made my first bash file to make yt-dlp easier

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made it so i just click file and paste YouTube url

Linux is amazing 

#! /usr/bin/bash
echo "Enter a url"
read a

yt-dlp -x $a
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Very happy you had fun making the little script! One thing that will become important pretty quick if you continue making these scripts is that it’s almost always better to wrap your variables in quotes - so it becomes yt-dlp -x “$a”. It’s okay here but if you ever paste something that has a space in it, this will keep it together ‘as one’.

If you want to expand your knowledge with this, some fruitful paths to go down are the following:

  • can you find a way to download multiple urls one after the other if you paste them all at once? (Multiple arguments)
  • can you find a way to ask the user for these multiple urls one after the other? (loops)
  • and can you find a way to have it ask until you hit enter without a url pasted and only then it starts? (conditionals and test)

The last one is already quite a bit advanced but if you can do that you have enough of the ‘programming’ basics of the shell down to a degree that you can create many little helpers like this with ease.

Of course don’t feel forced to do any of that - if you’re happy with the improvement as-is, that’s all you need to enjoy the fun of Linux!

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edited

One thing that will become important pretty quick if you continue making these scripts is that it’s almost always better to wrap your variables in quotes - so it becomes yt-dlp -x “$a”.

Oh man, this reminds me of the joke that any program that’s more complex than Hello World has bugs – and folks still don’t even agree how to spell “Hello, World!”.

Of course, Bash is a particular minefield in this regard…

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8

I once wrote a 2 line, 10 word script that had 9 bugs in it. I’m not overly proud of that one.

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16

I think you might have a career as an accomplished entymologist ahead of you with so much success finding bugs!

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5
OP

Thanks might make it bigger now. The “$a” very helpful as I might copy url from web pages which may cause a error.

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1

Stop right now. This will all end in tears. You’ll become a developer and spend the rest of your life fixing bugs. You can still get out.

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OP

I like fixing things but getting paid to do it is the hard part. I also want to give back to Linux community even if it is small.

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11

You all forgot to add the best yt-dlp option: --sponsorblock-remove all

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19

One of us! One of us!

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edited

That’s great! Here’s a few tips to take it a bit further; the world is your oyster!

Open your .bashrc file (e.g. /home/yourusername/.bashrc) and add the following:

alias get="/path/to/your/bash/file"

Now open a terminal and type get, and it’ll launch the script. No clicking needed, it’ll run anytime from any terminal!

And if you do use the alias then you can use another refinement, you can drop the echo: instead of $a, you can use $1 and remove the echo & read as you no longer need them:

#! /usr/bin/bash yt-dlp -x $1

Now for example you can type in a terminal:

get http://url.to.video/

And yt-dlp will do it’s stuff. $1 passes the first parameter after starting the script as a variable to it.

You can use the keyboard shortcut Control+shift+v to paste a URL into the terminal, no mouse needed; just remember to add a space after typing get

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9

The op script is meant to be opened in the GUI in a terminal then the URL gets pasted in there. It took me a second to see it.

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edited

What does your ~/.bashrc look like? My last change was modifying a playlist command

spoiler: I explain my last change to my ~/.bashrc file

playlist https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube/videos

or

playlist /home/username/Videos

or just from any directory with files

playlist

And then takes all the videos found at the url or at the path (including within folders), adds them to a playlist, shuffles them, and plays them from mpv. 

playlist() {
        param=""

        # If the first parameter has a length more than 1 character
        if [ ${#1} -gt 1 ]; then
                param="${@}"
        else
                param="."
        fi

        screen mpv $param --shuffle --ytdl-raw-options-add=cookies-from-browser=firefox --loop-playlist=inf --no-keepaspect-window --no-auto-window-resize
}

other functions and aliases in my ~/.bashrc

alias code=codium
alias files=nautilus
alias explorer=nautilus
alias rust="/path/to/.cargo/bin/evcxr"
alias sniffnet="export ICED_BACKEND=tiny-skia; /path/to/.cargo/bin/sniffnet"
alias http-server='/path/to/.cargo/bin/miniserve'
alias iphone='uxplay'
alias airplay='uxplay'
alias watch='screen mpv --ytdl-raw-options-add=remote-components=ejs:github --ytdl-raw-options-add=cookies-from-browser=firefox --no-keepaspect-window '
alias twitch='watch'
alias timeshift-launcher="pkexec env WAYLAND_DISPLAY='$WAYLAND_DISPLAY' XDG_RUNTIME_DIR='$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR' /usr/bin/timeshift-launcher"
alias update="sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo flatpak update -y && sudo snap refresh"
alias resize="path/to/resize/videos/resize.sh"

playlist() {
        param=""

        # If the first parameter has a length more than 1 character
        if [ ${#1} -gt 1 ]; then
                param="${@}"
        else
                param="."
        fi

        screen mpv $param --shuffle --ytdl-raw-options-add=cookies-from-browser=firefox --loop-playlist=inf --no-keepaspect-window --no-auto-window-resize
}

gif() { ffmpeg -i $1 -f yuv4mpegpipe - | gifski -o $2 ${@:3} -;}

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1

I wonder if we have the same resize.sh

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1

The version I have was copied from stackoverflow. It doesn’t work very well, it makes a rough estimate to get the video file size under the set value. As an example

resize video.mp4 10

Which then resizes the video to 10 megabytes if possible.

resize.sh code

file=$1
target_size_mb=$2  # target size in MB
target_size=$(( $target_size_mb * 1000 * 1000 * 8 )) # target size in bits
length=`ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 "$file"`
length_round_up=$(( ${length%.*} + 1 ))
total_bitrate=$(( $target_size / $length_round_up ))
audio_bitrate=$(( 128 * 1000 )) # 128k bit rate
video_bitrate=$(( $total_bitrate - $audio_bitrate ))
ffmpeg -i "$file" -b:v $video_bitrate -maxrate:v $video_bitrate -bufsize:v $(( $target_size / 20 )) -b:a $audio_bitrate "${file}-${target_size_mb}mb.mp4"

I’ll probably replace it eventually.

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edited

Definitely not the same lol

Mine uses ffmpeg to change the resolution, it doesn’t so much care about file sizes.

It could be a one-liner if you only ever feed it a single file to manipulate..

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2

I might add one for scaling. I just don’t use it as frequently as trying to meet a file size limit. The scaling is also much easier to remember 

ffmpeg -i  in.mp4 -vf "scale=600:-1" -an out.mp4

It does get complicated though, when scaling many videos and images, I’ve used something like the following in the past

find .  -exec ffmpeg -i {} -vf "scale=1920:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1920:1080:-1:-1:color=black" {}.mp4 \;

Those were the only two that showed up when I typed history | grep scale.

after commenting, I also added a new video file resizer.

It works significantly better than the one I previously posted. It’s also copied from stackoverflow.

bitrate="$(awk "BEGIN {print int($2 * 1024 * 1024 * 8 / $(ffprobe \
    -v error \
    -show_entries format=duration \
    -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 \
    "$1" \
) / 1000)}")k"
ffmpeg \
    -y \
    -i "$1" \
    -c:v libx264 \
    -preset medium \
    -b:v $bitrate \
    -pass 1 \
    -an \
    -f mp4 \
    /dev/null \
&& \
ffmpeg \
    -i "$1" \
    -c:v libx264 \
    -preset medium \
    -b:v $bitrate \
    -pass 2 \
    -an \
    "${1%.*}-$2mB.mp4"

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2

Here is a script I wrote: 

~/bin 0s  
> cat vget  
#!/usr/bin/env fish  
yt-dlp --embed-metadata --write-subs --embed-subs --write-thumbnail --prefer-free-formats -f "[height<=1080]" $argv
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8

does –write-thumbnail save a jpg with the video? or is it something else?

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edited

You’re correct! 

       --write-thumbnail  
              Write thumbnail image to disk

There is also this option: 

       --embed-thumbnail  
              Embed thumbnail in the video as cover art
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1

makes note of this since it will make tagging a lot easier and also cataloging for jellyfin

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2

Guess we’re sharing scripts now. I have a script that downloads playlists as MP3s and keep an archive.

#!/usr/bin/env sh

browser_cookies="firefox:1cvnyph7.YouTube TV"

download() {
    url="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=%241"
    dir=$2
    archive_name=$3

    yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --embed-thumbnail --embed-metadata --cookies-from-browser "$browser_cookies" --download-archive "archives/$archive_name.txt" -P "$dir" -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "$url"
}

download PLPzniwWWCSjVQteWPqVvyu8SQsrStVYwZ high-quality-rips/ rips
download PLPzniwWWCSjWZj3-DAOh8ZKrsVReP_Ksm good-playlist/ picks
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8

Amazing.

Injust switched a year ago and now I finally discovered bash scripts.

It is so mich easier, I also automated some manual tasks with Python scripts to name my PDFs, never would have done that with windows.

And the best part of it, it’s actually fun and I want to even do more.

As always I have to thank DJT, for make me switch. 🤣

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5

DJT, best Linux promoter of 2025 :P

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2

this isn’t perfect but i made one when i wanted to fetch a video for a specific resolution (because i prefer 480) 

ytgrab() {  
  local id="$1"  
  local res="${2:-480}" # default to 480  
  local url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=$id"  

  # fetch formats  
  local fmt  
  fmt=$(yt-dlp -F --cookies-from-browser vivaldi "$url")  

  # printing the format output  
  echo "$fmt"  

  # pick video format matching the requested resolution  
  local vfmt  
  vfmt=$(echo "$fmt" | awk -v r="${res}p" '$0 ~ r && /video/ {print $1}' | head -n1)  

  # pick best m4a audio  
  local afmt  
  afmt=$(echo "$fmt" | awk '/m4a/ && /audio/ {print $1}' | head -n1)  

  # safety check  
  if [ -z "$vfmt" ] || [ -z "$afmt" ]; then  
    echo "Could not find matching formats (video ${res}p or m4a audio)."  
    return 1  
  fi  

  echo fetching: yt-dlp -f ${vfmt}+${afmt} --cookies-from-browser vivaldi --write-subs --no-write-auto-subs --sub-lang "en.*" $url  
  yt-dlp -f "${vfmt}+${afmt}" --write-subs --cookies-from-browser vivaldi --no-write-auto-subs --sub-lang "en.*" "$url"  
}
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4

Just curious, but why 480?

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2

usually i just like older videos but in this case i was saving a bunch of wcw vault videos to my jellyfin library and i prefer 480 since it was as close to tv as can be (also i’ve never been a fan of hd and tv after 2000 because i felt that’s when it went downhill)

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edited

You’ve got me beat. I just have a text file with some common usage examples in it.

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4
OP

I do the same, for the commands I forget. Joplin is also handy for making longer notes.

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2

Check out atuin, when you press arrow up in the terminal it shows a history list that is also searchable.

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2

I love things like this, makes it so easy to learn when it’s a really simple to understand and explicit implementation of a high level feature (read input, pass to command)

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3

I have a similar scriptlet that I use to open YouTube URLs in mpv, using just and wl-clipboard… I just copy the URL and press my G1 key (it has a keybind of just yt-paste attached) which launches the yt-paste snippet below, reads the url from the clipboard, parses it and passes it to mpv.

# Parse the clipboard for YouTube URLs and open them in mpv
yt-paste:
  #!/usr/bin/env bash
  YOUTUBE_URL_REGEX="^https:\/\/(www\.youtube\.com\/watch\?v=|youtu\.be\/)[a-zA-Z0-9_-]{11}"
  YOUTUBE_PLAYLIST_URL_REGEX="^https:\/\/(www\.youtube\.com\/playlist\?list=)[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+"
  YOUTUBE_SHORTS_URL_REGEX="^https:\/\/(www\.youtube\.com\/shorts\/)[a-zA-Z0-9_-]{11}"
  # Youtube URL
  if [[ "$(wl-paste)" =~ $YOUTUBE_URL_REGEX ]]; then
    echo "Opening valid YouTube URL" >&2
    notify-send --app-name="YT-Paste" --icon=mpv --transient "Opening YouTube URL"
    mpv "$(wl-paste)"
  # Youtube Playlist URL
  elif [[ "$(wl-paste)" =~ $YOUTUBE_PLAYLIST_URL_REGEX ]]; then
    echo "Opening valid YouTube Playlist URL" >&2
    notify-send --app-name="YT-Paste" --icon=mpv --transient "Opening YouTube Playlist URL"
    mpv "$(wl-paste)"
  # Youtube Short URL
  elif [[ "$(wl-paste)" =~ $YOUTUBE_SHORTS_URL_REGEX ]]; then
    echo "Opening valid YouTube Shorts URL" >&2
    notify-send --app-name="YT-Paste" --icon=mpv --transient "Opening YouTube Shorts URL"
    mpv "$(wl-paste)"
  # No Match
  else
    echo "Clipboard does not contain a valid YouTube URL" >&2
    notify-send --app-name="YT-Paste" --icon=mpv --transient "Whoops!" "Clipboard does not contain a valid YouTube URL"
    exit 1
  fi
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3

No offense, but I’m seeing a lot of useless scripts here. You can simply put these option in yt-dlp.conf and then just run yt-dlp “url”.

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OP

I made this for easy use so no typing or terminal. some people like to do thing differently and that’s ok

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1

When you read a, you’re typing in terminal. I made a clipboard action so I just copy an URL to the clipboard, execute actions, and then choose whether to play it or download it on my other machine.

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1

I self host Pinchflat and have set it up to monitor one of my own yt playlists. Then if I want to download anything on mobile or desktop I just save it to that playlist and it’s done.

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edited

Nice! I did mine as an alias:

alias yt='yt-dlp --remote-components ejs:github -f "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/mp4"'

And then just yt [URL] downloads the thing.

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2

Well done, I never could use bash much but can’t deny its useful

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edited

You could make it an alias and shorten the number of keystrokes

I prefer keeping my aliases in ~/.bash_aliases, which is sourced in my ~/.bashrc, ie

. ~/.bash_aliases

Then you would just need to source your bashrc to load it the first time.

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1

this is neat, thanks!

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1

awesome! I never would have thought to make something like that.

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1

I simply using local LLM for it

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