[facebook:reel] ERROR No video formats found! when downloading Facebook Reels

[ekiara]

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Checklist

• I'm reporting that yt-dlp is broken on a supported site
• I've verified that I'm running yt-dlp version 2023.06.22 (update instructions) or later (specify commit)
• I've checked that all provided URLs are playable in a browser with the same IP and same login details
• I've checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped
• I've searched known issues and the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones. DO NOT post duplicates
• I've read the guidelines for opening an issue
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Region

Kenya

Provide a description that is worded well enough to be understood

After viewing a Facebook reel on the website (the URL format is as follows: https://www.facebook.com/reel/682865820350105) I attempted to download the video using yt-dlp however I got the folloing error response:

$ ./yt-dlp "https://www.facebook.com/reel/682865820350105"
[facebook:reel] Extracting URL: https://www.facebook.com/reel/682865820350105
[facebook] Extracting URL: https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=682865820350105&_rdr
[facebook] 682865820350105: Downloading webpage
ERROR: [facebook] 682865820350105: 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 --version
2023.06.22

Also I attempted to view the reel again but in an Incognito Tab to confirm that the video is public and it worked: i.e. I could view the video, meaning it is a public URL not needed Facebook credentials to view.

NOTE: Using the command line utility, and NOT using the API.

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

[debug] Command-line config: ['-vU', 'https://www.facebook.com/reel/682865820350105']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, pref UTF-8, out utf-8, error utf-8, screen utf-8
[debug] yt-dlp version stable@2023.06.22 [812cdfa06] (zip)
[debug] Python 3.10.7 (CPython x86_64 64bit) - Linux-5.19.0-43-generic-x86_64-with-glibc2.36 (OpenSSL 3.0.5 5 Jul 2022, glibc 2.36)
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 5.1.1 (setts), ffprobe 5.1.1
[debug] Optional libraries: certifi-2022.12.07, secretstorage-3.3.3, sqlite3-2.6.0
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Loaded 1851 extractors
[debug] Fetching release info: https://api.github.com/repos/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest
Available version: stable@2023.06.22, Current version: stable@2023.06.22
Current Build Hash: 924464eb831bdb99d854b9d47ff9e1c0870eab276113adaf8a74a8561ad332b9
yt-dlp is up to date (stable@2023.06.22)
[facebook:reel] Extracting URL: https://www.facebook.com/reel/682865820350105
[facebook] Extracting URL: https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=682865820350105&_rdr
[facebook] 682865820350105: Downloading webpage
ERROR: [facebook] 682865820350105: No video formats found!; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= , filling out the a
ppropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using  yt-dlp -U
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/emk/Developer/SCRATCH/youtube-downloader/./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py", line 1555, in wrapper
    return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/home/emk/Developer/SCRATCH/youtube-downloader/./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py", line 1652, in __extract_info
    return self.process_ie_result(ie_result, download, extra_info)
  File "/home/emk/Developer/SCRATCH/youtube-downloader/./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py", line 1711, in process_ie_result
    ie_result = self.process_video_result(ie_result, download=download)
  File "/home/emk/Developer/SCRATCH/youtube-downloader/./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py", line 2653, in process_video_result
    self.raise_no_formats(info_dict)
  File "/home/emk/Developer/SCRATCH/youtube-downloader/./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py", line 1067, in raise_no_formats
    raise ExtractorError(msg, video_id=info['id'], ie=info['extractor'],
yt_dlp.utils.ExtractorError: [facebook] 682865820350105: 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

[bashonly]

This issue seems to occur with all reels URLs now, including the extractor test. I don't think redirecting to the mobile /watch/ page and handing it off to FacebookIE will work anymore.

[october262]

for this test URL - https://www.facebook.com/reel/682865820350105
paste the URL in a new tab, change www to mbasic, press enter and then
copy the URL to download the video.

[ekiara]

for this test URL - https://www.facebook.com/reel/682865820350105 paste the URL in a new tab, change www to mbasic, press enter and then copy the URL to download the video.

@october262 Okay so replacing the www with mbasic generates a URL that does will not work in an Incognito Tab because the browser redirects to a Facebook login page.

And also with yt-dlp and using a cookies.txt file with the URL generated by replacing www with mbasic does not work at the moment:

$  ./yt-dlp -vU --cookies ./cookies.txt "https://mbasic.facebook.com/watch/?extid=reels&v=682865820350105&paipv=0&eav=AfYtf1pZlkowA3bOaCUPMfJ1S_Cl6AttcatLUIKTgT2n3ZKEVCdS-Oc4dQ3YgEhluN0&_rdr"
[debug] Command-line config: ['-vU', '--cookies', './cookies.txt', 'https://mbasic.facebook.com/watch/?extid=reels&v=682865820350105&paipv=0&eav=AfYtf1pZlkowA3bOaCUPMfJ1S_Cl6AttcatLUIKTgT2n3ZKEVCdS-Oc4dQ3YgEhluN0&_rdr']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, pref UTF-8, out utf-8, error utf-8, screen utf-8
[debug] yt-dlp version stable@2023.06.22 [812cdfa06] (zip)
[debug] Python 3.10.7 (CPython x86_64 64bit) - Linux-5.19.0-43-generic-x86_64-with-glibc2.36 (OpenSSL 3.0.5 5 Jul 2022, glibc 2.36)
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 5.1.1 (setts), ffprobe 5.1.1
[debug] Optional libraries: certifi-2022.12.07, secretstorage-3.3.3, sqlite3-2.6.0
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Loaded 1851 extractors
[debug] Fetching release info: https://api.github.com/repos/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest
Available version: stable@2023.06.22, Current version: stable@2023.06.22
Current Build Hash: 924464eb831bdb99d854b9d47ff9e1c0870eab276113adaf8a74a8561ad332b9
yt-dlp is up to date (stable@2023.06.22)
[facebook] Extracting URL: https://mbasic.facebook.com/watch/?extid=reels&v=682865820350105&paipv=0&eav=AfYtf1pZlkowA3bOaCUPMfJ1S_Cl6AttcatLUIKTgT2n3ZKEVCdS-Oc4dQ3YgEhluN0&_rdr
[facebook] 682865820350105: Downloading webpage
[facebook] 682865820350105: Downloading webpage
ERROR: [facebook] 682865820350105: Cannot parse data; 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
  File "/home/emk/Developer/SCRATCH/youtube-downloader/./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py", line 708, in extract
    ie_result = self._real_extract(url)
  File "/home/emk/Developer/SCRATCH/youtube-downloader/./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/facebook.py", line 707, in _real_extract
    return self._extract_from_url(real_url, video_id)
  File "/home/emk/Developer/SCRATCH/youtube-downloader/./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/facebook.py", line 654, in _extract_from_url
    raise ExtractorError('Cannot parse data')

As @bashonly says, it looks like this issue is affecting all reels URLs now.

[october262]

download works ok for me either with yt-dlp or by right click & save.
i take it your not signed in to facebook correct ??

[cunlem]

Just in case: an alternative page for watching a reel is
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=682865820350105
It shows reel video in more regular layout which might be easier to scrape

[arfathyahiya]

can't we download the reels using requests and bs4 package?
from this url
https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=682865820350105
The issue I found using this endpoint is that only lower quality video is available

EDIT: Also has anyone found any other means we can download the reels from FB?

[bashonly]

@vjaideep08 see the linked pull request, #7564

[someziggyman]

Hey guys, looks like the issue is back again https://www.facebook.com/reel/573336878299071 or https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=573336878299071 both return ERROR: [facebook] 573336878299071: Cannot parse data

Log below:

./yt-dlp -Uv -F "https://www.facebook.com/reel/573336878299071"
[debug] Command-line config: ['-Uv', '-F', 'https://www.facebook.com/reel/573336878299071']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, pref UTF-8, out utf-8, error utf-8, screen utf-8
[debug] yt-dlp version stable@2023.07.06 [b532a34] (zip)
[debug] Python 3.11.4 (CPython arm64 64bit) - macOS-13.5-arm64-arm-64bit (OpenSSL 3.1.2 1 Aug 2023)
[debug] exe versions: phantomjs 2.1.1
[debug] Optional libraries: sqlite3-2.6.0
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Extractor Plugins: SamplePluginIE
[debug] Post-Processor Plugins: SamplePluginPP
[debug] Loaded 1937 extractors
[debug] Fetching release info: https://api.github.com/repos/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest
Available version: stable@2023.07.06, Current version: stable@2023.07.06
Current Build Hash: 53030e66cc63e31cd608efb9befc5f31cf2f089ea80388189f36b9f2de7d33a2
yt-dlp is up to date (stable@2023.07.06)
[facebook:reel] Extracting URL: https://www.facebook.com/reel/573336878299071
[facebook] Extracting URL: https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=573336878299071&_rdr
[facebook] 573336878299071: Downloading webpage
[facebook] 573336878299071: Downloading webpage
ERROR: [facebook] 573336878299071: Cannot parse data; 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
File "./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py", line 715, in extract
ie_result = self._real_extract(url)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/facebook.py", line 733, in _real_extract
return self._extract_from_url(real_url, video_id)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "./yt-dlp/yt_dlp/extractor/facebook.py", line 680, in _extract_from_url
raise ExtractorError('Cannot parse data')

[bashonly]

#4311

FB extractor is currently compeletely broken