pafy

library0.5.5pypypiunverified

pafy is a Python library to retrieve YouTube content and metadata, such as video titles, descriptions, thumbnails, and download URLs. Current version is 0.5.5, with no set release cadence; the project appears to be in maintenance mode with infrequent updates.

http-networking

pip install pafy

github ↗package ↗homepage ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · PAFY

pafy

http-networkingpythonv0.5.5

Install

2.2s avg

Import

855ms

Disk

29MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v0.5.5 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.910 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.894s · 30.5MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.910 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 2.2s · import 0.816s · 31MB

29MB installed

● package 29MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

pafy

✓ import pafy

Fetch metadata from a YouTube video using pafy and print title, views, duration, and best stream URL.

import pafy url = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ' video = pafy.new(url) print(video.title) print(video.viewcount) print(video.duration) stream = video.getbest() print(stream.url)

Debug

Known issues

deprecatedpafy uses youtube-dl as its backend, which is no longer actively maintained and may break with YouTube changes. Consider using yt-dlp as a replacement.

fix

Switch to yt-dlp with pafy: pip install yt-dlp and set pafy.backend = 'youtube-dl' (though yt-dlp is not natively supported). Better to use yt-dlp directly.

affects: all

gotchapafy.new blocks on network calls; calling it in a GUI or async context may freeze the application.

fix

Run pafy.new in a thread or use an async-compatible library instead.

affects: all

breakingAs of pafy 0.5.5, the default backend relies on youtube-dl, which may frequently break due to YouTube API changes. Ensure youtube-dl is up to date.

fix

Update youtube-dl frequently: pip install --upgrade youtube-dl. Or switch to yt-dlp based forks.

affects: 0.5.5

Upgrade

Version history

0.5.5latest on PyPI · released Nov 22, 2019

Audit

Dependencies

youtube-dloptionalDefault backend for downloading video streams and metadata

Agent activity

10 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/np1/pafy ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/pafy/ ↗

homepagehttp://np1.github.io/pafy/ ↗