Official documentation
yt-dlp README
yt-dlp contributors, GitHub, yt-dlp project, n.d.
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- The README of yt-dlp, an open-source command-line tool for downloading video and audio from websites. It lists the option that converts a downloaded video to an audio file and the audio formats it can write.
- How much weight it carries
- Maintained project documentation, read from the master branch. Option lists change between releases, so check the current --help output before you script it.
Facts taken from this source
- The yt-dlp README lists aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis and wav as audio formats its extraction option can write, with best as the default.
“(currently supported: best (default), aac, alac, flac, m4a, mp3, opus, vorbis, wav)” (Post-Processing Options)
- The yt-dlp README says its option that converts video to audio-only files requires ffmpeg and ffprobe.
“Convert video files to audio-only files (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)” (Post-Processing Options)