ytdl-org/youtube-dl · error · ExtractorError

PhantomJS executable not found in PATH, download it from htt

Error message

PhantomJS executable not found in PATH, download it from http://phantomjs.org

What it means

Error "PhantomJS executable not found in PATH, download it from http://phantomjs.org" thrown in ytdl-org/youtube-dl.

Source

Thrown at youtube_dl/extractor/openload.py:117

          else {{
            {jscode}
          }}
        }};
        page.open("");
    '''

    _TMP_FILE_NAMES = ['script', 'html', 'cookies']

    @staticmethod
    def _version():
        return get_exe_version('phantomjs', version_re=r'([0-9.]+)')

    def __init__(self, extractor, required_version=None, timeout=10000):
        self._TMP_FILES = {}

        self.exe = check_executable('phantomjs', ['-v'])
        if not self.exe:
            raise ExtractorError('PhantomJS executable not found in PATH, '
                                 'download it from http://phantomjs.org',
                                 expected=True)

        self.extractor = extractor

        if required_version:
            version = self._version()
            if is_outdated_version(version, required_version):
                self.extractor._downloader.report_warning(
                    'Your copy of PhantomJS is outdated, update it to version '
                    '%s or newer if you encounter any errors.' % required_version)

        self.options = {
            'timeout': timeout,
        }
        for name in self._TMP_FILE_NAMES:
            tmp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
            tmp.close()

View on GitHub (pinned to 956b8c5855)

Solutions

1. Install PhantomJS and ensure its executable is in PATH (http://phantomjs.org).

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at youtube_dl/extractor/openload.py:117 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ytdl-org/youtube-dl@956b8c5855 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8bdca03956b176f3. Report an issue: GitHub.