ytmedia 0.3.0

Download MP4 (video+audio) and MP3 from YouTube at the highest possible quality

ytmedia

Download MP4 (video + audio) and MP3 from YouTube at the highest possible quality, powered by yt-dlp.

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Installation

pip install ytmedia

Or install from source (for development):

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/ytmedia
cd ytmedia
pip install -e .

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Quick Setup

After installing, run the init command once to set up ffmpeg and all required dependencies automatically:

ytmedia init

This will:

• Install and activate a prebuilt ffmpeg binary (no manual system install needed)
• Install yt-dlp-ejs JS challenge solver scripts for full YouTube format support
• Check for a Node.js or Deno JS runtime and guide you if missing

Note: For best quality (1080p/4K), a JS runtime is recommended. Install Node.js from nodejs.org if you don't have it.

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Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• Node.js (recommended) — for full YouTube format support

Everything else (ffmpeg, yt-dlp-ejs) is handled automatically by ytmedia init.

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Usage

As a Python library

from ytmedia import init, download_mp4, download_mp3, download_playlist_mp4, get_info

# Run once after install to set up dependencies
init()

# Download best quality MP4 (video + audio)
download_mp4("https://youtu.be/xxxx")

# Download MP4 capped at 1080p
download_mp4("https://youtu.be/xxxx", resolution="1080")

# Download to a specific folder
download_mp4("https://youtu.be/xxxx", output_dir="./videos")

# Download MP4 without audio (video only)
download_mp4("https://youtu.be/xxxx", audio=False)

# Download MP3 at 320kbps
download_mp3("https://youtu.be/xxxx")

# Download MP3 at a lower bitrate
download_mp3("https://youtu.be/xxxx", quality="192", output_dir="./music")

# Download an entire playlist as MP4
download_playlist_mp4("https://youtube.com/playlist?list=xxxx")

# Get video metadata without downloading
info = get_info("https://youtu.be/xxxx")
print(info["title"], info["duration"])

As a CLI tool

After installation, the ytmedia command is available globally:

# Set up dependencies (run once after install)
ytmedia init

# Download MP4 (best quality)
ytmedia mp4 https://youtu.be/xxxx

# Download MP4 at 1080p into a specific folder
ytmedia mp4 https://youtu.be/xxxx -r 1080 -o ./videos

# Download MP4 without audio
ytmedia mp4 https://youtu.be/xxxx --no-audio

# Download MP3 at 320kbps
ytmedia mp3 https://youtu.be/xxxx

# Download MP3 at 192kbps into a specific folder
ytmedia mp3 https://youtu.be/xxxx -q 192 -o ./music

# Download an entire playlist
ytmedia playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=xxxx

# Print video metadata
ytmedia info https://youtu.be/xxxx

CLI options

Flag	Description	Default
-o, --output	Output directory	./downloads
-r, --resolution	Max video height e.g. 1080, 720	best
-q, --quality	MP3 bitrate in kbps e.g. 320, 192	320
--no-audio	Download MP4 without audio track	off

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Notes

• URLs containing &list= (e.g. from YouTube autoplay) are treated as single-video downloads by default. Use ytmedia playlist <url> or pass allow_playlist=True in Python to download the full playlist.
• Without ffmpeg, MP4 downloads fall back to a pre-merged single stream, usually capped at 720p. Run ytmedia init to fix this automatically.
• MP3 conversion always requires ffmpeg.
• MP4 audio is encoded as AAC during the merge step, ensuring compatibility with Windows Media Player, QuickTime, and mobile devices.

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License

MIT