download-video

Download videos from 1000+ websites (YouTube, Bilibili, Twitter/X, TikTok, Vimeo, Instagram, Twitch, etc.) using yt-dlp. Use this skill whenever a user share...

Security Scan

The skill is a straightforward wrapper around yt-dlp to download videos and its requirements, instructions, and included script match its stated purpose.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description (download videos using yt-dlp) matches the included script and SKILL.md. No unrelated credentials, binaries, or config paths are requested.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions stay within the expected scope (check for yt-dlp/ffmpeg, run provided Python wrapper or yt-dlp directly). Note: the docs and script recommend using yt-dlp's --cookies-from-browser which will access browser session cookies (expected for authenticated downloads) and reference installing an optional third-party plugin for PO tokens — both are outside the core download logic and should be used with caution.

Install Mechanism

No install spec included (instruction-only). The skill includes a small Python script only; it does not download arbitrary archives or install executables itself.

Credentials

The skill does not request environment variables or credentials. It suggests use of ALL_PROXY or browser cookies for certain cases — these are reasonable optional suggestions for network/proxy or authenticated downloads but are not required by the skill.

Persistence & Privilege

No elevated persistence requested. always is false and the skill does not modify other skills or system-wide config.

Assessment

This skill is a thin wrapper around yt-dlp and is internally consistent. Before installing/using it: 1) ensure you install yt-dlp/ffmpeg from trusted sources (brew or pip from reputable indexes); 2) be cautious when using --cookies-from-browser — it grants yt-dlp access to your browser session cookies (which can include auth tokens); only use that with trusted local environments and avoid posting exported cookies; 3) the references mention installing a third-party plugin (bgutil-ytdlp-pot-provider) — verify its trustworthiness before installing; 4) respect copyright and site terms of service when downloading content; and 5) the included script invokes yt-dlp via subprocess with argument lists (no shell), which reduces shell-injection risk, but always be careful with untrusted URLs or running commands on shared systems.

Download videos from YouTube, Bilibili, Twitter/X, TikTok, and 1000+ other sites using yt-dlp.

Step 1: Check prerequisites

which yt-dlp && yt-dlp --version
which ffmpeg

If yt-dlp is missing, install it:

# macOS
brew install yt-dlp ffmpeg

# Cross-platform
pip install yt-dlp

Step 2: Download

Use the bundled script — it wraps yt-dlp with sensible defaults and clear error messages.

python3 scripts/download.py "VIDEO_URL"

Default output: ~/Downloads/Videos/

Common options

python3 scripts/download.py "URL" -f 1080            # Max 1080p
python3 scripts/download.py "URL" -a                  # Audio only (MP3)
python3 scripts/download.py "URL" -F                  # List formats
python3 scripts/download.py "URL" --subs              # With subtitles
python3 scripts/download.py "URL" -o ~/Desktop        # Custom output dir
python3 scripts/download.py "URL" --cookies chrome    # Use browser cookies

Direct yt-dlp commands

For cases the script doesn't cover, use yt-dlp directly:

# Download playlist
yt-dlp -P ~/Downloads/Videos "PLAYLIST_URL"

# Custom filename template
yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

# Download with subtitles in specific languages
yt-dlp --write-subs --sub-lang zh,en -P ~/Downloads/Videos "VIDEO_URL"

Troubleshooting

Most download failures fall into these categories:

Symptom	Fix
"Sign in required" or age-restricted	Add --cookies chrome to use browser session
Only low quality available	Update yt-dlp (brew upgrade yt-dlp), then try with --cookies chrome
Slow downloads	Try --concurrent-fragments 3 or --downloader aria2c
Network errors (behind firewall)	Use --proxy socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 or set ALL_PROXY env var

For platform-specific details (YouTube PO tokens, Bilibili series, TikTok watermark removal, etc.), see references/platform-tips.md.