DiscordChatExporter/.docs/Using-the-CLI.md

Using the CLI

Step 1

After extracting the .zip archive, open your preferred terminal.

Step 2

Change the current directory to DCE's folder with cd C:\path\to\DiscordChatExporter (cd /path/to/DiscordChatExporter on MacOS and Linux), then press ENTER to run the command.

Windows users can quickly get the folder's path by clicking the address bar while inside the folder.

macOS users can press Command+Option+C (⌘⌥C) while inside the folder (or selecting it) to copy its path to the clipboard.

You can also drag and drop the folder on every platform.

Step 3

Now we're ready to run the commands.

Type the following command in your terminal of choice, then press ENTER to run it. This will list all available subcommands and options.

./dce

Note

: On Windows, use dce instead of ./dce.

Docker users, please refer to the Docker usage instructions.

CLI commands

Command	Description
export	Exports one or more channels
list channels	Outputs the list of channels in the given server(s)
list channels dm	Outputs the list of direct message channels
list servers	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 ./dce guide.

To pass the token, use the -t option:

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn"

Alternatively, you can set the DISCORD_TOKEN environment variable and omit -t:

Linux/macOS:

export DISCORD_TOKEN="mfa.Ifrn"

Windows:

set DISCORD_TOKEN=mfa.Ifrn

The pipeline examples in this guide assume DISCORD_TOKEN is already set.

To get help with a specific command, run:

./dce command --help

For example, to figure out how to use the export command, run:

./dce export --help

Export a specific channel

You can quickly export with DCE's default settings by providing the channel ID as a positional argument and -t token.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn"

Changing the format

You can change the export format to HtmlDark, HtmlLight, PlainText Json or Csv with -f format. The default format is HtmlDark.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" -f Json

Changing the output filename

You can change the filename by using -o name.ext. e.g. for the HTML format:

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" -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 (").

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" -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 (").

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" -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.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" -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
• %d - the current 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.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" -p 10

A 45 MB channel set to be partitioned every 20 MB will output 3 files.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" -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.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" --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.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" --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.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" --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.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" --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:

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" --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:

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" --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:

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" --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.

Filtering messages

Use --filter to filter what messages are included in the export.

./dce export 53555 -t "mfa.Ifrn" --filter "from:Tyrrrz has:image"

Documentation on message filter syntax can be found here.

Export channels from a specific server

To export all channels in a specific server, use list channels to list channels and pipe the result to export.

Linux/macOS:

./dce list channels 21814 | ./dce export

Windows:

dce list channels 21814 | dce export

You can also list channels for multiple servers at once:

./dce list channels 21814 35930 | ./dce export

Including threads

By default, threads are not included. You can change this behavior by passing --include-threads to the list channels command. 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.

./dce list channels 21814 --include-threads all | ./dce export

Including voice channels

By default, voice channels are included. You can change this behavior by passing --include-vc false to the list channels command.

./dce list channels 21814 --include-vc false | ./dce export

Export all DMs

To export all DMs:

Linux/macOS:

./dce list channels dm | ./dce export

Windows:

dce list channels dm | dce export

List channels in a server

To list the channels available in a specific server, use the list channels command and provide the server ID as an argument:

./dce list channels 21814 -t "mfa.Ifrn"

When the output is redirected or piped, the list channels command prints only channel IDs (one per line). This allows you to pipe the output directly to the export command:

./dce list channels 21814 | ./dce export

List direct message channels

To list all DM channels accessible to the current account, use the list channels dm command:

./dce list channels dm -t "mfa.Ifrn"

When the output is redirected or piped, the list channels dm command prints only channel IDs (one per line). This allows you to pipe the output directly to the export command:

./dce list channels dm | ./dce export

List servers

To list all servers accessible by the current account, use the list servers command:

./dce list servers -t "mfa.Ifrn" > C:\path\to\output.txt