Unable to download JSON metadata: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden on Udemy

[Shane79]

Checklist

• I'm reporting a broken site support issue
• [x ] I've verified that I'm running youtube-dl version 2019.09.01
• [x ] I've checked that all provided URLs are alive and playable in a browser
• I've checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped
• [x ] I've searched the bugtracker for similar bug reports including closed ones
• I've read bugs section in FAQ

Verbose log

E:\>youtube-dl -U
youtube-dl is up-to-date (2019.09.01)

[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['--verbose', '-u', 'PRIVATE', '-p', 'PRIVATE', '-F', '-o', '\\Test\\%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(playlist_index)s. %(title)s
.%(ext)s', 'https://www.udemy.com/course/linux-bash-shell-scripting-complete-guide-incl-awk-sed/']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs mbcs, out cp437, pref cp1252
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.09.01
[debug] Python version 3.4.4 (CPython) - Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
[debug] exe versions: none
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[udemy:course] Downloading login popup
[udemy:course] Logging in
[udemy:course] course: Downloading webpage
[udemy:course] 969354: Downloading course curriculum
[download] Downloading playlist: 969354
[udemy:course] playlist 969354: Collected 94 video ids (downloading 94 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 94
[udemy] Downloading login popup
[udemy] 14300420: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 14300420: Downloading lecture JSON
[udemy] 14300420: Downloading lecture JSON
ERROR: Unable to download JSON metadata: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden (caused by HTTPError()); please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the
 latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpbzyg5d3a\build\youtube_dl\extractor\common.py", line 627, in _request_webpage
  File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpbzyg5d3a\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 2229, in urlopen
  File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 470, in open
  File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 580, in http_response
  File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 508, in error
  File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 442, in _call_chain
  File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 588, in http_error_default


[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['--verbose', '-u', 'PRIVATE', '-p', 'PRIVATE', '-F', '-o', '%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(playlist_index)s. %(title)s.%(ext)s
', 'https://www.udemy.com/the-data-science-course-complete-data-science-bootcamp/']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs mbcs, out cp437, pref cp1252
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.09.01
[debug] Python version 3.4.4 (CPython) - Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
[debug] exe versions: none
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[udemy:course] Downloading login popup
[udemy:course] Logging in
[udemy:course] the-data-science-course-complete-data-science-bootcamp: Downloading webpage
[udemy:course] 1754098: Downloading course curriculum
[download] Downloading playlist: 1754098
[udemy:course] playlist 1754098: Collected 381 video ids (downloading 381 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 381
[udemy] Downloading login popup
[udemy] 10799982: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 10799982: Downloading lecture JSON
[udemy] 13201104: Downloading m3u8 information
[info] Available formats for 13201104:
format code  extension  resolution note
144p         mp4        256x144     201k , libx264@ 139k, 30fps, aac  @ 62k (44100Hz)
hls-259      mp4        256x144     259k , avc1.4d400c, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
360p         mp4        640x360     571k , libx264@ 446k, 30fps, aac  @125k (44100Hz)
hls-670      mp4        640x360     670k , avc1.4d401e, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
480p         mp4        854x480     927k , libx264@ 802k, 30fps, aac  @125k (44100Hz)
hls-1061     mp4        854x480    1061k , avc1.4d401f, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
720p         mp4        1280x720   1304k , libx264@1179k, 30fps, aac  @125k (44100Hz)
hls-1469     mp4        1280x720   1469k , avc1.4d401f, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
hls-2853     mp4        1920x1080  2853k , avc1.4d4028, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2 (best)
[download] Downloading video 2 of 381
[udemy] 10762626: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 10762626: Downloading lecture JSON

ERROR: Interrupted by user

Description

I'm getting Unable to download JSON metadata for https://www.udemy.com/course/linux-bash-shell-scripting-complete-guide-incl-awk-sed/

I've tried a similar script for another course in Udemy as shown above where the metadata is downloaded and the video resolution files are shown. I'm using the latest version of youtube-dl.

Please advice if you can provide a resolution for this issue. If you require user authentication details, I can provide the same in a separate email rather than in this public issue board.

[jasonmb626]

jason@jason-HP-Compaq-Pro-6300-All-in-One-PC:~/Videos/education/CSS-The Complete Guide$ sudo youtube-dl -U
youtube-dl is up-to-date (2019.09.01)
jason@jason-HP-Compaq-Pro-6300-All-in-One-PC:~/Videos/education/CSS-The Complete Guide$ youtube-dl --cookies cookies.txt -o "%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(playlist_index)s. %(title)s.%(ext)s" https://www.udemy.com/course/css-the-complete-guide-incl-flexbox-grid-sass/ --playlist-end 23 -v
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: [u'--cookies', u'cookies.txt', u'-o', u'%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(playlist_index)s. %(title)s.%(ext)s', u'https://www.udemy.com/course/css-the-complete-guide-incl-flexbox-grid-sass/', u'--playlist-end', u'23', u'-v']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs UTF-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.09.01
[debug] Python version 2.7.15+ (CPython) - Linux-5.0.0-25-generic-x86_64-with-Ubuntu-18.04-bionic
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 3.4.6, ffprobe 3.4.6
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[udemy:course] course: Downloading webpage
[udemy:course] 1561458: Downloading course curriculum
[download] Downloading playlist: 1561458
[udemy:course] playlist 1561458: Collected 266 video ids (downloading 23 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 23
[udemy] 9429312: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 9429312: Downloading lecture JSON
[udemy] 9429312: Downloading lecture JSON
ERROR: Unable to download JSON metadata: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden (caused by HTTPError()); please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type  youtube-dl -U  to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py", line 627, in _request_webpage
    return self._downloader.urlopen(url_or_request)
  File "/usr/local/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 2229, in urlopen
    return self._opener.open(req, timeout=self._socket_timeout)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 435, in open
    response = meth(req, response)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 548, in http_response
    'http', request, response, code, msg, hdrs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 473, in error
    return self._call_chain(*args)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 407, in _call_chain
    result = func(*args)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 556, in http_error_default
    raise HTTPError(req.get_full_url(), code, msg, hdrs, fp)

I'm getting the same issue trying to download a different course: https://www.udemy.com/course/css-the-complete-guide-incl-flexbox-grid-sass/

I'm using Ubuntu and using the cookie approach.

Strangely, I was able to start downloading a different course: https://www.udemy.com/android-development-java-android-studio-masterclass/

I am happy to provide more information if necessary.

[MickiFoerster]

$ lsb_release -a 
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS
Release:	18.04
Codename:	bionic

$ youtube-dl --version
2019.09.01
$ youtube-dl --verbose --cookies=cookies.txt "https://www.udemy.com/course/learn-visual-studio-code/learn/"
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['--verbose', '--cookies=cookies.txt', 'https://www.udemy.com/course/learn-visual-studio-code/learn/']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.09.01
[debug] Python version 3.6.8 (CPython) - Linux-4.15.0-60-generic-x86_64-with-Ubuntu-18.04-bionic
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 3.4.6, ffprobe 3.4.6
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[udemy:course] course: Downloading webpage
[udemy:course] 2022242: Downloading course curriculum
[download] Downloading playlist: 2022242
[udemy:course] playlist 2022242: Collected 42 video ids (downloading 42 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 42
[udemy] 12524810: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 12524810: Downloading lecture JSON
[udemy] 12524810: Downloading lecture JSON
ERROR: Unable to download JSON metadata: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden (caused by <HTTPError 403: 'Forbidden'>); please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; see  https://yt-dl.org/update  on how to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
  File "/home/micki/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py", line 627, in _request_webpage
    return self._downloader.urlopen(url_or_request)
  File "/home/micki/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 2229, in urlopen
    return self._opener.open(req, timeout=self._socket_timeout)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.6/urllib/request.py", line 532, in open
    response = meth(req, response)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.6/urllib/request.py", line 642, in http_response
    'http', request, response, code, msg, hdrs)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.6/urllib/request.py", line 570, in error
    return self._call_chain(*args)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.6/urllib/request.py", line 504, in _call_chain
    result = func(*args)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.6/urllib/request.py", line 650, in http_error_default
    raise HTTPError(req.full_url, code, msg, hdrs, fp)

Same issue here with different course.

[aa-bhn]

Same issue with pluralsight-dl script using youtube-dl and my username and password! it worked till 14 days ago as i checked ...

[pluralsight:course] csharp-fundamentals: Downloading JSON metadata [download] Downloading playlist: Accelerated C# Fundamentals [pluralsight:course] playlist Accelerated C# Fundamentals: Collected 111 video ids (downloading 111 of them) [download] Downloading video 1 of 111 [pluralsight] Downloading login page [pluralsight] Logging in ERROR: Unable to download webpage: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden (caused by HTTPError()); please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type youtube-dl -U to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.

[quynguyen2303]

I also got the same error with an Udemy course.

Unable to download webpage: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden (caused by HTTPError()); please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; see https://yt-dl.org/update on how to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py", line 627, in _request_webpage
return self._downloader.urlopen(url_or_request)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 2229, in urlopen
return self._opener.open(req, timeout=self._socket_timeout)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 435, in open
response = meth(req, response)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 548, in http_response
'http', request, response, code, msg, hdrs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 473, in error
return self._call_chain(*args)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 407, in _call_chain
result = func(*args)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 556, in http_error_default
raise HTTPError(req.get_full_url(), code, msg, hdrs, fp)

[bogusgoo]

Same with me too.... from several days...unable to download from UDEMY.

'[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['--username', 'PRIVATE', '--password', 'PRIVATE', '--verbose', '-o', 'E:/Udemy/%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s', '--min-sleep-interval', '3', '--max-sleep-interval', '7', 'https://udemy.com/course/typescript-the-complete-developers-guide/', '--playlist-start', '169']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs mbcs, out cp437, pref cp1252
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.09.28
[debug] Python version 3.4.4 (CPython) - Windows-10-10.0.17763
[debug] exe versions: none
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[udemy:course] Downloading login popup
[udemy:course] Logging in
[udemy:course] course: Downloading webpage
[udemy:course] 2337318: Enrolling in the course
[udemy:course] 2337318: Downloading course curriculum
[download] Downloading playlist: 2337318
[udemy:course] playlist 2337318: Collected 273 video ids (downloading 105 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 105
[udemy] Downloading login popup
[udemy] 15067000: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 15067000: Downloading lecture JSON
[udemy] 15067000: Downloading lecture JSON
ERROR: Unable to download JSON metadata: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden (caused by HTTPError()); please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type youtube-dl -U to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpyi91grvc\build\youtube_dl\extractor\common.py", line 627, in _request_webpage
File "C:\Users\dst\AppData\Roaming\Build archive\youtube-dl\ytdl-org\tmpyi91grvc\build\youtube_dl\YoutubeDL.py", line 2237, in urlopen
File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 470, in open
File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 580, in http_response
File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 508, in error
File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 442, in _call_chain
File "C:\Python\Python34\lib\urllib\request.py", line 588, in http_error_default`

[pratiktri]

Have been getting this will all Udemy courses. Tried with both "-u -p" as well as the "--cookies" flags. Both give the same error as below.

[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: [u'--cookies', u'/home/Downloads/udemy-cookies.txt', u'-o', u'~/Videos/%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)', u'https://www.udemy.com/course/elixir-phoenix-real-world-functional-programming/learn/lecture', u'--verbose', u'-F']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs UTF-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.09.28
[debug] Python version 2.7.15+ (CPython) - Linux-5.0.0-31-generic-x86_64-with-Ubuntu-18.04-bionic
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 3.4.6, ffprobe 3.4.6, phantomjs 2.1.1, rtmpdump 2.4
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[udemy:course] course: Downloading webpage
[udemy:course] 1976564: Downloading course curriculum
[download] Downloading playlist: 1976564
[udemy:course] playlist 1976564: Collected 41 video ids (downloading 41 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 41
[udemy] 12391620: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 12391620: Downloading lecture JSON
[udemy] 12391620: Downloading lecture JSON
ERROR: Unable to download JSON metadata: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden (caused by HTTPError()); please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type youtube-dl -U to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
File "/usr/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py", line 627, in _request_webpage
return self._downloader.urlopen(url_or_request)
File "/usr/bin/youtube-dl/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 2237, in urlopen
return self._opener.open(req, timeout=self._socket_timeout)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 435, in open
response = meth(req, response)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 548, in http_response
'http', request, response, code, msg, hdrs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 473, in error
return self._call_chain(*args)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 407, in _call_chain
result = func(*args)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/urllib2.py", line 556, in http_error_default
raise HTTPError(req.get_full_url(), code, msg, hdrs, fp)

[tuanbs]

I got the same error and I found out if I remove /course/ in the url, then it works. For ex, instead of https://www.udemy.com/course/linux-bash-shell-scripting-complete-guide-incl-awk-sed/, you should use https://www.udemy.com/linux-bash-shell-scripting-complete-guide-incl-awk-sed/. Hope this helps.

[ludndev]

I got the same issue with Linkedin Learning. I'm using cookies instead of user & password. I just update cookies files ( with newer contents ) and :

IT'S WORKS

What do I use ?

• cookie.txt ( extension available for chrome, and else )
• youtube-dl 😸

Command

youtube-dl --cookies "path\to\cookies.txt" -o "path\to\%(playlist_title)s\%(chapter)s\%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" --playlist-start 1 --write-sub --sub-lang fr --write-description --write-info-json --write-annotations URL_PLAYLIST_HERE

URL_PLAYLIST_HERE : your playlist url

Feel free to adapt to your needed.

[Shane79]

I've tried out the solution recommended by tuanbs and can confirm this work

I got the same error and I found out if I remove /course/ in the url, then it works. For ex, instead of https://www.udemy.com/course/linux-bash-shell-scripting-complete-guide-incl-awk-sed/, you should use https://www.udemy.com/linux-bash-shell-scripting-complete-guide-incl-awk-sed/. Hope this helps.

My results are shown below for reference.

[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['--verbose', '-u', 'PRIVATE', '-p', 'PRIVATE', '-F', '-o', '%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(playlist_index)s. %(title)s.%(ext)s
', 'https://www.udemy.com/linux-bash-shell-scripting-complete-guide-incl-awk-sed/']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs mbcs, out cp437, pref cp1252
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.09.28
[debug] Python version 3.4.4 (CPython) - Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
[debug] exe versions: none
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[udemy:course] Downloading login popup
[udemy:course] Logging in
[udemy:course] linux-bash-shell-scripting-complete-guide-incl-awk-sed: Downloading webpage
[udemy:course] 969354: Downloading course curriculum
[download] Downloading playlist: 969354
[udemy:course] playlist 969354: Collected 94 video ids (downloading 94 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 94
[udemy] Downloading login popup
[udemy] 14300420: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 14300420: Downloading lecture JSON
[udemy] 17493458: Downloading m3u8 information
[info] Available formats for 17493458:
format code  extension  resolution note
144p         mp4        256x144     122k , libx264@  60k, 30fps, aac  @ 62k (44100Hz)
hls-170      mp4        256x144     170k , avc1.4d400c, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
360p         mp4        640x360     318k , libx264@ 193k, 30fps, aac  @125k (44100Hz)
hls-390      mp4        640x360     390k , avc1.4d401e, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
480p         mp4        854x480     437k , libx264@ 312k, 30fps, aac  @125k (44100Hz)
hls-519      mp4        854x480     519k , avc1.4d401f, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
720p         mp4        1280x720    704k , libx264@ 579k, 30fps, aac  @125k (44100Hz)
hls-812      mp4        1280x720    812k , avc1.4d401f, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
hls-1116     mp4        1920x1080  1116k , avc1.4d4028, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2 (best)
[download] Downloading video 2 of 94
[udemy] 14203212: Downloading webpage
[udemy] 14203212: Downloading lecture JSON
[udemy] 17367590: Downloading m3u8 information
[info] Available formats for 17367590:
format code  extension  resolution note
144p         mp4        256x144     124k , libx264@  62k, 30fps, aac  @ 62k (44100Hz)
hls-172      mp4        256x144     172k , avc1.4d400c, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
360p         mp4        640x360     314k , libx264@ 189k, 30fps, aac  @125k (44100Hz)
hls-385      mp4        640x360     385k , avc1.4d401e, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
480p         mp4        480p
hls-505      mp4        854x480     505k , avc1.4d401f, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
720p         mp4        1280x720    678k , libx264@ 553k, 30fps, aac  @125k (44100Hz)
hls-779      mp4        1280x720    779k , avc1.4d401f, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2
hls-1104     mp4        1920x1080  1104k , avc1.4d4028, 30.0fps, mp4a.40.2 (best)
[download] Downloading video 3 of 94
[udemy] 14203228: Downloading webpage

ERROR: Interrupted by user

I've not tried out ludndev's proposed solution, but I believe it can work. As such, I appreciate all the support and help provided in helping to resolve this issue. I'll be closing this issue in 2 days time so as to give enough time to other users try out and comment on the solutions suggested by the above mentioned users.

[Shane79]

Thank you all for the support and assistance in helping to resolve this issue. As, I have tested the solution suggested by tuanbs successfully in my earlier post, I'm now closing this issue.