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Ytdlp.NET

Ytdlp.NET is an open-source, modern .NET wrapper library for yt-dlp, the popular command-line audio/video downloader and metadata extractor.
It provides a fluent, strongly-typed API to build yt-dlp commands, fetch rich metadata, list formats, monitor progress, and execute downloads with full event support.

Ytdlp.NET
Developer	Manojbabu (manusoft/manuhub)
Initial release	2025
Stable release	1.4.0
Preview release	2.0.0-preview1 (February 2026)
Repository	github.com/manusoft/yt-dlp-wrapper
Written in	C# (.NET 8.0 or later)
License	MIT
Website	https://github.com/manusoft/yt-dlp-wrapper

Overview

Ytdlp.NET simplifies interaction with yt-dlp by offering:

• Fluent builder pattern (SetFormat, EmbedMetadata, UseProxy, etc.)
• Rich metadata parsing via GetVideoMetadataJsonAsync (title, duration, views, thumbnails, formats, chapters, subtitles, etc.)
• Auto-selection helpers (GetBestAudioFormatIdAsync, GetBestVideoFormatIdAsync)
• Real-time progress events (OnProgressDownload, OnPostProcessingComplete)
• Cancellation support with graceful handling
• Batch & concurrent downloads
• SponsorBlock, cookies-from-browser, concurrent fragments, custom headers, etc.

It does not bundle yt-dlp — users must install yt-dlp separately (or use companion packages like Ytdlp.Stable.Build).

Features

• Fluent API — chainable methods for almost all common yt-dlp flags
• Metadata & Formats — full JSON parsing with strongly-typed Metadata and Format classes
• Events — progress, errors, completion, post-processing callbacks
• Progress parsing — percentage, speed, ETA, fragments, merging detection
• Cancellation — safe CancellationToken support (no stalled processes)
• Companion packages — Ytdlp.FFmpeg.Build, Ytdlp.Stable.Build, etc. for zero-manual-setup
• .NET Modern — targets .NET 8.0 and .NET 9.0, async-first

Installation

Via NuGet (recommended)

<PackageReference Include="Ytdlp.NET" Version="2.0.0-preview1" />

Companion packages (optional but strongly recommended)

<PackageReference Include="Ytdlp.Stable.Build" Version="*" />
<PackageReference Include="Ytdlp.FFmpeg.Build" Version="*" />
<PackageReference Include="Ytdlp.FFprobe.Build" Version="*" />
<PackageReference Include="Ytdlp.Deno.Runtime" Version="*" /> 

These packages automatically download and extract the latest yt-dlp / FFmpeg binaries into your output folder.

Basic Usage

var ytdlp = new Ytdlp(); // auto-detects yt-dlp from companion packages or PATH

// Download best 1080p video + best audio
await ytdlp
    .SetFormat("bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best")
    .SetOutputFolder("./downloads")
    .SetOutputTemplate("%(title)s [%(resolution)s].%(ext)s")
    .EmbedMetadata()
    .EmbedThumbnail()
    .ExecuteAsync("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt50Sodg7sA");

Auto-select best formats

string bestVideo = await ytdlp.GetBestVideoFormatIdAsync(url, maxHeight: 1080);
string bestAudio = await ytdlp.GetBestAudioFormatIdAsync(url);

await ytdlp
    .SetFormat($"{bestVideo}+{bestAudio}/best")
    .ExecuteAsync(url);

Fetch metadata

var meta = await ytdlp.GetVideoMetadataJsonAsync(url);

Console.WriteLine($"Title: {meta?.Title}");
Console.WriteLine($"Duration: {meta?.Duration} s");
Console.WriteLine($"Views: {meta?.ViewCount:N0}");
Console.WriteLine($"Best thumbnail: {meta?.BestThumbnailUrl}");

Thread Safety & Disposal

• Ytdlp is not thread-safe
  Do not use the same instance from multiple threads or concurrent tasks.
  Always create a fresh instance per download operation when running in parallel.

  Safe example (concurrent batch):

  var tasks = urls.Select(async url =>
  {
      var y = new Ytdlp(); // new instance per task
      await y.SetFormat("best").ExecuteAsync(url);
  });
  await Task.WhenAll(tasks);

  Unsafe (will cause race conditions):

  var y = new Ytdlp(); // shared instance
  var tasks = urls.Select(u => y.SetFormat("best").ExecuteAsync(u));
  await Task.WhenAll(tasks);

• Disposal
  In v2.0 the class does not implement IDisposable. Internal resources (e.g. child processes) are cleaned up automatically when the instance is garbage-collected. Proper Dispose support and an immutable builder pattern (for safe reuse) are planned for later.

Dependencies

• .NET 8.0 or later
• yt-dlp executable (required)
• FFmpeg / FFprobe (recommended for merging, audio extraction, thumbnails)

See also

• yt-dlp — upstream project
• Ytdlp.NET GitHub Repository
• .NET Package Manager (NuGet)

References

1. GitHub repository: https://github.com/manusoft/yt-dlp-wrapper
2. yt-dlp releases: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases
3. FFmpeg builds: https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/

This page was last edited on February 15, 2026.