Just need the syntax for v3 cli [again]

[ianbmacdonald]

Describe the bug
It seems I have overflowed my bash history since the last time I ran v3 on the cli (3.1.8 deb). For the life of me I seem to be having trouble reproducing my normal command to dump my workspace.

Authentication type (please read)
Using my provider.bin

$ slackdump workspace list
Workspaces in "/home/imac/.cache/slackdump":

	=> default (file: provider.bin, last modified: 2024-07-09 16:00:56) 
Current workspace is marked with ' => '.

To Reproduce

1. Peek at my private wiki and find the old v2 commands after failing to pull v3 ones I have been reusing from my bash history.
2. Try to use slackdump export help to figure out the equivalent of the v2 command (possibly earlier) below, but failing
   slackdump -f -export 251212_workspacebackup.zip -export-type standard

Expected behavior
Figure it out from cli help, man page, personal wiki or bash history.

Output

$ slackdump export 251212_workspacebackup.zip -files -type standard
export: 2025/12/12 00:30:16 Error 009 (User Error): error parsing the entity list: invalid link: "251212_workspacebackup.zip"
Error 009 (User Error): error parsing the entity list: invalid link: "251212_workspacebackup.zip"

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: Ubuntu
• OS Version: 25.10
• Slackdump Version: ii slackdump 3.1.10-1 amd64

Additional context
Looked in these places
https://github.com/rusq/slackdump
https://github.com/rusq/slackdump/blob/master/doc/usage-export.rst
https://github.com/rusq/slackdump/blob/071df512ac89c07402e4e03ef321b70e4d0174da/cmd/slackdump/internal/man/assets/v2migr.md
https://github.com/rusq/slackdump/blob/071df512ac89c07402e4e03ef321b70e4d0174da/cmd/slackdump/internal/man/assets/changelog.md

I also tried the wizard, and it just gets stuck at Run Wizard->Export just returning to the highlighted menu option when I select it.

$ slackdump

Slackdump unknown (commit: unknown) built on: unknown


┃ What would you like to do?                                                                                                                                                                                                          
┃ > Export     - exports the Slack Workspace or individual conversations                                                                                                                                                              
┃   Dump       - dump individual conversations or threads                                                                                                                                                                             
┃   Search     - dump search results                                                                                                                                                                                                  
┃   List       - list users or channels                                                                                                                                                                                               
┃   Emoji      - download workspace emojis                                                                                                                                                                                            
┃   Workspace  - add or choose already existing workspace to run on                                                                                                                                                                   
┃   Tools      - diagnostic tools                                                                                                                                                                                                     
┃   Config     - API configuration                                                                                                                                                                                                    
┃   Exit                            

I prefer the programatic swapping of bins on the cli.

Yawn. I am a bit tired, but this seems a lot harder to re-figure out than it should be. I blame Claude for the .bash_history overflow, but even still.

Super tool, definately worth the coffee I plan to have.

[rusq]

Hey @ianbmacdonald,

The equivalent command would be:

slackdump export -o 251212_workspacebackup.zip -type standard

Note, that with v3.1+ you might be better off with the archive format:

sd archive

It generates a sqlite database.

Afterwards, you can convert it to standard export any time should it be required:

sd convert -f export -type standard you_archive_dir/

Happy dumping :)

[ianbmacdonald]

It generates a sqlite database.

Interesting, does it allow for ">>" style additions? (possibly handling the removal of any duplicates). It would be great to be able to import old slackdump formats into a sqllite database, building on my last comment/question.

[rusq]

Yes, you can convert any source format to any target format with convert tool. Right now I don't think that converting multiple dumps or exports into a single database would work, it may break things. I'll need to investigate that, but the idea of combining multiple exports from the same workspace is a great one.

If you're starting a new archive from scratch, i.e.

slackdump archive -o my_archive

there's a new resume command that would allow one to update/refresh the existing archive with new messages. It only works with database format, i.e.

slackdump resume -refresh my_archive

[rusq]

Also, thanks for your support!

[ianbmacdonald]

Great, tx; you're welcome. I have a workspace where I have been exporting in mattermost and standard formats since 2021. Basically trying to capture the 30 day history, every 30 days. If I wanted to concatenate those into a single data set, mimizing duplication and tolerating gaps (I missed a few months), what would the best strategy be? I was thinking importing into mattermost (one by one?), and then exporting might be one pattern to try. I am wondering what structural changes I might need to deal with (I recall attachment paths being an issue in really early releases), and if there is a pattern for combining slackdump exports back through the ages of slackdump improvements?

[rusq]

Responded to this in the above comment.

[rusq]

Created an issue for this: #583