Yt-dlp not up to date in pacman

Ray2 · 3 October 2025 23:51

You tube downloader is not up to date in pacman. It says the latest version is 2025.09.05-1 which doesn’t work in Youtube anymore. Github says the latest version is 2025.09.26 which I just downloaded and confirmed that it works. Any idea when pacman will have the latest version available for download?

Thank you

BG405 · 4 October 2025 00:23

Not sure about the repos, but this might be an option (I don’t usually recommend AUR stuff for obvious reasons):

$ pamac search -a yt-dlp | grep -E "26|fixes"
yt-dlp-rtp  2024.09.26-1                                                     AUR
yt-dlp build with fixes to make it work on RTP Play

I removed the irrelevant entries from the result.

scotty65 · 4 October 2025 00:52

The more recent version of yt-dlp has made its way to Testing branch, but it looks like it just missed out on being included in the last Stable update (2025-09-26):

mbn info yt-dlp -q | grep -Ev 'Name|Repository|Packager'
Branch         : archlinux
Version        : 2025.09.26-1
Build Date     : Sat 27 Sep 2025 17:32:09 
Branch         : unstable
Version        : 2025.09.26-1
Build Date     : Sat 27 Sep 2025 17:32:09 
Branch         : testing
Version        : 2025.09.26-1
Build Date     : Sat 27 Sep 2025 17:32:09 
Branch         : stable
Version        : 2025.09.05-1
Build Date     : Mon 08 Sep 2025 23:56:04

_{mbn can be found in the manjaro-check-repos package}

There are a couple of options available to you:

The first is to switch to Testing branch (which is quite stable - I’ve been on Testing since May 2024 with no issues encountered).

To switch to Testing branch:

sudo pacman-mirrors --api --set-branch testing

or, to switch to Unstable branch:

sudo pacman-mirrors --api --set-branch unstable

After you changed the branch, rebuild the mirrorlist and update your packages:

sudo pacman-mirrors --continent && sudo pacman -Syu

The second option (and this is the one I use myself) is to install the Git version of yt-dlp from the AUR:

pamac build yt-dlp-git

It only takes a minute to build. Then, whenever there is new release on Git of yt-dlp, just run the pamac build yt-dlp-git command again to install the new version.

I also monitor the latest yt-dlp releases by subscribing to the Release notes from yt-dlp atom feed. The moment a new release advisory appears in my RSS reader, I re-run the pamac build yt-dlp-git command.

Output of pamac info yt-dlp-git

pamac info yt-dlp-git 
Name                  : yt-dlp-git
Version               : 2025.09.26.r0.g88e2a2d-1
Description           : A youtube-dl fork with additional features and fixes (git)
URL                   : https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp
Licenses              : Unlicense
Repository            : AUR
Installed Size        : 32.9 MB
Groups                : --
Depends On            : python python-certifi python-requests python-urllib3
Optional Dependencies : ffmpeg: for video post-processing [Installed]
                        rtmpdump: for rtmp streams support [Installed]
                        atomicparsley: for embedding thumbnails into m4a files
                        aria2: for using aria2 as external downloader [Installed]
                        python-mutagen: for embedding thumbnail in certain formats
                        python-pycryptodome: for decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data [Installed]
                        python-pycryptodomex: for decrypting AES-128 HLS streams and various other data [Installed]
                        python-websockets: for downloading over websocket
                        python-brotli: brotli content encoding support [Installed]
                        python-brotlicffi: brotli content encoding support [Installed]
                        python-xattr: for writing xattr metadata
                        python-pyxattr: for writing xattr metadata (alternative option)
                        phantomjs: for extractors with javascript code
                        python-secretstorage: For -cookies-from-browser to access the GNOME keyring while decrypting cookies of Chromium-based browsers [Installed]
                        python-curl-cffi: for impersonating browsers
Make Dependencies     : pandoc python-build python-hatchling python-installer git
Check Dependencies    : python-pytest
Required By           : --
Optional For          : haruna mpv smplayer
Provides              : yt-dlp
Replaces              : --
Conflicts With        : yt-dlp
Packager              : Unknown Packager
Maintainer            : katt
First Submitted       : Mon 09 Aug 2021 01:20:52
Last Modified         : Tue 25 Mar 2025 02:45:22
Votes                 : 51
Out of Date           : --
Build Date            : Sat 27 Sep 2025 10:25:45
Install Date          : Sat 27 Sep 2025 10:26:16
Install Reason        : Explicitly installed
Validated By          : None
Backup files          : --

Ray2 · 4 October 2025 01:38

Thank you. I’ll keep this in mind for the future.

Ray2 · 4 October 2025 01:40

Thank you. Being a novice to Linux and not comfortable using the command line much I think I’ll wait for the latest release to be available in the Add/Remove Software Update tab. But I’ll keep this in mind if it stops working again.

scotty65 · 4 October 2025 02:24

You can also install yt-dlp-git via the Software Manager. Just ensure that you have AUR Support enabled in the Preferences → Third Party section. You may also need to refresh the databases via the preferences drop-down menu after enabling the AUR.

yt-dlp-git should then be listed in the software manager:

Teo · 4 October 2025 04:08

And just for a good measure we can ping @Yochanan . Maybe he can update it in the stable branch (i know the policy for fast tracking but since it’s not working at all and a dependency of many apps…maybe an exception can be made).

jrichard326 · 4 October 2025 10:17

There also is a standalone version located here under the alternatives section:

Also have a look at this important announcement regarding yt-dlp:

github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp

[Announcement] Upcoming new requirements for YouTube downloads

opened 09:38AM - 23 Sep 25 UTC

bashonly

discussion/announcement site:youtube

### Beginning very soon, you'll need to have [Deno](https://deno.com/) (or anoth…er supported JavaScript runtime) installed to keep YouTube downloads working as normal. ## Why? Up until now, yt-dlp has been able to use its [built-in JavaScript "interpreter"](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/2025.09.23/yt_dlp/jsinterp.py) to solve the JavaScript challenges that are required for YouTube downloads. But due to [recent changes on YouTube's end](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/14400), the built-in JS interpreter will soon be insufficient for this purpose. The changes are so drastic that [yt-dlp will need to leverage a proper JavaScript runtime in order to solve the JS challenges](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/14157). ## What do I need to do? ### Everyone will need to install [Deno](https://deno.com/) (or another supported JavaScript runtime; see the FAQ below). yt-dlp will also need a few JavaScript components, and **this *may* require additional action from you** depending on how you installed yt-dlp: - **Official PyInstaller-bundled executable users (e.g. `yt-dlp.exe`, `yt-dlp_macos`, `yt-dlp_linux`, etc):** - No additional action required (besides having Deno). All the necessary JavaScript components will be bundled with these executables. - **PyPI package users (e.g. installed with `pip`, `pipx`, etc):** - Install *and upgrade* yt-dlp with the `default` optional dependency group included, e.g.: `pip install -U "yt-dlp[default]"` - **Official zipimport binary users (the `yt-dlp` Unix executable):** - Run yt-dlp with an additional flag to allow Deno to download `npm` dependencies *--or--* install yt-dlp's JS solver package in your Python environment. (The flag name and the package name are both still TBD.) - **Third-party package users (e.g. installed with `pacman`, `brew`, etc):** - The action required will depend on how your third-party package repository decides to handle this change. But the options available for "official zipimport binary users" should work for you as well. --- # Frequently Asked Questions (and answers to them) 1. ### Does this mean yt-dlp is unusable without Deno (or another supported JavaScript runtime)? No. The JavaScript runtime requirement will only apply to downloading from YouTube. yt-dlp can still be used without it on [the other ~thousand sites it supports](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/2025.09.23/supportedsites.md). The relationship between yt-dlp and the JS runtime will be analogous to the relationship between yt-dlp and ffmpeg. You need to bring your own ffmpeg, but yt-dlp can still do a lot of things without it. Downloading *some* formats from YouTube without a JS runtime will still be possible for at least a little while longer: e.g. [`web_safari`](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp#youtube) m3u8 formats do not require a `n` parameter nor do they require a [PO token](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/PO-Token-Guide). We'll try to keep these formats available for as long as possible. 2. ### Why can't yt-dlp's native JavaScript interpreter be improved to handle the new YouTube player JS? Currently, yt-dlp relies on a complicated [set of regex patterns](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/4429fd0450a3fbd5e89573e06533c1a0874fae42/yt_dlp/extractor/youtube/_video.py#L2226-L2287) to identify the necessary functions in the YouTube player JS, and relies on even [more regex](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/yt_dlp/jsinterp.py) to try and interpret that JavaScript code natively within Python. This code was already hugely costly to maintain. Any time YouTube changed something about their player JS, it would cause multiple maintainers to drop everything and spend all of their free time for the next 2-3 days trying to fix things. With the latest changes, the necessary functions are spread out all over the player and are much more difficult to identify. Continuing to use the regex-based approach would be far too brittle and far too costly (i.e. maintainers would be spending all of their free time for the next 2-3 *weeks* after a breakage trying to fix things). So the regex-based approach has been abandoned in favor of an AST-based approach (https://github.com/yt-dlp/ejs), which should allow us to respond much more quickly to changes in the player JS, even as its obfuscation increases. 3. ### Why *Deno*? Deno is sandboxed by default and does not allow filesystem or network access. This is essential to protect our less-technically-inclined users. It also comes as a single-file portable executable, making its "installation" comparable to that of ffmpeg (which is something that all of our users should already be familiar with.) Another obstacle we are facing in the near future is [YouTube's proof-of-origin (PO) token](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/PO-Token-Guide) requirement being enforced for all YT player clients. Implementing a built-in solution to this will also require JavaScript functionality which far exceeds that of our native `jsinterp` module. So we chose a runtime that would be able to handle the JS challenges (`n` parameter/signature cipher) *as well as* PO token generation in the future. 4. ### Will other JavaScript runtimes be supported? The [linked pull request](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/14157/files#diff-b335630551682c19a781afebcf4d07bf978fb1f8ac04c6bf87428ed5106870f5) already supports **Node** and **Bun** in addition to Deno. This was not advertised in the original announcement post because **A.)** Deno is the safest option & we'd prefer less-technically-inclined yt-dlp users to stick with that, **B.)** Deno will be used by default while using Node/Bun will require user intervention (i.e. passing a CLI argument), and **C.)** yt-dlp may only be able to support recent versions of Node and Bun (see question 10 below). And while Deno, Node and Bun are the only runtimes that will be *initially* supported, we are open to adding support for more. 5. ### What about *PhantomJS*? PhantomJS will no longer be used by yt-dlp's YouTube extractor in any capacity. The project is unmaintained, outdated and insecure. From a developer's perspective, it is nearly impossible to debug. There was an unsuccessful attempt made to get it working with this solution, but ultimately we decided we need to abandon it. For now, PhantomJS is still being used by a handful of other (non-YouTube) extractors. 6. ### What about *QuickJS*? There was also an attempt made to use our external solver script with QuickJS, but it yielded execution times of ~33 minutes per video. (It also failed because QuickJS needed a polyfill for `URL`). Per [consultation with a quickjs-ng maintainer](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/14404#issuecomment-3330764760), QuickJS is not a good fit for us since we could only realistically expect to double this speed (~15 minutes per video). Edit: After more investigation, the performance characteristics observed by us are only present in quickjs-ng, not upstream quickjs. quickjs-ng is also looking in to backporting the performance improvements from upstream (https://github.com/quickjs-ng/quickjs/issues/1002). While slower than v8 based engines, quickjs seems fast enough to be viable. For now we will focus on getting the framework merged. Support for other JS runtimes can easily be added later. 7. ### What about *Selenium* or a headless browser solution? The yt-dlp maintainers have no interest in doing this except as a measure of last resort. A headless browser solution would be an admission of defeat and would go against the spirit of this project. 8. ### Is this change the same thing as the [YTNSigDeno plugin](https://github.com/bashonly/yt-dlp-YTNSigDeno)? No. The plugin just substitutes Deno for the native JSInterp after the `n` cipher function has already been extracted using Python regex. The actual solution will (out of necessity) completely delegate the `n` cipher function extraction to the JS runtime. The plugin's development has been abandoned and the repository will be archived after yt-dlp has native Deno support. 9. ### What is the minimum required version of Deno? We don't yet know exactly, but we are assuming version 2.x for now. After the patch is finalized and more testing has been conducted, we will have a definitive answer and it will be included in the announcement at release time. If we find out any sooner, this answer will be updated. 10. ### What is the minimum required version of Node? It can be assumed that EOL versions of Node (i.e. `<20`) will **not** be supported. Per some testing earlier today, Node version `>=21` is required by the PR branch. We'll look into the feasibility of supporting Node 20. 11. ### What about platforms that aren't supported by the minimum required versions of these JavaScript runtimes? We are open to adding support for other JavaScript runtimes so long as they fit into our established framework (see the [linked PR](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/14157)). Pull requests are welcome, but obviously we ask that you wait until the initial linked PR has been merged. 12. ### What do I need to do if I'm using \[*insert Linux/BSD distro here*\]? You'll have to wait and see what your distro's package maintainers decide to do. 13. ### I installed Deno, but why doesn't yt-dlp seem to be using it? This change has not yet been implemented. This announcement is intended to give everyone a heads up.

Teo · 4 October 2025 15:58

That was very important information. I guess we will need to install an additional package as a dependency soon.

Ray2 · 6 October 2025 01:21

Thank you. I just got an update today for this via add/remove software. Just wanted to let anyone else know that the update is now available.