CLI Usage Guide 💻

Learn how to use get-cookie from the command line.

Basic Commands

Get a Specific Cookie

get-cookie auth example.com

Get All Cookies for a Domain

get-cookie % example.com

Get Cookies by URL

get-cookie --url https://example.com/dashboard

Output Formats

Default Output (Values Only)

get-cookie auth example.com
# Output: value1234

JSON Output

get-cookie auth example.com --output json
# Output:
# {
#   "name": "auth",
#   "value": "value1234",
#   "domain": "example.com",
#   "expiry": "2024-12-31T23:59:59.000Z"
# }

Rendered Output

get-cookie auth example.com --render
# Or short form:
get-cookie auth example.com -r

# Output:
# Cookie: auth
# Domain: example.com
# Value: value1234
# Expires: 31 Dec 2024
# Browser: Chrome
# Profile: Default

Detailed Dump

get-cookie auth example.com --dump
# Or short form:
get-cookie auth example.com -d

# Dumps all cookie details including metadata

Grouped Output

# Grouped dump output
get-cookie auth example.com --dump-grouped
# Or short form:
get-cookie auth example.com -G

# Output groups cookies by browser and profile:
# Chrome (Default):
#   auth: value1234
#   (expires: 2024-12-31T23:59:59.000Z)
# Firefox (default-release):
#   auth: value5678
#   (expires: 2024-12-31T23:59:59.000Z)
# Safari:
#   auth: value90ab
#   (expires: 2024-12-31T23:59:59.000Z)

Advanced Usage

Filter by Browser

# Chrome only
get-cookie auth example.com --browser chrome

# Edge only
get-cookie auth example.com --browser edge

# Arc only
get-cookie auth example.com --browser arc

# Opera only
get-cookie auth example.com --browser opera

# Opera GX only
get-cookie auth example.com --browser opera-gx

# Firefox only
get-cookie auth example.com --browser firefox

# Safari only
get-cookie auth example.com --browser safari

Chrome Profile Selection

# Target a specific Chrome profile
get-cookie auth example.com --browser chrome --profile "Profile 1"

# Use the default Chrome profile
get-cookie auth example.com --browser chrome --profile Default

# List all available Chrome profiles
get-cookie --browser chrome --list-profiles

Cookie Management Options

# Include expired cookies (filtered by default)
get-cookie auth example.com --include-expired

# Include all duplicate cookies (deduplicated by default)
get-cookie auth example.com --include-all

# Combine both options for complete cookie dump
get-cookie % example.com --include-expired --include-all

Force Operations

# Force extraction despite locked database
get-cookie auth example.com --force

# Short form
get-cookie auth example.com -f

Verbose Logging

# Enable verbose output for debugging
get-cookie auth example.com --verbose

# Short form
get-cookie auth example.com -v

Use Custom Cookie Store

# Specify path to cookie database
get-cookie auth example.com --store ~/custom/path/cookies.sqlite

# Use with Firefox profile
get-cookie auth example.com --store ~/.mozilla/firefox/abc123.default/cookies.sqlite

Handle Multiple Domains

# Get auth cookies from multiple domains
get-cookie auth "*.example.com"

# Get all cookies from multiple domains
get-cookie % "*.example.com"

Alternative Query Methods

# Using --name and --domain flags
get-cookie --name auth --domain example.com
get-cookie -n auth -D example.com

# Wildcard pattern for all cookies
get-cookie --name % --domain example.com
get-cookie -n % -D example.com

# Pattern matching in name
get-cookie --name "session*" --domain example.com

Options Reference

General Options

Option	Short	Description	Example
--help	-h	Show help message with build timestamp	--help
--verbose	-v	Enable verbose output	--verbose
--force	-f	Force operation despite warnings (e.g., locked DBs)	--force
--list-profiles		List available browser profiles	--list-profiles
--include-expired		Include expired cookies (filtered by default)	--include-expired
--include-all		Include all duplicate cookies (deduplicated by default)	--include-all

Query Options

Option	Short	Description	Example
--name	-n	Cookie name pattern (% or * for wildcard)	--name auth%
--domain	-D	Cookie domain pattern	--domain *.example.com
--url	-u	URL to extract cookie specs from	--url https://...
--browser		Target specific browser	--browser chrome
--profile		Target specific Chrome profile	--profile "Profile 1"
--store		Path to specific cookie store file	--store /path/to/db

Output Options

Option	Short	Description	Example
--output		Output format (json)	--output json
--dump	-d	Dump all cookie details	--dump
--dump-grouped	-G	Dump results grouped by browser	--dump-grouped
--render	-r	Render formatted human-readable output	--render

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
DEBUG	Enable debug logging	false
NO_COLOR	Disable colored output	false
NODE_ENV	Set to 'production' for less verbose output	development

Examples

Testing API Authentication

# Get auth cookie and use with curl
curl -H "Cookie: $(get-cookie auth api.example.com)" https://api.example.com/me

Export Multiple Cookies

# Export all cookies for domain
get-cookie % example.com --output json > cookies.json

Debug Mode

# Enable verbose logging
DEBUG=* get-cookie auth example.com

# Or use verbose flag
get-cookie auth example.com --verbose

Automation

# Use in shell scripts
AUTH_COOKIE=$(get-cookie auth example.com)
if [ -n "$AUTH_COOKIE" ]; then
    echo "Cookie found: $AUTH_COOKIE"
fi

Error Handling

The CLI uses exit codes to indicate status:

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	General error
2	Invalid arguments
3	Permission denied
4	Browser error

Example error handling in scripts:

get-cookie auth example.com || {
    case $? in
        2) echo "Invalid arguments" ;;
        3) echo "Permission denied" ;;
        4) echo "Browser error" ;;
        *) echo "Unknown error" ;;
    esac
    exit 1
}