Command-Line Interface¶

Syntax¶

The config file is a simple text file and should contain one command-line option (omitting the dashes) per line in the format:

option=value

or for a option without value:

option

Example¶

# Player options
player=mpv --cache 2048
player-no-close

# Authenticate with Twitch
twitch-oauth-token=mytoken

Examples¶

Have a look at the list of plugins to see the name of each built-in plugin.

Authenticating with Twitch¶

It's possible to access subscription content on Twitch by giving Streamlink access to your account.

Authentication is done by creating an OAuth token that Streamlink will use to access your account. It's done like this:

$ streamlink --twitch-oauth-authenticate

This will open a web browser where Twitch will ask you if you want to give Streamlink permission to access your account, then forwards you to a page with further instructions on how to use it.

Authenticating with Crunchyroll¶

Crunchyroll requires authenticating with a premium account to access some of their content. To do so, the plugin provides a couple of options to input your information, --crunchyroll-username and --crunchyroll-password.

You can login like this:

$ streamlink --crunchyroll-username=xxxx --crunchyroll-password=xxx http://crunchyroll.com/a-crunchyroll-episode-link

Once logged in, the plugin makes sure to save the session credentials to avoid asking your username and password again.

Nevertheless, these credentials are valid for a limited amount of time, so it might be a good idea to save your username and password in your configuration file anyway.

HTTP proxy with Crunchyroll¶

You can use the --http-proxy and --https-proxy options (you need both since the plugin uses both protocols) to access the Crunchyroll servers through a proxy to be able to stream region locked content.

When doing this, it's very probable that you will get denied to access the stream; this occurs because the session and credentials used by the plugin where obtained when logged from your own region, and the server still assumes you're in that region.

For this, the plugin provides the --crunchyroll-purge-credentials option, which removes your saved session and credentials and tries to log in again using your username and password.

Supported streaming protocols¶

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.

--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

-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}¶

Enable or disable the automatic check for a new version of Streamlink.

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.

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> <quality>

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> <quality>
streamlink --player=./vlc-player/vlc <url> <quality>

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> <quality>
streamlink --player "C:\path\with spaces\mpc-hc64.exe" <url> <quality>

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

streamlink --player "vlc --file-caching=5000" <url> <quality>

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. Unlike the --player parameter, custom player arguments will not be logged.

This 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:

filename

This is the filename that the player will use. It's usually "-" (stdin), but can also be a URL or a file depending on the options used.

It's usually enough to use --player instead of this unless you need to add arguments after the filename.

Default is: "{filename}".

Example:

streamlink -p vlc -a "--play-and-exit {filename}" <url> <quality>

-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.

Behavior will be similar to the 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.

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-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
• rtmp

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.

File output options¶

-o FILENAME, --output FILENAME¶

Write stream data to FILENAME instead of playing it.

You will be prompted if the file already exists.

-f, --force¶

When using -o, always write to file even if it already exists.

-O, --stdout¶

Write stream data to stdout instead of playing it.

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.

--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. A * can be used as a wildcard to match any other type of stream, eg. muxed-stream.

Default is: "rtmp,hls,hds,http,akamaihd,*".

--stream-sorting-excludes STREAMS¶

Fine tune best/worst synonyms by excluding unwanted streams.

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":

">480p"

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

For example this will exclude streams from two quality types:

">480p,>medium"

Stream transport options¶

--hds-live-edge SECONDS¶

The time live HDS streams will start from the edge of stream.

Default is: 10.0.

--hds-segment-attempts ATTEMPTS¶

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

Default is: 3.

--hds-segment-threads THREADS¶

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

Default is: 1.

--hds-segment-timeout TIMEOUT¶

HDS segment connect and read timeout.

Default is: 10.0.

--hds-timeout TIMEOUT¶

Timeout for reading data from HDS streams.

Default is: 60.0.

--hls-live-edge SEGMENTS¶

How many segments from the end to start live HLS streams on.

The lower the value the lower latency from the source you will be, but also increases the chance of buffering.

Default is: 3.

--hls-segment-attempts ATTEMPTS¶

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

Default is: 3.

--hls-playlist-reload-attempts ATTEMPTS¶

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

Default is: 3.

--hls-segment-threads THREADS¶

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

Default is: 1.

--hls-segment-timeout TIMEOUT¶

HLS segment connect and read timeout.

Default is: 10.0.

--hls-segment-ignore-names NAMES¶

A comma-delimited list of segment names that will not be fetched.

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.

Note

The --hls-timeout must be increased, to a time that is longer than the ignored break.

--hls-audio-select CODE¶

Selects a specific audio source, by language code, when multiple audio sources are available.

Note

This is only useful in special circumstances where the regular locale option fails.

--hls-timeout TIMEOUT¶

Timeout for reading data from HLS streams.

Default is: 60.0.

--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.

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.

Has no effect on live streams.

Default is: unlimited.

--hls-live-restart¶

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

--http-stream-timeout TIMEOUT¶

Timeout for reading data from HTTP streams.

Default is: 60.0.

--ringbuffer-size SIZE¶

The maximum size of ringbuffer. Add a M or K suffix to specify mega or kilo bytes instead of bytes.

The ringbuffer is used as a temporary storage between the stream and the player. This is to allows us to download the stream faster than the player wants to read it.

The smaller the size, the higher chance of the player buffering if there are download speed dips and the higher size the more data we can use as a storage to catch up from speed dips.

It also allows you to temporary pause as long as the ringbuffer doesn't get full since we continue to download the stream in the background.

Note

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

Default is: "16M".

--rtmp-proxy PROXY, --rtmpdump-proxy PROXY¶

A SOCKS proxy that RTMP streams will use.

Example: 127.0.0.1:9050

--rtmp-rtmpdump FILENAME, --rtmpdump FILENAME, -r FILENAME¶

RTMPDump is used to access RTMP streams. You can specify the location of the rtmpdump executable if it is not in your PATH.

Example: "/usr/local/bin/rtmpdump"

--rtmp-timeout TIMEOUT¶

Timeout for reading data from RTMP streams.

Default is: 60.0.

--stream-segment-attempts ATTEMPTS¶

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

This is generic option used by streams not covered by other options, such as stream protocols specific to plugins, e.g. UStream.

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 is generic option used by streams not covered by other options, such as stream protocols specific to plugins, e.g. UStream.

Default is: 1.

--stream-segment-timeout TIMEOUT¶

Segment connect and read timeout.

This is generic option used by streams not covered by other options, such as stream protocols specific to plugins, e.g. UStream.

Default is: 10.0.

--stream-timeout TIMEOUT¶

Timeout for reading data from streams.

This is generic option used by streams not covered by other options, such as stream protocols specific to plugins, e.g. UStream.

Default is: 60.0.

--stream-url¶

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

--subprocess-cmdline, --cmdline, -c¶

Print the command-line used internally to play the stream.

This is only available on RTMP streams.

--subprocess-errorlog, --errorlog, -e¶

Log possible errors from internal subprocesses to a temporary file. The file will be saved in your systems temporary directory.

Useful when debugging rtmpdump related issues.

--subprocess-errorlog-path PATH, --errorlog-path PATH¶

Log the subprocess errorlog to a specific file rather than a temporary file. Takes precedence over subprocess-errorlog.

Useful when debugging rtmpdump related issues.

--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: "/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-video-transcode CODEC¶

When muxing streams transcode the video to this CODEC.

Default is: "copy".

Example: "h264"

--ffmpeg-audio-transcode CODEC¶

When muxing streams transcode the audio to this CODEC.

Default is: "copy".

Example: "aac"

HTTP options¶

--http-proxy HTTP_PROXY¶

A HTTP proxy to use for all HTTP requests.

Example: "http://hostname:port/"

--https-proxy HTTPS_PROXY¶

A HTTPS capable proxy to use for all HTTPS requests.

Example: "https://hostname:port/"

--http-cookie KEY=VALUE¶

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¶

--plugin-dirs DIRECTORY¶

Attempts to load plugins from these directories.

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

--twitch-oauth-token TOKEN¶

An OAuth token to use for Twitch authentication. Use --twitch-oauth-authenticate to create a token.

--twitch-oauth-authenticate¶

Open a web browser where you can grant Streamlink access to your Twitch account which creates a token for use with --twitch-oauth-token.

--twitch-cookie COOKIES¶

Twitch cookies to authenticate to allow access to subscription channels.

Example:

"_twitch_session_id=xxxxxx; persistent=xxxxx"

Note

This method is the old and clunky way of authenticating with Twitch, using --twitch-oauth-authenticate is the recommended and simpler way of doing it now.

--twitch-disable-hosting¶

Do not open the stream if the target channel is hosting another channel.

--ustream-password PASSWORD¶

A password to access password protected UStream.tv channels.

--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.

--btv-username USERNAME¶

A BTV username required to access any stream.

--btv-password PASSWORD¶

A BTV account password to use with --btv-username.

--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.

Defaults is 1.

--rtve-mux-subtitles¶

Automatically mux available subtitles in to the output stream.

--funimation-language¶

The audio language to use for Funimation streams; japanese or english.

Default is: "english".

--funimation-mux-subtitles¶

Enable automatically including available subtitles in to the output stream.

--tvplayer-email EMAIL¶

The email address used to register with tvplayer.com.

--tvplayer-password PASSWORD¶

A TVPlayer account password to use with --tvplayer-email.

--pluzz-mux-subtitles¶

Automatically mux available subtitles in to the output stream.

--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.

--animelab-email EMAIL¶

The email address used to register with animelab.com.

--animelab-password PASSWORD¶

A TVPlayer account password to use with --animelab-email.

--npo-subtitles¶

Include subtitles for the deaf or hard of hearing, if available.

--liveedu-email EMAIL¶

The email address used to register with liveedu.tv.

--liveedu-password PASSWORD¶

A LiveEdu account password to use with --liveedu-email.

--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.

--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.

--afreeca-username USERNAME¶

The username used to register with afreecatv.com.

--afreeca-password PASSWORD¶

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

--pixiv-username USERNAME¶

The email/username used to register with pixiv.net

--pixiv-password PASSWORD¶

A pixiv.net account password to use with --pixiv-username