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wget

Included in pluginshared-skillsView on GitHub ↗

Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferencesscripts

Install

Install the containing plugin
/plugin install shared-skills@llm-skills
Invoke this skill after installation
/shared-skills:wget
Download wget-skill.zip
This skill is bundled inside shared-skills. Install the plugin once, then Claude Code can use any of its included skills. Browse the full plugin repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills.

SKILL.md

name: wget description: > Retrieve files and sites non-interactively with wget for single downloads, resumable transfers, recursive retrieval, mirroring, timestamping, rate limiting, cookies, authentication, and download safety. Use when the agent needs to fetch files to disk, mirror a site section, resume partial downloads, preserve timestamps, constrain recursive scope, or troubleshoot certificate, redirect, and crawl behavior from the command line.

wget

Retrieve files and site content non-interactively with controlled local writes.

Quick Start

  1. Verify wget is available: wget --version
  2. Establish the command surface: wget --help or man wget
  3. Start with a read-only check: wget --spider https://example.com/file.tar.gz

Intent Router

Load only the reference file needed for the active request.

  • references/install-and-setup.md — Installing wget and verifying runtime behavior
  • references/cheatsheet.md — Common download flags, naming, resume, timestamping, and rate control
  • references/advanced-usage.md — Recursive download, mirroring, accept and reject patterns, domain limits, and politeness controls
  • references/troubleshooting.md — Permission failures, partial downloads, TLS, auth, cookies, and runaway recursion recovery

Core Workflow

  1. Verify the installed build: wget --version
  2. Probe the target with --spider before writing files or crawling recursively
  3. Set an explicit destination policy with --output-document, --directory-prefix, or --no-clobber
  4. Add safety controls for larger jobs: --continue, --timestamping, --limit-rate, --domains, --no-parent
  5. Review logs and server responses with --server-response, --output-file, or --debug when behavior is unclear

Quick Workflows

Read-only availability probe

wget --spider https://example.com/file.tar.gz

Resumable file download

wget --continue --output-document artifact.tar.gz https://example.com/file.tar.gz

Scoped recursive mirror

wget --mirror --no-parent --domains example.com https://example.com/docs/

Quick Command Reference

wget --version
wget --spider https://example.com/file.tar.gz
wget --output-document artifact.tar.gz https://example.com/file.tar.gz
wget --continue --output-document artifact.tar.gz https://example.com/file.tar.gz
wget --timestamping https://example.com/releases/tool.zip
wget --directory-prefix downloads https://example.com/file.tar.gz
wget --limit-rate=500k --wait=1 https://example.com/file.tar.gz
wget --mirror --no-parent --domains example.com https://example.com/docs/
wget --save-cookies cookies.txt --keep-session-cookies https://example.com/login
man wget

Safety Notes

AreaGuardrail
Initial probeUse --spider before writing files or starting recursive jobs.
Destination controlSet output file or directory explicitly to avoid accidental overwrites or writes in the wrong path.
Resume behaviorUse --continue only when resuming the same remote object into the same local file.
TimestampingPrefer --timestamping for repeat downloads that should skip unchanged content.
Recursive scopePair recursion with --domains, --no-parent, and sensible depth controls to prevent runaway crawls.
Rate limitsUse --limit-rate, --wait, and --random-wait for polite bulk retrieval.
SecretsAvoid inline passwords and cookie disclosure in shared terminals or logs.
TLS verificationKeep certificate validation enabled. Use --no-check-certificate only for a temporary diagnostic check.

Scope Boundary

This skill does not cover fine-grained API request construction or response formatting. Use curl for those workflows.

Source Policy

  • Treat the installed wget behavior and wget --help or man wget as runtime truth.
  • Use wget --version to confirm TLS support, feature flags, and platform-specific behavior.
  • Validate recursive and mirroring guidance against the GNU Wget manual before documenting it.
  • Document recursion and write behavior explicitly so download scope is reproducible.

Resource Index

  • scripts/install.sh — Install wget on macOS or Linux.
  • scripts/install.ps1 — Install wget on Windows or any platform via PowerShell.
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