We’re excited to announce the first release of ghrelgrab (v0.1.0), published on August 15, 2025. This cross-platform command-line utility simplifies one of the most common yet tedious tasks in modern development: downloading and extracting GitHub release assets.

Whether you’re automating dependency downloads in CI/CD pipelines or streamlining multi-stage Docker builds, ghrelgrab provides a reliable, scriptable solution that handles platform-specific filename conventions automatically.

What’s New

As the inaugural release, v0.1.0 introduces the full feature set of ghrelgrab:

Smart Filename Resolution

No more guessing at filename patterns. ghrelgrab supports dynamic token substitution with {version}, {os}, and {arch} placeholders that automatically resolve to match your target platform. Combined with flexible OS/architecture mapping (for example, translating linux to ubuntu or amd64 to x86_64), the tool adapts to various release naming conventions without manual intervention.

Automatic Archive Extraction

Downloaded assets are automatically extracted if they’re in .tar.gz, .tgz, or .zip format. Files in other formats are preserved as-is, giving you flexibility for different distribution styles.

Cross-Platform Support

Pre-built binaries are available for:

  • Linux: AMD64, 386, ARM64
  • macOS: AMD64, ARM64
  • Windows: AMD64, 386

All releases include MD5 and SHA256 checksums for verification.

Private Repository Access

Need to download assets from private repositories? Simply provide a GitHub token via the --token flag or GH_TOKEN environment variable.

Script-Friendly Design

ghrelgrab outputs file paths to stdout, making it easy to integrate with shell scripts and automation pipelines. Debug mode provides detailed visibility into resolution logic when troubleshooting.

Why It Matters

Managing release assets across multiple platforms has long been a pain point for DevOps engineers and developers alike. Different projects use different naming conventions—some use linux-amd64, others ubuntu-x86_64, and still others Linux_x64. Maintaining manual mappings in build scripts quickly becomes brittle and error-prone.

ghrelgrab solves this by:

  • Eliminating guesswork: Token substitution handles dynamic version and platform detection automatically
  • Reducing boilerplate: One tool replaces custom download logic across multiple projects
  • Enabling Docker efficiency: Use ghrelgrab as a dedicated layer in multi-stage builds to fetch dependencies without bloating your final image
  • Supporting real-world diversity: OS/architecture mapping bridges the gap between Go’s platform identifiers and common naming patterns

For containerized workflows, the included Docker image (ghcr.io/unitvectory-labs/ghrelgrab:v0.1.0) provides an immediate drop-in solution for fetching external binaries during build time.

Getting Started

Installing from GitHub Releases

Download the pre-built binary for your platform from the releases page. Verify checksums using the provided .md5 or .sha256 files:

# Linux AMD64 example
wget https://github.com/UnitVectorY-Labs/ghrelgrab/releases/download/v0.1.0/ghrelgrab-v0.1.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar xzf ghrelgrab-v0.1.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
chmod +x ghrelgrab

Using Docker

Pull the image directly and use it in multi-stage builds:

docker pull ghcr.io/unitvectory-labs/ghrelgrab:v0.1.0

See the repository documentation for complete Dockerfile examples.

Building from Source

If you prefer to build from source, you’ll need Go 1.25.0 or later:

git clone https://github.com/UnitVectorY-Labs/ghrelgrab.git
cd ghrelgrab
go build -o ghrelgrab .

Next Steps

Head over to the GitHub repository for full documentation, usage examples, and to explore the code. We’d love to hear your feedback and see how you integrate ghrelgrab into your workflows.

Transparency Note: This blog post was AI-generated using the unsloth/Qwen3.5-122B-A10B-GGUF:Q4_K_M model. The article was generated on behalf of release-storyteller based on the ghrelgrab v0.1.0 release published on August 15, 2025. For authoritative information about this release, please refer to the official GitHub release.