Use --spider when only availability checks are needed.
Common Pitfalls
Destination files can be overwritten unexpectedly.
Redirect and auth behavior may differ from curl/xh assumptions.
Recursive options can cause excessive downloads if scope is not constrained.
Output Interpretation
--spider exit status indicates URL reachability.
Progress lines show throughput and transfer completion.
Why It Matters For Agents
Reliable unattended download behavior is critical in setup automation.
Resume and retry controls reduce flaky install workflows.
Repo Conventions
Prefer idempotent download steps in setup scripts.
Keep destination paths portable and user-agnostic.
Trigger Examples
Should trigger: "Fetch this release tarball with resume support."
Should trigger: "Verify a URL is reachable in CI without downloading it."
Should not trigger: "Pretty-print this JSON document."
1---2name: tool-wget-23description: tool-wget4---5# tool-wget67## When To Use89- Retrieve files reliably in non-interactive scripts.10- Resume large downloads and handle retries cleanly.11- Check URL reachability without full payload download.1213## Trusted Commands1415```bash16wget -O output.bin https://example.com/file.bin17wget -c https://example.com/large-file.iso18wget --spider https://example.com/health19wget --tries=3 --timeout=20 https://example.com/archive.tgz20wget -qO- https://example.com/version.txt21```2223## Safe Defaults2425- Use `-O` for deterministic output paths.26- Use `-c` for resumable transfers.27- Use `--spider` when only availability checks are needed.2829## Common Pitfalls3031- Destination files can be overwritten unexpectedly.32- Redirect and auth behavior may differ from curl/xh assumptions.33- Recursive options can cause excessive downloads if scope is not constrained.3435## Output Interpretation3637- `--spider` exit status indicates URL reachability.38- Progress lines show throughput and transfer completion.3940## Why It Matters For Agents4142- Reliable unattended download behavior is critical in setup automation.43- Resume and retry controls reduce flaky install workflows.4445## Repo Conventions4647- Prefer idempotent download steps in setup scripts.48- Keep destination paths portable and user-agnostic.4950## Trigger Examples5152- Should trigger: "Fetch this release tarball with resume support."53- Should trigger: "Verify a URL is reachable in CI without downloading it."54- Should not trigger: "Pretty-print this JSON document."
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tool-wget It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.
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