GIIL — Get Image [from] Internet Link

A zero-setup CLI that downloads full-resolution images from cloud photo shares. The missing link between your iPhone screenshots and remote AI coding sessions.

Why This Exists

The primary use case: Remote AI-Assisted Debugging

You're SSH'd into a remote server running Claude Code, Codex, or another AI assistant. You need to debug a UI issue on your iPhone, but how do you get that screenshot to your remote terminal?

Without giil:

Download image locally → SCP to server → Tell AI the path
Email yourself → Download on server → Hope it works
Set up complex file sync between devices

With giil:

giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a1Abc_xYz..." --format json
# {"path": "/tmp/icloud_20240115_143022.jpg", "width": 1170, ...}

One command. AI sees it instantly. No file transfers, no context switching.

The Workflow

iPhone Screenshot → iCloud Sync → Photos.app Share Link → Paste to SSH → giil Downloads → AI Analyzes

Why Cloud Shares Are Hard

Quick Start

# Install
curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dicklesworthstone/giil/main/install.sh?v=3.0.0" | bash

# Download single image
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/02cD9okNHvVd-uuDnPCH3ZEEA"

# JSON output (best for AI workflows)
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/..." --format json

# Download entire album
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/..." --all --output ~/album

Note: First run downloads Playwright Chromium (~200MB, cached in

~/.cache/giil/

Supported Platforms

share.icloud.com/photos/*

icloud.com/photos/#*

dropbox.com/s/*

dropbox.com/scl/fi/*

raw=1

photos.app.goo.gl/*

photos.google.com/share/*

=s0

drive.google.com/file/d/*

drive.google.com/open?id=*

Dropbox Fast Path: Direct curl download with no browser overhead—typically 1-2 seconds.

Google Photos Full-Res: Automatically appends

=s0

Four-Tier Capture Strategy

giil implements a fallback strategy to maximize reliability:

1. Download Button (Highest Quality)

• Locates visible Download button using 9 selector patterns
• Clicks and waits for browser download event
• Obtains original file (no re-encoding losses)
• Works with HEIC/HEIF originals

2. Network Interception (Full Resolution)

• Monitors all HTTP responses for CDN patterns (

  cvws.icloud-content.com

  , etc.)
• Filters by content-type (image formats only)
• Captures largest image buffer (>10KB threshold to skip thumbnails)
• Works even if UI elements are obscured

3. Element Screenshot

• Queries for image elements using 10 selector patterns
• Verifies element is visible and ≥100×100 pixels
• Takes PNG screenshot of the element

4. Viewport Screenshot (Last Resort)

• Captures visible viewport (1920×1080)
• Always succeeds if page loads
• Useful for debugging page state

Command Reference

Basic Usage

giil <url> [options]

Options

--output DIR

.

--preserve

--convert FMT

jpeg

png

webp

--quality N

85

--format FMT

json

toon

--base64

--json

--format json

--all

--timeout N

60

--debug

--verbose

--trace

--print-url

--debug-dir DIR

.

--update

Output Modes

Default: File Path

giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/XXX"
# stdout: /current/dir/icloud_20240115_143245.jpg

Scripting:

IMAGE_PATH=$(giil "..." --output ~/Downloads 2>/dev/null)

JSON Mode (

--format json

or

--json

)

giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/XXX" --format json

Success:

{
  "ok": true,
  "schema_version": "1",
  "platform": "icloud",
  "path": "/absolute/path/to/icloud_20240115_143245.jpg",
  "datetime": "2024-01-15T14:32:45.000Z",
  "sourceUrl": "https://cvws.icloud-content.com/...",
  "method": "network",
  "size": 245678,
  "width": 4032,
  "height": 3024
}

Error:

{
  "ok": false,
  "schema_version": "1",
  "platform": "icloud",
  "error": {
    "code": "AUTH_REQUIRED",
    "message": "Login required - link is not publicly shared",
    "remediation": "The file is not publicly shared. The owner must enable public access."
  }
}

method

download

network

element-screenshot

viewport-screenshot

direct

error.code

error.remediation

TOON Mode (

--format toon

)

giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/XXX" --format toon

Outputs the same metadata envelope as JSON, but encoded as TOON. Requires the

tru

toon_rust

Base64 Mode

# Decode to file
giil "..." --base64 | base64 -d > image.jpg

# Create data URI
echo "data:image/jpeg;base64,$(giil '...' --base64)" > uri.txt

# Pipe to API
giil "..." --base64 | curl -X POST -d @- https://api.example.com/upload

URL-Only Mode

giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/XXX" --print-url
# stdout: https://cvws.icloud-content.com/B/...

Useful for external downloaders, caching, or debugging.

Album Mode

Download entire shared albums with

--all

giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/XXX" --all --output ~/album

How It Works

1. Load album page
2. Detect thumbnail grid (11 selector strategies)
3. For each thumbnail: click → capture → close → next
4. Output one path/JSON per photo

Album Features

• Resilient: Continues to next photo if one fails
• Indexed filenames:

  _001

  ,

  _002

  , etc. for ordering
• Rate limiting: 1 second delay between photos (polite downloading)
• Exponential backoff: Automatic retry on rate limit signals

Album Output

# Default
/path/to/album/icloud_20240115_143245_001.jpg
/path/to/album/icloud_20240115_143246_002.jpg

# With --format json (or --json)
{"path": "...001.jpg", "method": "download", "width": 4032, ...}
{"path": "...002.jpg", "method": "network", "width": 3024, ...}

# With --format toon
ok: true
path: ...001.jpg
method: download
width: 4032

ok: true
path: ...002.jpg
method: network
width: 3024

Image Processing Pipeline

EXIF Datetime Extraction

Priority order for filename generation:

1. DateTimeOriginal

   (when photo was taken)

2. CreateDate

3. DateTimeDigitized

4. ModifyDate

5. Current time (fallback)

HEIC/HEIF Conversion

sips

heif-convert

libheif-examples

# Install HEIC support on Linux
sudo apt-get install libheif-examples  # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install libheif-tools         # Fedora

MozJPEG Compression (Default)

By default, giil compresses with MozJPEG for optimal size/quality:

• 40-50% smaller than standard JPEG at equivalent quality
• Quality 85 (configurable via

  --quality

  )
• Use

  --preserve

  to keep original bytes

Filename Format

icloud_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS[_NNN][_counter].jpg
        │              │      │
        │              │      └── Collision counter (if file exists)
        │              └── Album index (--all mode only)
        └── Date/time from EXIF or capture time

Download Verification

giil validates downloads through three stages:

1. Content-Type Validation

Validates HTTP

Content-Type

2. Magic Bytes Detection

Verifies binary signature regardless of server claims:

FF D8 FF

89 50 4E 47

47 49 46 38

3. HTML Error Page Detection

Rejects HTML content that indicates an error page instead of an image.

Exit Codes

0

1

2

3

10

11

12

13

20

Scripting:

giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/XXX" 2>/dev/null
case $? in
    0) echo "Success!" ;;
    10) echo "Network issue - retry later" ;;
    11) echo "Link not public - ask owner to share" ;;
    12) echo "Link expired" ;;
    *) echo "Failed with code $?" ;;
esac

Environment Variables

Runtime Variables

XDG_CACHE_HOME

~/.cache

GIIL_HOME

$XDG_CACHE_HOME/giil

PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH

$GIIL_HOME/ms-playwright

GIIL_NO_GUM

GIIL_CHECK_UPDATES

Installer Variables

DEST

~/.local/bin

GIIL_SYSTEM

/usr/local/bin

GIIL_VERIFY

GIIL_VERSION

File Locations

~/.local/bin/giil

~/.cache/giil/

~/.cache/giil/node_modules/

~/.cache/giil/extractor.mjs

~/.cache/giil/ms-playwright/

Debug Artifacts (on failure with

--debug

)

giil_debug_<timestamp>.png

giil_debug_<timestamp>.html

Performance

Dropbox: 1-2 seconds (direct curl, no browser).

Troubleshooting

"Auth required" error

The link isn't publicly shared. Owner must enable public access in their cloud settings.

Timeout errors

Increase timeout:

giil "..." --timeout 120

Wrong/small image captured

Run with

--debug

HEIC conversion fails on Linux

sudo apt-get install libheif-examples  # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install libheif-tools         # Fedora

Chromium fails to launch

giil "..." --update
# Or manually:
cd ~/.cache/giil && npx playwright install --with-deps chromium

Debugging

# Verbose output
giil "..." --verbose

# Debug artifacts on failure
giil "..." --debug

# Playwright trace (generates trace.zip)
giil "..." --trace
npx playwright show-trace ~/.cache/giil/trace.zip

Installation

# One-liner (recommended)
curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dicklesworthstone/giil/main/install.sh?v=3.0.0" | bash

# Verified installation
GIIL_VERIFY=1 curl -fsSL .../install.sh | bash

# System-wide
GIIL_SYSTEM=1 curl -fsSL .../install.sh | bash

# Manual
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dicklesworthstone/giil/main/giil -o ~/.local/bin/giil
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/giil

Uninstallation

rm ~/.local/bin/giil
rm -rf ~/.cache/giil
rm -rf ~/.cache/ms-playwright  # If no other Playwright tools

Security & Privacy

• Local execution: All processing happens on your machine
• No telemetry: No data sent anywhere except to cloud services
• No authentication stored: Uses public share mechanism
• No cookies saved: Browser context is ephemeral
• Temp file cleanup: Downloaded files cleaned up after processing

Integration with Flywheel