10 KiB
Using the CLI
Guide
Note: Make sure you have .NET Core installed before attempting to run the commands below. Docker users, please refer to the Docker usage instructions.
Step 1
After extracting the .zip, open Command Prompt, aka cmd (Terminal on macOS and Linux).
Step 2
Change the current directory to DCE's folder with cd C:\path\to\directory, then press ENTER to run the command.
Windows users can quickly get the directory's path by clicking the address bar while inside the folder.
macOS users can select the .exe, hit Command+I (⌘I), and copy what's after Where: to get the directory
You can also drag and drop the folder on every platform.
Step 3
Now we're ready to run the commands. The examples on this page follow the Windows file path format, change the file paths according to your system.
On Windows, type the following command in your terminal of choice, then press ENTER to run it. This will list all available subcommands and options.
DiscordChatExporter.Cli.exe
On macOS and Linux, run the following instead:
./DiscordChatExporter.Cli.sh
If either of the above approaches don't work for you, you can also run DiscordChatExporter directly like this, regardless of the platform:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll
Docker users, please refer to the Docker usage instructions.
CLI commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| export | Exports a channel |
| exportdm | Exports all direct message channels |
| exportguild | Exports all channels within the specified server |
| exportall | Exports all accessible channels |
| channels | Outputs the list of channels in the given server |
| dm | Outputs the list of direct message channels |
| guilds | Outputs the list of accessible servers |
| guide | Explains how to obtain token, server, and channel ID |
To use the commands, you'll need a token. For the instructions on how to get a token, please refer to this page, or run dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll guide.
To get help with a specific command, run:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll command --help
For example, to figure out how to use the export command, run:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export --help
Export a specific channel
You can quickly export with DCE's default settings by using just -t token and -c channelid.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555
Changing the format
You can change the export format to HtmlDark, HtmlLight, PlainText Json or Csv with -f format. The default
format is HtmlDark.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 -f Json
Changing the output filename
You can change the filename by using -o name.ext. e.g. for the HTML format:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 -o myserver.html
Changing the output directory
You can change the export directory by using -o and providing a path that ends with a slash or does not have a file
extension.
If any of the folders in the path have a space in its name, escape them with quotes (").
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 -o "C:\Discord Exports"
Changing the filename and output directory
You can change both the filename and export directory by using -o directory\name.ext.
Note that the filename must have an extension, otherwise it will be considered a directory name.
If any of the folders in the path have a space in its name, escape them with quotes (").
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 -o "C:\Discord Exports\myserver.html"
Generating the filename and output directory dynamically
You can use template tokens to generate the output file path based on the server and channel metadata.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 -o "C:\Discord Exports\%G\%T\%C.html"
Assuming you are exporting a channel named "my-channel" in the "Text channels" category from a server
called "My server", you will get the following output file
path: C:\Discord Exports\My server\Text channels\my-channel.html
Here is the full list of supported template tokens:
%g- server ID%G- server name%t- category ID%T- category name%c- channel ID%C- channel name%p- channel position%P- category position%a- the "after" date%b- the "before" date%%- escapes%
Partitioning
You can use partitioning to split files after a given number of messages or file size. For example, a channel with 36 messages set to be partitioned every 10 messages will output 4 files.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 -p 10
A 45 MB channel set to be partitioned every 20 MB will output 3 files.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 -p 20mb
Downloading assets
If this option is set, the export will include additional files such as user avatars, attached files, images, etc. Only files that are referenced by the export are downloaded, which means that, for example, user avatars will not be downloaded when using the plain text (TXT) export format. A folder containing the assets will be created along with the exported chat. They must be kept together.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 --media
Reusing assets
Previously downloaded assets can be reused to skip redundant downloads as long as the chat is always exported to the
same folder. Using this option can speed up future exports. This option requires the --media option.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 --media --reuse-media
Changing the media directory
By default, the media directory is created alongside the exported chat. You can change this by using --media-dir and
providing a path that ends with a slash. All of the exported media will be stored in this directory.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 --media --media-dir "C:\Discord Media"
Changing the date format
You can customize how dates are formatted in the exported files by using --locale and inserting one of Discord's
locales. The default locale is en-US.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 --locale "de-DE"
Date ranges
Messages sent before a date
Use --before to export messages sent before the provided date. E.g. messages sent before September 18th, 2019:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 --before 2019-09-18
Messages sent after a date
Use --after to export messages sent after the provided date. E.g. messages sent after September 17th, 2019 11:34 PM:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 --after "2019-09-17 23:34"
Messages sent in a date range
Use --before and --after to export messages sent during the provided date range. E.g. messages sent between
September 17th, 2019 11:34 PM and September 18th:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll export -t "mfa.Ifrn" -c 53555 --after "2019-09-17 23:34" --before "2019-09-18"
You can try different formats like 17-SEP-2019 11:34 PM or even refine your ranges down to
milliseconds 17-SEP-2019 23:45:30.6170!
Don't forget to quote (") the date if it has spaces!
More info about .NET date
formats here.
Export channels from a specific server
To export all channels in a specific server, use the exportguild command and provide the server ID through the -g|--guild option:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll exportguild -t "mfa.Ifrn" -g 21814
Including threads
By default, threads are not included in the export. You can change this behavior by using --include-threads and
specifying which threads should be included. It has possible values of none, active, or all, indicating which
threads should be included. To include both active and archived threads, use --include-threads all.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll exportguild -t "mfa.Ifrn" -g 21814 --include-threads all
Including voice channels
By default, voice channels are included in the export. You can change this behavior by using --include-vc and
specifying whether to include voice channels in the export. It has possible values of true or false, to exclude
voice channels, use --include-vc false.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll exportguild -t "mfa.Ifrn" -g 21814 --include-vc false
Export all channels
To export all accessible channels, use the exportall command:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll exportall -t "mfa.Ifrn"
Excluding DMs
To exclude DMs, add the --include-dm false option.
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll exportall -t "mfa.Ifrn" --include-dm false
List channels in a server
To list the channels available in a specific server, use the channels command and provide the server ID through the -g|--guild option:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll channels -t "mfa.Ifrn" -g 21814
List direct message channels
To list all DM channels accessible to the current account, use the dm command:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll dm -t "mfa.Ifrn"
List servers
To list all servers accessible by the current account, use the guilds command:
dotnet DiscordChatExporter.Cli.dll guilds -t "mfa.Ifrn" > C:\path\to\output.txt