download_osf.sh - Download files from Open Science Framework (OSF) projects

Description¶

This script downloads all files and directories from an OSF project using the osfclient command-line tool. It’s designed for replication workflows where researchers need to download datasets, code, and other materials from OSF repositories for analysis and verification.

Usage¶

./download_osf.sh <OSF_DOI_OR_PROJECT_ID>
bash tools/download_osf.sh <OSF_DOI_OR_PROJECT_ID>

Arguments¶

• OSF_DOI_OR_PROJECT_ID - OSF project identifier, can be:

  • Project ID (e.g., “abc12”)

  • Full OSF URL (e.g., “https://osf.io/abc12/”)

  • OSF DOI (e.g., “10.17605/OSF.IO/ABC12”)

Examples¶

# Using project ID directly
./download_osf.sh abc12

# Using full OSF URL
./download_osf.sh https://osf.io/abc12/

# Using OSF DOI
./download_osf.sh 10.17605/OSF.IO/ABC12

Requirements¶

• osfclient: OSF command-line client (pip install osfclient)

• Internet connection to access OSF API

• Read/write permissions in current directory

Features¶

• Flexible input parsing (accepts URLs, DOIs, or project IDs)

• Creates organized directory structure: osf-[PROJECT_ID]

• Downloads complete project structure including subdirectories

• Preserves original file organization and metadata

• Validates osfclient installation before proceeding

Behavior¶

• Extracts project ID from various input formats

• Creates target directory named “osf-[PROJECT_ID]”

• Downloads all files using osfclient’s clone command

• Maintains original directory structure from OSF

• Exits with error if osfclient is not installed

Output Structure¶

Input: abc12 (or https://osf.io/abc12/ or DOI)
Output directory: ./osf-abc12/
Contents: Complete OSF project structure with all files and subdirectories

Error Handling¶

• Validates command-line arguments (requires exactly one argument)

• Checks for osfclient installation before proceeding

• Reports download failures from osfclient

• Provides clear error messages for common issues

Dependencies¶

osfclient installation:¶

pip install osfclient
# or
pip install -r requirements.txt  # if included in project requirements

OSF API¶

• Uses osfclient which interfaces with OSF’s REST API

• Works with public projects (no authentication required for public data)

• Supports downloading complete project hierarchies

• Preserves file metadata and timestamps

How It Works¶

1. Input Parsing: Extracts project ID from URLs, DOIs, or direct IDs

2. Validation: Checks for osfclient installation and valid arguments

3. Directory Creation: Creates organized output directory

4. Download: Uses osfclient’s clone command to download entire project

5. Organization: Maintains original OSF project structure

Authentication¶

For private OSF projects, you may need to set up authentication:

osf auth

This tool is essential for reproducible research workflows that rely on datasets and materials hosted in OSF repositories.