Warn on severely outdated yt-dlp version

yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py

@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ from .postprocessor.ffmpeg import resolve_mapping as resolve_recode_mapping
 from .update import (
     REPOSITORY,
     _get_system_deprecation,
+    _get_version_age_warning,
     _make_label,
     current_git_head,
     detect_variant,
@@ -704,6 +705,11 @@ class YoutubeDL:
         if system_deprecation:
             self.deprecated_feature(system_deprecation.replace('\n', '\n                    '))
 
+        if self.params.get('update_self') is None:
+            version_age_warning = _get_version_age_warning()
+            if version_age_warning:
+                self.report_warning(version_age_warning)
+
         if self.params.get('allow_unplayable_formats'):
             self.report_warning(
                 f'You have asked for {self._format_err("UNPLAYABLE", self.Styles.EMPHASIS)} formats to be listed/downloaded. '

yt_dlp/__init__.py

@@ -974,6 +974,7 @@ def parse_options(argv=None):
         '_warnings': warnings,
         '_deprecation_warnings': deprecation_warnings,
         'compat_opts': opts.compat_opts,
+        'update_self': opts.update_self,
     })
 
 

yt_dlp/update.py

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import atexit
 import contextlib
+import datetime as dt
 import functools
 import hashlib
 import json
@@ -171,6 +172,30 @@ def _get_system_deprecation():
     return f'Support for Python version {major}.{minor} has been deprecated. {PYTHON_MSG}'
 
 
+def _get_version_age_warning():
+    # Only yt-dlp guarantees a stable release at least every 3 months
+    if not ORIGIN.startswith('yt-dlp/'):
+        return None
+
+    try:
+        version_parts = __version__.split('.')
+        if len(version_parts) < 3:
+            return None
+
+        year, month, day = map(int, version_parts[:3])
+        version_date = dt.date(year, month, day)
+
+        if version_date < dt.date.today() - dt.timedelta(days=90):
+            return ('\n         '.join((
+                f'Your yt-dlp version ({__version__}) is older than 90 days!',
+                'It is strongly recommeded to always use the latest versions, as sites regularly change and extractors need to be adjusted.',
+                'Run "yt-dlp --update" to update. To suppress this warning, add "--no-update" to your command/config.')))
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        pass
+
+    return None
+
+
 def _sha256_file(path):
     h = hashlib.sha256()
     mv = memoryview(bytearray(128 * 1024))