Downloading Threads¶

The thread-download command fetches a thread from the Fediverse and exports it to stdout or a file. Provide any status in the thread — the command walks to the root and collects all replies by the original author.

taibai thread-download https://mastodon.social/@user/109031952222346765
taibai thread-download 109031952222346765 --format markdown -o thread.md

Author filtering¶

Only posts by the author of the root status are included. Replies from other participants are excluded. This gives you a clean export of a single author's thread, rather than the entire conversation.

Formats¶

Three output formats are available via --format / -f:

`thread` (default)¶

Produces a file in the taibai thread format — the same format read by taibai thread. This enables a round-trip: download a thread, edit it, and re-post it to a different instance.

taibai thread-download 109031952222346765 > draft.md
# edit draft.md as needed
taibai thread draft.md --dry-run
taibai thread draft.md

Example output:

---
visibility: public
---

Opening post of the thread.

---

visibility: unlisted

Second post — different visibility gets a per-post override.

---

Third post — inherits global visibility (public).

Global visibility and content-warning are taken from the root post. Per-post overrides appear only when a reply differs from those globals. A reply that clears a global CW emits cw: (empty value) to cancel it.

`json`¶

Pretty-printed JSON array of status objects, using the same model_dump(exclude_none=True) serialisation as --json on other commands.

taibai thread-download 109031952222346765 --format json | jq '.[0].account.acct'

`markdown`¶

A Markdown document with a header line and one section per post:

# Thread by @user@mastodon.social — 2026-04-25

---

*2026-04-25 14:30 · public*

Opening post of the thread.

---

*2026-04-25 14:31 · unlisted*

Second post.

Use --output / -o to write to a file:

taibai thread-download 109031952222346765 --format markdown -o thread.md

Options reference¶

Option	Short	Default	Description
`STATUS_URL_OR_ID`	—	—	URL or numeric ID of any status in the thread
`--format`	`-f`	`thread`	Output format: `thread`, `json`, or `markdown`
`--output`	`-o`	—	Write to this file instead of stdout
`--profile`	`-p`	`default`	Profile name (`TAIBAI_PROFILE` env var)