Format Selection¶

Interactive Format Browser¶

Use -list-formats to browse all available formats in an interactive TUI:

ytdl-go -list-formats URL

Keyboard Controls¶

Quality Selection¶

# Specific resolution
ytdl-go -quality 1080p URL
ytdl-go -quality 720p URL

# Best or worst
ytdl-go -quality best URL
ytdl-go -quality worst URL

# Audio bitrate (with -audio)
ytdl-go -audio -quality 128k URL

If the exact quality is unavailable, the closest match is selected.

Container Format¶

ytdl-go -format mp4 URL
ytdl-go -format webm URL
ytdl-go -audio -format m4a URL

Direct Itag Selection¶

Bypass automatic selection by specifying a YouTube itag number:

ytdl-go -itag 251 URL

Common itags:

JSON Format Listing¶

For scripting, combine -json with -list-formats to get machine-readable format data:

ytdl-go -json -list-formats URL

Flag Precedence¶

When flags conflict:

1. -itag overrides -quality and -format
2. -json implies -quiet
3. -info prevents downloading (metadata only)
4. -list-formats prevents automatic downloading