Option `--compat-options` to revert some of yt-dlp's changes

* Deprecates `--list-formats-as-table`, `--list-formats-old`

README.md

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ A command-line program to download videos from YouTube and many other [video pla
 yt-dlp is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
 
 * [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
+    * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
 * [INSTALLATION](#installation)
     * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
     * [Update](#update)
@@ -105,6 +106,29 @@ See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/comm
 
 If you are coming from [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl), the amount of changes are very large. Compare [options](#options) and [supported sites](supportedsites.md) with youtube-dl's to get an idea of the massive number of features/patches [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) has accumulated.
 
+### Differences in default behavior
+
+Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc.
+
+1. The options `--id`, `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
+1. `avconv` is not supported as as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
+1. The default [output template](#output-template) is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`. There is no real reason for this change. This was changed before yt-dlp was ever made public and now there are no plans to change it back to `%(title)s.%(id)s.%(ext)s`. Instead, you may use `--compat-options filename`
+1. The default [format sorting](sorting-formats) is different from youtube-dl and prefers higher resolution and better codecs rather than higher bitrates. You can use the `--format-sort` option to change this to any order you prefer, or use `--compat-options format-sort` to use youtube-dl's sorting order
+1. The default format selector is `bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be prefered. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
+1. Unlike youtube-dlc, yt-dlp does not allow merging multiple audio/video streams into one file by default (since this conflicts with the use of `-f bv*+ba`). If needed, this feature must be enabled using `--audio-multistreams` and `--video-multistreams`. You can also use `--compat-options multistreams` to enable both
+1. `--ignore-errors` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
+1. When writing metadata files such as thumbnails, description or infojson, the same information (if available) is also written for playlists. Use `--no-write-playlist-metafiles` or `--compat-options no-playlist-metafiles` to not write these files
+1. `playlist_index` behaves differently when used with options like `--playlist-reverse` and `--playlist-items`. See [#302](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/302) for details. You can use `--compat-options playlist-index` if you want to keep the earlier behavior
+1. The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
+1. Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
+1. Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to `/video`. Either append a `/featured` to the URL or use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to download only the videos in the home page
+1. Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
+
+For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
+1. `--compat-options all` = Use all compat options
+1. `--compat-options youtube-dl` = `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
+1. `--compat-options youtube-dlc` = `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
+
 
 # INSTALLATION
 yt-dlp is not platform specific. So it should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS
@@ -212,6 +236,11 @@ Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only t
     --mark-watched                   Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
     --no-mark-watched                Do not mark videos watched (default)
     --no-colors                      Do not emit color codes in output
+    --compat-options OPTS            Options that can help keep compatibility
+                                     with youtube-dl and youtube-dlc
+                                     configurations by reverting some of the
+                                     changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
+                                     default behavior" for details
 
 ## Network Options:
     --proxy URL                      Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
@@ -583,10 +612,6 @@ Then simply run `make`. You can also run `make yt-dlp` instead to compile only t
                                      actually downloadable (Experimental)
     -F, --list-formats               List all available formats of requested
                                      videos
-    --list-formats-as-table          Present the output of -F in tabular form
-                                     (default)
-    --list-formats-old               Present the output of -F in the old form
-                                     (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
     --merge-output-format FORMAT     If a merge is required (e.g.
                                      bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
                                      container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
@@ -1286,6 +1311,8 @@ While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are oth
     --metadata-from-title FORMAT     --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
     --hls-prefer-native              --downloader "m3u8:native"
     --hls-prefer-ffmpeg              --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
+    --list-formats-old               --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
+    --list-formats-as-table          --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
     --sponskrub-args ARGS            --ppa "sponskrub:ARGS"
     --test                           Used by developers for testing extractors. Not intended for the end user
 

yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py

@@ -385,6 +385,10 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
                        Use the native HLS downloader instead of ffmpeg/avconv
                        if True, otherwise use ffmpeg/avconv if False, otherwise
                        use downloader suggested by extractor if None.
+    compat_opts:       Compatibility options. See "Differences in default behavior".
+                       Note that only format-sort, format-spec, no-live-chat,
+                       playlist-index, list-formats, no-youtube-channel-redirect
+                       and no-youtube-unavailable-videos works when used via the API
 
     The following parameters are not used by YoutubeDL itself, they are used by
     the downloader (see yt_dlp/downloader/common.py):
@@ -470,8 +474,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
 
         def check_deprecated(param, option, suggestion):
             if self.params.get(param) is not None:
-                self.report_warning(
-                    '%s is deprecated. Use %s instead' % (option, suggestion))
+                self.report_warning('%s is deprecated. Use %s instead' % (option, suggestion))
                 return True
             return False
 
@@ -479,9 +482,9 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
             if self.params.get('geo_verification_proxy') is None:
                 self.params['geo_verification_proxy'] = self.params['cn_verification_proxy']
 
-        check_deprecated('autonumber_size', '--autonumber-size', 'output template with %(autonumber)0Nd, where N in the number of digits')
         check_deprecated('autonumber', '--auto-number', '-o "%(autonumber)s-%(title)s.%(ext)s"')
         check_deprecated('usetitle', '--title', '-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"')
+        check_deprecated('useid', '--id', '-o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"')
 
         for msg in self.params.get('warnings', []):
             self.report_warning(msg)
@@ -1401,6 +1404,8 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
         max_failures = self.params.get('skip_playlist_after_errors') or float('inf')
         for i, entry_tuple in enumerate(entries, 1):
             playlist_index, entry = entry_tuple
+            if 'playlist_index' in self.params.get('compat_options', []):
+                playlist_index = playlistitems[i - 1] if playlistitems else i
             self.to_screen('[download] Downloading video %s of %s' % (i, n_entries))
             # This __x_forwarded_for_ip thing is a bit ugly but requires
             # minimal changes
@@ -1519,12 +1524,14 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
                 not can_merge()
                 or info_dict.get('is_live', False)
                 or self.outtmpl_dict['default'] == '-'))
+        compat = (
+            prefer_best
+            or self.params.get('allow_multiple_audio_streams', False)
+            or 'format-spec' in self.params.get('compat_opts', []))
 
         return (
-            'best/bestvideo+bestaudio'
-            if prefer_best
-            else 'bestvideo*+bestaudio/best'
-            if not self.params.get('allow_multiple_audio_streams', False)
+            'best/bestvideo+bestaudio' if prefer_best
+            else 'bestvideo*+bestaudio/best' if not compat
             else 'bestvideo+bestaudio/best')
 
     def build_format_selector(self, format_spec):
@@ -2913,7 +2920,9 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
 
     def list_formats(self, info_dict):
         formats = info_dict.get('formats', [info_dict])
-        new_format = self.params.get('listformats_table', False)
+        new_format = (
+            'list-formats' not in self.params.get('compat_opts', [])
+            and self.params.get('list_formats_as_table', True) is not False)
         if new_format:
             table = [
                 [
@@ -3014,6 +3023,9 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
         if _PLUGIN_CLASSES:
             self._write_string(
                 '[debug] Plugin Extractors: %s\n' % [ie.ie_key() for ie in _PLUGIN_CLASSES])
+        if self.params.get('compat_opts'):
+            self._write_string(
+                '[debug] Compatibility options: %s\n' % ', '.join(self.params.get('compat_opts')))
         try:
             sp = subprocess.Popen(
                 ['git', 'rev-parse', '--short', 'HEAD'],

yt_dlp/__init__.py

@@ -235,11 +235,75 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
     else:
         date = DateRange(opts.dateafter, opts.datebefore)
 
-    # Do not download videos when there are audio-only formats
+    def parse_compat_opts():
+        parsed_compat_opts, compat_opts = set(), opts.compat_opts[::-1]
+        while compat_opts:
+            actual_opt = opt = compat_opts.pop().lower()
+            if opt == 'youtube-dl':
+                compat_opts.extend(['-multistreams', 'all'])
+            elif opt == 'youtube-dlc':
+                compat_opts.extend(['-no-youtube-channel-redirect', '-no-live-chat', 'all'])
+            elif opt == 'all':
+                parsed_compat_opts.update(all_compat_opts)
+            elif opt == '-all':
+                parsed_compat_opts = set()
+            else:
+                if opt[0] == '-':
+                    opt = opt[1:]
+                    parsed_compat_opts.discard(opt)
+                else:
+                    parsed_compat_opts.update([opt])
+                if opt not in all_compat_opts:
+                    parser.error('Invalid compatibility option %s' % actual_opt)
+        return parsed_compat_opts
+
+    all_compat_opts = [
+        'filename', 'format-sort', 'abort-on-error', 'format-spec', 'multistreams',
+        'no-playlist-metafiles', 'no-live-chat', 'playlist-index', 'list-formats',
+        'no-youtube-channel-redirect', 'no-youtube-unavailable-videos',
+    ]
+    compat_opts = parse_compat_opts()
+
+    def _unused_compat_opt(name):
+        if name not in compat_opts:
+            return False
+        compat_opts.discard(name)
+        compat_opts.update(['*%s' % name])
+        return True
+
+    def set_default_compat(compat_name, opt_name, default=True, remove_compat=False):
+        attr = getattr(opts, opt_name)
+        if compat_name in compat_opts:
+            if attr is None:
+                setattr(opts, opt_name, not default)
+                return True
+            else:
+                if remove_compat:
+                    _unused_compat_opt(compat_name)
+                return False
+        elif attr is None:
+            setattr(opts, opt_name, default)
+        return None
+
+    set_default_compat('abort-on-error', 'ignoreerrors')
+    set_default_compat('no-playlist-metafiles', 'allow_playlist_files')
+    if 'format-sort' in compat_opts:
+        opts.format_sort.extend(InfoExtractor.FormatSort.ytdl_default)
+    _video_multistreams_set = set_default_compat('multistreams', 'allow_multiple_video_streams', False, remove_compat=False)
+    _audio_multistreams_set = set_default_compat('multistreams', 'allow_multiple_audio_streams', False, remove_compat=False)
+    if _video_multistreams_set is False and _audio_multistreams_set is False:
+        _unused_compat_opt('multistreams')
+    outtmpl_default = opts.outtmpl.get('default')
+    if 'filename' in compat_opts:
+        if outtmpl_default is None:
+            outtmpl_default = '%(title)s.%(id)s.%(ext)s'
+            opts.outtmpl.update({'default': outtmpl_default})
+        else:
+            _unused_compat_opt('filename')
+
     if opts.extractaudio and not opts.keepvideo and opts.format is None:
         opts.format = 'bestaudio/best'
 
-    outtmpl_default = opts.outtmpl.get('default')
     if outtmpl_default is not None and not os.path.splitext(outtmpl_default)[1] and opts.extractaudio:
         parser.error('Cannot download a video and extract audio into the same'
                      ' file! Use "{0}.%(ext)s" instead of "{0}" as the output'
@@ -574,8 +638,9 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
         'geo_bypass': opts.geo_bypass,
         'geo_bypass_country': opts.geo_bypass_country,
         'geo_bypass_ip_block': opts.geo_bypass_ip_block,
-        # just for deprecation check
         'warnings': warnings,
+        'compat_opts': compat_opts,
+        # just for deprecation check
         'autonumber': opts.autonumber or None,
         'usetitle': opts.usetitle or None,
         'useid': opts.useid or None,

yt_dlp/extractor/common.py

@@ -557,6 +557,10 @@ class InfoExtractor(object):
                     ie_result = self._real_extract(url)
                     if self._x_forwarded_for_ip:
                         ie_result['__x_forwarded_for_ip'] = self._x_forwarded_for_ip
+                    subtitles = ie_result.get('subtitles')
+                    if (subtitles and 'live_chat' in subtitles
+                            and 'no-live-chat' in self._downloader.params.get('compat_opts')):
+                        del subtitles['live_chat']
                     return ie_result
                 except GeoRestrictedError as e:
                     if self.__maybe_fake_ip_and_retry(e.countries):
@@ -1415,7 +1419,10 @@ class InfoExtractor(object):
 
         default = ('hidden', 'hasvid', 'ie_pref', 'lang', 'quality',
                    'res', 'fps', 'codec:vp9.2', 'size', 'br', 'asr',
-                   'proto', 'ext', 'has_audio', 'source', 'format_id')  # These must not be aliases
+                   'proto', 'ext', 'hasaud', 'source', 'format_id')  # These must not be aliases
+        ytdl_default = ('hasaud', 'quality', 'tbr', 'filesize', 'vbr',
+                        'height', 'width', 'proto', 'vext', 'abr', 'aext',
+                        'fps', 'fs_approx', 'source', 'format_id')
 
         settings = {
             'vcodec': {'type': 'ordered', 'regex': True,

yt_dlp/extractor/youtube.py

@@ -3481,11 +3481,12 @@ class YoutubeTabIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
         item_id = self._match_id(url)
         url = compat_urlparse.urlunparse(
             compat_urlparse.urlparse(url)._replace(netloc='www.youtube.com'))
+        compat_opts = self._downloader.params.get('compat_opts', [])
 
         # This is not matched in a channel page with a tab selected
         mobj = re.match(r'(?P<pre>%s)(?P<post>/?(?![^#?]).*$)' % self._VALID_URL, url)
         mobj = mobj.groupdict() if mobj else {}
-        if mobj and not mobj.get('not_channel'):
+        if mobj and not mobj.get('not_channel') and 'no-youtube-channel-redirect' not in compat_opts:
             self.report_warning(
                 'A channel/user page was given. All the channel\'s videos will be downloaded. '
                 'To download only the videos in the home page, add a "/featured" to the URL')
@@ -3513,6 +3514,7 @@ class YoutubeTabIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
         webpage, data = self._extract_webpage(url, item_id)
 
         # YouTube sometimes provides a button to reload playlist with unavailable videos.
+        if 'no-youtube-unavailable-videos' not in compat_opts:
             data = self._reload_with_unavailable_videos(item_id, data, webpage) or data
 
         tabs = try_get(

yt_dlp/options.py

@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
         help='Update this program to latest version. Make sure that you have sufficient permissions (run with sudo if needed)')
     general.add_option(
         '-i', '--ignore-errors', '--no-abort-on-error',
-        action='store_true', dest='ignoreerrors', default=True,
+        action='store_true', dest='ignoreerrors', default=None,
         help='Continue on download errors, for example to skip unavailable videos in a playlist (default) (Alias: --no-abort-on-error)')
     general.add_option(
         '--abort-on-error', '--no-ignore-errors',
@@ -229,6 +229,14 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
         '--no-colors',
         action='store_true', dest='no_color', default=False,
         help='Do not emit color codes in output')
+    general.add_option(
+        '--compat-options',
+        metavar='OPTS', dest='compat_opts', default=[],
+        action='callback', callback=_comma_separated_values_options_callback, type='str',
+        help=(
+            'Options that can help keep compatibility with youtube-dl and youtube-dlc '
+            'configurations by reverting some of the changes made in yt-dlp. '
+            'See "Differences in default behavior" for details'))
 
     network = optparse.OptionGroup(parser, 'Network Options')
     network.add_option(
@@ -474,7 +482,7 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
             'see "Sorting Formats" for more details'))
     video_format.add_option(
         '--video-multistreams',
-        action='store_true', dest='allow_multiple_video_streams', default=False,
+        action='store_true', dest='allow_multiple_video_streams', default=None,
         help='Allow multiple video streams to be merged into a single file')
     video_format.add_option(
         '--no-video-multistreams',
@@ -482,7 +490,7 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
         help='Only one video stream is downloaded for each output file (default)')
     video_format.add_option(
         '--audio-multistreams',
-        action='store_true', dest='allow_multiple_audio_streams', default=False,
+        action='store_true', dest='allow_multiple_audio_streams', default=None,
         help='Allow multiple audio streams to be merged into a single file')
     video_format.add_option(
         '--no-audio-multistreams',
@@ -513,11 +521,11 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
     video_format.add_option(
         '--list-formats-as-table',
         action='store_true', dest='listformats_table', default=True,
-        help='Present the output of -F in tabular form (default)')
+        help=optparse.SUPPRESS_HELP)
     video_format.add_option(
         '--list-formats-old', '--no-list-formats-as-table',
         action='store_false', dest='listformats_table',
-        help='Present the output of -F in the old form (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)')
+        help=optparse.SUPPRESS_HELP)
     video_format.add_option(
         '--merge-output-format',
         action='store', dest='merge_output_format', metavar='FORMAT', default=None,
@@ -1012,7 +1020,7 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
         help='Do not write video annotations (default)')
     filesystem.add_option(
         '--write-playlist-metafiles',
-        action='store_true', dest='allow_playlist_files', default=True,
+        action='store_true', dest='allow_playlist_files', default=None,
         help=(
             'Write playlist metadata in addition to the video metadata '
             'when using --write-info-json, --write-description etc. (default)'))