What Ready means before a video file can be downloaded
Ready means preparation finished and the output passed the downloader’s final inspection. A queued or processing response is not a successful download. The service must have an actual file before it can report its exact output size or offer a verified save link.
Open the relevant downloader · Platform tools and access limits
Follow preparation through its states
After a valid selection, the API can accept a preparation job without immediately returning media bytes. The interface polls the job for progress. Source fetching and any required stream merge must finish before the final file state is available.
A source response can provide estimated size or dimensions during analysis, but that is distinct from the output file. Remuxing and a different audio selection can change final bytes. Exact prepared-file size therefore comes from the file, not a hard-coded quality table or an assumed bitrate.
Inspect the completed output
Before readiness, FFprobe validates video dimensions, duration and stream inventory. The expected result contains one video stream and the selected number of audio streams. Known selected language tags and unchanged audio codecs are checked, with default disposition applied to the primary track in multiple-audio output.
The engine also inspects selected local input streams before muxing. Explicitly contradictory source language metadata is rejected rather than overwritten with the requested label. These checks verify the packaging and selection evidence; they do not infer the spoken language when the source metadata is unknown.
Troubleshoot preparation that never becomes ready
Processing is bounded by duration, file size and timeout settings. A job can fail when the source is unavailable or the output cannot be verified. A timeout must not leave an offered fake success file. Failure cleanup removes temporary preparation output.
The same public link may offer a smaller compatible format that fits the limits, but the interface must show that real source option first. Do not describe a partial clip or a relabeled HTML response as the requested full video. If no supported choice succeeds, obtain an authorized original from its owner instead.
Worked example
A dual-audio request is accepted as queued. The engine fetches its inputs and creates an output, but inspection finds only one audio stream instead of two. That job fails verification; the existence of some bytes on disk is not enough to mark it ready or label it a successful dual-audio download.
Related guidance
Sources and verification
Reviewed 2026-10-07. Product behavior is limited to available source formats and provider access; it is not a promise that every public link works.