# Feature catalog — yt-dlp/yt-dlp

> Canonical page: https://codevetter.com/unpack/yt-dlp/feature-catalog

# Feature catalog — yt-dlp/yt-dlp

Scanned commit c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880 (2026-09-16). Generated by codevetter codevetter 1.12.0 on 2026-09-22.

The feature surface is one large optparse CLI plus the `YoutubeDL` Python API. Options are organized into ~15 groups (General, Network, Geo, Selection, Download, Filesystem, Thumbnail, Verbosity, Workarounds, Video Format, Subtitles, Authentication, Post-Processing, SponsorBlock, Extractor). Major features: per-site extraction with playlist/search support, format selection DSL, output templates, download archive dedup, browser-cookie and netrc authentication, TLS/browser impersonation, ffmpeg post-processing incl. SponsorBlock, external downloaders, plugins, JS runtimes/remote components for YouTube challenge solving, self-update, and extensive listing/simulation/JSON dump modes.
- The CLI is defined in `create_parser()` using optparse OptionGroups: General, Network, Geo-restriction, Video Selection, Download, Filesystem, Thumbnail, Internet Shortcut, Verbosity/Simulation, Workarounds, Video Format, Subtitle, Authentication, Post-Processing, SponsorBlock, Extractor Options. — [yt_dlp/options.py#L247](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/options.py#L247) [yt_dlp/options.py#L355-1999](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/options.py#L355-L1999)
- Config files are auto-loaded: `parseOpts` searches user/system config dirs for `yt-dlp.conf`, `config`, `config.txt` and supports `--ignore-config`; URLs come from argv, `-a/--batch-file` (including '-' for stdin). — [yt_dlp/options.py#L43-80](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/options.py#L43-L80) [yt_dlp/__init__.py#L83-100](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/__init__.py#L83-L100)
- Format selection uses a DSL parsed by `build_format_selector` (e.g. 'b/bv', the test default) combined with `FormatSorter` sorting in `sort_formats`. — [yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L2341](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L2341) [yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L2830-2835](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L2830-L2835) [test/parameters.json](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/test/parameters.json)
- Output naming is a template engine (`outtmpl`) supporting `%(field)s` expansion, defaults per type, sanitization, and literal `%%` — implemented in `parse_outtmpl`/`prepare_outtmpl`/`evaluate_outtmpl`. — [yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L1200-1261](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L1200-L1261) [yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L1267-1520](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L1267-L1520)
- `--download-archive` deduplicates across runs: `_make_archive_id` builds `extractor_key video_id`, `in_download_archive` checks the in-memory set (plus `_old_archive_ids`), `record_download_archive` appends under `locked_file`. — [yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L3855-3894](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L3855-L3894)
- Authentication features: `--cookies-from-browser` supports brave/chrome/chromium/edge/opera/vivaldi/whale/firefox/safari with OS keyring decryption, `--cookies` Netscape files, and per-extractor username/password or netrc via `_NETRC_MACHINE`/`_perform_login`. — [yt_dlp/cookies.py#L49-50](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/cookies.py#L49-L50) [yt_dlp/extractor/common.py#L589-667](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py#L589-L667)
- Browser impersonation (`--impersonate`, `--list-impersonate-targets`) maps targets like chrome/safari/firefox/edge/tor to the curl_cffi request handler, with a rendered availability table in `_real_main`. — [yt_dlp/__init__.py#L997-1032](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/__init__.py#L997-L1032) [yt_dlp/networking/impersonate.py](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/networking/impersonate.py) [yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L4240-4280](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L4240-L4280)
- Post-processing features include FFmpeg merge/extract-audio/remux/embed-subs/thumbnail & subtitle conversion/fixups/chapter splitting, SponsorBlock removal, metadata parsing, MoveFilesAfterDownload, and xattr writing. — [yt_dlp/postprocessor/__init__.py#L4-34](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/postprocessor/__init__.py#L4-L34) [yt_dlp/options.py#L1614-1902](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/options.py#L1614-L1902)
- `--exec [WHEN:]CMD` runs user shell commands after chosen stages via `ExecPP`, which validates template expansion safety unless the `allow-unsafe-exec-expansion` compat opt is set. — [yt_dlp/postprocessor/exec.py#L12-40](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/postprocessor/exec.py#L12-L40) [yt_dlp/options.py#L1768-1783](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/options.py#L1768-L1783)
- Self-update `-U/--update` supports channels stable/nightly/master (`UPDATE_SOURCES`) and `--update-to CHANNEL@TAG` for pinning. — [yt_dlp/update.py#L38-44](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/update.py#L38-L44) [yt_dlp/options.py#L378](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/options.py#L378)
- Listing/simulation outputs: `--list-extractors`, `--list-extractor-descriptions`, `-F/--list-formats` (render_formats_table), list-thumbnails/subtitles, `--simulate`, `--dump-json`/`--dump-single-json` via `sanitize_info`, and forced `--print`/`--print-to-file` machinery. — [yt_dlp/__init__.py#L103-132](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/__init__.py#L103-L132) [yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L3217-3286](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L3217-L3286) [yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L3982-4088](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py#L3982-L4088)
- Geo-restriction bypass fakes `X-Forwarded-For` with a random IP from a country or CIDR block (`--geo-bypass-country`, `--geo-bypass-ip-block`), initialized per-extractor and retried once on GeoRestrictedError. — [yt_dlp/extractor/common.py#L673-755](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py#L673-L755) [yt_dlp/extractor/common.py#L790-803](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py#L790-L803)
- Plugin loading (`--plugin-dirs`, `--no-plugin-dirs`) imports `yt_dlp_plugins` namespace packages from config dirs, `yt-dlp-plugins` dirs, and PYTHONPATH — including inside zip/egg/whl archives. — [yt_dlp/options.py#L443-458](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/options.py#L443-L458) [yt_dlp/plugins.py#L81-159](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/plugins.py#L81-L159)
- YouTube anti-bot support uses external JS runtimes (`--js-runtimes` deno/node/bun/quickjs registered in `supported_js_runtimes`) and downloadable remote components (`--remote-components ejs:github`/`ejs:npm`, plus the bundled `yt_dlp_ejs` wheel in 'extra' builds). — [yt_dlp/__init__.py#L1098-1106](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/__init__.py#L1098-L1106) [yt_dlp/utils/_jsruntime.py#L89-153](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/yt_dlp/utils/_jsruntime.py#L89-L153) [Makefile#L200-236](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/c7fb478d21e9e59524befbe23f7801bb267fb880/Makefile#L200-L236)

Every claim links to its cited files at the pinned commit. Citations identify source evidence; they do not establish runtime correctness. Independent CodeVetter scan — not reviewed by upstream maintainers.

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