# streamlink/streamlink

Streamlink is a CLI utility which pipes video streams from various services into a video player

Repository: https://github.com/streamlink/streamlink
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/streamlink
Homepage: https://streamlink.github.io/
Language: Python
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: streamlink, python, livestream, twitch, cli, streaming, vlc, streaming-services
Last push: 2026-08-26T20:26:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 94/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 83, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3638, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 32, "gap_med": 33.5, "n_releases_24m": 21}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 11715, forks 1193 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:49.543229+00:00)

## What it is
Streamlink is a Python-based command-line utility and library that extracts video streams from services like Twitch and YouTube and pipes them into a player such as VLC or mpv. It uses a plugin system for service support and offers a Python API for programmatic access to stream data.

## Use cases
- watch twitch streams in vlc without the browser
- play livestreams in mpv from the command line
- record a livestream to a file
- extract stream urls from streaming services programmatically
- avoid heavy streaming websites while watching content
- pipe a stream into a custom player or tool

## When to choose
- you want to watch or record livestreams outside the browser in a lightweight player
- you need CLI or Python API access to streams from many supported services
- you want extensible plugin-based support for streaming sites

## When to avoid
- you need a GUI video player or media library manager
- you want to download on-demand videos with DRM or from services without a plugin
- you need video transcoding or editing features

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: cli, video-processing, http-client, plugin-system
- domain: media, developer-tools
- platform: windows, python, cli, cross-platform
- tags: livestream, streaming-services, twitch, youtube, vlc, mpv, stream-extraction, video, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- streamlink/streamlink (main) score 94

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:49.543229+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:15:23.280439+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/streamlink/streamlink (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:49.543229+00:00, sha 0baf4fde1a74)
  - homepage: https://streamlink.github.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:13:36.155931+00:00, sha a60030362a4e)
  - registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/streamlink/json (fetched 2026-08-29T08:13:36.158770+00:00, sha e238114c10c8)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.