gdlEX

A practical companion for gallery-dl power users

gdlEX isn’t trying to replace gallery-dl. It sits on top of it and handles the parts that get annoying when you’re running downloads every day: queue prep, repeatable settings, safer starts/stops, and a cleaner workflow overall.

If you already use gallery-dl, this fills in the gaps and makes the whole process easier to manage on Windows.

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Why gdlEX exists

gallery-dl is great at what it does, but running it repeatedly can turn into a pile of command lines, half‑finished queues, and folders that need cleanup.

gdlEX helps with the parts around the downloader:

• preparing and sanitizing URL lists
• keeping your settings consistent between runs
• pausing, stopping, and resuming cleanly
• organizing output in a predictable way
• saving receipts/logs so you can see what happened later

It’s the “operator layer” that sits above the CLI.

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What gdlEX adds on top of a basic GUI

1) Workflow continuity

• Restores your last queue and output folder
• Single‑URL and multi‑URL queue modes
• Queue cleanup (dedupe, comment stripping, invalid URL removal)
• Pause/resume support using full process‑tree suspension

2) Safer operation

• Controlled start/stop/pause/resume flow
• More reliable shutdown for long sessions
• Optional tray mode if you want it running in the background

3) Post‑download cleanup

• Rename/sanitization options:
  • remove emojis, punctuation, spaces, custom strings
  • trim long filenames
  • swap extensions
• Optional CBZ creation (skips single‑image folders)
• Optional session log (gdlEX_session_*.txt)
• End‑of‑run summary with file‑type breakdown

4) Auth and extractor setup

• Cookie extraction (browser or file)
• OAuth/API key fields
• Proxy, retries, timeout, user‑agent, and other network controls

5) Consistent configuration

• All settings saved in gdlEX.ini
• Optional visual themes (Windows, Carbon, Slate, Windows 11 styles)
• No more re‑typing CLI arguments or digging through terminal history

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A typical run looks like this

1. Paste or build your URL list
2. Sanitize the queue
3. Adjust your settings
4. Run with live output
5. Let gdlEX handle renaming/CBZ/archive cleanup
6. Review the session receipt if you want a record

It turns one‑off commands into a repeatable workflow.

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Who this is for

• People downloading from multiple sites and managing big queues
• Anyone who wants consistent, clean filenames
• Comics/manga users who want folder‑to‑CBZ automation
• Anyone who uses gallery-dl often and wants fewer mistakes and less friction

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Current release state

Version: 0.0.9.9 alpha — the last alpha before the beta cycle.

This build focuses on hardening:

• standardized naming (gdlEX, gdlEX.ini, gdlEX_session_*.txt)
• safer shutdown behavior
• improved tray handling
• safer post‑processing in threaded runs

Features intentionally locked until beta:

• watch‑folder automation
• scheduled runs
• completion actions
• webhook notifications

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Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• gallery-dl.exe in the same folder as the gdlEX executable

Optional:

• yt-dlp for fallback mode
• cookies/auth for protected sources

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Important note

gdlEX depends on gallery-dl.
It doesn’t bundle it, fork it, or replace it — it just makes it easier to use.