How to Download Circle.so Videos for Free (HLS m3u8 Streams) - using yt-dlp

Step-by-step guide to download Circle.so HLS m3u8 videos with yt-dlp, auto-naming, ffmpeg optimization, and troubleshooting tips.

Devin Schumacher

November 7, 2025

3 min read

circle.so

yt-dlp

m3u8

hls

How to Download Circle.so Videos for Free (HLS m3u8 Streams) - using yt-dlp

Circle.so hosts course videos using HLS streaming, where video data is split into .ts segments and controlled by a .m3u8 playlist file.

This guide shows you how to download, optimize, and auto-name Circle Academy videos with a single command on macOS.

💡 Tip: Don’t want to do this manually?

Try the Circle Video Downloader — it automatically detects and saves circle.so videos in one click. Or check out the code repository

🔍 Step 1 — Identify the Stream Type

Open Developer Tools → Network in your browser.
Filter by m3u8.
You’ll see URLs like:

https://cdn-media.circle.so/.../playlist.m3u8

https://cdn-media.circle.so/.../playlist_1.m3u8

✅ Use the playlist.m3u8 file (the master manifest).

⚙️ Step 2 — Copy the Universal Command Template

This is your reusable one-liner template.
It handles download, metadata optimization, and QuickLook thumbnail compatibility.

yt-dlp -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "<PASTE_M3U8_URL_HERE>"   --exec 'ffmpeg -y -i "{}" -movflags +faststart -pix_fmt yuv420p -c copy "{}_fixed.mp4" && mv "{}_fixed.mp4" "{}"'

💡 Keep this saved somewhere — you’ll just swap out the placeholder each time.

🚀 Step 3 — Replace the Placeholder URL and Run It

Go back to DevTools and copy your actual .m3u8 link.
Replace <PASTE_M3U8_URL_HERE> in the command with your real link.
Paste it into Terminal and hit Enter.

✅ It will automatically:

Download all .ts segments and merge them.
Dynamically name the file based on video metadata.
Add faststart and pixel formatting for Finder previews.
Replace the original file with the optimized one.

🧠 Step 4 — What Each Flag Does

Flag	Purpose
`-o "%(title)s.%(ext)s"`	Dynamically name the file based on metadata.
`--exec 'ffmpeg ...'`	Run ffmpeg automatically after download.
`-movflags +faststart`	Moves metadata to the start of file for instant playback.
`-pix_fmt yuv420p`	Ensures Finder and QuickLook compatibility.
`-c copy`	No re-encoding (lossless).

🧩 Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Fix
Token expired	Circle’s CDN tokens expire quickly.	Refresh the page and grab a fresh `.m3u8` link.
No title metadata	Some Circle embeds omit titles.	yt-dlp will fallback to a timestamp-based filename.
No thumbnail still	macOS caching delay.	Run `qlmanage -r cache` to refresh Finder previews.

✅ Summary

Find the .m3u8 link under Network → Media.
Use the master playlist.m3u8, not the _1.m3u8 variant.
Copy the template command from Step 2.
Replace the placeholder URL in Step 3.
You’ll get a Finder-previewable .mp4 auto-named and ready to use.

💡 Tip: Prefer a one-click solution?
Use the Circle Video Downloader to automatically detect, download, and merge Circle.so course videos without touching the command line.

How to Download