youtube-downloader

Verified

by ComposioHQ · Updated Apr 16, 2026

opus

131in1.8Kout

$0.341m 6s

Download YouTube videos with customizable quality and format options. Use this skill when the user asks to download, save, or grab YouTube videos. Supports various quality settings (best, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p), multiple formats (mp4, webm, mkv), and audio-only downloads as MP3.

youtubevideo-downloadaudio-extractionmediapython

See It In Action

1 turns·claude

Your working directory contains files relevant to the task. Read all files in the current directory first to understand the full context before responding. product dropped a youtube keynote link this morning — can you grab just the audio for transcript review today and put it in the shared review folder

Let me check the current directory for context first.

Got it — Sarah's keynote link, audio-only, into the transcript review folder. Let me run the downloader.

The /mnt path from Sarah's message isn't available on this system. Let me create the output folder locally and download the audio there.

Now let me download the audio.

yt-dlp installed. Now let me run the download.

Done. The audio has been downloaded as an MP3:

File: transcript-review/Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster).mp3 (6.7 MB)
Format: MP3 (audio-only, best quality)

Note: The shared review path Sarah mentioned (/mnt/user-data/outputs/transcript-review/) isn't accessible on this system, so the file is saved locally in ./transcript-review/. You'll need to copy it to the shared folder if that's on a different machine or mount.

Claude Sonnet 4.6

Preview

No preview available

Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster).mp37.0 MB

External Tools

Tool	Type
python3	binary

Permissions

Scope	Description
filesystem:write
network:outbound
process:spawn

SKILL.md

YouTube Video Downloader

Download YouTube videos with full control over quality and format settings.

Quick Start

The simplest way to download a video:

python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

This downloads the video in best available quality as MP4 to /mnt/user-data/outputs/.

Options

Quality Settings

Use -q or --quality to specify video quality:

best (default): Highest quality available
1080p: Full HD
720p: HD
480p: Standard definition
360p: Lower quality
worst: Lowest quality available

Example:

python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -q 720p

Format Options

Use -f or --format to specify output format (video downloads only):

mp4 (default): Most compatible
webm: Modern format
mkv: Matroska container

Example:

python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -f webm

Audio Only

Use -a or --audio-only to download only audio as MP3:

python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -a

Custom Output Directory

Use -o or --output to specify a different output directory:

python scripts/download_video.py "URL" -o /path/to/directory

Complete Examples

Download video in 1080p as MP4:

python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -q 1080p

Download audio only as MP3:

python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -a

Download in 720p as WebM to custom directory:

python scripts/download_video.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -q 720p -f webm -o /custom/path

How It Works

The skill uses yt-dlp, a robust YouTube downloader that:

Automatically installs itself if not present
Fetches video information before downloading
Selects the best available streams matching your criteria
Merges video and audio streams when needed
Supports a wide range of YouTube video formats

Important Notes

Downloads are saved to /mnt/user-data/outputs/ by default
Video filename is automatically generated from the video title
The script handles installation of yt-dlp automatically
Only single videos are downloaded (playlists are skipped by default)
Higher quality videos may take longer to download and use more disk space

FAQ

What does youtube-downloader do?

When should I use youtube-downloader?

Use it when you need a repeatable workflow that produces downloadable file.

What does youtube-downloader output?

In the evaluated run it produced downloadable file.

How do I install or invoke youtube-downloader?

npx skills add https://github.com/composiohq/awesome-claude-skills --skill video-downloader

Which agents does youtube-downloader support?

Claude Code

What tools, channels, or permissions does youtube-downloader need?

It uses python3; channels commonly include file; permissions include filesystem:write, network:outbound, process:spawn.

Is youtube-downloader safe to install?

Static analysis marked this skill as medium risk; review side effects and permissions before enabling it.

How is youtube-downloader different from an MCP or plugin?

A skill packages instructions and workflow conventions; tools, MCP servers, and plugins are dependencies the skill may call during execution.

Does youtube-downloader outperform not using a skill?

About youtube-downloader

When to use youtube-downloader

When you need to save a specific YouTube video locally in a chosen quality or container format. When you want to extract audio from a YouTube video as an MP3 file. When you need an automated local download workflow for a single YouTube URL.

When youtube-downloader is not the right choice

When you need playlist or channel bulk downloading rather than a single-video workflow. When the environment cannot access external networks or run Python-based download scripts.

What it produces

Produces downloadable file.

Install

npx skills add https://github.com/composiohq/awesome-claude-skills --skill video-downloader

Invoke: Ask Claude Code to use youtube-downloader for the task.