brew

Install yt-dlp with Homebrew, apk, chocolatey, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman, scoop, winget, zypper

Feature-rich command-line audio/video downloader. Version 2026.7.4 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-06.

Install command Security notes

agent safety

Agent safety answer

yt-dlp downloads media and can read cookies or credentials for authenticated sources.

Credential access

Reads browser cookies, netrc credentials, config files, and output paths.

Remote mutation

Mostly downloads, but may access authenticated services.

Publish/artifact risk

Can create large media artifacts and expose private media locally.

Recommended control

Gate cookie reads, authenticated downloads, and broad output paths.

Agent-use guidance

Allow public metadata queries; require approval for cookie use and private downloads.

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install yt-dlp

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add yt-dlp

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · yt-dlp · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install yt-dlp

Debian stable package indexes · yt-dlp · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install yt-dlp

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · yt-dlp · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#yt-dlp

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/yt/yt-dlp/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S yt-dlp

Arch Linux sync databases · yt-dlp · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install python313-yt-dlp

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · python313-yt-dlp · source: download.opensuse.org

Windows

Chocolateyverified · 92%

choco install yt-dlp

Chocolatey community package catalog · yt-dlp · source: community.chocolatey.org

Scoopverified · 92%

scoop install main/yt-dlp

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/yt-dlp.json · source: api.github.com

Windows Package Managerverified · 92%

winget install --id yt-dlp.yt-dlp -e

Windows Package Manager source index · yt-dlp.yt-dlp · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com

overview

Package summary

Feature-rich command-line audio/video downloader

Project links

Commands and aliases

yt-dlp

history

Project history and usage

yt-dlp is the dominant modern fork in the youtube-dl family: a fast-moving command-line downloader for video and audio sites, with package significance far beyond “download a video” because archivists, researchers, automation scripts, and media workflows depend on its extractor maintenance.

Project history

The project’s README states the lineage directly: yt-dlp is a fork of youtube-dl based on the now inactive youtube-dlc. That lineage matters because youtube-dl began in 2006 and became the archetypal site-extractor CLI, but by 2020-2021 community energy had shifted into forks that could merge fixes and features faster.

yt-dlp’s GitHub repository dates to October 2020, during the same period in which youtube-dl was at the center of a high-profile RIAA takedown dispute on GitHub. GitHub restored youtube-dl in November 2020 after EFF involvement, but the episode made the fragility and public importance of downloader infrastructure visible to a much wider software audience.

By 2021, yt-dlp had become the active fork many users recommended. It accumulated behavior and feature differences from youtube-dl: better default format sorting, SponsorBlock integration, download sections, richer metadata and post-processing options, plugin hooks, browser cookie handling, and active extractor fixes.

Adoption history

Adoption was driven by maintenance velocity. Sites change frequently, and a downloader that cannot keep extractors current becomes useless fast; yt-dlp’s rapid release cadence and compatibility with youtube-dl-style invocations made it a natural replacement in scripts and packaged systems.

The adoption path is visible in distributions and institutions. Ubuntu 22.04 included yt-dlp, Debian replaced youtube-dl with a transitional package depending on yt-dlp, and Archive-It documents yt-dlp as the modern fork its crawlers use to collect embedded audio and video during web crawls.

How it is used

Users run yt-dlp with one or more URLs to download media, select formats, extract audio, write subtitles and metadata, authenticate through cookies or netrc, post-process with ffmpeg, archive channels, and embed it as a Python library. Its configuration files let heavy users encode site-specific and workflow-specific defaults.

Package users care about the surrounding executable story: releases provide platform-independent Python zipimport binaries, standalone Windows and macOS executables, Linux variants, source tarballs, PyPI packages, and package-manager entries. That breadth lets yt-dlp serve both throwaway shell use and repeatable archival automation.

Why package nerds care

yt-dlp is a package-nerd landmark because it turns an adversarial, constantly changing web surface into a normal command. It is also a case study in fork succession: users followed the maintained implementation, not just the original brand name.

It sits at the intersection of packaging, digital preservation, legal controversy, and web reverse engineering. Few CLI packages have such a direct relationship between release freshness and whether the tool works today.

Timeline

2006: Ricardo Garcia creates youtube-dl, the original project lineage.
2020-10-23: The RIAA sends GitHub a takedown request for youtube-dl and forks.
2020-10-26: The yt-dlp GitHub repository is created.
2020-11-16: GitHub restores youtube-dl after reviewing EFF arguments.
2021: yt-dlp emerges publicly as the active youtube-dl/youtube-dlc successor fork.
2022: Ubuntu 22.04 includes yt-dlp; Debian 12 later points youtube-dl users toward yt-dlp.

Related projects

Related projects include youtube-dl, youtube-dlc, ffmpeg, SponsorBlock, PyInstaller, Archive-It, gallery-dl, streamlink, and NewPipe.

Sources

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for yt-dlp. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 3 runtime dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ~/.yt-dlp.conf~/.config/yt-dlp/config~/.config/yt-dlp.conf

Credential files

Credential-bearing paths to review before unattended agent runs.

Unix: ~/.netrc~/.yt-dlp.conf~/.config/yt-dlp/config~/.config/yt-dlp.conf

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`yt-dlp`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version2026.7.4

manager updated2026-07-06

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

Package key	brew:yt-dlp
Version	2026.7.4
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/yt-dlp
Homepage	https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp
Repository	https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp
Upstream docs	https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#readme
License	Unlicense
Source archive	https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/47/c5/9972af4b472b0d55badf841ebafd2f98944cb0ae0f46e11d01f363ea5b91/yt_dlp-2026.7.4.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-07-06T04:49:29Z
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	certifi, deno, python@3.14
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	yt-dlp
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable