# Tool Wget

> User-invoked skill tool-wget. A human runs it by name.

- Skill: `niksavis/tool-wget` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add niksavis/tool-wget`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/niksavis/tool-wget/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: niksavis (https://skillmd.com/u/niksavis)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/niksavis/tool-wget

---

<!-- Generated by `basicly skills-build` from skill.yaml. Do not edit; edit the source. -->

# tool-wget

## When To Use

- Retrieve files reliably in non-interactive scripts.
- Resume large downloads and handle retries cleanly.
- Check URL reachability without full payload download.

## Trusted Commands

```bash
wget -O output.bin https://example.com/file.bin
wget -c https://example.com/large-file.iso
wget --spider https://example.com/health
wget --tries=3 --timeout=20 https://example.com/archive.tgz
wget -qO- https://example.com/version.txt
```

## Safe Defaults

- Use `-O` for deterministic output paths.
- Use `-c` for resumable transfers.
- 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."