quickstart

streamlink - Video Stream CLI

Overview

streamlink is a CLI utility that extracts streams from various services (Twitch, YouTube, etc.) and pipes them to video players or files. It supports JSON output for automation and integration with other tools.

Quick Start

Stream video to player

sc streamlink stream url <url> <quality>

List available stream qualities in JSON

sc streamlink list qualities <url>

Download stream to file

sc streamlink download stream <url> <quality>

Passthrough to streamlink CLI

sc streamlink _ <streamlink-args>

Key Features

• JSON Output: Use --json to get machine-readable output for automation
• Multi-Service Support: Works with Twitch, YouTube, and many other streaming services
• Quality Selection: Choose best, worst, or specific stream quality
• Download or Stream: Either play in video player or download to file
• Plugin System: Extensible via plugins for new streaming services

Installation

pip install streamlink

Usage Examples

Stream the best quality

streamlink "https://www.twitch.tv/example" best

Download a stream

streamlink --output "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example" best

List available qualities as JSON

streamlink --json "https://www.twitch.tv/example"

Check if a URL is supported

streamlink --can-handle-url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example"

Notes

• The default player is VLC, but can be configured
• Use --help to see all available options
• Stream metadata can be read without playing the stream
• Supports cookies and authentication for some services