YouTube Video Downloader

First time? If setup_complete: false above, run ./SETUP.md first, then set setup_complete: true.

Download YouTube videos with quality control, optimized for sharing on WhatsApp and other platforms.

Requirements

This skill requires Python to be installed on your system.

Python 3.9+ (required)
yt-dlp (pip install yt-dlp)
ffmpeg (for audio extraction)

First time setup? Read SETUP.md for detailed installation instructions for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Quick Start

cd ~/.claude/skills/youtube-downloader/scripts

# Download for WhatsApp (144p, small file)
python download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --quality whatsapp

# Download standard quality (480p)
python download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --quality standard

# Download high quality (720p)
python download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --quality high

# Download best quality available
python download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --quality best

# List available formats
python download.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --list

Quality Presets

Preset	Resolution	Max Size	Use Case
`whatsapp`	144p	~10MB	WhatsApp sharing (default)
`standard`	480p	~50MB	General use
`high`	720p	~100MB	Good quality
`best`	Best available	Varies	Maximum quality

Options

Option	Description
`--quality` / `-q`	Quality preset (whatsapp/standard/high/best)
`--output` / `-o`	Output directory (default: current dir)
`--list` / `-l`	List available formats without downloading
`--audio-only` / `-a`	Extract audio only (MP3)

Examples

# Download and send to WhatsApp
python download.py "https://youtube.com/watch?v=xxx" -q whatsapp
# Then use WhatsApp skill to send

# Download to specific folder
python download.py "https://youtube.com/watch?v=xxx" -o ~/Downloads

# Audio only (for podcasts/music)
python download.py "https://youtube.com/watch?v=xxx" --audio-only

WhatsApp Size Limits

16MB: Direct video sharing limit
2GB: Document sharing limit (preserves quality)

For videos over 16MB, either:

Use lower quality preset
Send as document (not video)