Python/(site packages) is not added to PATH correctly. You need to install Python from
<https://www.python.org/downloads/>

Or you are using Python from the Microsoft Store. If so, uninstall it and restart cmd. If this
doesn't work, reinstall Python.

### Error message

```
'spotdl' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
```

### Solution

Ensure to add to PATH when installing: ![python install](https://i.imgur.com/jWq5EnV.png)

If you see this error after installing spotdl, that means that the bin (Binaries) folder is not
in `$PATH`.

### Solution

#### `.bashrc`

Add `export PATH=~/.local/bin:$PATH` at the bottom of `~/.bashrc`

Then run `source ~/.bashrc`

#### `.zshrc`

Add `export PATH=~/.local/bin:$PATH` at the bottom of `~/.zshrc` Then run `source ~/.zshrc`

Sometimes not all packages are installed but are required by yt-dlp, for example: `brotli` or
`websockets`.

### Error Message

`pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound: The 'websockets' distribution was not found and is required by yt-dlp`

### Solution

`pip install brotli websockets yt-dlp -U`

<https://github.com/plamere/spotipy/issues/795#issuecomment-1100321148>

### Error Message

`HTTP Error for GET to URL with Params: {} returned 404 due to None`

### Solution

Update spotdl to the latest version which contains a workaround.

`pip install -U spotdl`

<https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27835619/urllib-and-ssl-certificate-verify-failed-error>

### Error Message

`urllib.error.URLError: <urlopen error [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:847)>`

### Solution

<https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27835619/urllib-and-ssl-certificate-verify-failed-error>

<https://github.com/spotDL/spotify-downloader/issues/1493>

### Error Message

`RecursionError: maximum recursion depth exceeded`

### Solution

Update spotdl:

`pip install spotdl -U`

This happens when running spotdl using `python -m`.

### Error Message

```
RuntimeWarning: 'spotdl.__main__' found in sys.modules after import of package 'spotdl',
but prior to execution of 'spotdl.__main__'; this may result in unpredictable behaviour
warn(RuntimeWarning(msg))
```

### Solution

You can ignore this error or just run spotdl directly.

This error is specific to M1 Macs only.

https://discord.com/channels/771628785447337985/871006150357823498
https://discord.com/channels/771628785447337985/939475659238043738

### Error Message

```
aise OSError("Cannot load native module '%s': %s" % (name, ", ".join(attempts)))
OSError: Cannot load native module 'Cryptodome.Cipher._raw_ecb': Not found '_raw_ecb.cpython-39-darwin.so',
Cannot load '_raw_ecb.abi3.so': dlopen(/opt/homebrew/lib/python3.9/site-packages/Cryptodome/Util/../Cipher/_raw_ecb.abi3.so, 6): no suitable image found.  Did find:
/opt/homebrew/lib/python3.9/site-packages/Cryptodome/Util/../Cipher/_raw_ecb.abi3.so: mach-o, but wrong architecture
/opt/homebrew/lib/python3.9/site-packages/Cryptodome/Cipher/_raw_ecb.abi3.so: mach-o, but wrong architecture, Not found '_raw_ecb.so'
```

### Solution

Possible solutions:

<https://discord.com/channels/771628785447337985/871006150357823498>
<https://discord.com/channels/771628785447337985/939475659238043738>

This error occurs when YouTube Music's API response structure changes intermittently. The error has been fixed in ytmusicapi v1.11.1, which is the minimum version required by spotdl v4.4.3.

### Error Message

```
KeyError: "Unable to find 'header' using path ['header', 'musicCardShelfHeaderBasicRenderer', 'title', 'runs', 0, 'text']"
```

### Solution

1. Update ytmusicapi to v1.11.1 or later:

    ```bash
    pip install -U ytmusicapi
    ```

2. If the error persists, reinstall spotdl:

    ```bash
    pip install -U --force spotdl
    ```

3. If you're still experiencing issues, the error may be intermittent due to YouTube's anti-bot mechanisms. Wait a few minutes and try again.

### Background

YouTube Music occasionally returns different response structures from their API. Version 1.11.1 of ytmusicapi includes a fallback mechanism that handles cases where the `header` field is missing from search results. This fix was implemented in PR #800 (https://github.com/sigma67/ytmusicapi/pull/800) to address issue #799.