How to Install ytdl-sub and Get Started with the User Guide

To get started with ytdl-sub, work through the documentation in this order: Install by Platform → Getting Started → Configuration File → Subscription File → Presets. The install step comes first because everything later depends on a working binary or container. The guide's own navigation lists these sections in that sequence, so following it avoids configuring subscriptions before the tool is actually running.

What the guide covers before you install

The ytdl-sub User Guide is organized into these top-level sections:

• What is ytdl-sub? — the overview page
• Guides — Install by Platform, Getting Started, Development and Contributing
• Prebuilt Presets — TV Show, Music, Music Video, Media Quality, and Helper presets
• Usage Reference — Configuration File, Presets, Subscription File, Plugins, Scripting, Prebuilt Preset Reference, Debugging, FAQ, Deprecation Notices

For a first install, you only need the first two groups. Presets and scripting become relevant once a basic run works.

Step 1: Install for your platform

Open Guides → Install by Platform. The documentation splits installation by platform rather than offering one universal method, so pick the page matching your environment (for example, a container-based setup versus a direct install on your OS). Each page is the authoritative source for its own commands — use it rather than adapting instructions from a different platform.

Expected result: the ytdl-sub command runs and responds (for example, printing its help output) without errors.

Step 2: Complete the Getting Started walkthrough

Guides → Getting Started is written for first-time users and is the intended next stop after installation. Treat it as the checklist that takes you from "installed" to "first successful download." Complete it before touching presets — it establishes the minimum working setup that later configuration builds on.

Step 3: Create your configuration file

The Usage Reference → Configuration File page explains the main config file. This is where global behavior lives. Read it after Getting Started so you understand which settings are global versus per-subscription.

Step 4: Define subscriptions

The Subscription File page covers how you tell ytdl-sub what to download and where to put it. This is the step that turns a working install into an actual library. Keep your first subscription small — one channel or playlist — so a failure is easy to diagnose.

Step 5: Apply presets

Only after a basic subscription works should you move to Prebuilt Presets. The guide groups them by media type:

Start with the preset matching your content type, then layer quality and helper presets as needed.

When something goes wrong

Use Usage Reference → Debugging and the FAQ before changing configuration blindly. The Deprecation Notices page matters if you are following an older tutorial — options shown there may no longer behave as described.

A practical order of operations

1. Install via your platform's page and confirm the command runs.
2. Finish Getting Started end to end.
3. Write a minimal configuration file.
4. Add one small subscription and run it.
5. Add presets for your media type.
6. Scale up subscriptions only after step 4 succeeds.

Skipping to presets before step 4 is the most common way to end up with a config that fails without a clear cause, since preset behavior depends on a correct base configuration and subscription structure.