Skills Guide

Wget URL Reader

VerifiedCaution

Fetches content from URLs using wget. Handles file downloads, web page reading, and API responses with configurable flags like custom headers, timeouts, and retries.

Download and use
Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentBeginner
6/2/2026
Claude CodeCursorWindsurfCopilotCodex
#url-fetching#wget#file-download#api-client

Recommended for

Backend developerClaude CodeCode reviewFrontend developerCursorCopilot

Automated summary

Fetches content from URLs using wget, supporting file downloads and API responses.

Strengths

  • Simple and reliable fetching
  • Supports HTTP headers and authentication
  • Handles timeouts and retries
  • Works for both display and file saving

Limitations

  • Requires wget to be installed
  • Not suitable for interactive web scraping (e.g., JavaScript rendering)
  • May be blocked by some sites
When to use it

Use when you need to quickly fetch a URL's content or download a file in a scripted environment.

When not to use it

Do not use for sites requiring browser-like interaction, complex sessions, or when you need to bypass dynamic content.

Security analysis

Caution
Quality score85/100

The skill uses wget to fetch content from user-provided URLs without safeguards, enabling actions like SSRF, downloading potentially malicious content, or exfiltrating data when combined with other skills. While the tool itself is legitimate, the lack of URL restrictions and the ability to output to files or stdout introduces moderate risk.

Findings
  • •No URL validation or sanitization; allows fetching arbitrary URLs (potential SSRF, data exfiltration, or access to internal services).
  • •Permits disabling SSL certificate validation via --no-check-certificate.
  • •Allows credential provision directly on command line (--user/--password) or in headers, risking exposure in logs or command history.
  • •Can write downloaded content to arbitrary filenames, potentially overwriting important files if combined with path traversal.
How this analysis is made

Examples

Read webpage
Read the content from https://example.com
Download file
Download the file from https://example.com/data.json
Fetch JSON API
Fetch JSON from https://api.example.com/data

name: wget-reader description: Fetch data from URLs. Use when asked to download content, fetch remote files, or read web data. version: 1.0.0

Wget URL Reader

Overview

Fetches content from URLs using wget command-line tool. Supports downloading files, reading web pages, and retrieving API responses.

Instructions

  1. When user provides a URL to read or fetch:

    • Validate the URL format
    • Use wget with appropriate flags based on content type

  2. For reading content to stdout (display):

    wget -qO- "<URL>"

  3. For downloading files:

    wget -O "<filename>" "<URL>"

  4. For JSON API responses:

    wget -qO- --header="Accept: application/json" "<URL>"

  5. Common wget flags:

    • -q: Quiet mode (no progress output)
    • -O-: Output to stdout
    • -O <file>: Output to specific file
    • --header: Add custom HTTP header
    • --timeout=<seconds>: Set timeout
    • --tries=<n>: Number of retries
    • --user-agent=<agent>: Set user agent

Examples

Example: Read webpage content

Input: "Read the content from https://example.com" Command:

wget -qO- "https://example.com"

Example: Download a file

Input: "Download the file from https://example.com/data.json" Command:

wget -O "data.json" "https://example.com/data.json"

Example: Fetch API with headers

Input: "Fetch JSON from https://api.example.com/data" Command:

wget -qO- --header="Accept: application/json" "https://api.example.com/data"

Example: Download with timeout and retries

Input: "Download with 30 second timeout" Command:

wget --timeout=30 --tries=3 -O "output.txt" "<URL>"

Guidelines

  • Always quote URLs to handle special characters
  • Use -q flag to suppress progress bars in scripts
  • For large files, consider adding --show-progress for user feedback
  • Respect robots.txt and rate limits when fetching multiple URLs
  • Use --no-check-certificate only when necessary (self-signed certs)
  • For authentication, use --user and --password or --header="Authorization: Bearer <token>"

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/download' --output '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

No recognized prerequisites section in this file. This does not mean it is self-contained: libraries, tools and access requirements may be mentioned elsewhere in the content or source repository.

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/wget-reader' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt' '.claude/skills/wget-reader'

Cursor
test -f '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.cursor/skills' && test ! -e '.cursor/skills/wget-reader' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt' '.cursor/skills/wget-reader'

Codex
test -f '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.agents/skills' && test ! -e '.agents/skills/wget-reader' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt' '.agents/skills/wget-reader'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt'

openskills read 'wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/wget-url-reader-mmh8qrgt/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

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