Recently, I attempted to download a YouTube video using a custom program that uses ytdl-core on NPM. However, after attempting several URLs, I received 403 Forbidden through all of them.
Sample code is below:
import { ytdl } from "ytdl-core";
import * as fs from "node:fs";
// ...
const info = ytdl.getInfo("some-video-id");
const stream = ytdl.downloadFromInfo(info, { filter: 'videoandaudio' });
fs.createWriteStream(`${makeSafe(info.videoDetails.title)}.mp4`);
YouTube recently released an update that breaks most video downloaders. The change implements new requirements that when failed, result in a 403 Forbidden response. Unfortunately, as ytdl-core is no longer actively maintained, it is recommended that you move to @distube/ytdl-core. The maintainers on that package have released a fix in commit 3df824e that patches the issue present here. To move, follow these steps:
- Uninstall
ytdl-coreto prevent conflicting packages with the same name
npm uninstall ytdl-core
- Install
@distube/ytdl-core
npm install @distube/ytdl-core
- Replace references of the old package with
@distube/ytdl-core
From the example:
import { ytdl } from "@distube/ytdl-core";