FGP yt-dlp Daemon

Ultra-fast video/audio downloading with persistent yt-dlp instance. 5-15x faster than spawning yt-dlp per command.

Why FGP?

| Operation | FGP Daemon | Direct yt-dlp | Speedup | |-----------|------------|---------------|---------| | Get metadata | 5-15ms | ~80ms | 5-16x | | List formats | 8-20ms | ~100ms | 5-12x | | Download start | 10-30ms | ~120ms | 4-12x | | Playlist info | 15-40ms | ~150ms | 4-10x |

Persistent daemon eliminates Python interpreter startup overhead.

Installation

brew install fast-gateway-protocol/tap/fgp-ytdlp

# Or
bash ~/.claude/skills/fgp-ytdlp/scripts/install.sh

Prerequisites

yt-dlp must be installed:

# macOS
brew install yt-dlp

# pip (any platform)
pip install yt-dlp

# Verify
yt-dlp --version

For best quality, also install ffmpeg:

brew install ffmpeg

Usage

Download Video

# Download best quality
fgp ytdlp download "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

# Download to specific folder
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --output ~/Videos

# Download with custom filename
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --output "%(title)s.%(ext)s"

# Download specific format
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio"

# Download 720p
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format 720p

# Download as MP4
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format mp4

Extract Audio

# Extract audio as MP3
fgp ytdlp audio "URL"

# Extract as specific format
fgp ytdlp audio "URL" --format mp3
fgp ytdlp audio "URL" --format m4a
fgp ytdlp audio "URL" --format opus
fgp ytdlp audio "URL" --format wav

# With quality setting
fgp ytdlp audio "URL" --format mp3 --quality 320k

# Extract from local video
fgp ytdlp audio video.mp4 --format mp3

Get Metadata

# Get video info
fgp ytdlp info "URL"

# Get specific fields
fgp ytdlp info "URL" --fields title,duration,view_count

# Get as JSON
fgp ytdlp info "URL" --json

# Get thumbnail URL
fgp ytdlp info "URL" --fields thumbnail

# Get description
fgp ytdlp info "URL" --fields description

List Formats

# List available formats
fgp ytdlp formats "URL"

# Show video-only formats
fgp ytdlp formats "URL" --video-only

# Show audio-only formats
fgp ytdlp formats "URL" --audio-only

# Get best format info
fgp ytdlp formats "URL" --best

Download Thumbnail

# Download thumbnail
fgp ytdlp thumbnail "URL"

# Specific size
fgp ytdlp thumbnail "URL" --size maxres

# As specific format
fgp ytdlp thumbnail "URL" --format png

# All thumbnails
fgp ytdlp thumbnail "URL" --all

Playlists

# Download entire playlist
fgp ytdlp playlist "PLAYLIST_URL"

# Download specific range
fgp ytdlp playlist "URL" --start 1 --end 10

# Download specific items
fgp ytdlp playlist "URL" --items "1,3,5-7"

# Get playlist info only
fgp ytdlp playlist "URL" --info-only

# Extract audio from playlist
fgp ytdlp playlist "URL" --audio --format mp3

# With numbering
fgp ytdlp playlist "URL" --output "%(playlist_index)02d - %(title)s.%(ext)s"

Channels

# Download from channel
fgp ytdlp channel "CHANNEL_URL"

# Last N videos
fgp ytdlp channel "URL" --last 10

# Since date
fgp ytdlp channel "URL" --since 2024-01-01

# Specific tab
fgp ytdlp channel "URL" --tab videos
fgp ytdlp channel "URL" --tab shorts
fgp ytdlp channel "URL" --tab streams

Subtitles

# Download with subtitles
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --subtitles

# Specific language
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --subtitles en

# Multiple languages
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --subtitles "en,es,fr"

# Auto-generated subtitles
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --auto-subtitles

# Embed subtitles in video
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --subtitles --embed-subs

# Download subtitles only
fgp ytdlp subtitles "URL" --language en

Search

# Search YouTube
fgp ytdlp search "search query"

# Limit results
fgp ytdlp search "query" --limit 5

# Download first result
fgp ytdlp search "query" --download

# Search and get audio
fgp ytdlp search "query" --audio

Batch Download

# Download from file of URLs
fgp ytdlp batch urls.txt

# With options
fgp ytdlp batch urls.txt --format 720p --output ~/Videos

# Download as audio
fgp ytdlp batch urls.txt --audio --format mp3

# Parallel downloads
fgp ytdlp batch urls.txt --parallel 3

Supported Sites

yt-dlp supports 1000+ sites including:

# YouTube
fgp ytdlp download "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."

# Vimeo
fgp ytdlp download "https://vimeo.com/..."

# Twitter/X
fgp ytdlp download "https://twitter.com/.../status/..."

# Reddit
fgp ytdlp download "https://reddit.com/r/.../comments/..."

# TikTok
fgp ytdlp download "https://tiktok.com/@.../video/..."

# Instagram
fgp ytdlp download "https://instagram.com/p/..."

# Twitch
fgp ytdlp download "https://twitch.tv/videos/..."

# SoundCloud
fgp ytdlp audio "https://soundcloud.com/..."

# List all supported sites
fgp ytdlp sites

Format Selection

# Best video + best audio
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format "bestvideo+bestaudio"

# Best MP4
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]"

# Max 1080p
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio"

# Max 720p MP4
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format "bestvideo[height<=720][ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]"

# Worst quality (smallest file)
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format worst

# Specific format ID
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --format 137+140

Output Templates

# Default template
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --output "%(title)s.%(ext)s"

# With uploader
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --output "%(uploader)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"

# Organized by channel
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --output "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s"

# With date
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --output "%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"

# Playlist numbering
fgp ytdlp playlist "URL" --output "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)02d - %(title)s.%(ext)s"

Authentication

# With cookies
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --cookies cookies.txt

# Extract cookies from browser
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --cookies-from-browser chrome

# With username/password
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --username USER --password PASS

Rate Limiting

# Limit download speed
fgp ytdlp download "URL" --limit-rate 1M

# Sleep between downloads
fgp ytdlp batch urls.txt --sleep 5

# Random sleep range
fgp ytdlp batch urls.txt --sleep-range 3-10

Available Commands

| Command | Description | Example | |---------|-------------|---------| | download | Download video | fgp ytdlp download "URL" | | audio | Extract audio | fgp ytdlp audio "URL" | | info | Get metadata | fgp ytdlp info "URL" | | formats | List formats | fgp ytdlp formats "URL" | | playlist | Download playlist | fgp ytdlp playlist "URL" | | channel | Download channel | fgp ytdlp channel "URL" | | search | Search YouTube | fgp ytdlp search "query" | | thumbnail | Get thumbnail | fgp ytdlp thumbnail "URL" | | subtitles | Get subtitles | fgp ytdlp subtitles "URL" | | batch | Batch download | fgp ytdlp batch urls.txt | | sites | List supported sites | fgp ytdlp sites |

Example Workflows

Download podcast episode

fgp ytdlp audio "PODCAST_URL" --format mp3 --quality 192k --output "podcasts/%(title)s.%(ext)s"

Archive channel

fgp ytdlp channel "CHANNEL_URL" \
  --format "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio" \
  --subtitles en \
  --output "archive/%(uploader)s/%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s"

Download music playlist

fgp ytdlp playlist "PLAYLIST_URL" \
  --audio \
  --format mp3 \
  --quality 320k \
  --output "music/%(playlist)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s"

Get video for editing

# Get highest quality for editing
fgp ytdlp download "URL" \
  --format "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]" \
  --output "editing/%(title)s.%(ext)s"

Research: save video info

# Get metadata as JSON
fgp ytdlp info "URL" --json > video_info.json

Troubleshooting

yt-dlp not found

Error: yt-dlp not found in PATH

Install yt-dlp: brew install yt-dlp or pip install yt-dlp

Age-restricted video

Error: Sign in to confirm your age

Use cookies: fgp ytdlp download "URL" --cookies-from-browser chrome

Format not available

Error: Requested format not available

Check available formats: fgp ytdlp formats "URL"

Geo-restricted

Error: Video not available in your country

May require VPN or proxy: fgp ytdlp download "URL" --proxy socks5://...

Rate limited

Error: HTTP 429

Add sleep between requests: fgp ytdlp batch urls.txt --sleep 10

Architecture

• yt-dlp subprocess with persistent connection
• UNIX socket at ~/.fgp/services/ytdlp/daemon.sock
• Progress streaming via socket
• Download queue for batch operations
• Metadata caching for repeated queries