Create Job

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'x-api-key: <x-api-key>' \
  --data '
{
  "url": "<string>",
  "format": "<string>",
  "video_codec": "<string>",
  "audio_codec": "<string>",
  "audio_bitrate": "<string>",
  "video_quality": 123,
  "filename": "<string>",
  "folder": "<string>",
  "webhook_url": "<string>",
  "audio_only": true,
  "download_subtitles": true,
  "download_thumbnail": true,
  "quality_preset": "<string>",
  "max_resolution": "<string>",
  "clip_start": "<string>",
  "clip_end": "<string>",
  "live_recording": true,
  "live_from_start": true,
  "max_duration": 123,
  "wait_for_video": true,
  "enable_progress_webhook": true,
  "storage": {},
  "paused": true
}
'

import requests

url = "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs"

payload = {
    "url": "<string>",
    "format": "<string>",
    "video_codec": "<string>",
    "audio_codec": "<string>",
    "audio_bitrate": "<string>",
    "video_quality": 123,
    "filename": "<string>",
    "folder": "<string>",
    "webhook_url": "<string>",
    "audio_only": True,
    "download_subtitles": True,
    "download_thumbnail": True,
    "quality_preset": "<string>",
    "max_resolution": "<string>",
    "clip_start": "<string>",
    "clip_end": "<string>",
    "live_recording": True,
    "live_from_start": True,
    "max_duration": 123,
    "wait_for_video": True,
    "enable_progress_webhook": True,
    "storage": {},
    "paused": True
}
headers = {
    "x-api-key": "<x-api-key>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {'x-api-key': '<x-api-key>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
  body: JSON.stringify({
    url: '<string>',
    format: '<string>',
    video_codec: '<string>',
    audio_codec: '<string>',
    audio_bitrate: '<string>',
    video_quality: 123,
    filename: '<string>',
    folder: '<string>',
    webhook_url: '<string>',
    audio_only: true,
    download_subtitles: true,
    download_thumbnail: true,
    quality_preset: '<string>',
    max_resolution: '<string>',
    clip_start: '<string>',
    clip_end: '<string>',
    live_recording: true,
    live_from_start: true,
    max_duration: 123,
    wait_for_video: true,
    enable_progress_webhook: true,
    storage: {},
    paused: true
  })
};

fetch('https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'url' => '<string>',
    'format' => '<string>',
    'video_codec' => '<string>',
    'audio_codec' => '<string>',
    'audio_bitrate' => '<string>',
    'video_quality' => 123,
    'filename' => '<string>',
    'folder' => '<string>',
    'webhook_url' => '<string>',
    'audio_only' => true,
    'download_subtitles' => true,
    'download_thumbnail' => true,
    'quality_preset' => '<string>',
    'max_resolution' => '<string>',
    'clip_start' => '<string>',
    'clip_end' => '<string>',
    'live_recording' => true,
    'live_from_start' => true,
    'max_duration' => 123,
    'wait_for_video' => true,
    'enable_progress_webhook' => true,
    'storage' => [
        
    ],
    'paused' => true
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Content-Type: application/json",
    "x-api-key: <x-api-key>"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"format\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_bitrate\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_quality\": 123,\n  \"filename\": \"<string>\",\n  \"folder\": \"<string>\",\n  \"webhook_url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_only\": true,\n  \"download_subtitles\": true,\n  \"download_thumbnail\": true,\n  \"quality_preset\": \"<string>\",\n  \"max_resolution\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_start\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_end\": \"<string>\",\n  \"live_recording\": true,\n  \"live_from_start\": true,\n  \"max_duration\": 123,\n  \"wait_for_video\": true,\n  \"enable_progress_webhook\": true,\n  \"storage\": {},\n  \"paused\": true\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("x-api-key", "<x-api-key>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs")
  .header("x-api-key", "<x-api-key>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"format\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_bitrate\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_quality\": 123,\n  \"filename\": \"<string>\",\n  \"folder\": \"<string>\",\n  \"webhook_url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_only\": true,\n  \"download_subtitles\": true,\n  \"download_thumbnail\": true,\n  \"quality_preset\": \"<string>\",\n  \"max_resolution\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_start\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_end\": \"<string>\",\n  \"live_recording\": true,\n  \"live_from_start\": true,\n  \"max_duration\": 123,\n  \"wait_for_video\": true,\n  \"enable_progress_webhook\": true,\n  \"storage\": {},\n  \"paused\": true\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["x-api-key"] = '<x-api-key>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"format\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_bitrate\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_quality\": 123,\n  \"filename\": \"<string>\",\n  \"folder\": \"<string>\",\n  \"webhook_url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_only\": true,\n  \"download_subtitles\": true,\n  \"download_thumbnail\": true,\n  \"quality_preset\": \"<string>\",\n  \"max_resolution\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_start\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_end\": \"<string>\",\n  \"live_recording\": true,\n  \"live_from_start\": true,\n  \"max_duration\": 123,\n  \"wait_for_video\": true,\n  \"enable_progress_webhook\": true,\n  \"storage\": {},\n  \"paused\": true\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "job_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
}

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
  "total_episodes": 142,
  "paused": false,
  "episodes": [
    {
      "job_id": "job-uuid-1",
      "url": "https://open.spotify.com/episode/abc",
      "title": "Episode 1 - Introduction"
    }
  ],
  "episode_jobs": ["job-uuid-1", "job-uuid-2", "job-uuid-3"]
}

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440002",
  "total_videos": 25,
  "video_jobs": ["job-uuid-1", "job-uuid-2", "job-uuid-3"]
}

POST

jobs

Create Job

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'x-api-key: <x-api-key>' \
  --data '
{
  "url": "<string>",
  "format": "<string>",
  "video_codec": "<string>",
  "audio_codec": "<string>",
  "audio_bitrate": "<string>",
  "video_quality": 123,
  "filename": "<string>",
  "folder": "<string>",
  "webhook_url": "<string>",
  "audio_only": true,
  "download_subtitles": true,
  "download_thumbnail": true,
  "quality_preset": "<string>",
  "max_resolution": "<string>",
  "clip_start": "<string>",
  "clip_end": "<string>",
  "live_recording": true,
  "live_from_start": true,
  "max_duration": 123,
  "wait_for_video": true,
  "enable_progress_webhook": true,
  "storage": {},
  "paused": true
}
'

import requests

url = "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs"

payload = {
    "url": "<string>",
    "format": "<string>",
    "video_codec": "<string>",
    "audio_codec": "<string>",
    "audio_bitrate": "<string>",
    "video_quality": 123,
    "filename": "<string>",
    "folder": "<string>",
    "webhook_url": "<string>",
    "audio_only": True,
    "download_subtitles": True,
    "download_thumbnail": True,
    "quality_preset": "<string>",
    "max_resolution": "<string>",
    "clip_start": "<string>",
    "clip_end": "<string>",
    "live_recording": True,
    "live_from_start": True,
    "max_duration": 123,
    "wait_for_video": True,
    "enable_progress_webhook": True,
    "storage": {},
    "paused": True
}
headers = {
    "x-api-key": "<x-api-key>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {'x-api-key': '<x-api-key>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
  body: JSON.stringify({
    url: '<string>',
    format: '<string>',
    video_codec: '<string>',
    audio_codec: '<string>',
    audio_bitrate: '<string>',
    video_quality: 123,
    filename: '<string>',
    folder: '<string>',
    webhook_url: '<string>',
    audio_only: true,
    download_subtitles: true,
    download_thumbnail: true,
    quality_preset: '<string>',
    max_resolution: '<string>',
    clip_start: '<string>',
    clip_end: '<string>',
    live_recording: true,
    live_from_start: true,
    max_duration: 123,
    wait_for_video: true,
    enable_progress_webhook: true,
    storage: {},
    paused: true
  })
};

fetch('https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'url' => '<string>',
    'format' => '<string>',
    'video_codec' => '<string>',
    'audio_codec' => '<string>',
    'audio_bitrate' => '<string>',
    'video_quality' => 123,
    'filename' => '<string>',
    'folder' => '<string>',
    'webhook_url' => '<string>',
    'audio_only' => true,
    'download_subtitles' => true,
    'download_thumbnail' => true,
    'quality_preset' => '<string>',
    'max_resolution' => '<string>',
    'clip_start' => '<string>',
    'clip_end' => '<string>',
    'live_recording' => true,
    'live_from_start' => true,
    'max_duration' => 123,
    'wait_for_video' => true,
    'enable_progress_webhook' => true,
    'storage' => [
        
    ],
    'paused' => true
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Content-Type: application/json",
    "x-api-key: <x-api-key>"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"format\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_bitrate\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_quality\": 123,\n  \"filename\": \"<string>\",\n  \"folder\": \"<string>\",\n  \"webhook_url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_only\": true,\n  \"download_subtitles\": true,\n  \"download_thumbnail\": true,\n  \"quality_preset\": \"<string>\",\n  \"max_resolution\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_start\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_end\": \"<string>\",\n  \"live_recording\": true,\n  \"live_from_start\": true,\n  \"max_duration\": 123,\n  \"wait_for_video\": true,\n  \"enable_progress_webhook\": true,\n  \"storage\": {},\n  \"paused\": true\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("x-api-key", "<x-api-key>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs")
  .header("x-api-key", "<x-api-key>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"format\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_bitrate\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_quality\": 123,\n  \"filename\": \"<string>\",\n  \"folder\": \"<string>\",\n  \"webhook_url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_only\": true,\n  \"download_subtitles\": true,\n  \"download_thumbnail\": true,\n  \"quality_preset\": \"<string>\",\n  \"max_resolution\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_start\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_end\": \"<string>\",\n  \"live_recording\": true,\n  \"live_from_start\": true,\n  \"max_duration\": 123,\n  \"wait_for_video\": true,\n  \"enable_progress_webhook\": true,\n  \"storage\": {},\n  \"paused\": true\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["x-api-key"] = '<x-api-key>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"format\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_codec\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_bitrate\": \"<string>\",\n  \"video_quality\": 123,\n  \"filename\": \"<string>\",\n  \"folder\": \"<string>\",\n  \"webhook_url\": \"<string>\",\n  \"audio_only\": true,\n  \"download_subtitles\": true,\n  \"download_thumbnail\": true,\n  \"quality_preset\": \"<string>\",\n  \"max_resolution\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_start\": \"<string>\",\n  \"clip_end\": \"<string>\",\n  \"live_recording\": true,\n  \"live_from_start\": true,\n  \"max_duration\": 123,\n  \"wait_for_video\": true,\n  \"enable_progress_webhook\": true,\n  \"storage\": {},\n  \"paused\": true\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "job_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
}

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
  "total_episodes": 142,
  "paused": false,
  "episodes": [
    {
      "job_id": "job-uuid-1",
      "url": "https://open.spotify.com/episode/abc",
      "title": "Episode 1 - Introduction"
    }
  ],
  "episode_jobs": ["job-uuid-1", "job-uuid-2", "job-uuid-3"]
}

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440002",
  "total_videos": 25,
  "video_jobs": ["job-uuid-1", "job-uuid-2", "job-uuid-3"]
}

Overview

Creates a new download job. For single videos, returns a job_id. For Spotify shows and YouTube playlists, automatically creates a batch and returns a batch_id with all episode/video job IDs.

If url contains a YouTube playlist ID, this endpoint downloads the ENTIRE playlist, not just one video. This applies even if you only meant to download a single video — see Playlist Auto-Detection below before you’re surprised by a batch of thousands of jobs from what looked like a single-video request.

Header Parameters

string

required

Your API key for authentication

Request

string

required

The video or show URL to download. If this URL contains a genuine YouTube playlist ID (list=PL..., UU..., or OL...) or is a Spotify show, the request downloads the WHOLE playlist/show as a batch — see Playlist Auto-Detection.

string

Output container format. Video: mp4, mkv, webm, mov. Audio: m4a, mp3, ogg, opus. Default: mp4 (or m4a when audio_only is true)

string

Video codec: copy (no re-encode), h264, h265, vp9. Default: copy

string

Audio codec: copy (no re-encode), aac, opus, mp3. Default: copy with automatic fallback to aac if incompatible

string

Audio bitrate when transcoding: 64k, 128k, 192k, 256k, 320k. Default: 192k

integer

Video quality CRF (0-51, lower = better quality). Only used when video_codec is not copy. Default: 23

string

Custom filename (without extension). Max 255 characters. Cannot contain .., /, \, or null bytes.

string

S3 folder prefix for organizing files. Max 200 characters. Cannot contain .., start with / or \, or be empty/whitespace-only.

string

URL to receive completion notification via POST request.

boolean

default:"false"

Extract audio track only. Outputs m4a (native AAC, no re-encoding) by default. Set format to mp3, ogg, or opus for other audio formats. Supports audio_codec and audio_bitrate for transcoding control.

boolean

default:"false"

Download subtitles if available. Returns subtitle URL in job response.

boolean

default:"false"

Download video thumbnail. Returns thumbnail URL in job response.

Known gap (2026-07-08): currently only implemented for Spotify shows. For YouTube — the vast majority of requests — setting this to true is accepted without error but does not currently produce a thumbnail; no thumbnail_url/thumbnail_key will appear in the job response or completion webhook. Tracked as a fix; not yet shipped. If you need YouTube thumbnails today, fetch them yourself from https://i.ytimg.com/vi/<video_id>/maxresdefault.jpg.

string

Quality preset that overrides video_quality. Options: highest, high, medium, low, lowest.

string

Maximum video resolution. Options: best (default), 2160 (4K), 1440, 1080, 720, 480, 360. Works correctly for both horizontal and vertical (Shorts) videos by checking the shorter dimension.

string

Start timestamp for video clipping. Format: HH:MM:SS, MM:SS, or seconds (e.g., 00:01:30 or 90).

string

End timestamp for video clipping. Format: HH:MM:SS, MM:SS, or seconds (e.g., 00:05:00 or 300). Must be greater than clip_start.

boolean

default:"false"

Enable live stream recording mode. Auto-detected for live URLs.

boolean

default:"false"

For live streams: record from the beginning (VOD mode) instead of the live point.

integer

Maximum recording duration in seconds. Recommended for live streams as a safety cap. Example: 7200 for 2 hours.

boolean

default:"false"

Wait for scheduled/upcoming streams to start before downloading.

boolean

default:"false"

Enable progress webhooks during processing. Sends updates at each stage: downloading, muxing, uploading.

object

Inline storage credentials. Required for marketplace users (RapidAPI, Apify, Zyla). Optional for direct API users (overrides pre-configured storage). Supports 4 providers via the provider field. See Inline Storage examples below.

boolean

default:"false"

For Spotify show batches only. Creates the batch in paused mode: jobs are not enqueued for processing immediately. Use PATCH /batch/{id}/jobs to rename episodes, then POST /batch/{id}/start to launch.

Single Job Response

string

UUID of the created job

Response

{
  "job_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
}

Batch Response (Spotify Shows)

When the URL is a Spotify show, a batch is created automatically:

string

UUID of the batch job

integer

Number of episodes in the show

boolean

Whether the batch was created in paused mode

array

List of episode details with job IDs, URLs, titles, descriptions, and release dates

array

List of job IDs for each episode (legacy field)

Response (default mode)

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
  "total_episodes": 142,
  "paused": false,
  "episodes": [
    {
      "job_id": "uuid-1",
      "url": "https://open.spotify.com/episode/abc",
      "title": "Episode 1 - Introduction",
      "description": "In this episode we cover...",
      "release_date": "2024-01-15"
    },
    {
      "job_id": "uuid-2",
      "url": "https://open.spotify.com/episode/def",
      "title": "Episode 2 - Deep Dive",
      "description": "A deep dive into...",
      "release_date": "2024-01-22"
    }
  ],
  "episode_jobs": ["uuid-1", "uuid-2"]
}

Response (paused mode)

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
  "total_episodes": 142,
  "paused": true,
  "episodes": [
    {
      "job_id": "uuid-1",
      "url": "https://open.spotify.com/episode/abc",
      "title": "Episode 1 - Introduction"
    },
    {
      "job_id": "uuid-2",
      "url": "https://open.spotify.com/episode/def",
      "title": "Episode 2 - Deep Dive"
    }
  ],
  "episode_jobs": ["uuid-1", "uuid-2"]
}

Examples

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "format": "mp4",
    "filename": "my-video"
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "webhook_url": "https://myapp.com/webhook"
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "format": "mkv",
    "video_codec": "h265",
    "audio_codec": "opus",
    "audio_bitrate": "256k",
    "video_quality": 20
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://open.spotify.com/show/7iQXmUT7XGuZSzAMjoNWlX",
    "folder": "huberman-lab-2024"
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "audio_only": true
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "audio_only": true,
    "format": "mp3",
    "audio_bitrate": "320k"
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "download_subtitles": true,
    "download_thumbnail": true
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "quality_preset": "high"
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "max_resolution": "720"
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "clip_start": "00:01:30",
    "clip_end": "00:03:00"
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/live/abc123",
    "live_recording": true,
    "live_from_start": true,
    "max_duration": 3600
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "webhook_url": "https://myapp.com/webhook",
    "enable_progress_webhook": true
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "storage": {
      "provider": "s3",
      "endpoint": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com",
      "bucket": "my-videos",
      "region": "us-east-1",
      "access_key": "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE",
      "secret_key": "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY",
      "folder_prefix": "downloads/",
      "base_folder": "videos"
    }
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "storage": {
      "provider": "blob",
      "account_name": "mystorageaccount",
      "container": "tornado-downloads",
      "account_key": "your-storage-account-key-base64==",
      "folder_prefix": "downloads/"
    }
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "storage": {
      "provider": "gcs",
      "project_id": "my-gcp-project",
      "bucket": "tornado-downloads",
      "service_account_json": "{\"type\":\"service_account\",\"project_id\":\"my-gcp-project\",...}",
      "folder_prefix": "downloads/"
    }
  }'

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "storage": {
      "provider": "oss",
      "endpoint": "https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com",
      "bucket": "tornado-downloads",
      "access_key_id": "your-oss-access-key-id",
      "access_key_secret": "your-oss-access-key-secret",
      "folder_prefix": "downloads/"
    }
  }'

Inline Storage

The storage field lets you provide cloud storage credentials directly in the request. This is required for marketplace users and optional for direct API users.

Inline storage credentials take priority over pre-configured storage, are validated before the job is accepted, and are never stored or logged.

Provider Fields

S3 / S3-Compatible
Azure Blob
Google Cloud Storage
Alibaba OSS

Field	Type	Required	Description
`provider`	`string`	Yes	Must be `"s3"`
`endpoint`	`string`	Yes	S3 endpoint URL (e.g., `https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com`, `https://ACCOUNT.r2.cloudflarestorage.com`)
`bucket`	`string`	Yes	Bucket name
`region`	`string`	Yes	AWS region (e.g., `us-east-1`) or `auto` for R2
`access_key`	`string`	Yes	Access key ID
`secret_key`	`string`	Yes	Secret access key
`folder_prefix`	`string`	No	Folder prefix (e.g., `downloads/2024/`)
`base_folder`	`string`	No	Top-level folder (default: `videos`)

Field	Type	Required	Description
`provider`	`string`	Yes	Must be `"blob"`
`account_name`	`string`	Yes	Azure Storage account name
`container`	`string`	Yes	Container name
`account_key`	`string`	No*	Account key (Base64)
`sas_token`	`string`	No*	SAS token
`folder_prefix`	`string`	No	Folder prefix
`base_folder`	`string`	No	Top-level folder (default: `videos`)

*Provide either account_key or sas_token, not both.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`provider`	`string`	Yes	Must be `"gcs"`
`project_id`	`string`	Yes	GCP project ID
`bucket`	`string`	Yes	GCS bucket name
`service_account_json`	`string`	Yes	Full service account JSON as string
`folder_prefix`	`string`	No	Folder prefix
`base_folder`	`string`	No	Top-level folder (default: `videos`)

Field	Type	Required	Description
`provider`	`string`	Yes	Must be `"oss"`
`endpoint`	`string`	Yes	OSS endpoint (e.g., `https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com`)
`bucket`	`string`	Yes	Bucket name
`access_key_id`	`string`	Yes	Access key ID
`access_key_secret`	`string`	Yes	Access key secret
`folder_prefix`	`string`	No	Folder prefix
`base_folder`	`string`	No	Top-level folder (default: `videos`)

Success Response

{
  "job_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
}

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
  "total_episodes": 142,
  "paused": false,
  "episodes": [
    {
      "job_id": "job-uuid-1",
      "url": "https://open.spotify.com/episode/abc",
      "title": "Episode 1 - Introduction"
    }
  ],
  "episode_jobs": ["job-uuid-1", "job-uuid-2", "job-uuid-3"]
}

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440002",
  "total_videos": 25,
  "video_jobs": ["job-uuid-1", "job-uuid-2", "job-uuid-3"]
}

Playlist Auto-Detection

POST /jobs inspects url and automatically creates a batch (one job per video) instead of a single job whenever it detects a genuine YouTube playlist. There is no separate “batch” endpoint or flag to opt into this — it happens automatically based on the URL you send.

Which URLs trigger it

`url` contains…	Example	Behavior
`list=PL...`	`youtube.com/watch?v=xxx&list=PLxxxx` or `youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxxxx`	✅ Downloads the whole playlist (this is a real, user-created playlist)
`list=UU...`	`...&list=UUxxxx`	✅ Downloads the whole playlist (a channel’s uploads)
`list=OL...`	`...&list=OLxxxx`	✅ Downloads the whole playlist (an “Online courses”-style auto playlist)
`list=RD...`	`...&list=RDxxxx&start_radio=1`	❌ Downloads only the single video in `v=`
`list=WL` or `list=LL`	`...&list=WL`	❌ Downloads only the single video in `v=`
no `list=` at all	`youtube.com/watch?v=xxx`	❌ Downloads only that one video

This is the #1 source of “I asked for one video and got thousands of jobs” confusion. YouTube’s own UI automatically appends &list=RD<video_id>&start_radio=1 to the URL bar any time you open a video from an autoplay queue, the homepage, related videos, or a “Radio”/Mix button — not because you’re viewing a playlist. If you’re integrating by copy-pasting URLs from a browser, always double-check for a list= parameter before sending it here. As of 2026-07-08, list=RD.../WL/LL URLs are correctly treated as single-video requests (this was previously a real bug that caused two production incidents) — but if you’re on an older integration or unsure, strip any list=/start_radio= query parameters from the URL yourself before calling this endpoint to be safe.

Size limit

Even a genuine playlist (PL/UU/OL) is capped at 500 videos per request (configurable server-side via MAX_PLAYLIST_BATCH_SIZE). A playlist larger than that is rejected outright with a 413 Payload Too Large — it is never silently truncated. If you need to download a larger playlist, split it into smaller batches or contact support.

Response

string

UUID of the batch job

integer

Number of videos in the playlist

array

List of job IDs for each video

Genuine Playlist (downloads all videos)

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknGvNjby9efdf"
  }'

Response

{
  "batch_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440002",
  "total_videos": 25,
  "video_jobs": ["job-uuid-1", "job-uuid-2", "job-uuid-3"]
}

Radio/Mix URL (downloads only the one video)

curl -X POST "https://api.tornadoapi.io/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVCpDa6ymtQ&list=RDLVCpDa6ymtQ&start_radio=1"
  }'

Response

{
  "job_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
}

413 Payload Too Large (playlist exceeds the cap)

{
  "error": "This playlist has 2848 videos, which exceeds the 500-video limit for automatic playlist expansion in a single request.",
  "hint": "Split the playlist into smaller batches (e.g. multiple playlist URLs, or the batch API), or contact support@velys.software if you need a one-off exception.",
  "playlist_video_count": 2848,
  "max_playlist_batch_size": 500
}

Error Responses

{
  "error": "Folder name too long (max 200 characters)"
}

{
  "error": "Invalid folder name: path traversal not allowed"
}

{
  "error": "Folder name cannot be empty or whitespace only"
}

{
  "error": "Invalid video URL"
}

{
  "error": "Invalid webhook URL"
}

{
  "error": "Invalid resolution '4k'. Valid options: [\"best\", \"2160\", \"1440\", \"1080\", \"720\", \"480\", \"360\"]"
}

{
  "error": "Invalid clip_start format '90x'. Use HH:MM:SS or seconds"
}

{
  "error": "clip_end must be greater than clip_start"
}

{
  "error": "No episodes found in this show"
}

{
  "error": "Missing x-api-key header"
}

{
  "error": "Invalid API Key"
}

{
  "error": "Storage quota exceeded",
  "limit_gb": "1024.00",
  "used_gb": "1024.00",
  "message": "This API key has a 1024 GB limit and has used 1024.00 GB"
}

{
  "error": "IP address not allowed for this API key"
}

{
  "error": "Server is at capacity, please retry later",
  "queue_depth": 5000,
  "retry_after": 30
}

{
  "error": "Service is draining, try another node",
  "retry_after": 30
}

{
  "error": "Spotify show extraction timed out. The show may have too many episodes."
}

Notes

The 429 Too Many Requests and 503 Service Unavailable responses include a Retry-After header indicating how many seconds to wait before retrying.

Codec auto-correction: Incompatible codec/format combinations are automatically corrected to ensure valid output:

webm + h264 → video codec changed to vp9
webm + aac → audio codec changed to opus
ogg/opus + aac → audio codec changed to opus
mp3 + aac → audio codec changed to mp3
Setting audio_bitrate without audio_codec → audio codec defaults to aac

Invalid format values are silently replaced with mp4.

API Reference Get Job Status

API Reference

Jobs

Bulk

Metadata

Batch Operations

User

Create Job

Overview

Header Parameters

Request

Single Job Response

Batch Response (Spotify Shows)

Examples

Inline Storage

Provider Fields

Success Response

Playlist Auto-Detection

Which URLs trigger it

Size limit

Response

Error Responses

Notes

​Overview

​Header Parameters

​Request

​Single Job Response

​Batch Response (Spotify Shows)

​Examples

​Inline Storage

​Provider Fields

​Success Response

​Playlist Auto-Detection

​Which URLs trigger it

​Size limit

​Response

​Error Responses

​Notes

Overview

Header Parameters

Request

Single Job Response

Batch Response (Spotify Shows)

Examples

Inline Storage

Provider Fields

Success Response

Playlist Auto-Detection

Which URLs trigger it

Size limit

Response

Error Responses

Notes