Live Stream Downloader — yt-dlp Command Generator

Build a yt-dlp command to record a live stream, from the start where the platform allows it.

Video, playlist or channel URL

Optional. Leave it empty and the command ends with URL for you to fill in.

Your command

yt-dlp --merge-output-format mkv --no-playlist -N 4 --live-from-start --wait-for-video 60-300 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=live_stream_id'

Basics

What do you want

Video Audio only

Audio-only extracts the soundtrack and drops the video stream.

Video and quality

Maximum quality -f

Caps the height. yt-dlp still picks the best stream at or below it.

Container --merge-output-format needs ffmpeg

The file type separate video and audio streams are merged into.

Advanced options (3)

Custom format selector -f

Overrides the quality dropdown. For people who already know the format syntax.

Remux into --remux-video needs ffmpeg

Repackages the streams without re-encoding. Fast and lossless.

Re-encode into --recode-video needs ffmpeg

Re-encodes the video. Slow and lossy — only when remuxing will not do.

Audio

Audio format --audio-format needs ffmpeg

The file the audio is converted to.

Audio quality --audio-quality needs ffmpeg

VBR gives the best size-to-quality ratio; fixed bitrates are more predictable.

Subtitles

Embedding puts them inside the video; saving writes a separate .srt next to it.

Subtitle languages --sub-langs

Comma separated. Use all for every available language.

Auto-generated subtitles --write-auto-subs Include machine-generated captions when no human ones exist.

Playlists and channels

Playlist handling

What to do when the URL belongs to both a video and a playlist.

Which items -I

Ranges and lists both work, for example 1-10,15 or -5::2 for every second item from the end.

Advanced options (1)

Archive file --download-archive

Records what has been downloaded so re-running skips it. The way to keep a channel in sync.

Sections and chapters

Advanced options (2)

Download only part of it --download-sections needs ffmpeg

A time range like *00:01:30-00:03:00, or a chapter name. The leading asterisk means it is a timestamp.

Split into chapters --split-chapters needs ffmpeg Writes one file per chapter instead of a single long one.

Metadata and artwork

Embed thumbnail --embed-thumbnail needs ffmpeg Uses the video thumbnail as cover art.

Embed metadata --embed-metadata needs ffmpeg Writes title, uploader and date into the file itself.

Embed chapters --embed-chapters needs ffmpeg Adds chapter markers your player can jump between.

Advanced options (3)

Save thumbnail file --write-thumbnail Writes the cover image next to the video.

Save description --write-description Writes the description to a .description file.

Save metadata JSON --write-info-json Writes everything yt-dlp knows about the video to a .info.json file.

SponsorBlock

Remove segments --sponsorblock-remove needs ffmpeg

Cuts community-marked segments out of the file using SponsorBlock data.

Advanced options (1)

Mark segments as chapters --sponsorblock-mark

Keeps the segments but marks them, so you can skip them yourself.

Files and folders

File name template -o

Field names go in %(...)s. Slashes create folders.

Safe (ASCII) file names --restrict-filenames Strips accents, spaces and anything a stubborn filesystem might reject.

Overwrite existing files --force-overwrites Replaces files that are already there.

Resume partial downloads -c Picks up where an interrupted download stopped.

Advanced options (4)

Download folder -P

Where files are written. Combine with the template above for subfolders.

Windows-safe names --windows-filenames Removes characters Windows refuses even when running elsewhere.

Trim names to --trim-filenames

Maximum file name length in characters.

Never overwrite -w Skips anything already downloaded.

Filters

Advanced options (5)

Uploaded after --dateafter

YYYYMMDD, or a relative date like now-1month.

Uploaded before --datebefore

YYYYMMDD, or a relative date.

Minimum size --min-filesize

Skips anything smaller. Accepts 5M, 500K and similar.

Maximum size --max-filesize

Skips anything larger.

Stop after --max-downloads

Number of files to download before stopping.

Network

Speed limit -r

For example 2M or 500K. Useful when you need the rest of your bandwidth.

Advanced options (5)

Parallel fragments -N

Speeds up fragmented streams. Four is a sensible starting point.

Retries -R

How many times to retry a failed piece. infinite is allowed.

Proxy --proxy

HTTP, HTTPS or SOCKS proxy URL.

Bypass geo-restriction --geo-bypass Fakes the request origin. Works on some sites, not all.

Impersonate a browser --impersonate

Makes requests look like a real browser. The usual fix for sudden 403 errors.

Cookies from browser --cookies-from-browser

Reads your logged-in session directly. Needed for private, age-restricted or members-only content.

Advanced options (1)

Cookies file --cookies

A Netscape-format cookies.txt exported from your browser.

Live streams

Advanced options (2)

Record from the start --live-from-start Starts a live stream from the beginning instead of the current moment.

Wait for the stream --wait-for-video

Polls until a scheduled stream begins. MIN-MAX seconds between checks.

Workarounds

Advanced options (3)

User agent --user-agent deprecated

Deprecated in favour of --add-headers. Kept because plenty of older guides still use it.

Referer --referer deprecated

Deprecated in favour of --add-headers.

Extractor arguments --extractor-args

Site-specific switches, for example youtube:player_client=web.

Output and debugging

List formats only -F Prints the available formats and exits without downloading.

Advanced options (2)

Keep going on errors -i Skips items that fail instead of stopping. Essential for large playlists.

Simulate -s Does everything except write the file.

Reset

The options that matter here

Record from the start --live-from-start Starts a live stream from the beginning instead of the current moment.
Wait for the stream --wait-for-video Polls until a scheduled stream begins. MIN-MAX seconds between checks.
Container --merge-output-format The file type separate video and audio streams are merged into.
Parallel fragments -N Speeds up fragmented streams. Four is a sensible starting point.

Recording live safely

Record-from-the-start captures from the beginning rather than the moment you ran the command, where the platform still has the earlier part. Wait-for-video polls a scheduled stream and starts the instant it goes live.

Choose MKV. A recording that stops unexpectedly — and live recordings do — usually leaves a playable MKV, where an MP4 cut off mid-write often cannot be opened at all. There is no resuming a live stream, so the container choice is the whole safety net.

Waiting for a scheduled stream is a different mode from recording one in progress: wait-for-video polls the URL until the stream opens, then starts recording — leave the terminal running and it captures from the first minute. The poll interval is minutes, not seconds, so start the command early; arriving late to the poll costs minutes of stream, and no option recovers minutes that were never recorded.

Record-from-the-start has a platform boundary: YouTube keeps the beginning of a stream and serves it on demand, so the option genuinely reaches it; Twitch likewise within its retention window. Other platforms keep nothing before the moment you joined. That is why the option is not a magic switch — it fetches what the platform stored, and platforms differ in what they store. If the platform offers a replay afterwards, the replay is the better source than any live capture.

Live streams are HLS by definition: hundreds of short segments arriving in real time, joined by ffmpeg into the container as they land. This is why live recording is the case where MKV matters most — an MP4 needs its index written at the end, and a recording killed at minute three of a two-hour stream has no index at all. Disk space is the other real limit: a live recording grows at stream bitrate for as long as it runs, and a size limit protects the disk on a stream that runs twelve hours because the broadcaster forgot to stop.

After the fact, two things deserve naming. A recording with dead air is normal — silence between segments of the event is in the source — and cutting it afterwards is an edit, not a failed download. And streams that ended hours ago are ordinary VODs by the time you find them: use the platform's normal video options, which are the ones this form shows by default, and the live-specific ones only while the stream is actually live.

Frequently asked questions

› Can I record a live stream from the beginning?

Turn on record-from-the-start. It only works where the platform keeps the earlier part of the stream available.

› How do I record a stream that has not started?

Use wait-for-video with a MIN-MAX interval. yt-dlp polls and begins as soon as the stream goes live.

› Which container is best for live?

MKV. It tolerates an interrupted write, where an MP4 cut off mid-recording can be unplayable.

› What happens if my recording is interrupted?

With MKV you usually keep everything written so far. Resuming a live recording is not possible — the missing part is gone.