and many other ones I have noticed, you get as playlist title: "NA" and the .info.json files of the videos show as attribute "null" for playlist and playlist_index

...
"playlist": null,
"title": "1. binomische Formel - \u00dcbung Anwendung - als Potenz schreiben",
"creator": null,
"is_live": null,
"playlist_index": null
...

I need to have all videos belonging to a certain playlist in a separate directory and I want them prefixed with their running index. How do you do that using youtube-dl?

lbrtchx

Originally created by @Albretch on GitHub (Jan 21, 2020).  ## Checklist  - [x] I'm asking a question - [x] I've looked through the README and FAQ for similar questions - [x] I've searched the bugtracker for similar questions including closed ones ## Question  however when you try --output "./%(uploader)s/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s_%(title)s_%(id)s.%(ext)s" with https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyRHCLiLznwT3gSGryiQrZtuDUnivhAAT or any other playlist from those "mathehilfe24" people: https://www.youtube.com/user/mathehilfe24/playlists and many other ones I have noticed, you get as playlist title: "NA" and the .info.json files of the videos show as attribute "null" for playlist and playlist_index ... "playlist": null, "title": "1. binomische Formel - \u00dcbung Anwendung - als Potenz schreiben", "creator": null, "is_live": null, "playlist_index": null ... I need to have all videos belonging to a certain playlist in a separate directory and I want them prefixed with their running index. How do you do that using youtube-dl? lbrtchx

deekerman

2026-02-21 10:28:06 -05:00

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deekerman commented

2026-02-21 10:28:10 -05:00

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@remitamine commented on GitHub (Jan 21, 2020):

youtube-dl --get-filename -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s_%(title)s_%(id)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyRHCLiLznwT3gSGryiQrZtuDUnivhAAT
Mathehilfe24 - Mathe einfach gut erklärt/Binomische Formeln/01_3. binomische Formel - Anwendung - Binomische Formeln_6UlZpFPpWi4.mp4
Mathehilfe24 - Mathe einfach gut erklärt/Binomische Formeln/02_1. binomische Formel - Übung Anwendung - als Potenz schreiben_O7vb03flUTc.mp4

@remitamine commented on GitHub (Jan 21, 2020): ``` youtube-dl --get-filename -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s_%(title)s_%(id)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyRHCLiLznwT3gSGryiQrZtuDUnivhAAT Mathehilfe24 - Mathe einfach gut erklärt/Binomische Formeln/01_3. binomische Formel - Anwendung - Binomische Formeln_6UlZpFPpWi4.mp4 Mathehilfe24 - Mathe einfach gut erklärt/Binomische Formeln/02_1. binomische Formel - Übung Anwendung - als Potenz schreiben_O7vb03flUTc.mp4 ```

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 10:28:11 -05:00

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@Albretch commented on GitHub (Jan 23, 2020):

OK, I was able to reproduce the error.

When you use as input parameter the playlist's id youtube-dl works as expected, but not when you go: --batch-file "<file with exactly the same yt ids/uris>"

$ _UA="Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686) KHTML/4.8.4 (like Gecko) Konqueror/4.8"
$ _Ls="de,en,es"

$ _BRNX="/home/$(whoami)"
$ _ODIR="${_BRNX}/LklWb/com/youtube"
$ echo "// __ $_ODIR="${_ODIR}""

$ _YT_PL="PL3DFDD61A6487A585"

$ python ./youtube-dl --user-agent "${_UA}" --no-progress --no-call-home --continue --ignore-errors --no-overwrites --format "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best" --write-auto-sub --write-sub --sub-lang "${Ls}" --write-info-json --yes-playlist --playlist-start 1 --output "${ODIR}/%(uploader)s/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s%(title)s%(id)s.%(ext)s" "${_YT_PL}"
[youtube:playlist] PL3DFDD61A6487A585: Downloading webpage
[download] Downloading playlist: test playlist
[youtube:playlist] playlist test playlist: Downloading 2 videos
[download] Downloading video 1 of 2
[youtube] Ei9JQ6br-y0: Downloading webpage
[youtube] Ei9JQ6br-y0: Downloading video info webpage
WARNING: Unable to extract video title
WARNING: unable to extract description; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type youtube-dl -U to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
ERROR: This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated.
Sorry about that.
[download] Downloading video 2 of 2
[youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Downloading webpage
[youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Downloading video info webpage
WARNING: video doesn't have subtitles
[youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Looking for automatic captions
WARNING: Couldn't find automatic captions for bie_Pj0AbAY
[info] Writing video description metadata as JSON to: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.info.json
[download] Destination: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f135.mp4
[download] Download completed
[download] Destination: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f140.m4a
[download] Download completed
[ffmpeg] Merging formats into "/home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.mp4"
Deleting original file /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f135.mp4 (pass -k to keep)
Deleting original file /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f140.m4a (pass -k to keep)
[download] Finished downloading playlist: test playlist

$ _UA="Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686) KHTML/4.8.4 (like Gecko) Konqueror/4.8"
$ _Ls="de,en,es"
$
$ _BRNX="/home/$(whoami)"
$ _ODIR="${_BRNX}/LklWb/com/youtube"
$ echo "// __ $_ODIR="${_ODIR}""
// __ $_ODIR="/home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube"
$
$ _IFL_YT_URIS="/home/pfniggah/test_yt_PL.ls"
$ ls -l "${_IFL_YT_URIS}"
-rw-r--r-- 1 pfniggah pfniggah 24 Jan 23 17:59 /home/pfniggah/test_yt_PL.ls
$ wc -l "${_IFL_YT_URIS}"
2 /home/pfniggah/test_yt_PL.ls
$ cat "${_IFL_YT_URIS}"
Ei9JQ6br-y0
bie_Pj0AbAY
$
$ python ./youtube-dl --user-agent "${_UA}" --no-progress --no-call-home --continue --ignore-errors --no-overwrites --format "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best" --write-auto-sub --write-sub --sub-lang "${Ls}" --write-info-json --yes-playlist --playlist-start 1 --output "${ODIR}/%(uploader)s/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s%(title)s%(id)s.%(ext)s" --batch-file "${_IFL_YT_URIS}"
[youtube] Ei9JQ6br-y0: Downloading webpage
[youtube] Ei9JQ6br-y0: Downloading video info webpage
WARNING: Unable to extract video title
WARNING: unable to extract description; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type youtube-dl -U to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
ERROR: This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated.
Sorry about that.
[youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Downloading webpage
[youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Downloading video info webpage
WARNING: video doesn't have subtitles
[youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Looking for automatic captions
WARNING: Couldn't find automatic captions for bie_Pj0AbAY
[info] Writing video description metadata as JSON to: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.info.json
[download] Destination: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f135.mp4
[download] Download completed
[download] Destination: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f140.m4a
[download] Download completed
[ffmpeg] Merging formats into "/home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.mp4"
Deleting original file /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f135.mp4 (pass -k to keep)
Deleting original file /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f140.m4a (pass -k to keep)
$

and this is what I got:

$ date; python ./youtube-dl --update
Thu Jan 23 18:07:28 CET 2020
Updating to version 2020.01.15 ...
ERROR: unable to download latest version

$ date; python ./youtube-dl --version
Thu Jan 23 18:07:43 CET 2020
2019.09.28

$ uname -a
Linux deb9 4.9.0-11-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.189-3+deb9u2 (2019-11-11) x86_64 GNU/Linux
$

I haven't foudn the time to upgrade to the newest version using the sources

lbrtchx

@Albretch commented on GitHub (Jan 23, 2020): OK, I was able to reproduce the error. When you use as input parameter the playlist's id youtube-dl works as expected, but not when you go: --batch-file "<file with exactly the same yt ids/uris>" $ _UA="Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686) KHTML/4.8.4 (like Gecko) Konqueror/4.8" $ _Ls="de,en,es" $ _BRNX="/home/$(whoami)" $ _ODIR="${_BRNX}/LklWb/com/youtube" $ echo "// __ \$_ODIR=\"${_ODIR}\"" $ _YT_PL="PL3DFDD61A6487A585" $ python ./youtube-dl --user-agent "${_UA}" --no-progress --no-call-home --continue --ignore-errors --no-overwrites --format "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best" --write-auto-sub --write-sub --sub-lang "${_Ls}" --write-info-json --yes-playlist --playlist-start 1 --output "${_ODIR}/%(uploader)s/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s_%(title)s_%(id)s.%(ext)s" "${_YT_PL}" [youtube:playlist] PL3DFDD61A6487A585: Downloading webpage [download] Downloading playlist: test playlist [youtube:playlist] playlist test playlist: Downloading 2 videos [download] Downloading video 1 of 2 [youtube] Ei9JQ6br-y0: Downloading webpage [youtube] Ei9JQ6br-y0: Downloading video info webpage WARNING: Unable to extract video title WARNING: unable to extract description; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type youtube-dl -U to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output. ERROR: This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated. Sorry about that. [download] Downloading video 2 of 2 [youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Downloading webpage [youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Downloading video info webpage WARNING: video doesn't have subtitles [youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Looking for automatic captions WARNING: Couldn't find automatic captions for bie_Pj0AbAY [info] Writing video description metadata as JSON to: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.info.json [download] Destination: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f135.mp4 [download] Download completed [download] Destination: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f140.m4a [download] Download completed [ffmpeg] Merging formats into "/home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.mp4" Deleting original file /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f135.mp4 (pass -k to keep) Deleting original file /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/test playlist/2_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f140.m4a (pass -k to keep) [download] Finished downloading playlist: test playlist - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $ _UA="Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686) KHTML/4.8.4 (like Gecko) Konqueror/4.8" $ _Ls="de,en,es" $ $ _BRNX="/home/$(whoami)" $ _ODIR="${_BRNX}/LklWb/com/youtube" $ echo "// __ \$_ODIR=\"${_ODIR}\"" // __ $_ODIR="/home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube" $ $ _IFL_YT_URIS="/home/pfniggah/test_yt_PL.ls" $ ls -l "${_IFL_YT_URIS}" -rw-r--r-- 1 pfniggah pfniggah 24 Jan 23 17:59 /home/pfniggah/test_yt_PL.ls $ wc -l "${_IFL_YT_URIS}" 2 /home/pfniggah/test_yt_PL.ls $ cat "${_IFL_YT_URIS}" Ei9JQ6br-y0 bie_Pj0AbAY $ $ python ./youtube-dl --user-agent "${_UA}" --no-progress --no-call-home --continue --ignore-errors --no-overwrites --format "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best" --write-auto-sub --write-sub --sub-lang "${_Ls}" --write-info-json --yes-playlist --playlist-start 1 --output "${_ODIR}/%(uploader)s/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s_%(title)s_%(id)s.%(ext)s" --batch-file "${_IFL_YT_URIS}" [youtube] Ei9JQ6br-y0: Downloading webpage [youtube] Ei9JQ6br-y0: Downloading video info webpage WARNING: Unable to extract video title WARNING: unable to extract description; please report this issue on https://yt-dl.org/bug . Make sure you are using the latest version; type youtube-dl -U to update. Be sure to call youtube-dl with the --verbose flag and include its complete output. ERROR: This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated. Sorry about that. [youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Downloading webpage [youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Downloading video info webpage WARNING: video doesn't have subtitles [youtube] bie_Pj0AbAY: Looking for automatic captions WARNING: Couldn't find automatic captions for bie_Pj0AbAY [info] Writing video description metadata as JSON to: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.info.json [download] Destination: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f135.mp4 [download] Download completed [download] Destination: /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f140.m4a [download] Download completed [ffmpeg] Merging formats into "/home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.mp4" Deleting original file /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f135.mp4 (pass -k to keep) Deleting original file /home/pfniggah/LklWb/com/youtube/fruitybat/NA/NA_Green Screen and After Effects_bie_Pj0AbAY.f140.m4a (pass -k to keep) $ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - and this is what I got: $ date; python ./youtube-dl --update Thu Jan 23 18:07:28 CET 2020 Updating to version 2020.01.15 ... ERROR: unable to download latest version $ date; python ./youtube-dl --version Thu Jan 23 18:07:43 CET 2020 2019.09.28 $ uname -a Linux deb9 4.9.0-11-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.189-3+deb9u2 (2019-11-11) x86_64 GNU/Linux $ I haven't foudn the time to upgrade to the newest version using the sources lbrtchx

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 10:28:11 -05:00

Author

Owner

@remitamine commented on GitHub (Jan 23, 2020):

When you use as input parameter the playlist's id youtube-dl works as expected, but not when you go: --batch-file "<file with exactly the same yt ids/uris>"

because batch files are not treated as playlists, playlist_index and playlist_title will be present only when a playlist is being downloaded.
if you want something similar to playlist_index for batch files you can use autonumber,

@remitamine commented on GitHub (Jan 23, 2020): > When you use as input parameter the playlist's id youtube-dl works as expected, but not when you go: --batch-file "<file with exactly the same yt ids/uris>" because batch files are not treated as playlists, `playlist_index` and `playlist_title` will be present only when a playlist is being downloaded. if you want something similar to `playlist_index` for batch files you can use `autonumber`,

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 10:28:11 -05:00

Author

Owner

@Albretch commented on GitHub (Jan 25, 2020):

When you use as input parameter the playlist's id youtube-dl works as expected, but not when you go: --batch-file "<file with exactly the same yt ids/uris>"

because batch files are not treated as playlists, playlist_index and playlist_title will be present only when a playlist is being downloaded.
if you want something similar to playlist_index for batch files you can use autonumber,

Not even when every line of the batch file obviously is a playlist based on the encoding that youtube itself uses? (playlists are prefixed as "PL.*" )

@Albretch commented on GitHub (Jan 25, 2020): >> When you use as input parameter the playlist's id youtube-dl works as expected, but not when you go: --batch-file "<file with exactly the same yt ids/uris>" > because batch files are not treated as playlists, playlist_index and playlist_title will be present only when a playlist is being downloaded. >if you want something similar to playlist_index for batch files you can use autonumber, Not even when every line of the batch file obviously is a playlist based on the encoding that youtube itself uses? (playlists are prefixed as "PL.*" )

deekerman commented

2026-02-21 10:28:11 -05:00

Author

Owner

@remitamine commented on GitHub (Jan 25, 2020):

it doesn't matter if you pass URLs in the command line or in a batch file, youtube-dl will process them the same way.

@remitamine commented on GitHub (Jan 25, 2020): it doesn't matter if you pass URLs in the command line or in a batch file, youtube-dl will process them the same way.

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