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copyparty provides flexible download capabilities including direct file downloads, folder archives, thumbnails, and streaming.

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Download Files

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Direct Download

Download a file directly: 
curl -H "PW: your-password" \
  http://server:3923/path/to/file.txt

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Force Download (Don’t Display in Browser)

Add ?dl to force download instead of browser display: 
curl http://server:3923/path/to/file.txt?dl
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dl
boolean
Force download with Content-Disposition: attachment header

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Partial Downloads (Range Requests)

copyparty supports HTTP range requests for resumable downloads: 
curl -H "Range: bytes=0-1023" \
  http://server:3923/large-file.bin

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Archive Downloads

Download entire folders as compressed archives.

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TAR Archives

Download folder as tar file: 
curl "http://server:3923/folder/?tar" -o folder.tar
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tar
string
default:"gnu"
Archive format. Options:
  • (empty) - Plain GNU tar
  • pax - PAX format (futureproof)
  • gz or gz:N - Gzip compressed (level 0-9, default 3)
  • xz or xz:N - XZ/LZMA compressed (level 0-9, default 1)
  • bz2 or bz2:N - Bzip2 compressed (level 1-9, default 2)

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Examples

# Plain tar (fast, streamable)
curl "http://server:3923/music/?tar" -o music.tar

# Gzip compressed tar (level 3)
curl "http://server:3923/music/?tar=gz" -o music.tgz

# Gzip compressed tar (level 9 = best compression)
curl "http://server:3923/music/?tar=gz:9" -o music.tgz

# XZ compressed tar (level 9)
curl "http://server:3923/music/?tar=xz:9" -o music.txz

# PAX format tar
curl "http://server:3923/music/?tar=pax" -o music.tar

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ZIP Archives

Download folder as zip file: 
curl "http://server:3923/folder/?zip" -o folder.zip
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zip
string
default:"utf8"
ZIP format variant:
  • (empty) - Modern UTF-8 filenames
  • dos - CP437 encoding (Windows XP compatibility)
  • crc - CP437 with early CRC32 (MS-DOS PKZIP v2.04g compatibility)

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Selective Archives

Download only selected files/folders as archive: 
curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '["file1.txt", "subfolder/file2.txt"]' \
  "http://server:3923/folder/?tar" -o selected.tar

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Archive Modifiers

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Transcode Audio

Convert audio files on-the-fly while archiving: 
# Convert to Opus
curl "http://server:3923/music/?tar&opus" -o music.tar

# Convert to MP3  
curl "http://server:3923/music/?tar&mp3" -o music.tar
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opus
boolean
Transcode all audio (except aac/m4a/mp3/ogg/opus/wma) to 128kbps Opus
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mp3
boolean
Transcode all audio (except aac/m4a/mp3/ogg/opus/wma) to MP3

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Generate Thumbnails

Replace media files with thumbnails: 
# JPEG thumbnails
curl "http://server:3923/photos/?tar&j" -o thumbnails.tar

# WebM video thumbnails
curl "http://server:3923/videos/?tar&w" -o thumbnails.tar

# Audio waveforms (PNG)
curl "http://server:3923/music/?tar&p" -o waveforms.tar
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j
boolean
Include JPEG thumbnails instead of original images/videos
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w
boolean
Include WebM thumbnails for videos
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p
boolean
Include PNG waveforms for audio files

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Exclude Dotfiles

curl "http://server:3923/folder/?tar&nodot" -o folder.tar
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nodot
boolean
Exclude dotfiles and dotfolders from archive

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File Listings

Get folder contents as structured data.

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JSON Listing

curl "http://server:3923/folder/?ls" | jq
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dirs
array
List of subdirectories with metadata
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files
array
List of files with size, modification time, and permissions

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Plaintext Listing

curl "http://server:3923/folder/?ls=t"
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ls
string
Listing format:
  • (empty) - JSON format
  • t - Plaintext (one per line)
  • v - Terminal-formatted (with colors)

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Include Dotfiles in Listings

curl "http://server:3923/folder/?ls&dots"
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dots
boolean
Include dotfiles in listing (requires dot permission)
curl "http://server:3923/folder/?ls&lt"
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lt
boolean
Use symlink timestamps instead of target file timestamps

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Directory Tree

Get nested directory structure: 
# One level of subdirectories
curl "http://server:3923/folder/?tree=."

# Full tree up to current location
curl "http://server:3923/folder/subfolder/?tree"
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tree
string
Tree depth:
  • . - One level of subdirectories
  • (empty) - Full tree from root to current path

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Thumbnails

Get image/video thumbnails: 
# Auto-sized thumbnail
curl "http://server:3923/photo.jpg?th" -o thumb.jpg

# Specific width
curl "http://server:3923/photo.jpg?th=w256" -o thumb.jpg

# Specific height  
curl "http://server:3923/photo.jpg?th=h256" -o thumb.jpg
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th
string
Thumbnail size:
  • (empty) - Auto size
  • w{N} - Width in pixels (e.g., w256)
  • h{N} - Height in pixels (e.g., h256)

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Audio Transcoding

Transcode audio files: 
# Transcode to Opus
curl "http://server:3923/song.flac?th=opus" -o song.opus

# Transcode to iOS-compatible CAF
curl "http://server:3923/song.flac?th=caf" -o song.caf
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th
string
Audio transcoding:
  • opus - 128kbps Opus in WebM container
  • caf - Opus in iOS CAF container
  • mp3 - MP3 format

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Text File Streaming

Stream growing log files: 
# Stream from beginning
curl "http://server:3923/app.log?tail"

# Stream from byte 1024
curl "http://server:3923/app.log?tail=1024"

# Stream last 128 bytes
curl "http://server:3923/app.log?tail=-128"
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tail
integer
Stream file continuously:
  • (empty) - Start from beginning
  • Positive number - Start from byte offset
  • Negative number - Start N bytes from end

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View Text Files

Get text files with specific encoding: 
# Default UTF-8
curl "http://server:3923/file.txt?txt"

# Specific encoding
curl "http://server:3923/file.txt?txt=iso-8859-1"
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txt
string
default:"utf-8"
Text encoding (e.g., iso-8859-1, cp1252, shift-jis)

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ZIP File Access

Access files inside ZIP archives without extracting: 
# List ZIP contents
curl "http://server:3923/archive.zip?zls"

# Extract specific file from ZIP
curl "http://server:3923/archive.zip?zget=folder/file.txt"
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zls
boolean
List contents of ZIP file
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zget
string
Extract and download specific file from ZIP

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Markdown Rendering

Render markdown files as HTML: 
curl "http://server:3923/README.md?v"
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v
boolean
Render markdown as HTML, or open media files in player

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Media Player

Open media in browser player: 
# Open in audio/video player
curl "http://server:3923/song.mp3?v"

# Open in image gallery
curl "http://server:3923/photo.jpg?v"

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MIME Type Override

Force specific MIME type: 
curl "http://server:3923/file.bin?mime=application/json"
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mime
string
Override MIME type in response headers

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Recent Uploads

List recent uploads: 
# Your uploads
curl "http://server:3923/?ups"

# All uploads (requires admin permission)
curl "http://server:3923/?ru"

# Filter by path
curl "http://server:3923/?ru&filter=photos"

# JSON format
curl "http://server:3923/?ru&j"
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ups
boolean
Show recent uploads from your IP
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ru
boolean
Show all recent uploads (requires admin permission)
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filter
string
Filter uploads by path substring

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Shares

List your shared files/folders: 
curl "http://server:3923/?shares"
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shares
boolean
List temporary share links you’ve created

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Active Downloads

View active downloads (admin only): 
curl "http://server:3923/?dls"
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dls
boolean
Show currently active downloads (requires admin permission)

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Response Headers

Common response headers: 
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
Content-Length: 1048576
Content-Disposition: inline; filename="file.txt"
Last-Modified: Mon, 03 Mar 2024 12:00:00 GMT
ETag: "abc123"
Accept-Ranges: bytes

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Performance Notes

  • Use ?tar instead of ?zip for files > 4 GiB
  • Plain ?tar is fastest for large archives (no compression)
  • ?tar=gz:3 is good balance of speed and compression
  • Range requests support resumable downloads
  • Streaming tar works with curl | tar -xv for extraction on-the-fly
  • ?zip=crc requires reading each file twice (slower)
  • Dotfiles excluded from archives unless you have dot permission
  • up2k.db and dir.txt always excluded from archives
  • Audio transcoding requires FFmpeg on server

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