Media Extractor YouTube playback broken after YouTube update - yt-dlp dependency - IndexError: list index out of range

[luciano99999]

The problem

Describe the issue:

Media Extractor is failing to play YouTube URLs. Since approximately March 24th, audio streaming from YouTube via Media Extractor is no longer working. This is likely due to a recent update on YouTube's side that broke compatibility with the current version of yt-dlp used by Home Assistant.

Based on reports and yt-dlp changelogs, it seems YouTube made changes around March 24th that broke the signature extraction process used by yt-dlp. yt-dlp has released updates (versions 2025.03.25 and 2025.03.26) to address these YouTube changes.

This issue manifests as an IndexError: list index out of range in the Home Assistant logs when attempting to play a YouTube URL via Media Extractor.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Start Home Assistant.
2. Go to the Media section.
3. Attempt to play a YouTube URL using Media Extractor (e.g., any YouTube URL).
4. Observe that playback fails and an error is shown in the logs.

Expected behavior:

YouTube URLs should play correctly through Media Extractor.

Actual behavior:

Playback fails with an IndexError: list index out of range error. The following error is observed in the Home Assistant logs:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/websocket_api/decorators.py", line 28, in _handle_async_response
await func(hass, connection, msg)
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/websocket_api/commands.py", line 816, in handle_execute_script
script_result = await script_obj.async_run(
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
msg.get("variables"), context=context
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
)
^
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 1828, in async_run
return await asyncio.shield(create_eager_task(run.async_run()))
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 460, in async_run
await self._async_step(log_exceptions=False)
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 526, in _async_step
self._handle_exception(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^
ex, continue_on_error, self._log_exceptions or log_exceptions
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
)
^
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 556, in _handle_exception
raise exception
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 524, in _async_step
await getattr(self, handler)()
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 1009, in _async_step_call_service
response_data = await self._async_run_long_action(
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
...<9 lines>...
)
^
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 624, in _async_run_long_action
return await long_task
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/core.py", line 2794, in async_call
response_data = await coro
^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/core.py", line 2837, in _execute_service
return await target(service_call)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/media_extractor/init.py", line 86, in extract_media_url
url = get_best_stream_youtube(selected_media["formats"])
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/media_extractor/init.py", line 278, in get_best_stream_youtube
return get_best_stream(
[
...<4 lines>...
]
)
File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/media_extractor/init.py", line 269, in get_best_stream
return cast(str, formats[len(formats) - 1]["url"])
~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
IndexError: list index out of range

System Information:

• Home Assistant Core: 2025.3.4
• Home Assistant Supervisor: 2025.03.3
• Operating System: 15.0
• Frontend: 20250306.0
• Installation Type: Home Assistant OS (assuming based on Supervisor and OS versions, please confirm if different)

Additional information:

• Forum post discussing this issue and pointing to yt-dlp updates: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/is-media-extractor-broken/868759/8?u=ludus
• yt-dlp versions 2025.03.25 and 2025.03.26 are reported to fix YouTube issues:
  • [yt-dlp 2025.03.25 Changelog/Commit Link if available]
  • [yt-dlp 2025.03.26 Changelog/Commit Link if available]
• It is suspected that updating yt-dlp within Home Assistant Core would resolve this issue.

What version of Home Assistant Core has the issue?

core-2025.3.4

What was the last working version of Home Assistant Core?

No response

What type of installation are you running?

Home Assistant OS

Integration causing the issue

No response

Link to integration documentation on our website

No response

Diagnostics information

No response

Example YAML snippet

Anything in the logs that might be useful for us?

Additional information

No response

[home-assistant]

Hey there @joostlek, mind taking a look at this issue as it has been labeled with an integration (media_extractor) you are listed as a code owner for? Thanks!

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• @home-assistant close Closes the issue.
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[joostlek]

Can you run the beta? It might be fixed there

[luciano99999]

Hi @joostlek,

Just wanted to confirm that installing the beta version 2025.4.0b0 has indeed resolved the issue with YouTube playback via Media Extractor. It's working correctly again.

Thanks for the quick response and the fix!