YoutubeExplode

YoutubeExplode is a library for querying YouTube metadata and downloading content. It provides interfaces to:

• Query metadata for videos, playlists, and channels.
• Resolve video streams.
• Download video streams.
• Download closed caption tracks.

Note: The library works by scraping raw page data and using reverse-engineered internal endpoints.

The YoutubeClient class is the single entry point for all operations in YoutubeExplode. You can use it for unauthenticated requests or provide a list of cookies to access private videos and playlists.

using YoutubeExplode;

// Unauthenticated
using var youtube = new YoutubeClient();

// Authenticated with cookies
// Cookie collection must be of type IReadOnlyList<System.Net.Cookie>
using var youtube = new YoutubeClient(cookies);

Install the package via NuGet using the dotnet CLI.

Important Requirement: This package requires the FFmpeg CLI to function. You must ensure FFmpeg is either in your application's probe directory, available on the system's PATH, or explicitly provided via the SetFFmpegPath method during conversion.

dotnet add package YoutubeExplode.Converter

To use YoutubeExplode in your .NET project, install it using the NuGet package manager via the dotnet CLI.

dotnet add package YoutubeExplode

You can download a YouTube video directly to a file by calling the DownloadAsync extension method on VideoClient. The method automatically resolves the best media streams (based on format, bitrate, framerate, and quality) and muxes them into a single file using FFmpeg.

Note: If the output format is an audio-only container (like mp3 or ogg), only the audio stream will be downloaded.

Tip: To avoid resource-intensive transcoding, use mp4 or webm as the output format, as these match YouTube's native stream containers.

using YoutubeExplode;
using YoutubeExplode.Converter;

using var youtube = new YoutubeClient();

var videoUrl = "https://youtube.com/watch?v=u_yIGGhubZs";
await youtube.Videos.DownloadAsync(videoUrl, "video.mp4");

Use Videos.GetAsync(...) to retrieve metadata for a specific video. You can pass either the video URL or the video ID.

using YoutubeExplode;

using var youtube = new YoutubeClient();
var videoUrl = "https://youtube.com/watch?v=u_yIGGhubZs";
var video = await youtube.Videos.GetAsync(videoUrl);

var title = video.Title;
var author = video.Author.ChannelTitle;
var duration = video.Duration;

Once you have identified a StreamInfo object, you can either resolve the actual stream using Videos.Streams.GetAsync(...) or download it directly to a file using Videos.Streams.DownloadAsync(...).

// Get the actual stream
var stream = await youtube.Videos.Streams.GetAsync(streamInfo);

// Download the stream to a file
await youtube.Videos.Streams.DownloadAsync(streamInfo, $"video.{streamInfo.Container}");

Closed captions can be retrieved by getting a manifest of available tracks via Videos.ClosedCaptions.GetManifestAsync(...), selecting a track (e.g., by language), and then either getting the content via GetAsync(...) or downloading it as an .srt file via DownloadAsync(...).

using YoutubeExplode;

using var youtube = new YoutubeClient();
var videoUrl = "https://youtube.com/watch?v=u_yIGGhubZs";

// Get manifest
var trackManifest = await youtube.Videos.ClosedCaptions.GetManifestAsync(videoUrl);

// Find track in English
var trackInfo = trackManifest.GetByLanguage("en");

// Get content at a specific time
var track = await youtube.Videos.ClosedCaptions.GetAsync(trackInfo);
var caption = track.GetByTime(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(35));
var text = caption.Text;

// Or download as SRT
await youtube.Videos.ClosedCaptions.DownloadAsync(trackInfo, "cc_track.srt");

Use Playlists.GetAsync(...) for metadata and Playlists.GetVideosAsync(...) to retrieve the videos within a playlist. You can use .CollectAsync(n) to limit the number of videos retrieved or iterate using await foreach for efficient enumeration.

using YoutubeExplode;
using YoutubeExplode.Common;

using var youtube = new YoutubeClient();
var playlistUrl = "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa1F2ddGya_-UvuAqHAksYnB0qL9yWDO6";

// Metadata
var playlist = await youtube.Playlists.GetAsync(playlistUrl);

// Get all videos
var videos = await youtube.Playlists.GetVideosAsync(playlistUrl);

// Get first 20 videos
var videosSubset = await youtube.Playlists.GetVideosAsync(playlistUrl).CollectAsync(20);

// Iterate through videos
await foreach (var video in youtube.Playlists.GetVideosAsync(playlistUrl))
{
    var title = video.Title;
}