managebac-fetch 1.0.0

A CLI tool to sync files from the ManageBac Files area to your local machine.

Managebac-fetch

managebac-fetch is a command-line tool that syncs files from the ManageBac Files area to your local machine.

It is designed for students who want a reliable local backup of class materials, including nested folders inside class file directories.

Features

• Proper installable CLI tool
• Works well with pipx
• Uses the current ManageBac /files interface
• Recursively downloads files inside subfolders
• Sync mode skips files that already exist locally
• Encrypted credential storage on your machine
• Separate configuration command
• Per-class summaries and overall sync summary
• Optional class filtering
• Adjustable parallel download workers
• Configurable absolute sync/download directory with validation
• Cross-platform path handling for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Installation

Recommended: pipx

Install with:

pipx install managebac-fetch

Once installed, you can run:

managebac-fetch

Alternative: pip

You can also install it with pip:

pip install managebac-fetch

Quick start

1. Configure the tool

On first use, run:

managebac-fetch configure

You will be prompted for:

• your ManageBac school code
• your ManageBac username/email
• your ManageBac password
• your default sync/download directory as a full absolute path
• your preferred worker count

The credentials are stored encrypted in your user config directory.

2. Sync files

After configuration, just run:

managebac-fetch

By default, this behaves the same as:

managebac-fetch sync

It will use your saved configuration and sync all available class files.

Commands

managebac-fetch

Runs the default sync command using saved configuration.

managebac-fetch

managebac-fetch configure

Prompts for credentials and default settings, validates login, and saves configuration.

managebac-fetch configure

You can also pass values directly:

managebac-fetch configure --school-code myschool --username [e-mail] --output-dir /full/path/to/managebac-sync --workers 4

Options:

• --school-code
• --username
• --password
• --output-dir
• --workers
• --force --> Disable sync mode by default and force redownloads on future runs

managebac-fetch sync

Sync files from ManageBac.

managebac-fetch sync

Useful options:

• --class-name "Exact Class Name" --> Only sync the class whose name exactly matches this value
• --output-dir path/to/output --> Override the configured absolute output directory for this run
• --workers 4 --> Override worker count for this run
• --force --> Re-download files even if they already exist locally
• --quiet-download-progress --> Hide per-class file download progress bars
• --school-code --> Override stored school code
• --username --> Override stored username
• --password --> Override stored password (not recommended; prompt is safer)

Examples:

Sync everything using saved settings:

managebac-fetch sync

Sync just one class:

managebac-fetch sync --class-name "IB DP Economics 2027"

Force re-download even if files already exist (disabling sync mode):

managebac-fetch sync --force

Override output directory for a single run:

managebac-fetch sync --output-dir /full/path/to/managebac-sync

managebac-fetch config show

Show a safe summary of saved configuration.

managebac-fetch config show

This shows things like:

• config directory
• whether credentials are saved
• saved school code
• saved username
• output directory
• worker count
• sync mode

The saved output directory should be an absolute full path. The CLI validates it when you save configuration and when you provide an override during sync.

It does not print your password.

managebac-fetch config clear

Remove saved config and encrypted credentials.

managebac-fetch config clear

How sync mode works

Sync mode is enabled by default.

That means:

• if a file already exists locally, it is skipped
• only missing files are downloaded

To disable this behavior and force re-downloads:

managebac-fetch sync --force

Credential storage

managebac-fetch stores credentials in your user config directory and encrypts them before writing them to disk.

Important note

This protects credentials at rest against casual disclosure, but it is not a full enterprise-grade secret management system. The encryption key is stored on the same machine, so a determined local attacker with access to your account may still be able to recover the credentials.

That said, it is still far better than storing passwords in plaintext in a script, shell history, or repository.

Where configuration is stored

On Windows, configuration is typically stored under:

%APPDATA%\managebac-fetch

On Linux/macOS, configuration is typically stored under:

~/.config/managebac-fetch

The sync/download destination itself is also part of the saved configuration. It should be provided as a full absolute path using the conventions of your operating system, for example:

Windows:

C:\Users\you\Downloads\managebac-sync

macOS/Linux:

/Users/you/Downloads/managebac-sync

Paths are normalized and validated by the application so sync behavior works correctly across supported operating systems.

Output behavior

The CLI shows:

• a clear sync header
• one progress bar for classes
• per-class summaries
• optional per-file download progress bars
• a final summary with:
  • files found
  • downloaded
  • skipped
  • failed

Supported Python versions

• Python 3.10+
• Python 3.11
• Python 3.12
• Python 3.13

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you have ideas for improvements, bug fixes, or new features, please open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

Development

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/sukarth/managebac-fetch.git
cd managebac-fetch

Install dependencies:

python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Install in editable mode:

python -m pip install -e .

Run the CLI locally:

python -m managebac_fetch

Or:

managebac-fetch

Type checking and linting

This project includes configuration for static analysis and packaging.

Examples:

pyright
ruff check .
python -m build

Notes and limitations

• This tool is built around the current ManageBac /files interface.
• It intentionally parses only .row.file elements.
• If ManageBac changes their frontend structure significantly, parsing may need to be updated.
• Some classes may genuinely have no visible files in the Files tab.
• Access is limited to files your account can view.

Repository

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/sukarth/managebac-fetch

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md.

Credits

This This project is based on the original managebac-file-scraper by Yuto Takano.

This version modernizes it into a complete CLI application with:

• updated scraping logic for the current ManageBac interface
• encrypted saved configuration
• sync support
• recursive subfolder handling
• improved UX and documentation

---

Made with ❤️ by Sukarth Acharya