Video Download

Name: Video Download
Author: calesthio

calesthio/openmontage

433 installs
42.8k repo stars
Updated July 24, 2026
calesthio/openmontage

Use this skill when working with video download.

About

Skill for video creation and processing. Use when you need to generate, edit, or process video files programmatically.

Specialized for video download
Integrated with Claude Code
Streamlines workflow

Video Download by the numbers

433 all-time installs (skills.sh)
Ranked #420 of 1,340 Generative Media skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
Data as of Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)

npx skills add https://github.com/calesthio/openmontage --skill video-download

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Installs	433
repo stars	★ 42.8k
Last updated	July 24, 2026
Repository	calesthio/openmontage ↗

What it does

Use this skill when working with video download.

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

video-download

Download video and audio from URLs using yt-dlp directly. No wrapper scripts needed.

Prerequisites

yt-dlp: brew install yt-dlp or pip install yt-dlp
ffmpeg: brew install ffmpeg or apt install ffmpeg (required for merging video+audio streams)

Update yt-dlp periodically to keep up with site changes: yt-dlp -U or pip install -U yt-dlp.

Commands

Download best quality

yt-dlp "URL" -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" --merge-output-format mp4

Download specific resolution

# 720p
yt-dlp "URL" -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]" --merge-output-format mp4

# 1080p
yt-dlp "URL" -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]" --merge-output-format mp4

Audio only

yt-dlp "URL" -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0

Download subtitles

# Download video with English subtitles
yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs en --merge-output-format mp4

# Download video with multiple subtitle languages
yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs "en,es,fr" --merge-output-format mp4

# Download only subtitles (no video)
yt-dlp "URL" --write-subs --sub-langs en --skip-download

Get metadata (no download)

yt-dlp "URL" --dump-json --no-download

List available formats

yt-dlp "URL" -F

Specify output directory

yt-dlp "URL" -o "./downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s" --merge-output-format mp4

Quality Presets

Quality	Format flag
Best	`-f "bestvideo+bestaudio/best"` (default)
1080p	`-f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]"`
720p	`-f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio/best[height<=720]"`
480p	`-f "bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio/best[height<=480]"`
Worst	`-f "worstvideo+worstaudio/worst"`

Output Template Variables

Common variables for -o templates:

Variable	Description
`%(title)s`	Video title
`%(ext)s`	File extension
`%(id)s`	Video ID
`%(uploader)s`	Channel/uploader name
`%(upload_date)s`	Upload date (YYYYMMDD)
`%(duration)s`	Duration in seconds
`%(resolution)s`	Video resolution

Tips

Always use --merge-output-format mp4 to avoid ending up with .webm or .mkv files.
Use --no-download with --dump-json for metadata-only queries -- no files written to disk.
If a download fails with HTTP errors, update yt-dlp first (yt-dlp -U).
Use -f "bestvideo[height<=720]+bestaudio" to save bandwidth when full resolution is not needed.
yt-dlp automatically handles rate limiting and retries.
The --dump-json output includes title, duration, uploader, view_count, description, formats, subtitles, and much more.

Troubleshooting

"yt-dlp: command not found": Install it (pip install yt-dlp) and ensure your PATH includes pip's bin directory.
"ffmpeg: command not found": Install ffmpeg. Without it, downloads fail when video and audio are separate streams (common on YouTube for HD).
Downloads fail or return errors: Run yt-dlp -U to update. Sites change frequently and yt-dlp ships fixes regularly.