[YouTube] Livestream: No video formats found! when using --live-from-start

[estehmanis-trial-login]

Checklist

• I'm reporting a bug unrelated to a specific site
• I've verified that I have updated yt-dlp to nightly or master (update instructions)
• I've searched known issues, the FAQ, and the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones. DO NOT post duplicates
• I've read the policy against AI/LLM contributions and understand I may be blocked from the repository if it is violated

Provide a description that is worded well enough to be understood

I would like to report this issue when I use --live-from-start option, it always says "No format found". However, when I use yt-dlp without this option it works but I don't want to lose the livestream from the start. So can you please check and fix about this. I hope I'm presenting this issue right

Provide verbose output that clearly demonstrates the problem

• Run your yt-dlp command with -vU flag added (yt-dlp -vU <your command line>)
• If using API, add 'verbose': True to YoutubeDL params instead
• Copy the WHOLE output (starting with [debug] Command-line config) and insert it below

Complete Verbose Output

$ yt-dlp --verbose --cookies="www.youtube.com_cookies.txt" --encoding=UTF-8 --continue --no-warnings --ignore-errors --add-metadata --embed-thumbnail --live-from-start --format="bestv
ideo+bestaudio/best" --output="%(channel)s/%(title)s 【%(id)s】.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s" --sub-format=ass/srt/best --sub-langs="en.*,id.*" --embed-subs --recode-video=mp4 --merge-outpu
t-format=mp4 -- "https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow"
[debug] Command-line config: ['--verbose', '--cookies=www.youtube.com_cookies.txt', '--encoding=UTF-8', '--continue', '--no-warnings', '--ignore-errors', '--add-metadata', '--embed-thumbnail', '--live-from-start', '--format=bestvideo+bestaudio/best', '--output=%(channel)s/%(title)s 【%(id)s】.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s', '--sub-format=ass/srt/best', '--sub-langs=en.*,id.*', '--embed-subs', '--recode-video=mp4', '--merge-output-format=mp4', '--', 'https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp65001, fs utf-8, pref UTF-8, out utf-8, error utf-8, screen utf-8
[debug] yt-dlp version stable@2026.03.17 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp [04d6974f5] (pip)
[debug] Python 3.14.4 (CPython AMD64 64bit) - Windows-10-10.0.19045-SP0 (OpenSSL 3.0.19 27 Jan 2026)
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 8.1.1-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev (setts), ffprobe 8.1.1-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev
[debug] Optional libraries: brotli-1.2.0, certifi-2026.04.22, requests-2.33.1, sqlite3-3.50.4, urllib3-2.6.3, yt_dlp_ejs-0.8.0
[debug] JS runtimes: deno-2.7.14
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Request Handlers: urllib, requests
[debug] Plugin directories: none
[debug] Loaded 1864 extractors
[debug] [youtube] Found YouTube account cookies
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Providers: none
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Cache Providers: memory
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Cache Spec Providers: webpo
[debug] [youtube] [jsc] JS Challenge Providers: bun (unavailable), deno, node (unavailable), quickjs (unavailable)
[youtube] Extracting URL: https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading webpage
[debug] [youtube] Detected YouTube Premium subscription
[debug] [youtube] Forcing "main" player JS variant for player 8fb635c2
        original url = /s/player/8fb635c2/player_es6.vflset/en_US/base.js
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading tv downgraded player API JSON
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading web creator client config
[debug] [youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Detected experiment to bind GVS PO Token to video ID for web_creator client
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading player 8fb635c2-main
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading web creator player API JSON
ERROR: [youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: No video formats found!; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using  yt-dlp -U
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1698, in wrapper
    return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1854, in __extract_info
    return self.process_ie_result(ie_result, download, extra_info)
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1913, in process_ie_result
    ie_result = self.process_video_result(ie_result, download=download)
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 2926, in process_video_result
    self.raise_no_formats(info_dict)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1185, in raise_no_formats
    raise ExtractorError(msg, video_id=info['id'], ie=info['extractor'],
                         expected=has_drm or ignored or expected)
yt_dlp.utils.ExtractorError: [youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: No video formats found!; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using  yt-dlp -U

$ yt-dlp --verbose --list-formats --live-from-start --cookies="www.youtube.com_cookies.txt" -- "https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow"
[debug] Command-line config: ['--verbose', '--list-formats', '--live-from-start', '--cookies=www.youtube.com_cookies.txt', '--', 'https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp65001, fs utf-8, pref cp65001, out utf-8, error utf-8, screen utf-8
[debug] yt-dlp version stable@2026.03.17 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp [04d6974f5] (pip)
[debug] Python 3.14.4 (CPython AMD64 64bit) - Windows-10-10.0.19045-SP0 (OpenSSL 3.0.19 27 Jan 2026)
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 8.1.1-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev (setts), ffprobe 8.1.1-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev
[debug] Optional libraries: brotli-1.2.0, certifi-2026.04.22, requests-2.33.1, sqlite3-3.50.4, urllib3-2.6.3, yt_dlp_ejs-0.8.0
[debug] JS runtimes: deno-2.7.14
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Request Handlers: urllib, requests
[debug] Plugin directories: none
[debug] Loaded 1864 extractors
[debug] [youtube] Found YouTube account cookies
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Providers: none
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Cache Providers: memory
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Cache Spec Providers: webpo
[debug] [youtube] [jsc] JS Challenge Providers: bun (unavailable), deno, node (unavailable), quickjs (unavailable)
[youtube] Extracting URL: https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading webpage
[debug] [youtube] Detected YouTube Premium subscription
[debug] [youtube] Forcing "main" player JS variant for player 8fb635c2
        original url = /s/player/8fb635c2/player_es6.vflset/en_US/base.js
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading tv downgraded player API JSON
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading web creator client config
[debug] [youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Detected experiment to bind GVS PO Token to video ID for web_creator client
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading player 8fb635c2-main
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading web creator player API JSON
ERROR: [youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: No video formats found!; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using  yt-dlp -U
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1698, in wrapper
    return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1854, in __extract_info
    return self.process_ie_result(ie_result, download, extra_info)
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1913, in process_ie_result
    ie_result = self.process_video_result(ie_result, download=download)
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 2926, in process_video_result
    self.raise_no_formats(info_dict)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1185, in raise_no_formats
    raise ExtractorError(msg, video_id=info['id'], ie=info['extractor'],
                         expected=has_drm or ignored or expected)
yt_dlp.utils.ExtractorError: [youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: No video formats found!; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using  yt-dlp -U

$ yt-dlp --verbose --list-formats --cookies="www.youtube.com_cookies.txt" -- "https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow"
[debug] Command-line config: ['--verbose', '--list-formats', '--cookies=www.youtube.com_cookies.txt', '--', 'https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp65001, fs utf-8, pref cp65001, out utf-8, error utf-8, screen utf-8
[debug] yt-dlp version stable@2026.03.17 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp [04d6974f5] (pip)
[debug] Python 3.14.4 (CPython AMD64 64bit) - Windows-10-10.0.19045-SP0 (OpenSSL 3.0.19 27 Jan 2026)
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 8.1.1-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev (setts), ffprobe 8.1.1-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev
[debug] Optional libraries: brotli-1.2.0, certifi-2026.04.22, requests-2.33.1, sqlite3-3.50.4, urllib3-2.6.3, yt_dlp_ejs-0.8.0
[debug] JS runtimes: deno-2.7.14
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Request Handlers: urllib, requests
[debug] Plugin directories: none
[debug] Loaded 1864 extractors
[debug] [youtube] Found YouTube account cookies
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Providers: none
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Cache Providers: memory
[debug] [youtube] [pot] PO Token Cache Spec Providers: webpo
[debug] [youtube] [jsc] JS Challenge Providers: bun (unavailable), deno, node (unavailable), quickjs (unavailable)
[youtube] Extracting URL: https://www.youtube.com/live/YMCNQaWtiow
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading webpage
[debug] [youtube] Detected YouTube Premium subscription
[debug] [youtube] Forcing "main" player JS variant for player 8fb635c2
        original url = /s/player/8fb635c2/player_es6.vflset/en_US/base.js
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading tv downgraded player API JSON
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading web creator client config
[debug] [youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Detected experiment to bind GVS PO Token to video ID for web_creator client
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading player 8fb635c2-main
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading web creator player API JSON
[youtube] [jsc:deno] Solving JS challenges using deno
[debug] [youtube] [jsc:deno] Using challenge solver lib script v0.8.0 (source: python package, variant: minified)
[debug] [youtube] [jsc:deno] Using challenge solver core script v0.8.0 (source: python package, variant: minified)
[debug] [youtube] [jsc:deno] Running deno: 'C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\npm\deno.CMD' run --ext=js --no-code-cache --no-prompt --no-remote --no-lock --node-modules-dir=none --no-config --no-npm --cached-only -
[youtube] YMCNQaWtiow: Downloading m3u8 information
[debug] Sort order given by extractor: quality, res, fps, hdr:12, source, vcodec, channels, acodec, lang, proto
[debug] Formats sorted by: hasvid, ie_pref, quality, res, fps, hdr:12(7), source, vcodec, channels, acodec, lang, proto, size, br, asr, vext, aext, hasaud, id
[info] Available formats for YMCNQaWtiow:
ID EXT RESOLUTION FPS │   TBR PROTO │ VCODEC      ACODEC    MORE INFO
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
91 mp4 256x144     30 │  269k m3u8  │ avc1.4D400C mp4a.40.5 WEB-C
92 mp4 426x240     30 │  507k m3u8  │ avc1.4D4015 mp4a.40.5 WEB-C
93 mp4 640x360     30 │  962k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401E mp4a.40.2 WEB-C
94 mp4 854x480     30 │ 1283k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401F mp4a.40.2 WEB-C
95 mp4 1280x720    30 │ 2448k m3u8  │ avc1.4D401F mp4a.40.2 WEB-C
96 mp4 1920x1080   30 │ 4561k m3u8  │ avc1.4D4028 mp4a.40.2 WEB-C
$ yt-dlp -U
Latest version: stable@2026.03.17 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp
yt-dlp is up to date (stable@2026.03.17 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp)
$

[richardd89]

This is an issue multiple people (myself included) have started encountering recently. See #15274