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Live streams

Live capture is less forgiving than downloading a finished VOD. Start early, monitor the first few minutes, and treat the finished recording as unverified until you inspect it.

Scheduled YouTube stream​

Open the watch page before the scheduled start and run:

yt-dlp \
  --wait-for-video 30 \
  --live-from-start \
  --write-info-json \
  --write-description \
  --write-thumbnail \
  -o "%(upload_date)s - %(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s" \
  "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

--wait-for-video 30 retries every 30 seconds. --live-from-start asks for earlier segments when the service makes them available; yt-dlp documents this feature as experimental, so update the program and test it before an important event.

DVR is the deciding factor​

When DVR is enabled, joining late may still allow retrieval from the beginning. When the creator or platform disables DVR, earlier segments may never be exposed to a late client. No command can reconstruct segments that were never available to it.

For an announced unarchived stream:

  • Start the command before the scheduled time.
  • Use stable power and wired networking where possible.
  • Disable sleep for the duration without disabling normal disk protections.
  • Leave more free disk space than the expected recording requires.
  • Check that the output file begins growing after the stream starts.

Avoid restarting a healthy capture merely to change filenames or optional metadata.

If you join after the stream begins​

Try the command with --live-from-start. If it begins at the current live edge, keep recording rather than repeatedly restarting. A partial archive is better than losing more of the stream.

When the stream ends​

YouTube may need time to process the normal VOD and higher-quality formats. After processing completes, run an ordinary preservation-oriented download into a separate location. Compare its duration with the live capture and keep the more complete source—or both when they differ.

Save chat replay separately after it becomes available:

yt-dlp --skip-download --write-subs --sub-langs live_chat "URL"

Then follow the verification checklist.

What can go wrong​

Network loss, platform-side discontinuities, ads, stream restarts, and format changes can leave gaps or multiple files. Do not assume an exit code of zero proves the recording is complete. For symptom-based help, see Troubleshooting.