YO

youtube-downloader

Downloads YouTube videos with customizable quality and format settings.

Install

mkdir -p .claude/skills/youtube-downloader-syavayki && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/16743" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/youtube-downloader-syavayki && rm skill.zip

Installs to .claude/skills/youtube-downloader-syavayki

Activation

This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.

Download YouTube videos with customizable quality and format options. Use this skill when the user asks to download, save, or grab YouTube videos. Supports various quality settings (best, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p), multiple formats (mp4, webm, mkv), and audio-only downloads as MP3.
281 chars✓ has a “when” triggerlonger than Claude Code's old 250-char listing cap (fine on current versions)
Beginner

Key capabilities

  • Download YouTube videos
  • Specify video quality (e.g., 1080p, 720p)
  • Choose output format (e.g., mp4, webm)
  • Download audio-only as MP3
  • Set a custom output directory
  • Automatically install `yt-dlp` if not present

How it works

The skill uses `yt-dlp` to fetch video information, select streams based on user criteria, merge video and audio if needed, and save the downloaded content.

Inputs & outputs

You give it
a YouTube video URL and optional quality, format, or audio-only preferences
You get back
a downloaded YouTube video or audio file in the specified quality and format

When to use youtube-downloader

  • Download videos for research
  • Extract audio as MP3
  • Save content in specific formats

About this skill

YouTube Video Downloader

Download YouTube videos with full control over quality and format settings.

Quick Start

The simplest way to download a video:

python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

This downloads the video in best available quality as MP4 to /mnt/user-data/outputs/.

Options

Quality Settings

Use -q or --quality to specify video quality:

  • best (default): Highest quality available
  • 1080p: Full HD
  • 720p: HD
  • 480p: Standard definition
  • 360p: Lower quality
  • worst: Lowest quality available

Example:

python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -q 720p

Format Options

Use -f or --format to specify output format (video downloads only):

  • mp4 (default): Most compatible
  • webm: Modern format
  • mkv: Matroska container

Example:

python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -f webm

Audio Only

Use -a or --audio-only to download only audio as MP3:

python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -a

Custom Output Directory

Use -o or --output to specify a different output directory:

python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -o /path/to/directory

Complete Examples

  1. Download video in 1080p as MP4:
python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -q 1080p
  1. Download audio only as MP3:
python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -a
  1. Download in 720p as WebM to custom directory:
python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -q 720p -f webm -o /custom/path

How It Works

The skill uses yt-dlp, a robust YouTube downloader that:

  • Automatically installs itself if not present
  • Fetches video information before downloading
  • Selects the best available streams matching your criteria
  • Merges video and audio streams when needed
  • Supports a wide range of YouTube video formats

Important Notes

  • Downloads are saved to /mnt/user-data/outputs/ by default
  • Video filename is automatically generated from the video title
  • The script handles installation of yt-dlp automatically
  • Only single videos are downloaded (playlists are skipped by default)
  • Higher quality videos may take longer to download and use more disk space

When not to use it

  • When the user wants to download playlists, as only single videos are downloaded by default.
  • When the user needs to download from platforms other than YouTube.
  • When the user does not want to save to `/mnt/user-data/outputs/` by default.

Limitations

  • Only single videos are downloaded, playlists are skipped by default.
  • Downloads are saved to `/mnt/user-data/outputs/` by default.
  • Higher quality videos may take longer to download and use more disk space.

How it compares

This skill provides customizable quality and format options for YouTube video downloads, offering more control than basic download tools.

Compared to similar skills

youtube-downloader side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.

SkillInstallsUpdatedSafetyDifficulty
youtube-downloader (this skill)05moReviewBeginner
telegrab-fetch05moReviewBeginner
crawl4ai219moReviewIntermediate
firecrawl-scrape57moReviewBeginner

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