clive(1) command line video extraction utility

SYNOPSIS

clive [options]... [URL]...

DESCRIPTION

clive is a command line video extraction utility for Youtube and other similar video-sharing websites. It was written to work around the Adobe Flash plugin requirement as the technology is poorly supported on Unix-like systems.

clive is not an universal video extraction utility. In fact, it supports only a number of video websites. Each website typically exposes access to the video content in a very different way, meaning that clive has to be customized for each website in order to download any videos from them.

OPTIONS

 -h, --help                     print help and exit
 -v, --version                  print version and exit
     --hosts                    print supported hosts and exit
     --upgrade-config           upgrade 2.0/2.1 config to 2.2+ format
 -l, --last                     recall last input
     --last-file=FILE           read/write FILE instead of default path
Output Options:
     --emit-csv                 emit video details in CSV to stdout
     --debug                    print cURL debug messages
 -q, --quiet                    turn off all output
     --stderr                   redirect all output to stderr
     --print-fname              print filename before download starts
HTTP Options:
     --agent=STRING             identify as STRING to http server
     --connect-timeout=SECS     max time allowed connection to take
     --connect-timeout-socks=S  same as above, tries to workaround SOCKS
     --proxy=ADDR               use ADDR for http proxy
     --no-proxy                 disable all use of http proxy
     --cookie-jar=FILE          enable cookies, write them to FILE
Cache Options:
     --cache-file=FILE          read/write FILE instead of default path
 -r, --cache-read               enable reading from cache
 -d, --cache-dump               dump cache records to stdout
     --cache-dump-format=STRING print format for dumping cache records
     --cache-grep=PATTERN       grep cache records for PATTERN
 -i, --cache-ignore-case        ignore case while matching records
 -D, --cache-remove-record      remove matched records from cache
     --cache-clear              truncate cache records
     --no-cache                 disable cache all (read and write) use
Download Options:
 -f, --format=FORMAT            extract FORMAT of video
 -O, --output-file=FILE         write video to file
 -c, --continue                 continue partially downloaded file
 -n, --no-extract               do not extract any videos
     --save-dir=DIR             save video files to DIR
     --cclass=CLASS             use character CLASS to filter titles
 -C, --no-cclass                do not apply character class
     --filename-format=STRING   use STRING to format output filename
     --exec=CMD                 command to run when transfer finishes
 -e, --exec-run                 invoke command defined with --exec
     --stream-exec=CMD          stream command to be invoked
     --stream=PERCENT           invoke --stream-exec when transfer reaches %
 -s, --stream-pass              pass video link to --stream-exec command
     --limit-rate=AMOUNT        limit transfer rate to AMOUNT (KB/s)
     --stop-after=SIZE|PERCENT  stop file transfer after SIZE or PERCENT

OPTION SYNTAX

You may freely mix different option styles and specify options after the command line arguments, e.g.:
  % clive -c URL --format=best

You may also put several options together that do not require arguments:
  % clive -cnrf best URL

Note that the ``dashed'' options have aliases. For example:
  % clive --no-extract --no_extract --noextract
  % clive --cache-read --cache_read --cacheread

OPTION DESCRIPTIONS

-h, --help
Print help and exit.
-v, --version
Print version and exit.
--hosts
Print supported hosts with available formats and exit.
--upgrade-config
Upgrade clive 2.0/2.1 config to current 2.2+ format and exit.
-l, --last
Re-feed the previously fed video page links from the last run time.
--last-file=path
Use path instead of the default path. See also ``FILES''.

Output options

--emit-csv
Print (or emit) video details in CSV format to standard output. Implies --no-extract.
--print-fname
Print filename on a separate line before download starts.
--debug
Print cURL debug (or verbose) messages to standard error.
-q, --quiet
Turn off all output to standard output and error.
--stderr
Direct all output to standard error.

HTTP Options

--agent=string
Identify clive as string to HTTP servers. Defaults to ``Mozilla/5.0''.
--connect-timeout=seconds
Maximum time in seconds allowed for connection to take. Defaults to 30.
--connect-timeout-socks=seconds
Same as above but tries to workaround the SOCKS proxy bug in cURL. Defaults to 30.
--proxy=address
Use address for HTTP proxy. Example: ``http://foo:1234''.
--no-proxy
Disable all use of HTTP proxy, even if http_proxy environment variable is set.
--cookie-jar=file
Enable cookies, which are otherwise rejected by default, and have libcurl to write them to file. Specify ``-'' to instead to have the cookies written to stdout.

Cache Options

--cache-file=path
Use path instead of the default path. See ``FILES''.
-r, --cache-read
Read video details from cache record if it exists. Allows clive to skip video page fetching and parsing again. See ``CACHE'' section for more on this.
-d, --cache-dump
Dump cache records to standard output.
--cache-dump-format=format-string
Used to format the output of the above. Defaults to ``%n: %t [%f, %mMB]''.

Example:
  % clive --cache-dump --cache-dump-format=``%d: %t''

Supported format specifiers:
  %t .. video page title
  %i .. video id
  %h .. video host
  %l .. video file length (bytes)
  %m .. video file length (MB)
  %d .. date (last update)
  %T .. time (last update)
  %s .. time stamp (same as ``%d %T'')
  %f .. video file format
  %n .. index

--cache-grep=pattern
Grep stored cache records for pattern. See also ``EXAMPLES - ADVANCED USE''.
-i, --cache-ignore-case
Ignore case-differences while matching records.
-D, --cache-remove-record
Remove matched records from cache.
--cache-clear
Truncate cache records.
--no-cache
Disable all (read and write) cache use.

Download Options

-f, --format=format
Download the format of the video. If format is set to best, clive will attempt to download the best quality of the video.

Note that the format is strictly host specific. See the ``FORMATS'' section for more on this.

-n, --no-extract
Do not extract the video. In other words: simulate only to the point that clive verifies the video link after fetching and parsing the video page.
-O, --output-file=file
Write video to file. Overwrites an already existing file.

Do not use this option when you are downloading more than one video
 on one go.

See also the note below.

-c, --continue
Continue partially downloaded video file.

Note that, by default, clive appends a numeric suffix to the filename if the file exists already. That is unless: 

  * file is already completely retrieved, or:
  * -c or -O is used
--save-dir=dir
Save extracted videos to dir. clive defaults to the current working directory.
--cclass=class
Use character-class to filter video page titles. Defaults to ``\w''. This is a Perl regular expression character class. For example: ``[A-Za-z0-9]''.
-C, --no-cclass
Disables the use of --cclass. Causes clive to use the video page title as it is for output filename.
--filename-format=format-string
Use format-string to format output video filenames. Default is ``%t.%s''.

Supported format specifiers:
  %t .. video page title (after applying character-class filter)
  %s .. video file suffix (e.g. ``flv'')
  %i .. video id
  %h .. video host

--exec=command;
Defines the command to run when video file transfer completes. Note that --exec-run must be used to actually cause clive to invoke the defined command.

Optional arguments may be passed to the command. The expression must be terminated by a semicolon (``;''). If the specifier ``%i'' appears anywhere in the command, it is replaced by the pathname of the extracted video file.

--exec=command+
Same as above but ``%i'' is replaced with as many path names as possible for the invocation of command.
-e, --exec-run
Causes clive to invoke the command defined with --exec when transfer finishes.
--stream-exec=command
Define the command to be invoked with --stream and --stream-pass. If a ``%i'' specifier is used in the command, it will be replaced with either video file path name (--stream) or parsed video link (--stream-pass).
--stream=percent
Causes clive to fetch, parse, start download and eventually invoke the command defined with --stream-exec when the transfer reaches the percentage defined with this option. See also ``EXAMPLES''.

Note that clive does nothing to check if there is enough data buffered before invoking the --stream-exec defined command. If the transfer rate drops significantly after starting the process and it runs out of data, clive does nothing to fix this.

Also note that clive will not continue to download another file before the child process exits.

This mode is supported for historical reasons. Consider using --stream-pass instead.

-s, --stream-pass
Otherwise the same as above but instead of starting the download, clive passes the parsed video link to the command defined with --stream-exec. See also ``EXAMPLES''.

This option was inspired by a clive(1) wrapper script contributed by Bill Squire.

--limit-rate=amount
Limit transfer rate to amount KB/s.
--stop-after=size|percent
Stop file transfer after size or percent. The value must be terminated by either '%' or 'M'.

EXAMPLES - BASIC USE

clive "http://youtube.com/watch?v=3HD220e0bx4"
Extracts video (flv) from the above video page link. You can then play the flv video file in a media player.
cat > url.lst
  http://en.sevenload.com/videos/IUL3gda-Funny-Football-Clips
  http://youtube.com/watch?v=3HD220e0bx4
  http://break.com/index/beach-tackle-whip-lash.html
  http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=704_1228511265
cat url.lst | clive
You can feed clive multiple video page links like this or as command line arguments.
clive URL1 URL2 URL3 URL4
When you are using the pipes, be sure to separate each link with a newline.
xclip -o | clive
There are many X clipboard utilities. The above example uses xclip(1) and a pipe to paste (or feed) the contents to clive.
clive -l
Recall last video page link input. Regardless the way they were fed to clive.

EXAMPLES - ADVANCED USE

clive -f best "http://youtube.com/watch?v=3HD220e0bx4"
Extract the best format of the video.
clive -r -f best "http://youtube.com/watch?v=3HD220e0bx4"
Same as above but read the cache record without fetching and parsing the video page again.
clive --cache-dump
Dump all cache records to stdout. You can use --cache-dump-format to format the output.
clive -ig 3hd2
Grep for ``3hd2'' pattern in cache records. If pattern matches, clive continues to extract the matched videos. Note the use of ``-i'' (--cache-ignore-case).
clive -ig 3hd2 -D
Same as above but removes the record from cache instead of extracting the video.
clive --exec="ffmpeg -i %i -acodec libvorbis %i.ogg;" -e URL
Copy audio from downloaded video to ogg with ffmpeg(1).
clive --stream-exec="mplayer -really-quiet %i" --stream=25 URL
Start playing the video being extracted when the transfer reaches 25% complete.
echo '--stream-exec="mplayer -really-quiet %i"' >> ~/.cliverc
clive -s URL
Alternative to Adobe Flash. vlc(1) and totem(1) have been reported to work also.

FORMATS

clive downloads ``flv'' by default from all of the supported websites.
youtube.com
last.fm
Format: (flv|fmt17|fmt18|fmt22|fmt35)

If --format option is not unused, clive defaults to whatever Youtube defaults to. Technically speaking, we leaving the ``&fmt='' from the video link.

Youtube likes to rehash these from time to time so don't be surprised if, for example, the quality is not what you expected. The same applies to the suffices listed below. 

 YoutubeID Alias    Suffix  Resolution
 fmt22     hd       mp4     1280x720
 fmt35     hq       flv      640x380
 fmt18     mp4      mp4      480x360
 fmt34     -        flv      320x180 (quality reportedly varies)
 fmt17     3gp      3gp      176x144

You can use either, the ``alias'' (e.g. ``hd'') or the ``YoutubeID'' (e.g. ``fmt22'') with --format. The aliases exist for historical reasons. The suffix is parsed from the content-type field of the returned HTTP header.

clive can also download videos that last.fm lists as Youtube hosted videos.

video.google.com
Format: (flv|mp4)

mp4 format is available for a limited number of videos.

dailymotion.com
Format: (flv|hq|hd)

The HD and HQ videos may not always be available. 

  hd    (1280x720)
  hq     (848x480)
  flv    (320x240) aka "sd"
spiegel.de
Format: (flv|vp6_(64|576|928)|h264_1400) 

  h264_1400 .. mp4 (996x560)
  vp6_928   .. flv (996x560)
  vp6_576   .. flv (560x315)
  flv       .. flv (180x100)
  vp6_64    .. flv (180x100)

Format: (3gp|small|iphone|podcast)

The data that clive parses indicates that these formats should be available although we are yet to find a video with these formats available. If you find one, let us know, too. 

  3gp       .. 3gp (?)
  small     .. 3gp (?)
  iphone    .. mp4 (?)
  podcast   .. mp4 (?)
golem.de
Format: (flv|high|ipod)
vimeo.com
Format: (flv|hd)

HD should be available for the vimeo.com/hd channel videos at least. Note that ``flv'' only means the ``default flv''. Some of the hosted ``default'' videos are actually ``mp4'', not ``flv''.

For further reading:
  http://vimeo.com/help/hd

Other
All other supported websites (see --host output) support the flv format only.

FILES

Should HOME environment variable be undefined for some reason, clive will use the current working directory instead.
$HOME/.cliverc, $HOME/.clive/config, $HOME/.config/clive/config
User configuration file. For example:
  % cat >> ~/.cliverc
  -f best
  --proxy=http://foo:1234
$HOME/.cache/clive/last
File containing the last user input (video page links).

You can use --last-file to override the path, e.g.:
  --last-file=/path/to/last/file.

You can also define this option in the config file.

See also CLIVE_CACHE notes below.

$HOME/.cache/clive/cache
BerkeleyDB based cache file containing the records of fetched and parsed video pages.

You can use --cache-file to override the path., e.g.:
  --cache-file=/path/to/cache/file.

You can also define this option in the config file.

See also CLIVE_CACHE notes below.

Notes: CLIVE_CACHE
clive defaults to use $HOME/.cache/clive/ for ``last'' and ``cache'' files described above.

The use of the default path can be overridden by CLIVE_CACHE environment variable. Note that clive will attempt to create the specified path recursively.

Examples:
  setenv CLIVE_CACHE /home/user/cachedata (in csh terms)
  clive # will read/write /home/user/cachedata/(last|cache) 

  unsetenv CLIVE_CACHE
  clive # read/write $HOME/clive/(last|cache)
  clive --last-file=mylast --cache-file=cachedata/mycache
    # read/write "mylast" file, read/write cachedata/mycache file

CACHE

The purpose of the cache is to allow clive to skip fetching and parsing the video page again. It does not contain any actual video data so one should not expect to recover a deleted video file from the cache. Only some of the parsed details are stored as records to the cache.

By now, it is should be a well known fact that the cache fails with some of the supported hosts. For example Youtube video links expire after some time, this causes the re-extraction to fail if the cached video link is used later again.

This was the main reason why in 2.2.0 reading from cache was disabled by default. Many users reported the reuse of expired video links as a bug previously even though it was well documented in the manual page explaining that most of the HTTP 403/404 errors were actually caused by expired video links.

It is, of course, still possible to read from cache. You can enable this by invoking the --cache-read option. This causes clive to look up a saved cache record and reuse the stored video details if they are found instead of fetching the video page.

The use of the cache can be disabled with the --no-cache option. This disables both read and write. Note that if the BerkeleyDB Perl module is not installed, clive will not use the cache.

See also the --cache-grep option.

UNICODE

Q: Why am I seeing mangled video filenames?

A: Make sure you have set appropriate locale. For example (in csh/urxvt terms):
  % setenv LANG en_US.UTF-8
  % urxvt &

You can get a list of supported locales on your typical Unix-like system with:
  % locale -a

DEBUGGING

Some tips that we have found useful: 

  % clive --debug URL

Causes libcurl to be verbose. 

  % clive -n URL

Simulates video extraction only.

BUGS

Sure to be some.

Please report them:
  <http://code.google.com/p/clive/issues/>

EXIT STATUS

clive exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs. 

 CLIVE_OK          = 0
 CLIVE_NOTHINGTODO = 1    # file already retrieved
 CLIVE_NOSUPPORT   = 2    # host not supported
 CLIVE_READ        = 3    # file open/read error
 CLIVE_GREP        = 4    # grep: nothing matched in cache
 CLIVE_OPTARG      = 5    # invalid option argument
 CLIVE_SYSTEM      = 6    # system call failed (e.g. fork)
 CLIVE_REGEXP      = 7    # regexp pattern matching failed
 CLIVE_FORMAT      = 8    # requested format unavailable
 CLIVE_NET         = 9    # network error
 CLIVE_STOP        = 10   # --stop-after
 CLIVE_MARKEDBROKEN = 11  # support marked broken

OTHER

Project page:
  <http://clive.googlecode.com/>

Front-end (GUI):
  <http://abby.googlecode.com/>

Development code:
  % git clone git://repo.or.cz/clive.git

HISTORY

  * Originally written in Python
  * Rewritten in Perl for 2.0.0

AUTHOR

Toni Gundogdu <[email protected]>

Thanks to all those who have contributed to the project by sending patches, reporting bugs and writing feedback. You know who you are.

SEE ALSO

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