[GH-ISSUE #1224] Feature Request: change the default YOUTUBEDL_ARGS #752

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opened 2026-03-01 14:46:04 +03:00 by kerem · 3 comments
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Originally created by @sasasqt on GitHub (Aug 31, 2023).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/issues/1224

Type

  • General question or discussion
  • Propose a brand new feature
  • Request modification of existing behavior or design

What is the problem that your feature request solves

  1. --max-filesize aborts the download after exceeding the size limit, should use "--format=(bv*+ba/b)[filesize<=800m][filesize_approx<=?800m]/(bv*+ba/b)" instead

  2. instead of '--write-sub', '--all-subs', #'--write-auto-subs', use "--write-sub", "--write-auto-sub" instead (remove '--all-subs'), yt-dlp will only download the sub in default/original language

Describe the ideal specific solution you'd want, and whether it fits into any broader scope of changes

What hacks or alternative solutions have you tried to solve the problem?

How badly do you want this new feature?

  • It's an urgent deal-breaker, I can't live without it
  • It's important to add it in the near-mid term future
  • It would be nice to have eventually

  • I'm willing to contribute dev time / money to fix this issue
  • I like ArchiveBox so far / would recommend it to a friend
  • I've had a lot of difficulty getting ArchiveBox set up
Originally created by @sasasqt on GitHub (Aug 31, 2023). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/issues/1224 <!-- Please fill out the following information, feel free to delete sections if they're not applicable or if long issue templates annoy you :) --> ## Type - [ ] General question or discussion - [ ] Propose a brand new feature - [x] Request modification of existing behavior or design ## What is the problem that your feature request solves <!-- e.g. I need to be able to archive spanish and french subtitle files from a particular <example.com> movie site that's going down soon. --> 1. --max-filesize **aborts** the download after exceeding the size limit, should use "--format=(bv*+ba/b)[filesize<=800m][filesize_approx<=?800m]/(bv*+ba/b)" instead 2. instead of '--write-sub', '--all-subs', #'--write-auto-subs', use "--write-sub", "--write-auto-sub" instead (remove '--all-subs'), yt-dlp will only download the sub in default/original language ## Describe the ideal specific solution you'd want, and whether it fits into any broader scope of changes <!-- e.g. I specifically need a new archive method to look for multilingual subtitle files related to pages. The bigger picture solution is the ability for custom user scripts to be run in a puppeteer context during archiving. --> ## What hacks or alternative solutions have you tried to solve the problem? <!-- A clear and concise description of any alternative solutions, workarounds, or other software you've considered using to fix the problem. --> ## How badly do you want this new feature? - [x] It's an urgent deal-breaker, I can't live without it - [ ] It's important to add it in the near-mid term future - [ ] It would be nice to have eventually --- - [ ] I'm willing to contribute [dev time](https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox#archivebox-development) / [money](https://github.com/sponsors/pirate) to fix this issue - [ ] I like ArchiveBox so far / would recommend it to a friend - [ ] I've had a lot of difficulty getting ArchiveBox set up
kerem closed this issue 2026-03-01 14:46:04 +03:00
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@pirate commented on GitHub (Aug 31, 2023):

fixed, thanks github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox@73a5f74d38

<!-- gh-comment-id:1701854314 --> @pirate commented on GitHub (Aug 31, 2023): fixed, thanks https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/commit/73a5f74d3840284bceaabced9cf99575b8c15d54
Author
Owner

@sasasqt commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2023):

sry, the command i mentioned above works with websites that provide media size in the metadata (e.g. youtube).
the part

(bv*+ba/b)[filesize<=800m][filesize_approx<=?800m]

tries to download the best format less than (exact/approx.) x MB

the part

/(bv*+ba/b)

will download the best format regardless of size if no size information is present.

so --max-filesize arg can be used in conjunction with the --format in case there is no size information is present.

since some media may only provide approximate size in the rare case, sizelimit in --max-filesize needs to be like 1.25x greater than sizelimit in the --format

<!-- gh-comment-id:1702319471 --> @sasasqt commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2023): sry, the command i mentioned above works with websites that provide media size in the metadata (e.g. youtube). the part ``` (bv*+ba/b)[filesize<=800m][filesize_approx<=?800m] ``` tries to download the best format less than (exact/approx.) x MB the part ``` /(bv*+ba/b) ``` will download the best format regardless of size if no size information is present. so _--max-filesize_ arg can be used in conjunction with the _--format_ in case there is no size information is present. since some media may only provide approximate size in the rare case, sizelimit in _--max-filesize_ needs to be like 1.25x greater than sizelimit in the _--format_
Author
Owner

@pirate commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2023):

I want it to basically download the best available format available that's under ~800mb in size. E.g. if the video is 8k 120fps but only 4 seconds long, download it in original quality, but if it's 360p you can download hours of footage. Each page has an 800mb storage budget and should try to fill it with the highest quality version that fits. In any error case where metadata is not available or only only 1 version is available, fallback to downloading the original version in full quality. I never want to give up and download nothing if only un-matching versions are available, always fallback to downloading something instead of nothing.

I also want it to download every available subtitle version in all languages eventually, but the priority right now is only the default language (if 409 errors are making it hard to request all the subtitles at once).

<!-- gh-comment-id:1702331439 --> @pirate commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2023): I want it to basically download the best available format available that's under ~800mb in size. E.g. if the video is 8k 120fps but only 4 seconds long, download it in original quality, but if it's 360p you can download hours of footage. Each page has an 800mb storage budget and should try to fill it with the highest quality version that fits. In any error case where metadata is not available or only only 1 version is available, fallback to downloading the original version in full quality. I never want to give up and download nothing if only un-matching versions are available, always fallback to downloading something instead of nothing. I also want it to download every available subtitle version in all languages eventually, but the priority right now is only the default language (if 409 errors are making it hard to request all the subtitles at once).
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