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:

1. Use lower quality preset
2. Send as document (not video)