ytdl-org/youtube-dl · error · ExtractorError

clean_html(payload[0][1:-1])

Error message

clean_html(payload[0][1:-1])

What it means

VK's internal _download_payload helper raises this when the JSON payload from vk.com/<module>.php returns code '8'. In that case payload[0] carries an HTML error fragment, which is cleaned via clean_html(payload[0][1:-1]) and raised as an expected ExtractorError. The visible message is whatever VK put in that fragment (not the literal placeholder).

Source

Thrown at youtube_dl/extractor/vk.py:74

            data=urlencode_postdata(login_form))

        if re.search(r'onLoginFailed', login_page):
            raise ExtractorError(
                'Unable to login, incorrect username and/or password', expected=True)

    def _real_initialize(self):
        self._login()

    def _download_payload(self, path, video_id, data, fatal=True):
        data['al'] = 1
        code, payload = self._download_json(
            'https://vk.com/%s.php' % path, video_id,
            data=urlencode_postdata(data), fatal=fatal,
            headers={'X-Requested-With': 'XMLHttpRequest'})['payload']
        if code == '3':
            self.raise_login_required()
        elif code == '8':
            raise ExtractorError(clean_html(payload[0][1:-1]), expected=True)
        return payload


class VKIE(VKBaseIE):
    IE_NAME = 'vk'
    IE_DESC = 'VK'
    _VALID_URL = r'''(?x)
                    https?://
                        (?:
                            (?:
                                (?:(?:m|new)\.)?vk\.com/video_|
                                (?:www\.)?daxab.com/
                            )
                            ext\.php\?(?P<embed_query>.*?\boid=(?P<oid>-?\d+).*?\bid=(?P<id>\d+).*)|
                            (?:
                                (?:(?:m|new)\.)?vk\.com/(?:.+?\?.*?z=)?video|
                                (?:www\.)?daxab.com/embed/
                            )

View on GitHub (pinned to 956b8c5855)

Solutions

  1. Read the cleaned HTML text in the raised message — it is VK's own error explanation
  2. Open the VK page in a browser to see the underlying access problem (removal, region, login)
  3. Update youtube-dl/yt-dlp; VK's AJAX payload contract changes over time
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

from youtube_dl.utils import ExtractorError
try:
    ydl.extract_info(url)
except ExtractorError as e:
    vk_msg = str(e)
    if 'removed' in vk_msg or 'deleted' in vk_msg:
        blacklist(url)
    else:
        log('VK payload error: %s' % vk_msg)

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: POSTing al=1 AJAX requests to vk.com (e.g. video retrieval via video_ext or similar modules) where the response payload code is '8' — typically an application-level error such as content removal or access restrictions.

Common situations: Video removed or region-blocked; account lacks access to the content; VK changed its internal payload codes so the '8' branch fires more often.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of ytdl-org/youtube-dl@956b8c5855 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/501c8d120733439b. Report an issue: GitHub.