giil Skill

Download full-resolution images from cloud photo share links. Zero setup - just paste a link and get the image.

Why giil?

The primary use case: You're working with Clawdbot or another AI assistant and need to share a screenshot. Instead of complex file transfers, just:

1. Screenshot on your device
2. Share via iCloud/Dropbox/Google Photos
3. Paste the share link
4. giil downloads the full-resolution image instantly

Supported Platforms

share.icloud.com/photos/*

dropbox.com/s/*

dropbox.com/scl/fi/*

photos.app.goo.gl/*

photos.google.com/share/*

drive.google.com/file/d/*

Common Commands

Download Single Image

# Basic download to current directory
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a1Abc_xYz..."

# Download to specific directory
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/..." --output ~/Downloads

# Dropbox (super fast - no browser needed)
giil "https://www.dropbox.com/s/abc123/screenshot.png"

# Google Photos
giil "https://photos.app.goo.gl/abc123xyz"

JSON Output (Best for AI Workflows)

# Get structured metadata
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/..." --json

Output:

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

Base64 Output

# Output as base64 (no file saved)
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/..." --base64

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

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

Download Entire Album

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

# With JSON output per photo
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/..." --all --json

Quality Options

# Preserve original bytes (skip MozJPEG compression)
giil "..." --preserve

# Custom JPEG quality (1-100, default 85)
giil "..." --quality 60

# Convert to different format
giil "..." --convert webp
giil "..." --convert png

Debugging

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

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

# Just print the resolved CDN URL (don't download)
giil "..." --print-url

# Increase timeout for slow networks
giil "..." --timeout 120

All Options

--output DIR

.

--preserve

--convert FMT

jpeg

png

webp

--quality N

85

--base64

--json

--all

--timeout N

60

--debug

--verbose

--print-url

--update

--version

--help

Exit Codes

0

1

2

3

10

11

12

13

Scripting Examples

Check Success

giil "..." --json | jq -e '.ok' && echo "Success" || echo "Failed"

Get Path Only

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

Handle Errors

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

Download and Analyze with AI

# Download screenshot and get dimensions
RESULT=$(giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/..." --json)
WIDTH=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.width')
HEIGHT=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.height')
PATH=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.path')

echo "Image: ${WIDTH}x${HEIGHT} at $PATH"

Clawdbot Workflows

"Download this screenshot"

When a user pastes a cloud share link:

User: Can you look at this screenshot? https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a1...

Clawdbot: *Uses giil to download the image*
giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a1..." --json --output /tmp

"Get all photos from this album"

User: Download all photos from this iCloud album: https://share.icloud.com/photos/...

Clawdbot: *Downloads entire album*
giil "..." --all --json --output ~/Downloads/album

"Convert this image to WebP"

giil "https://share.icloud.com/photos/..." --convert webp --output ~/Downloads

Remote Debugging Workflow

The killer use case - you're helping debug a UI issue remotely:

1. User screenshots bug on iPhone
2. iCloud syncs to Mac
3. User shares link from Photos app
4. User pastes link to Clawdbot
5. Clawdbot runs

   giil ... --json

   to download
6. AI can now analyze the screenshot

Performance Notes

• Dropbox: Fastest (1-2 seconds, direct curl download)
• iCloud/Google: 5-15 seconds (requires headless browser)
• First run: Downloads Chromium (~500MB, cached)
• Album mode: ~1 second delay between photos (polite rate limiting)

Troubleshooting

"Auth required" error: The link isn't publicly shared. Owner must enable public access.

Timeout errors: Increase timeout with

--timeout 120

Wrong image captured: Run with

--debug

HEIC issues on Linux: Install

libheif-examples

File Locations

• Cache:

  ~/.cache/giil/

  (Playwright, Chromium, node_modules)
• Debug artifacts: Current directory (

  giil_debug_*.png

  ,

  giil_debug_*.html

  )

Requirements

• Node.js 18+ (auto-installed if missing)
• macOS 10.15+ or Linux with glibc 2.17+