wget

Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferencesscripts

Install

Install only this skill with npx skills

npx skills add alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills --skill 'wget' -g -y

Install the containing skill bundle

/plugin install shared-skills@llm-skills

Download wget-skill.zip

This skill is bundled inside shared-skills. Use npx skills when you only want this skill, or install the bundle once to make every included skill available through the plugin marketplace flow. Browse the full skill bundle repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills.

Invoke

Invoke this skill after installation

/shared-skills:wget

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.

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

Quick Start

Verify wget is available: wget --version
Establish the command surface: wget --help or man wget
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

Verify the installed build: wget --version
Probe the target with --spider before writing files or crawling recursively
Set an explicit destination policy with --output-document, --directory-prefix, or --no-clobber
Add safety controls for larger jobs: --continue, --timestamping, --limit-rate, --domains, --no-parent
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

Area	Guardrail
Initial probe	Use `--spider` before writing files or starting recursive jobs.
Destination control	Set output file or directory explicitly to avoid accidental overwrites or writes in the wrong path.
Resume behavior	Use `--continue` only when resuming the same remote object into the same local file.
Timestamping	Prefer `--timestamping` for repeat downloads that should skip unchanged content.
Recursive scope	Pair recursion with `--domains`, `--no-parent`, and sensible depth controls to prevent runaway crawls.
Rate limits	Use `--limit-rate`, `--wait`, and `--random-wait` for polite bulk retrieval.
Secrets	Avoid inline passwords and cookie disclosure in shared terminals or logs.
TLS verification	Keep 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.