Download a clip from youtube to an mp4 with a command line tool

yt_clipper.py

#!/usr/bin/env -S uv run --script
# /// script
# requires-python = ">=3.12"
# dependencies = ["yt-dlp", "ffmpeg", "typer", "rich"]
# ///

import subprocess
from typing import Optional

import typer
from rich.console import Console
from rich.progress import Progress, SpinnerColumn, TextColumn

console = Console()
app = typer.Typer(help="Download YouTube clips via yt-dlp with exact time ranges.")

@app.command()
def clip(
    url: str = typer.Option(..., "--url", "-u", help="YouTube video or clip URL"),
    start: str = typer.Option(..., "--start", "-s", help="Start time (mm:ss or hh:mm:ss)"),
    end: str = typer.Option(..., "--end", "-e", help="End time (mm:ss or hh:mm:ss)"),
    fmt: str = typer.Option("137+140", "--format", "-f", help="yt-dlp format to download (video+audio)"),
    output: Optional[str] = typer.Option(None, "--output", "-o", help="Output filename (default: autogenerated)")
):
    """
    Download a YouTube clip from URL between START and END timestamps.
    """
    section = f"*{start}-{end}"
    cmd = [
        "yt-dlp",
        "-f", fmt,
        "--download-sections", section,
        "--force-keyframes-at-cuts",
        "--merge-output-format", "mp4",
        url,
    ]
    if output:
        cmd.extend(["-o", output])

    console.print(f"[bold green]▶ Running:[/] {' '.join(cmd)}")
    with Progress(SpinnerColumn(), TextColumn("{task.description}"), transient=True) as progress:
        task = progress.add_task("Downloading...", start=False)
        progress.start_task(task)
        result = subprocess.run(cmd)
        if result.returncode != 0:
            console.print(f"[bold red]✖ Failed with exit code[/] {result.returncode}")
            raise typer.Exit(result.returncode)

    console.print("[bold blue]✅ Clip downloaded successfully![/]")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app()