Site Rules

Site Rules let you automatically apply specific gallery-dl options based on the website URL. Instead of manually adding options every time you download from Instagram, you can create a rule that applies your Instagram settings automatically.

What Are Site Rules?

A site rule is a pattern + settings combination:

• Pattern: "Match URLs that look like this..." (e.g., all Instagram URLs)
• Settings: "...and apply these gallery-dl options automatically"

Why Use Them?

Different sites need different settings. For example:

• Instagram: You might want smaller image size, rate limiting
• Twitter: You might want to skip retweets, only get original content
• Etsy: You might want a specific naming pattern for files

Without site rules, you'd add these options manually every time. Or to your config file. This feature also allows you to easily disable the rule.

Viewing Supported Sites

Before creating a rule, you can see what sites gallery-dl supports.

How to View

1. Go to Site Rules in the main navigation
2. Click "Refresh Sites"
   • gdluxx will retrieve the current list of supported sites from gallery-dl
3. Click "Add Rule"
4. Start typing the site name in the "Site Pattern" box

INFO

gdluxx is nothing without gallery-dl. If gallery-dl doesn't support a site, gdluxx won't work on it.

What You'll See

For each site:

• Site name (e.g., "instagram", "twitter")
• URL patterns (e.g., "instagram.com/...")
• Extract types (what it can download: photos, videos, albums, etc.)

This helps you understand which patterns to use when creating your rules.

Creating a Site Rule

Step 1: Navigate to Site Rules

Click Site Rules in the main menu.

Step 2: Click "Add Rule"

Find and click the button to add a new rule. A form appears.

Step 3: Choose Your Site

1. Select the site from a dropdown or search
2. The URL pattern for that site appears automatically
3. Example: instagram.com or twitter.com

Step 4: Add Your Options

In the CLI Options field, add gallery-dl command-line options:

--range 1-50 --write-metadata

These are the same options you'd use on the Run page, but they'll now apply automatically to this site.

Step 5: Save

Click Save Rule. It's now active.

Understanding URL Patterns

Site rule patterns tell gdluxx which URLs to match.

Simple Patterns

Most patterns are straightforward:

• instagram.com - Matches any Instagram URL
• twitter.com - Matches any Twitter URL
• reddit.com - Matches any Reddit URL

Sub-domain Patterns

Some sites use subdomains:

• pixiv.net - Matches pixiv.net and any subdomain
• deviantart.com - Matches deviantart and any subdomain

gdluxx handles this automatically when you select the site.

What You Don't Need

You typically don't need to write complex patterns. The pattern is generated for you when you pick a site from the list. Just pick the site and you're good.

Exception

You can use an * if you want to match, for example, all subdomains. Or you could use * for the Site Pattern to apply a rule to all sites, such as --write-metadata

Common Site Rule Examples

Example 1: Instagram with Rate Limiting

Site: Instagram Options: --range 1-100 --wait 2

This limits to 100 images per gallery and waits 2 seconds between requests (polite to Instagram).

Example 2: Reddit - Save Metadata

Site: Reddit Options: --write-metadata

Saves metadata to a separate JSON file.

Managing Your Rules

Once created, you can view, edit, and delete rules.

Viewing Rules

1. Go to Site Rules
2. You'll see a list of all your existing rules
3. Each shows:
   • The site display name
   • The number of options being applied
   • The pattern to match
   • Buttons to edit, delete, or disable/enable

Editing a Rule

1. Click the Edit button on a rule
2. Change the options
3. Click Save

Changes apply to future downloads immediately.

Deleting a Rule

1. Click the Delete button (trash icon) on a rule
2. Confirm the deletion
3. The rule is removed

Future downloads won't use those options anymore.

Enabling/Disabling Rules

You can disable a rule temporarily without deleting it:

1. Find the rule in your list
2. Toggle the Enable/Disable switch
3. When disabled, the rule won't apply
4. When re-enabled, it works again

Great for testing or temporarily changing behavior.

How Rules Interact with Manual Options

If you add manual options on the Run page AND a site rule applies to the URL:

• Your manual options take priority
• The site rule still applies for any options you didn't manually specify

Example:

• Site rule says: --wait 2 --range 1-100
• You manually add: --range 1-50
• Result: Uses --range 1-50 (your setting), and --wait 2 (from rule)

This lets you fine-tune without recreating rules.

Override Warnings

By default, gdluxx warns you when your manual options might override a site rule. This helps you notice conflicts.

If you find these warnings annoying:

1. Go to Settings > General Manager
2. Find "Show site rule override warnings"
3. Uncheck it
4. You won't see warnings anymore (but rules still apply)

You can turn them back on anytime.