linted with pyflakes, formatted with black, and typed with mypy
Treat other people with helpfulness, gratitude, and consideration! See the Python Community Code of Conduct.
- YouTubeDownload - Featured GUI frontend for pytube3
- Pytube-GUI - Simple GUI frontend for pytube3
- StackOverflow questions
- PySlackers - Python Slack group