Agent skill

yt-dlp YouTube Downloader

by ykdojo in ykdojo/safeclaw

“Download YouTube videos, audio, and subtitles/transcripts using yt-dlp.”

— description from SKILL.md by ykdojo
MITAuto-check passedMedia & Creative

Install yt-dlp YouTube Downloader

skills CLI
$ npx skills add ykdojo/safeclaw --skill yt-dlp -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install ykdojo/safeclaw yt-dlp --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ykdojo/safeclaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/setup/skills/yt-dlp .claude/skills/yt-dlp && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
yt-dlp
GitHub stars
184
Token cost
~275 tokens
SKILL.md length
64 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
3
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

  • SKILL.md covers Setup, Examples and Notes
  • Calls yt-dlp and curl; reaches github.com

About this skill

yt-dlp YouTube Downloader is a skill in ykdojo/safeclaw (184 stars). Its SKILL.md is about 275 tokens. Licence: MIT.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 2527f1b. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • yt-dlp
    • curl

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

yt-dlp YouTube Downloader loads about 275 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 20 tokens; SKILL.md has 64 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~20
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~275

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from ykdojo/safeclaw at commit 2527f1b, republished under its MIT licence (© ykdojo). 64 words, ~275 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/yt-dlp/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
yt-dlp
description
Download YouTube videos, audio, and subtitles/transcripts using yt-dlp.

yt-dlp

Download YouTube videos, audio, and subtitles/transcripts.

Setup

Check if yt-dlp is installed, and download it if not:

bash
if ! command -v yt-dlp &>/dev/null && [ ! -f ~/yt-dlp ]; then
  curl -sL https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o ~/yt-dlp && chmod +x ~/yt-dlp
fi

Then use ~/yt-dlp (or just yt-dlp if installed globally).

Examples

Download subtitles/transcript:

bash
~/yt-dlp --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en --skip-download -o "/tmp/%(id)s" <url>

Download audio only:

bash
~/yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 -o "/tmp/%(title)s.%(ext)s" <url>

Download video:

bash
~/yt-dlp -o "/tmp/%(title)s.%(ext)s" <url>

Get video info (title, duration, description):

bash
~/yt-dlp --print title --print duration_string --print description --no-download <url>

Notes

  • Subtitles are saved as .vtt files - read them to get the transcript
  • Use /tmp/ for downloads to avoid cluttering the working directory

© ykdojo, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in setup/skills/yt-dlp of ykdojo/safeclaw.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 2527f1b

Compare with similar skills

yt-dlp YouTube Downloader next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

yt-dlp YouTube Downloader compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
yt-dlp YouTube Downloader this skillykdojo/safeclaw184—~275Automated safety check: PassMIT
Native Subtitle Quote Imagechengyi-ai/native-subtitle-quote-image2.6k—~1.8kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Video Transcribewendy7756/AI-Video-Transcriber3.3k—~937Automated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
YouTube Captions FetcherZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills1k1 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Yt Dlp DownloaderMapleShaw/yt-dlp-downloader-skill2091 repos~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Ffmpeg Skillkajisho5/ffmpeg-skill1.9k—~7.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Questions about yt-dlp YouTube Downloader

How do I install yt-dlp YouTube Downloader in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ykdojo/safeclaw --skill yt-dlp -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (setup/skills/yt-dlp in ykdojo/safeclaw) into .claude/skills/yt-dlp in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install yt-dlp YouTube Downloader in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ykdojo/safeclaw --skill yt-dlp -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (setup/skills/yt-dlp in ykdojo/safeclaw) into .agents/skills/yt-dlp in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use yt-dlp YouTube Downloader in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ykdojo/safeclaw --skill yt-dlp -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/yt-dlp, .gemini/skills/yt-dlp, .github/skills/yt-dlp and .opencode/skills/yt-dlp in your project.

What does yt-dlp YouTube Downloader need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, yt-dlp YouTube Downloader needs the command-line tools its instructions call (yt-dlp and curl).

Does yt-dlp YouTube Downloader access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. In commands or code: github.com; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is yt-dlp YouTube Downloader safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does yt-dlp YouTube Downloader use?

yt-dlp YouTube Downloader is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does yt-dlp YouTube Downloader use?

About 275 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 1.1k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to yt-dlp YouTube Downloader?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with yt-dlp YouTube Downloader: Native Subtitle Quote Image (chengyi-ai/native-subtitle-quote-image, 2.6k stars), Video Transcribe (wendy7756/AI-Video-Transcriber, 3.3k stars), YouTube Captions Fetcher (ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills, 1k stars) and Yt Dlp Downloader (MapleShaw/yt-dlp-downloader-skill, 209 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains yt-dlp YouTube Downloader?

ykdojo (a GitHub user) maintains it in ykdojo/safeclaw, which has 184 GitHub stars. The repository holds 3 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 27, 2026.

Source: ykdojo/safeclaw on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.