bdfr

Bulk download submissions and media from Reddit

TLDR

Download posts from a subreddit

$ bdfr download [./output] --subreddit [Python] -L [10]

Download a user's submitted posts

$ bdfr download [./output] --user [username] --submitted -L [100]

Download your saved posts (requires authentication)

$ bdfr download [./output] --user me --saved --authenticate -L [25]

Archive submission data with comments

$ bdfr archive [./output] --user [username] --submitted --all-comments

Clone posts and data (download + archive)

$ bdfr clone [./output] --subreddit [Python] -L [10]

Download from multiple subreddits

$ bdfr download [./output] --subreddit "[Python, programming, linux]" -L [10]

Search and download matching posts

$ bdfr download [./output] --subreddit [Python] --search "[machine learning]" -L [20]

bdfr (Bulk Downloader for Reddit) is a tool to download submissions, media, and data from Reddit. It can archive posts for research, backup saved content, or download media from subreddits.The tool has three modes: download (downloads linked media like images and videos), archive (saves submission metadata, text, and comments in JSON/YAML/XML), and clone (performs both operations efficiently).

PARAMETERS

-s, --subreddit name

Target subreddit(s); repeatable and comma-separated for multiple

-u, --user name

Target Reddit username; use "me" for authenticated user (repeatable)

-m, --multireddit name

Target a user's multireddit (requires --user; repeatable)

-l, --link url

Download a single submission by URL or ID (repeatable)

-L, --limit n

Maximum number of submissions per source (default: roughly 1000, the Reddit API ceiling)

--submitted

Download user's submitted posts

--saved

Download user's saved posts (requires --authenticate)

--upvoted

Download user's upvoted posts (requires --authenticate)

--authenticate

Use OAuth2 authentication for private content

--search query

Search query to filter submissions

-S, --sort type

Sort order: hot, top, new, controversial, rising, relevance

-t, --time period

Time filter: all, hour, day, week, month, year

--all-comments

Archive all of a user's comments (archive mode, with --user)

-f, --format type

Archive output format: json (default), xml, yaml

--file-scheme format

Custom filename template (placeholders: {POSTID}, {TITLE}, {REDDITOR}, {SUBREDDIT}, {DATE}, {FLAIR}, {UPVOTES})

--folder-scheme format

Custom folder template using the same placeholders

--skip ext

Skip files with the given extension (download mode; repeatable)

--no-dupes

Skip files already downloaded, detected by MD5 hash (download mode)

-v, --verbose

Increase output verbosity (repeatable)

CONFIGURATION

~/.config/bdfr/default_config.cfg

Main configuration file (Linux) holding clientid, clientsecret, scopes, and default options. On macOS it lives under ~/Library/Application Support/bdfr.

SUBCOMMANDS

download

Download media linked in Reddit submissions

archive

Archive submission data, metadata, and comments

clone

Perform both download and archive operations

CAVEATS

Requires Python 3.9 or above. Authentication is required for accessing saved posts, upvoted posts, and private multireddits. Reddit API rate limits apply. Some media hosts may block automated downloads.

HISTORY

BDFR was created as a modernized fork of earlier Reddit downloading tools, developed by Serene-Arc starting around 2020. It replaced the original Bulk Downloader for Reddit with improved architecture and maintained compatibility with Reddit's evolving API.

RESOURCES

Source code · Documentation