ytdl_hook-ytdl_path does not expand $HOME path ~/ correctly

mpv Information

mpv v0.40.0 Copyright © 2000-2025 mpv/MPlayer/mplayer2 projects
 built on May  7 2025 22:20:34
libplacebo version: v7.349.0
FFmpeg version: 6.1.2
FFmpeg library versions:
   libavcodec      60.31.102
   libavdevice     60.3.100
   libavfilter     9.12.100
   libavformat     60.16.100
   libavutil       58.29.100
   libswresample   4.12.100
   libswscale      7.5.100

Other Information

- macOS version: macOS 26.0 (25A354)
- Source of mpv: homebrew cask
- Latest known working version: I can't remember definitively, but I feel like this used to work on macOS at one point
- Issue started after the following happened: upgrading mpv

Reproduction Steps

I'm pretty sure ~/ in my mpv.conf used to automatically expand-path ~/ to /Users/johnduncan/, but that doesn't seem to work anymore.

Since yt-dlp is in my path by default thanks to a symlink in /opt/bin/, I can just specify ytdl_hook-ytdl_path=yt-dlp, but I'm wondering why the fully qualified ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp path no longer works?

---

~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf

script-opts-add=ytdl_hook-ytdl_path="~/.local/bin/yt-dlp"

I'm using uv, but it also happens if I install yt-dlp from homebrew.

$ uv tool install yt-dlp

$ file ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
file is /usr/bin/file
/Users/johnduncan/.local/bin/yt-dlp: a /Users/johnduncan/.local/share/uv/tools/yt-dlp/bin/python3 script text executable, ASCII text

$ stat ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
stat is /usr/bin/stat
16777232 281646344 lrwxr-xr-x 1 johnduncan staff 0 57 "Sep 14 17:48:42 2025" "Sep 14 17:48:42 2025" "Sep 14 17:48:42 2025" "Sep 14 17:48:42 2025" 4096 0 0 /Users/johnduncan/.local/bin/yt-dlp

---

broken

$ mpv "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DPdy98e4c" --script-opts=ytdl_hook-ytdl_path="~/.local/bin/yt-dlp"

works

$ mpv "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DPdy98e4c" --script-opts=ytdl_hook-ytdl_path="/Users/johnduncan/.local/bin/yt-dlp"

$ mpv "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DPdy98e4c" --script-opts=ytdl_hook-ytdl_path=yt-dlp

---

Expected Behavior

mpv "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DPdy98e4c" --script-opts=ytdl_hook-ytdl_path="~/.local/bin/yt-dlp should work

Actual Behavior

mpv "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DPdy98e4c" --script-opts=ytdl_hook-ytdl_path="~/.local/bin/yt-dlp" fails with:

[ytdl_hook] Subprocess failed: init
[ytdl_hook] 
[ytdl_hook] youtube-dl failed: not found or not enough permissions
Failed to recognize file format.

Log File

output.txt

Relevant section is:

[   0.070][d][global] config path: '~/.local/bin/yt-dlp' -/-> '/Users/johnduncan/.config/mpv/~/.local/bin/yt-dlp'
[   0.070][d][global] config path: '~/.local/bin/yt-dlp' -/-> '/Users/johnduncan/.mpv/~/.local/bin/yt-dlp'
[   0.070][d][global] config path: '~/.local/bin/yt-dlp' -/-> '/usr/local/etc/mpv/~/.local/bin/yt-dlp'
[   0.070][v][ytdl_hook] No youtube-dl found with path ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp in config directories
[   0.070][d][cplayer] Run command: subprocess, flags=64, args=[args="~/.local/bin/yt-dlp,--no-warnings,-J,--flat-playlist,--sub-format,ass/srt/best,--format,bestvideo+bestaudio/best,--extractor-args,youtube:skip=hls,--mark-watched,--format-sort,proto,--cookies-from-browser,chrome,--sub-langs,all,--write-srt,--no-playlist,--,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DPdy98e4c", playback_only="yes", capture_size="67108864", capture_stdout="yes", capture_stderr="yes", detach="no", env="", stdin_data="", passthrough_stdin="no"]
[   0.070][v][ytdl_hook] Starting subprocess: [~/.local/bin/yt-dlp, --no-warnings, -J, --flat-playlist, --sub-format, ass/srt/best, --format, bestvideo+bestaudio/best, --extractor-args, youtube:skip=hls, --mark-watched, --format-sort, proto, --cookies-from-browser, chrome, --sub-langs, all, --write-srt, --no-playlist, --, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DPdy98e4c]
[   0.071][v][cplayer] Set property: user-data/osc/margins={"b":0,"l":0,"t":0,"r":0} -> 1
[   0.071][d][osc] osc_init
[   0.072][e][ytdl_hook] Subprocess failed: init
[   0.072][v][ytdl_hook] youtube-dl with path ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp not found in PATH or not enough permissions

Sample Files

No response

I carefully read all instruction and confirm that I did the following:

• I tested with the latest mpv version to validate that the issue is not already fixed.
• I provided all required information including system and mpv version.
• I produced the log file with the exact same set of files, parameters, and conditions used in "Reproduction Steps", with the addition of --log-file=output.txt.
• I produced the log file while the behaviors described in "Actual Behavior" were actively observed.
• I attached the full, untruncated log file.
• I attached the backtrace in the case of a crash.

Start with the ytdl_hook path handling and the config-path behavior shown in the attached log. Reproduce the broken and working commands using ytdl_hook-ytdl_path, then trace where the literal ~/ path is passed to the subprocess. Done means the documented ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp form works as expected without breaking absolute paths or PATH lookup.