commands

`publish`

github edit

publish

Publishes the local SQLite archive as sharded, compressed NDJSON snapshots in a private Git repo.

#Usage

discrawl publish --remote https://github.com/example/discord-archive.git --push
discrawl publish --readme path/to/discord-backup/README.md --push
discrawl publish --message "sync: discord archive" --push
discrawl publish --tag backup-2026-06-19 --push
discrawl publish --with-embeddings --push
discrawl publish --no-media --push
discrawl publish --public-only --include-channels 1458141495701012561 --push
discrawl publish --public-only --check --json

#Flags

  • --repo <path> - local snapshot repo path (defaults to [share].repo_path)
  • --remote <url> - target Git remote (defaults to [share].remote)
  • --branch <name> - snapshot branch (defaults to [share].branch)
  • --message <text> - commit message (default: sync: discord archive)
  • --tag <name> - create an immutable snapshot tag; requires a commit
  • --no-commit - write/export files without creating a Git commit
  • --push - push the snapshot commit after writing it
  • --check - inspect filter readiness and predicted scope without writing files or contacting the remote
  • --readme <path> - update the activity block in this README file too
  • --public-only - export only channels visible to the guild @everyone role
  • --include-channels <ids> - comma-separated channel ids to export; forum parents include their allowed public threads
  • --exclude-channels <ids> - comma-separated channel ids to omit; exclusions win over includes
  • --with-embeddings - also export stored message_embeddings rows
  • --no-media - omit cached attachment media files from the snapshot

Filters narrow only the published snapshot. The local SQLite archive can still be synced from a richer bot-visible dataset. Git-only readers see the filtered snapshot; the publisher keeps the complete local DB.

Run publish --check before a filtered publish when you need a read-only preflight. It uses the same channel permission/filter logic as export and reports candidate versus allowed channel/message counts, per-guild metadata readiness, source hints, and whether an empty result means incomplete metadata or a genuinely empty scope. If --public-only lacks usable @everyone role metadata, the check fails closed and recommends discrawl sync --source discord. A not-ready check exits non-zero after printing its report. --check does not initialize or modify the snapshot repository and does not contact its remote.

Filter rules:

  • --public-only keeps channels visible to the guild @everyone role after

    • category and channel permission overwrites; private threads are excluded

  • --include-channels exports only the listed channel ids; including a forum

    • parent also includes its allowed public threads

  • --exclude-channels omits listed channel ids and wins over includes
  • combined filters intersect: --public-only --include-channels A,B exports

    • only included channels that are also public

The same defaults can be set in [share.filter]:

[share.filter]
public_only = true
include_channel_ids = ["1458141495701012561"]
exclude_channel_ids = []

--readme excludes local-only direct messages, but includes private guild channels and threads. It is disabled when filters are active because the report does not apply those filters and would otherwise leak unfiltered totals. If the share repo already has a generated Discrawl README.md from an earlier unfiltered publish, filtered publish removes it before committing. Custom README files without Discrawl report markers are left alone. Producer-owned reports/latest-field-notes.md and .json are also removed by filtered publishing, even without a README. A README containing either aggregate or legacy narrative field-notes markers is removed too; legacy notes are not exempt from the privacy guard. Other reports and maintainer docs remain untouched; ordinary unfiltered publication preserves the notes.

#What is published

  • non-DM archive tables (DM @me rows are always excluded)
  • cached non-DM attachment media files under media/ as gzip-compressed files unless --no-media is used
  • when filters are enabled: only matching guilds, channels, messages, events,

    • attachments, mentions, channel-scoped sync-state rows, member rows referenced by matching messages, and matching embedding rows

  • when filters are disabled and --readme is used: README activity block

    • (latest update, latest message, totals, day/week/month activity)

  • with --with-embeddings: vectors for the configured [search.embeddings] provider/model/input version, plus identity manifest

Without --with-embeddings, each export removes the generated embeddings/ directory from the requested snapshot output. Local stored vectors are unchanged.

#What is not published

  • @me DM guilds, channels, messages, events, attachments, mentions, wiretap sync state
  • @me DM media files
  • when filters are enabled: share manifest state and guild-level member

    • freshness markers, because they describe the full archive

  • with --public-only: private-thread crawl cursors, including those stored

    • against a public parent channel; public-thread cursors remain included

  • embedding_jobs
  • raw bot tokens or any local secret

publish exports cached media only; it does not download missing Discord attachment bytes. Run discrawl sync --with-media or discrawl attachments fetch before publishing when the Git snapshot should include newly discovered media. Scheduled publishers can set sync.attachment_media = true and leave share.media = true, the default.

Media snapshots are gzip-only on publish. Legacy snapshots that stored raw media/... files remain importable for backward compatibility, and the next media publish rewrites the media tree as media/...gz.

#See also