Audio Download Skill
Download audio from YouTube and Twitter/X links using yt-dlp.
Supported Platforms
- YouTube: Videos, Shorts, playlists
- Twitter/X: Posts with video/audio content
Supported Audio Formats
- MP3 (most compatible)
- M4A (AAC audio)
- WAV (uncompressed)
- FLAC (lossless)
- OGG (Vorbis/Opus)
Quality Options
0orbest- Best quality available1- High quality (~192kbps for MP3)2- Medium quality (~128kbps for MP3)3- Low quality (~64kbps for MP3)worst- Lowest quality available
Basic Usage
Download from YouTube
# Download as MP3 (best quality)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 -o "~/Downloads/audio/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "<YOUTUBE_URL>"
# Download YouTube Shorts as M4A
yt-dlp -x --audio-format m4a --audio-quality 0 -o "~/Downloads/audio/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "<SHORTS_URL>"Download from Twitter/X
# Download audio from tweet as MP3
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 -o "~/Downloads/audio/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "<TWITTER_URL>"Common Options
# List available formats (without downloading)
yt-dlp -F "<URL>"
# Download specific format code
yt-dlp -f <FORMAT_CODE> -o "~/Downloads/audio/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "<URL>"
# Download with metadata/thumbnail
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --embed-metadata --embed-thumbnail -o "~/Downloads/audio/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "<URL>"Python Helper Script
For batch operations or playlists, use the helper script:
# Basic download
python {baseDir}/scripts/download.py "<URL>"
# Specify format and output directory
python {baseDir}/scripts/download.py "<URL>" --format mp3 --output ~/Downloads/audio
# Download with specific quality
python {baseDir}/scripts/download.py "<URL>" --format m4a --quality best
# Download first 3 items from playlist only
python {baseDir}/scripts/download.py "<PLAYLIST_URL>" --playlist-items 3Output Template Variables
Use these variables in the -o output template:
%(title)s- Video title%(uploader)s- Channel/username%(upload_date)s- Upload date (YYYYMMDD)%(duration)s- Duration in seconds%(id)s- Video ID%(ext)s- File extension
Example with custom naming:
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 -o "~/Downloads/audio/%(uploader)s - %(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s" "<URL>"Troubleshooting
Update yt-dlp
If downloads fail, update yt-dlp to the latest version:
# If installed via brew
brew upgrade yt-dlp
# If installed via pip (ensure conda environment is activated)
conda activate default
pip install -U yt-dlpCommon Issues
"ffmpeg not found": Install ffmpeg - it's required for audio format conversion.
"Video unavailable": Some videos may be region-restricted or require authentication.
Slow downloads: Add --concurrent-fragments 5 to download multiple fragments in parallel.