Here’s a concise write-up for the error when using youtube-dl . Error Summary youtube-dl fails to fetch video metadata, returning an HTTP 404 Not Found error while trying to download a JSON metadata endpoint from the service (e.g., YouTube or another supported site). Typical Error Message ERROR: unable to download JSON metadata: HTTP Error 404: Not Found Sometimes preceded by:
[youtube] <video_id>: Downloading JSON metadata | Cause | Explanation | |-------|-------------| | Private / deleted video | The video no longer exists or is private. | | Age or country restriction | The endpoint returns 404 instead of a restriction notice. | | Outdated youtube-dl version | YouTube changes its API; old versions break. | | Service-side change | The site changed its internal JSON endpoint. | | Invalid URL | A mistyped URL points to a non-existent resource. | | Blocked by network/DNS | Corporate/school firewall returns 404 for blocked domains. | Solutions 1. Update youtube-dl Outdated versions are the #1 cause. youtube-dl unable to download json metadata http error 404
youtube-dl --cookies cookies.txt <video_url> Export cookies from browser using an extension like “Get cookies.txt.” Some servers block default youtube-dl user-agent. Here’s a concise write-up for the error when
pip install yt-dlp yt-dlp <video_url> Open the URL in a browser (maybe incognito/private mode) to check if it’s truly available. 4. Use cookies For age‑restricted or member‑only videos: | | Age or country restriction | The
# If installed via pip pip install --upgrade youtube-dl brew upgrade youtube-dl On Linux (self-update) sudo youtube-dl -U 2. Try yt-dlp (recommended fork) yt-dlp is more actively maintained and fixes many YouTube 404 issues.
