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How to Download Circle.so Videos for Free (using yt-dlp)
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how-to-download-circle.md

How to Download Circle.so Videos for Free (HLS m3u8 Streams) - using yt-dlp

Circle.so hosts course videos using HLS streaming, where video data is split into .ts segments and controlled by a .m3u8 playlist file.

This guide shows you how to download, optimize, and auto-name Circle Academy videos with a single command on macOS.

💡 Tip: Don’t want to do this manually?

Try the Circle Video Downloader — it automatically detects and saves circle.so videos in one click. Or check out the code repository

🔍 Step 1 — Identify the Stream Type

  1. Open Developer Tools → Network in your browser.
  2. Filter by m3u8.
  3. You’ll see URLs like:
https://cdn-media.circle.so/.../playlist.m3u8

or

https://cdn-media.circle.so/.../playlist_1.m3u8

✅ Use the playlist.m3u8 file (the master manifest).

⚙️ Step 2 — Copy the Universal Command Template

This is your reusable one-liner template.
It handles download, metadata optimization, and QuickLook thumbnail compatibility.

yt-dlp -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "<PASTE_M3U8_URL_HERE>"   --exec 'ffmpeg -y -i "{}" -movflags +faststart -pix_fmt yuv420p -c copy "{}_fixed.mp4" && mv "{}_fixed.mp4" "{}"'

💡 Keep this saved somewhere — you’ll just swap out the placeholder each time.

🚀 Step 3 — Replace the Placeholder URL and Run It

  1. Go back to DevTools and copy your actual .m3u8 link.
  2. Replace <PASTE_M3U8_URL_HERE> in the command with your real link.
  3. Paste it into Terminal and hit Enter.

✅ It will automatically:

  • Download all .ts segments and merge them.
  • Dynamically name the file based on video metadata.
  • Add faststart and pixel formatting for Finder previews.
  • Replace the original file with the optimized one.

🧠 Step 4 — What Each Flag Does

Flag Purpose
-o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" Dynamically name the file based on metadata.
--exec 'ffmpeg ...' Run ffmpeg automatically after download.
-movflags +faststart Moves metadata to the start of file for instant playback.
-pix_fmt yuv420p Ensures Finder and QuickLook compatibility.
-c copy No re-encoding (lossless).

🧩 Troubleshooting

Issue Cause Fix
Token expired Circle’s CDN tokens expire quickly. Refresh the page and grab a fresh .m3u8 link.
No title metadata Some Circle embeds omit titles. yt-dlp will fallback to a timestamp-based filename.
No thumbnail still macOS caching delay. Run qlmanage -r cache to refresh Finder previews.

✅ Summary

  • Find the .m3u8 link under Network → Media.
  • Use the master playlist.m3u8, not the _1.m3u8 variant.
  • Copy the template command from Step 2.
  • Replace the placeholder URL in Step 3.
  • You’ll get a Finder-previewable .mp4 auto-named and ready to use.

💡 Tip: Prefer a one-click solution?
Use the Circle Video Downloader to automatically detect, download, and merge Circle.so course videos without touching the command line.

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