Options

Positional arguments

URL

A URL to attempt to extract streams from.

Usually, the protocol of http(s) URLs can be omitted (https://), depending on the implementation of the plugin being used.

Alternatively, the URL can also be specified by using the --url option.

STREAM

Stream to play.

Use best or worst for selecting the highest or lowest available quality.

Fallback streams can be specified by using a comma-separated list:

"720p,480p,best"

If no stream is specified and --default-stream is not used, then a list of available streams will be printed.

General options

-h
--help

Show this help message and exit.

-V
--version

Show version number and exit.

--plugins

Print a list of all currently installed plugins.

--plugin-dirs DIRECTORY

Attempts to load plugins from these directories.

Multiple directories can be used by separating them with a comma.

--can-handle-url URL

Check if Streamlink has a plugin that can handle the specified URL.

Returns status code 1 for false and 0 for true.

Useful for external scripting.

--can-handle-url-no-redirect URL

Same as --can-handle-url but without following redirects when looking up the URL.

--config FILENAME

Load options from this config file.

Can be repeated to load multiple files, in which case the options are merged on top of each other where the last config has highest priority.

-l LEVEL
--loglevel LEVEL

Set the log message threshold.

Valid levels are: none, error, warning, info, debug, trace

--logfile FILE

Append log output to FILE instead of writing to stdout/stderr.

User prompts and download progress won't be written to FILE.

A value of - (dash) will set the file name to an ISO8601-like string and will choose the following default log directories.

Windows:

%TEMP%\streamlink\logs

macOS:

${HOME}/Library/Logs/streamlink

Linux/BSD:

${XDG_STATE_HOME:-${HOME}/.local/state}/streamlink/logs
-Q
--quiet

Hide all log output.

Alias for --loglevel none.

-j
--json

Output JSON representations instead of the normal text output.

Useful for external scripting.

--auto-version-check {yes,true,1,on,no,false,0,off}

Unused, kept for compatibility reasons.

Default is: "no".

--version-check

Runs a version check and exits.

--locale LOCALE

The preferred locale setting, for selecting the preferred subtitle and audio language.

The locale is formatted as [language_code]_[country_code], eg. en_US or es_ES.

Default is: system locale.

--interface INTERFACE

Set the network interface.

-4
--ipv4

Resolve address names to IPv4 only. This option overrides --ipv6.

-6
--ipv6

Resolve address names to IPv6 only. This option overrides --ipv4.

Player options

-p COMMAND
--player COMMAND

Player to feed stream data to. By default, VLC will be used if it can be found in its default location.

This is a shell-like syntax to support using a specific player:

streamlink --player=vlc <url> [stream]

Absolute or relative paths can also be passed via this option in the event the player's executable can not be resolved:

streamlink --player=/path/to/vlc <url> [stream]
streamlink --player=./vlc-player/vlc <url> [stream]

To use a player that is located in a path with spaces you must quote the parameter or its value:

streamlink "--player=/path/with spaces/vlc" <url> [stream]
streamlink --player "C:\path\with spaces\mpc-hc64.exe" <url> [stream]

Options may also be passed to the player. For example:

streamlink --player "vlc --file-caching=5000" <url> [stream]

As an alternative to this, see the --player-args parameter, which does not log any custom player arguments.

-a ARGUMENTS
--player-args ARGUMENTS

This option allows you to customize the default arguments which are put together with the value of --player to create a command to execute.

It's usually enough to only use --player instead of this unless you need to add arguments after the player's input argument or if you don't want any of the player arguments to be logged.

The value can contain formatting variables surrounded by curly braces, { and }. If you need to include a brace character, it can be escaped by doubling, e.g. {{ and }}.

Formatting variables available:

{playerinput}

This is the input that the player will use. For standard input (stdin), it is - (dash), but it can also be a URL, depending on the options used.

{filename}

The old fallback variable name with the same functionality.

Example:

streamlink -p vlc -a "--play-and-exit {playerinput}" <url> [stream]

Note

When neither of the variables are found, {playerinput} will be appended to the whole parameter value, to ensure that the player always receives an input argument.

-v
--verbose-player

Allow the player to display its console output.

-n
--player-fifo
--fifo

Make the player read the stream through a named pipe instead of the stdin pipe.

--player-http

Make the player read the stream through HTTP instead of the stdin pipe.

--player-continuous-http

Make the player read the stream through HTTP, but unlike --player-http it will continuously try to open the stream if the player requests it.

This makes it possible to handle stream disconnects if your player is capable of reconnecting to a HTTP stream. This is usually done by setting your player to a "repeat mode".

--player-external-http

Serve stream data through HTTP without running any player. This is useful to allow external devices like smartphones or streaming boxes to watch streams they wouldn't be able to otherwise.

The default behavior is similar to the --player-continuous-http option, but no player program will be started, and the server will listen on all available connections instead of just in the local (loopback) interface.

Optionally, the --player-external-http-continuous option allows for disabling the continuous run-mode, so that Streamlink will stop when the stream ends.

The URLs that can be used to access the stream will be printed to the console, and the server can be interrupted using CTRL-C.

--player-external-http-continuous {yes,true,1,on,no,false,0,off}

Set the run-mode of --player-external-http to continuous or non-continuous.

In the continuous run-mode, Streamlink will keep running after the stream has ended and will wait for the next HTTP request being made unless it gets shut down via CTRL-C.

If set to non-continuous, Streamlink will stop once the stream has ended.

Default is: true.

--player-external-http-port PORT

A fixed port to use for the external HTTP server if that mode is enabled. Omit or set to 0 to use a random high ( >1024) port.

--player-passthrough TYPES

A comma-delimited list of stream types to pass to the player as a URL to let it handle the transport of the stream instead.

Stream types that can be converted into a playable URL are:

  • hls

  • http

Make sure your player can handle the stream type when using this.

--player-no-close

By default Streamlink will close the player when the stream ends. This is to avoid "dead" GUI players lingering after a stream ends.

It does however have the side-effect of sometimes closing a player before it has played back all of its cached data.

This option will instead let the player decide when to exit.

-t TITLE
--title TITLE

Change the title of the video player's window.

Please see the "Metadata variables" section of Streamlink's CLI documentation for all available metadata variables.

This option is only supported for the following players: mpv, potplayer, vlc

VLC specific information:

VLC does support special formatting variables on its own: https://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:Format_String/

These variables are accessible in the --title option by adding a backslash in front of the dollar sign which VLC uses as its formatting character.

For example, to put the current date in your VLC window title, the string \\$A could be inserted inside the --title string.

Example:

streamlink -p mpv --title "{author} - {category} - {title}" <URL> [STREAM]

File output options

-o FILENAME
--output FILENAME

Write stream data to FILENAME instead of playing it. If FILENAME is set to - (dash), then the stream data will be written to stdout, similar to the --stdout argument.

Non-existent directories and subdirectories will be created if they do not exist, if filesystem permissions allow.

You will be prompted if the file already exists.

Please see the "Metadata variables" section of Streamlink's CLI documentation for all available metadata variables.

Unsupported characters in substituted variables will be replaced with an underscore.

Example:

streamlink --output "~/recordings/{author}/{category}/{id}-{time:%Y%m%d%H%M%S}.ts" <URL> [STREAM]
-f
--force

When using --output or --record, always write to file even if it already exists (overwrite).

--force-progress

When using --output or --record, show the download progress bar even if there is no terminal.

-O
--stdout

Write stream data to stdout instead of playing it.

-r FILENAME
--record FILENAME

Open the stream in the player, while at the same time writing it to FILENAME. If FILENAME is set to - (dash), then the stream data will be written to stdout, similar to the --stdout argument, while still opening the player.

Non-existent directories and subdirectories will be created if they do not exist, if filesystem permissions allow.

You will be prompted if the file already exists.

Please see the "Metadata variables" section of Streamlink's CLI documentation for all available metadata variables.

Unsupported characters in substituted variables will be replaced with an underscore.

Example:

streamlink --record "~/recordings/{author}/{category}/{id}-{time:%Y%m%d%H%M%S}.ts" <URL> [STREAM]
-R FILENAME
--record-and-pipe FILENAME

Write stream data to stdout, while at the same time writing it to FILENAME.

Non-existent directories and subdirectories will be created if they do not exist, if filesystem permissions allow.

You will be prompted if the file already exists.

Please see the "Metadata variables" section of Streamlink's CLI documentation for all available metadata variables.

Unsupported characters in substituted variables will be replaced with an underscore.

Example:

streamlink --record-and-pipe "~/recordings/{author}/{category}/{id}-{time:%Y%m%d%H%M%S}.ts" <URL> [STREAM]
--fs-safe-rules

The rules used to make formatting variables filesystem-safe are chosen automatically according to the type of system in use. This overrides the automatic detection.

Intended for use when Streamlink is running on a UNIX-like OS but writing to Windows filesystems such as NTFS; USB devices using VFAT or exFAT; CIFS shares that are enforcing Windows filename limitations, etc.

These characters are replaced with an underscore for the rules in use:

  • POSIX: \\x00-\\x1F /

  • Windows: \\x00-\\x1F \\x7F " * / : < > ? \\ |

Stream options

--url URL

A URL to attempt to extract streams from.

Usually, the protocol of http(s) URLs can be omitted (https://), depending on the implementation of the plugin being used.

This is an alternative to setting the URL using a positional argument and can be useful if set in a config file.

--default-stream STREAM

Stream to play.

Use best or worst for selecting the highest or lowest available quality.

Fallback streams can be specified by using a comma-separated list:

"720p,480p,best"

This is an alternative to setting the stream using a positional argument and can be useful if set in a config file.

--stream-url

If possible, translate the resolved stream to a URL and print it.

--retry-streams DELAY

Retry fetching the list of available streams until streams are found while waiting DELAY second(s) between each attempt. If unset, only one attempt will be made to fetch the list of streams available.

The number of fetch retry attempts can be capped with --retry-max.

--retry-max COUNT

When using --retry-streams, stop retrying the fetch after COUNT retry attempt(s). Fetch will retry infinitely if COUNT is zero or unset.

If --retry-max is set without setting --retry-streams, the delay between retries will default to 1 second.

--retry-open ATTEMPTS

After a successful fetch, try ATTEMPTS time(s) to open the stream until giving up.

Default is: 1.

--stream-types TYPES
--stream-priority TYPES

A comma-delimited list of stream types to allow.

The order will be used to separate streams when there are multiple streams with the same name but different stream types. Any stream type not listed will be omitted from the available streams list. An * (asterisk) can be used as a wildcard to match any other type of stream, eg. muxed-stream.

Default is: "hls,http,*".

--stream-sorting-excludes STREAMS

Fine tune the best and worst stream name synonyms by excluding unwanted streams.

If all of the available streams get excluded, best and worst will become inaccessible and new special stream synonyms best-unfiltered and worst-unfiltered can be used as a fallback selection method.

Uses a filter expression in the format:

[operator]<value>

Valid operators are >, >=, < and <=. If no operator is specified then equality is tested.

For example this will exclude streams ranked higher than "480p":

--stream-sorting-excludes ">480p"

Multiple filters can be used by separating each expression with a comma.

For example this will exclude streams from two quality types:

--stream-sorting-excludes ">480p,>medium"

Stream transport options

--ringbuffer-size SIZE

The maximum size of the ringbuffer. Mega- or kilobytes can be specified via the M or K suffix respectively.

The ringbuffer is used as a temporary storage between the stream and the player. This allows Streamlink to download the stream faster than the player which reads the data from the ringbuffer.

The smaller the size of the ringbuffer, the higher the chance of the player buffering if the download speed decreases, and the higher the size, the more data can be use as a storage to recover from volatile download speeds.

Most players have their own additional cache and will read the ringbuffer's content as soon as data is available. If the player stops reading data while playback is paused, Streamlink will continue to download the stream in the background as long as the ringbuffer doesn't get full.

Default is: "16M".

Note

A smaller size is recommended on lower end systems (such as Raspberry Pi) when playing stream types that require some extra processing to avoid unnecessary background processing.

--stream-segment-attempts ATTEMPTS

How many attempts should be done to download each segment before giving up.

This applies to all different kinds of segmented stream types, such as DASH, HLS, etc.

Default is: 3.

--stream-segment-threads THREADS

The size of the thread pool used to download segments. Minimum value is 1 and maximum is 10.

This applies to all different kinds of segmented stream types, such as DASH, HLS, etc.

Default is: 1.

--stream-segment-timeout TIMEOUT

Segment connect and read timeout.

This applies to all different kinds of segmented stream types, such as DASH, HLS, etc.

Default is: 10.0.

--stream-timeout TIMEOUT

Timeout for reading data from streams.

This applies to all different kinds of stream types, such as DASH, HLS, HTTP, etc.

Default is: 60.0.

--mux-subtitles

Automatically mux available subtitles into the output stream.

Needs to be supported by the used plugin.

Supported plugins: funimationnow, rtve, svtplay, vimeo

HLS options

--hls-live-edge SEGMENTS

Number of segments from the live stream's current live position to begin streaming. The size or length of each segment is determined by the streaming provider.

Lower values will decrease the latency, but will also increase the chance of buffering, as there is less time for Streamlink to download segments and write their data to the output buffer. The number of parallel segment downloads can be set with --stream-segment-threads and the HLS playlist reload time to fetch and queue new segments can be overridden with --hls-playlist-reload-time.

Default is: 3.

Note

During live playback, the caching/buffering settings of the used player will add additional latency. To adjust this, please refer to the player's own documentation for the required configuration. Player parameters can be set via --player-args.

--hls-segment-stream-data

Immediately write segment data into output buffer while downloading.

--hls-playlist-reload-attempts ATTEMPTS

How many attempts should be done to reload the HLS playlist before giving up.

Default is: 3.

--hls-playlist-reload-time TIME

Set a custom HLS playlist reload time value, either in seconds or by using one of the following keywords:

  • segment: The duration of the last segment in the current playlist

  • live-edge: The sum of segment durations of the live edge value minus one

  • default: The playlist's target duration metadata

Default is: default.

--hls-segment-ignore-names NAMES

A comma-delimited list of segment names that will get filtered out.

Example: --hls-segment-ignore-names 000,001,002

This will ignore every segment that ends with 000.ts, 001.ts and 002.ts

Default is: None.

--hls-segment-key-uri URI

Override the segment encryption key URIs for encrypted streams.

The value can be templated using the following variables, which will be replaced with their respective part from the source segment URI:

{url} {scheme} {netloc} {path} {query}

Examples:

--hls-segment-key-uri "https://example.com/hls/encryption_key"
--hls-segment-key-uri "{scheme}://1.2.3.4{path}{query}"
--hls-segment-key-uri "{scheme}://{netloc}/custom/path/to/key"

Default is: None.

--hls-audio-select CODE

Selects a specific audio source or sources, by language code or name, when multiple audio sources are available. Can be * (asterisk) to download all audio sources.

Examples:

--hls-audio-select "English,German"
--hls-audio-select "en,de"
--hls-audio-select "*"

Note

This is only useful in special circumstances where the regular locale option fails, such as when multiple sources of the same language exists.

--hls-start-offset [HH:]MM:SS

Amount of time to skip from the beginning of the stream. For live streams, this is a negative offset from the end of the stream (rewind).

Default is: 00:00:00.

--hls-duration [HH:]MM:SS

Limit the playback duration, useful for watching segments of a stream. The actual duration may be slightly longer, as it is rounded to the nearest HLS segment.

Default is: unlimited.

--hls-live-restart

Skip to the beginning of a live stream, or as far back as possible.

FFmpeg options

--ffmpeg-ffmpeg FILENAME

FFMPEG is used to access or mux separate video and audio streams. You can specify the location of the ffmpeg executable if it is not in your PATH.

Example: --ffmpeg-ffmpeg "/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg"

--ffmpeg-verbose

Write the console output from ffmpeg to the console.

--ffmpeg-verbose-path PATH

Path to write the output from the ffmpeg console.

--ffmpeg-fout OUTFORMAT

When muxing streams, set the output format to OUTFORMAT.

Default is: "matroska".

Example: --ffmpeg-fout "mpegts"

--ffmpeg-video-transcode CODEC

When muxing streams, transcode the video to CODEC.

Default is: "copy".

Example: --ffmpeg-video-transcode "h264"

--ffmpeg-audio-transcode CODEC

When muxing streams, transcode the audio to CODEC.

Default is: "copy".

Example: --ffmpeg-audio-transcode "aac"

--ffmpeg-copyts

Forces the -copyts ffmpeg option and does not remove the initial start time offset value.

--ffmpeg-start-at-zero

Enable the -start_at_zero ffmpeg option when using --ffmpeg-copyts.

HTTP options

--http-proxy HTTP_PROXY

A HTTP proxy to use for all HTTP and HTTPS requests, including WebSocket connections.

Example: --http-proxy "http://hostname:port/"

A cookie to add to each HTTP request.

Can be repeated to add multiple cookies.

--http-header KEY=VALUE

A header to add to each HTTP request.

Can be repeated to add multiple headers.

--http-query-param KEY=VALUE

A query parameter to add to each HTTP request.

Can be repeated to add multiple query parameters.

--http-ignore-env

Ignore HTTP settings set in the environment such as environment variables (HTTP_PROXY, etc) or ~/.netrc authentication.

--http-no-ssl-verify

Don't attempt to verify SSL certificates.

Usually a bad idea, only use this if you know what you're doing.

--http-disable-dh

Disable Diffie Hellman key exchange

Usually a bad idea, only use this if you know what you're doing.

--http-ssl-cert FILENAME

SSL certificate to use.

Expects a .pem file.

--http-ssl-cert-crt-key CRT_FILENAME KEY_FILENAME

SSL certificate to use.

Expects a .crt and a .key file.

--http-timeout TIMEOUT

General timeout used by all HTTP requests except the ones covered by other options.

Default is: 20.0.

Plugin options

Afreeca

--afreeca-username USERNAME

The username used to register with afreecatv.com.

--afreeca-password PASSWORD

A afreecatv.com account password to use with --afreeca-username.

--afreeca-purge-credentials

Purge cached AfreecaTV credentials to initiate a new session and reauthenticate.

Bbciplayer

--bbciplayer-username USERNAME

The username used to register with bbc.co.uk.

--bbciplayer-password PASSWORD

A bbc.co.uk account password to use with --bbciplayer-username.

--bbciplayer-hd

Prefer HD streams over local SD streams, some live programmes may not be broadcast in HD.

Clubbingtv

--clubbingtv-username

The username used to register with Clubbing TV.

--clubbingtv-password

A Clubbing TV account password to use with --clubbingtv-username.

Crunchyroll

--crunchyroll-username USERNAME

A Crunchyroll username to allow access to restricted streams.

--crunchyroll-password [PASSWORD]

A Crunchyroll password for use with --crunchyroll-username.

If left blank you will be prompted.

--crunchyroll-purge-credentials

Purge cached Crunchyroll credentials to initiate a new session and reauthenticate.

--crunchyroll-session-id SESSION_ID

Set a specific session ID for crunchyroll, can be used to bypass region restrictions. If using an authenticated session ID, it is recommended that the authentication parameters be omitted as the session ID is account specific.

Note

The session ID will be overwritten if authentication is used and the session ID does not match the account.

Funimationnow

--funimation-email

Email address for your Funimation account.

--funimation-password

Password for your Funimation account.

--funimation-language

The audio language to use for the stream; japanese or english.

Default is: "english".

Nicolive

--niconico-email EMAIL

The email or phone number associated with your Niconico account

--niconico-password PASSWORD

The password of your Niconico account

--niconico-user-session VALUE

Value of the user-session token.

Can be used as an alternative to providing a password.

--niconico-purge-credentials

Purge cached Niconico credentials to initiate a new session and reauthenticate.

--niconico-timeshift-offset [HH:]MM:SS

Amount of time to skip from the beginning of a stream.

Default is: 00:00:00.

Openrectv

--openrectv-email EMAIL

The email associated with your openrectv account, required to access any openrectv stream.

--openrectv-password PASSWORD

An openrectv account password to use with --openrectv-email.

Pixiv

--pixiv-sessionid SESSIONID

The pixiv.net sessionid that's used in pixiv's PHPSESSID cookie.

--pixiv-devicetoken DEVICETOKEN

The pixiv.net device token that's used in pixiv's device_token cookie.

--pixiv-purge-credentials

Purge cached Pixiv credentials to initiate a new session and reauthenticate.

--pixiv-performer USER

Select a co-host stream instead of the owner stream.

Sbscokr

--sbscokr-id CHANNELID

Channel ID to play.

Example:

streamlink http://play.sbs.co.kr/onair/pc/index.html best --sbscokr-id S01

Schoolism

--schoolism-email EMAIL

The email associated with your Schoolism account, required to access any Schoolism stream.

--schoolism-password PASSWORD

A Schoolism account password to use with --schoolism-email.

--schoolism-part PART

Play part number PART of the lesson, or assignment feedback video.

Default is: 1.

Steam

--steam-email EMAIL

A Steam account email address to access friends/private streams

--steam-password PASSWORD

A Steam account password to use with --steam-email.

Streann

--streann-url URL

Source URL where the iframe is located, only required for direct URLs of ott.streann.com

Twitcasting

--twitcasting-password PASSWORD

Password for private Twitcasting streams.

Twitch

--twitch-disable-ads

Skip embedded advertisement segments at the beginning or during a stream. Will cause these segments to be missing from the output.

--twitch-disable-reruns

Do not open the stream if the target channel is currently broadcasting a rerun.

--twitch-low-latency

Enables low latency streaming by prefetching HLS segments. Sets --hls-segment-stream-data to true and --hls-live-edge to 2, if it is higher. Reducing --hls-live-edge to 1 will result in the lowest latency possible, but will most likely cause buffering.

In order to achieve true low latency streaming during playback, the player's caching/buffering settings will need to be adjusted and reduced to a value as low as possible, but still high enough to not cause any buffering. This depends on the stream's bitrate and the quality of the connection to Twitch's servers. Please refer to the player's own documentation for the required configuration. Player parameters can be set via --player-args.

Note

Low latency streams have to be enabled by the broadcasters on Twitch themselves. Regular streams can cause buffering issues with this option enabled due to the reduced --hls-live-edge value.

--twitch-api-header KEY=VALUE

A header to add to each Twitch API HTTP request.

Can be repeated to add multiple headers.

Ustreamtv

--ustream-password PASSWORD

A password to access password protected UStream.tv channels.

Ustvnow

--ustvnow-username USERNAME

Your USTV Now account username

--ustvnow-password PASSWORD

Your USTV Now account password

Wwenetwork

--wwenetwork-email EMAIL

The email associated with your WWE Network account, required to access any WWE Network stream.

--wwenetwork-password PASSWORD

A WWE Network account password to use with --wwenetwork-email.

Yupptv

--yupptv-boxid BOXID

The yupptv.com boxid that's used in the BoxId cookie.

--yupptv-yuppflixtoken YUPPFLIXTOKEN

The yupptv.com yuppflixtoken that's used in the YuppflixToken cookie.

--yupptv-purge-credentials

Purge cached YuppTV credentials to initiate a new session and reauthenticate.

Zattoo

--zattoo-email EMAIL

The email associated with your zattoo account, required to access any zattoo stream.

--zattoo-password PASSWORD

A zattoo account password to use with --zattoo-email.

--zattoo-purge-credentials

Purge cached zattoo credentials to initiate a new session and reauthenticate.

--zattoo-stream-types TYPES

A comma-delimited list of stream types which should be used.

The following types are allowed: dash,hls7

Default is: "dash".