pytube.exceptions.RegexMatchError: get_throttling_function_name: could not find match for multiple

Question

I used to download songs the following way:

from pytube import YouTube
video = YouTube('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWXvSBHB210')
video.streams.get_by_itag(251).download()

Since today there is this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\__main__.py", line 170, in fmt_streams
    extract.apply_signature(stream_manifest, self.vid_info, self.js)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\extract.py", line 409, in apply_signature
    cipher = Cipher(js=js)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\cipher.py", line 43, in __init__
    self.throttling_plan = get_throttling_plan(js)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\cipher.py", line 387, in get_throttling_plan
    raw_code = get_throttling_function_code(js)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\cipher.py", line 293, in get_throttling_function_code
    name = re.escape(get_throttling_function_name(js))
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\cipher.py", line 278, in get_throttling_function_name
    raise RegexMatchError(
pytube.exceptions.RegexMatchError: get_throttling_function_name: could not find match for multiple

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Me\Documents\YouTubeDownloader.py", line 3, in <module>
    video.streams.get_by_itag(251).download()
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\__main__.py", line 285, in streams
    return StreamQuery(self.fmt_streams)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\__main__.py", line 177, in fmt_streams
    extract.apply_signature(stream_manifest, self.vid_info, self.js)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\extract.py", line 409, in apply_signature
    cipher = Cipher(js=js)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\cipher.py", line 43, in __init__
    self.throttling_plan = get_throttling_plan(js)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\cipher.py", line 387, in get_throttling_plan
    raw_code = get_throttling_function_code(js)
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\cipher.py", line 293, in get_throttling_function_code
    name = re.escape(get_throttling_function_name(js))
  File "C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\pytube\cipher.py", line 278, in get_throttling_function_name
    raise RegexMatchError(
pytube.exceptions.RegexMatchError: get_throttling_function_name: could not find match for multiple

Does this answer your question? [I was making a youtube video downloader but pytube is giving error](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68956373/i-was-making-a-youtube-video-downloader-but-pytube-is-giving-error) — Hussam F. Alkdary, Aug 29 '21 at 13:00
Try the following one. In my case it worked. python -m pip install git+https://github.com/kinshuk-h/pytube — NeuroMorphing, Apr 17 '22 at 19:16
The latest instance of this issue is [here](https://github.com/pytube/pytube/issues/1281) — snakecharmerb, Apr 19 '22 at 12:56

eroc123 · Answer 1 · 2023-07-27T15:17:27.190

36

Because youtube changed something on its end, and now you have to change pytube's cipher.py's get_throttling_function_name variable function_patterns to the following

r'a\.[a-zA-Z]\s*&&\s*\([a-z]\s*=\s*a\.get\("n"\)\)\s*&&\s*'
r'\([a-z]\s*=\s*([a-zA-Z0-9$]{2,3})(\[\d+\])?\([a-z]\)'

And you also have to change line 288 to this:

nfunc=re.escape(function_match.group(1))),

You'll have to use this workaround until pytube officially releases a fix.

EDIT: This will very likely be broken again in the future as youtube updates their website, make sure to check the github issues for possible solutions

edited Jul 27 '23 at 15:17

answered Apr 17 '22 at 15:10

eroc123

624
1
4
14

Doesn't seem to work, not with 11.0 nor with 12.0 :-( – NeuroMorphing Apr 17 '22 at 19:09
3

worked for me, with v12.0.0. Thanks. – Zabir Al Nazi Apr 18 '22 at 06:12
6

Also worked for me. I'm using version "12.0". Note that the updated "function_patterns" is at line "264" of "cipher.py". Thanks! – gangmax Apr 18 '22 at 09:25
Not working anymore. Is there a new regex? – laocius Apr 18 '22 at 10:29
1

Works with v12.0, thanks for the fix. Hopefully this is resolved in the next version bump ([Github issue](https://github.com/pytube/pytube/issues/1293)) – Apr 20 '22 at 04:36
Worked with v12.0. Had a lot of struggle with v11.0 but this fixed worked perfectly. – amit.shipra Apr 20 '22 at 16:49
@laocius could you describe your exact issue and post it as a separate question instead? Because without information it's hard to know what happened. – eroc123 Apr 23 '22 at 10:12
Note the `function_patterns` array to change can be found on 272~273. There are others in the file that should not be modified. Also, the lack of commas is not a typo. – Waylon Flinn Apr 29 '22 at 18:28

score 15 · Accepted Answer · edited May 05 '22 at 17:50

I had same issue when i was using pytube 11.0.0

so found out that there is a regular expression filter mismatch in pytube library in cipher.py class

function_patterns = [

    r'a\.C&&\(b=a\.get\("n"\)\)&&\(b=([^(]+)\(b\),a\.set\("n",b\)\)}};',
]

Now there is a update of pytube code yesterday to 11.0.1

function_patterns = [

    r'a\.[A-Z]&&\(b=a\.get\("n"\)\)&&\(b=([^(]+)\(b\)',
]

With this code update now downloading youtube video with pytube works!!!

Update your pytube library with this command:

python3 -m pip install --upgrade pytube

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 04 '23 at 09:43

9

Update your (cipher.py -> get_throttling_function_name -> function_patterns) with this one and then it will work.

function_patterns = [
    # https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/29326#issuecomment-865985377
    # https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/48416bc4a8f1d5ff07d5977659cb8ece7640dcd8
    # var Bpa = [iha];
    # ...
    # a.C && (b = a.get("n")) && (b = Bpa[0](b), a.set("n", b),
    # Bpa.length || iha("")) }};
    # In the above case, `iha` is the relevant function name
    r'a\.[a-zA-Z]\s*&&\s*\([a-z]\s*=\s*a\.get\("n"\)\)\s*&&.*?\|\|\s*([a-z]+)',
    r'\([a-z]\s*=\s*([a-zA-Z0-9$]+)(\[\d+\])?\([a-z]\)', ]

answered Jul 04 '23 at 09:43

Maaz Ali

133
1
6

This answer worked. – koziez Jul 04 '23 at 19:40
This was what worked for me. Some notes: (1) You can find where cypher.py is by entering pip show pytube. (2) There are two function_patterns in cypher.py. Make sure you update the right one! – azoundria Jul 08 '23 at 23:31
Worked for me as well... thank you! – LukasS Jul 10 '23 at 00:10

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 08 '23 at 16:00

7

In Pytube version 15.0.0, you just need to remove ; in line 287 of cipher.py file.

Change r'var {nfunc}\s*=\s*(\[.+?\];)'.format( to r'var {nfunc}\s*=\s*(\[.+?\])'.format(

answered Jul 08 '23 at 16:00

Anoop Janakar

147
2
8

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited May 05 '22 at 17:49

The updated regex expression:

r'a\.[a-zA-Z]\s*&&\s*\([a-z]\s*=\s*a\.get\("n"\)\)\s*&&\s*'

r'\([a-z]\s*=\s*([a-zA-Z0-9$]{2,3})(\[\d+\])?\([a-z]\)'

in the answer above may be parsed incorrectly by pycharm if just copy/pasted from web. To fix, try merging the two strings onto one line:

r'a\.[a-zA-Z]\s*&&\s*\([a-z]\s*=\s*a\.get\("n"\)\)\s*&&\s*\([a-z]\s*=\s*([a-zA-Z0-9$]{2,3})(\[\d+\])?\([a-z]\)'

I found this fixed the problem for V12.0.0

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered May 02 '22 at 09:04

3

You can use yt-dlp: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp

!pip install -U yt-dlp

Then for your video (mp4 + 1080p) use the following code:

!yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=1080][ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWXvSBHB210"

answered May 02 '22 at 09:04

Slybot

588
1
11

This saved me in June 2023! – Juan Pedro Goicochea Jun 25 '23 at 13:33
Me too! Tks for sharing! June 2023! – Igor Melão Jun 26 '23 at 05:50
Worked ! Jul 2023 ! Mac Python 15.0.0 – Polo Jul 09 '23 at 16:42

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 24 '22 at 05:20

0

Upgrade pytube

python3 -m pip install --upgrade pytube

answered Feb 24 '22 at 05:20

vijaylaxmi lendale

11

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 06 '23 at 18:55

Thank you, that resolved that error - pytube is now giving various other errors, and by adding the following at the lines where the errors occur solved it for me:

Around line 417...

if(raw_code == ""):
    return ""

Around line 344

if(raw_code == ""):
    return []

And around 321 change it to:

if(match != None):
    code_lines_list = find_object_from_startpoint(js, match.span()[1]).split('\n')
    joined_lines = "".join(code_lines_list)
    # Prepend function definition (e.g. `Dea=function(a)`)
    return match.group(0) + joined_lines
else:
    return ""

After this it started working for me.

pytube.exceptions.RegexMatchError: get_throttling_function_name: could not find match for multiple

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