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⏱️ Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Introduction

Have you ever needed to download an entire website for offline viewing, archival purposes, or development reference? Goclone is a powerful command-line tool written in Go that allows you to clone websites to your computer within seconds. Unlike traditional web scrapers, Goclone leverages Go’s powerful concurrency features (goroutines) to download websites incredibly fast while maintaining the original site’s structure and relative links.

What is Goclone?

Goclone is an open-source website cloning utility that downloads complete websites from the Internet to a local directory. It captures all essential assets including:

  • HTML pages
  • CSS stylesheets
  • JavaScript files
  • Images and media files
  • Other static resources

The tool preserves the original site’s relative link structure, allowing you to browse the cloned website locally as if you were viewing it online.

Key Features:

  • ⚡ Blazing Fast: Utilizes Go’s goroutines for concurrent downloads
  • 🔗 Link Preservation: Maintains relative link structures
  • 🎯 Simple CLI: Easy-to-use command-line interface
  • 🌐 Proxy Support: Works with HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies
  • 🍪 Cookie Management: Supports pre-set cookies for authenticated sessions
  • 🖥️ Local Server: Built-in server to preview cloned sites

Prerequisites

Before installing Goclone, ensure you have one of the following:

  • Homebrew (for macOS/Linux users) - recommended
  • Go 1.20 or higher (for manual installation)

Installation Methods

For macOS and Linux users, Homebrew provides the easiest installation method:

# Add the Goclone tap
brew tap goclone-dev/goclone

# Install Goclone
brew install goclone

# Verify installation
goclone --help

Method 2: Go Install

If you have Go installed (version 1.20 or higher):

# Install directly with Go
go install github.com/goclone-dev/goclone/cmd/goclone@latest

# Verify installation
goclone --help

Method 3: Build from Source

For developers who want to build from source:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/goclone-dev/goclone.git
cd goclone

# Build the binary
go build -o goclone cmd/goclone/main.go

# (Optional) Move to PATH
sudo mv goclone /usr/local/bin/

# Verify installation
goclone --help

Basic Usage

Simple Website Cloning

The most basic usage is straightforward:

goclone <url>

Example:

# Clone a website
goclone https://example.com

This command will:

  1. Create a directory named after the domain (e.g., example.com)
  2. Download all pages, assets, and resources
  3. Preserve the original link structure
  4. Save everything to your current directory

Opening After Clone

To automatically open the cloned website in your default browser after downloading:

goclone https://example.com --open
# or short form
goclone https://example.com -o

Serving Locally

Goclone includes a built-in web server (using Echo framework) to serve the cloned files:

# Serve on default port (5000)
goclone https://example.com --serve

# Serve on custom port
goclone https://example.com --serve --servePort 8080
# or short form
goclone https://example.com -s -P 8080

After running this command, access the cloned site at http://localhost:5000 (or your specified port).

Advanced Features

Custom User Agent

Some websites may block requests from unknown user agents. You can specify a custom user agent:

goclone https://example.com --user_agent "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7)"
# or short form
goclone https://example.com -u "Mozilla/5.0"

Using Cookies

For websites that require authentication or session cookies:

# Single cookie
goclone https://example.com --cookie "session_id=abc123"

# Multiple cookies
goclone https://example.com --cookie "session_id=abc123" --cookie "user_token=xyz789"
# or short form
goclone https://example.com -C "session_id=abc123" -C "user_token=xyz789"

Proxy Configuration

Goclone supports both HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies:

# HTTP proxy
goclone https://example.com --proxy_string "http://proxy.example.com:8080"

# SOCKS5 proxy
goclone https://example.com --proxy_string "socks5://proxy.example.com:1080"

# Proxy with authentication
goclone https://example.com --proxy_string "http://username:password@proxy.example.com:8080"
# or short form
goclone https://example.com -p "http://user:pass@proxy.com:8080"

Practical Use Cases

1. Offline Documentation

Clone documentation sites for offline reading:

goclone https://docs.python.org/3/ --serve --servePort 3000

2. Website Archival

Archive websites for historical reference:

goclone https://important-site.com
tar -czf important-site-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz important-site.com/

3. Development Reference

Clone competitor sites or design inspiration:

goclone https://design-inspiration.com --open

4. Testing Web Scraping

Test your web scraping logic on a local copy:

goclone https://target-site.com --serve
# Your scraper can now target localhost instead

Command Reference

Here’s a complete list of all available flags:

Flag Short Description Default
--help -h Display help information -
--open -o Open in default browser after cloning false
--serve -s Serve files using built-in server false
--servePort -P Port number for local server 5000
--cookie -C Pre-set cookies (can use multiple times) -
--user_agent -u Custom user agent string -
--proxy_string -p Proxy connection string (HTTP/SOCKS5) -

Tips and Best Practices

1. Respect Robots.txt

Always check and respect the website’s robots.txt file. Not all websites allow automated downloading.

2. Rate Limiting

While Goclone is fast, be considerate of the target server’s resources. For large sites, consider:

  • Cloning during off-peak hours
  • Using longer delays between requests (requires code modification)
  • Respecting any rate limits specified by the site
  • Only clone websites you have permission to download
  • Respect copyright and intellectual property rights
  • Don’t use cloned content for commercial purposes without permission
  • Check the website’s Terms of Service

4. Storage Requirements

Large websites can consume significant disk space:

  • Check available disk space before cloning
  • Consider selective cloning if needed
  • Use compression for archival purposes

5. Dynamic Content Limitations

Goclone downloads static assets. It may not capture:

  • Content loaded via AJAX/JavaScript
  • Dynamically generated content
  • Content behind authentication walls (without proper cookies)
  • Single Page Applications (SPAs) that rely heavily on JavaScript

Troubleshooting

Issue: Permission Denied

# Solution: Use sudo or install to user directory
sudo mv goclone /usr/local/bin/
# or
mkdir -p ~/bin && mv goclone ~/bin/ && export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"

Issue: SSL Certificate Errors

Some sites may have certificate issues:

# This is a limitation of the current version
# Workaround: Use a proxy or contact the maintainers

Issue: Incomplete Download

If the clone seems incomplete:

  • Check your internet connection
  • Verify you have sufficient disk space
  • Try using a custom user agent
  • Check if the site blocks automated tools

Issue: Port Already in Use

# Solution: Use a different port
goclone https://example.com --serve --servePort 8080

Performance Considerations

Goclone’s performance depends on several factors:

  1. Internet Speed: Your download bandwidth
  2. Website Size: Number of pages and assets
  3. Server Response Time: Target server’s performance
  4. Concurrent Connections: Go’s goroutines handle multiple downloads simultaneously
  5. Network Latency: Distance to target server

For optimal performance:

  • Use a stable, high-speed internet connection
  • Clone from geographically closer servers when possible
  • Use proxies if the target server throttles your IP

Comparison with Other Tools

Feature Goclone wget HTTrack Scrapy
Speed ⚡⚡⚡ ⚡⚡ ⚡⚡ ⚡⚡⚡
Easy Setup ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
Built-in Server ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌
Proxy Support ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Cookie Support ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Concurrent Downloads ✅ Limited ✅ ✅
Learning Curve Low Low Medium High

Contributing

Goclone is open-source and welcomes contributions! You can:

  • Report bugs on GitHub Issues
  • Submit pull requests for features or fixes
  • Improve documentation
  • Share use cases and examples

Repository: https://github.com/goclone-dev/goclone

Conclusion

Goclone is a powerful, fast, and easy-to-use tool for cloning websites to your local machine. Whether you’re archiving content, creating offline documentation, or analyzing website structures, Goclone provides a simple command-line interface backed by Go’s powerful concurrency features.

Key Takeaways:

  • Install via Homebrew for the easiest setup
  • Use --serve to preview cloned sites locally
  • Respect legal and ethical guidelines when cloning
  • Leverage advanced features like cookies and proxies for authenticated content
  • Remember that Goclone works best with static websites

Try Goclone today and experience the power of Go-based website cloning! 🚀

Additional Resources

Did you find this tutorial helpful? Share it with others who might benefit from Goclone! If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below or open an issue on GitHub.

참고