Phoenix Down Script

Phoenix Down Script is a back-end application whose goal is to manage many scripts, intended to save some user information for certain sites (Trello, Steam, Youtube, Reddit, Twitter, Pocket...), via their respective APIs.

This application also allows you to save Firefox profiles and JDownloader link collectors.

The data is then saved as log files, saved locally, and uploaded to a server.

In case of a script execution error, a Trello alert is generated.

Why I developed Phoenix Down Script ?

No one is safe from the loss or/and theft of their accounts on the Internet. If Phoenix Down Script won't allow you to recover them, this application will at least make it easier for you to recover your data, by regularly saving them in log files.

Just one example : if you lose your Twitter account, it would be very useful to have the list of your followers on hand to recreate an account.

Please note that the application does not allow reimporting this data as is, but that it provides a sound basis to develop your own reimport methods, using the relevant APIs.

The logs offer for this purpose your saved data in human readable form, but also in computer format (often data in JSON format, requested by most APIs).

How can Phoenix Down Script help you ?

Phoenix Down Script is not designed to be used on a "turnkey" basis, as it primarily meets my own needs. Nevertheless, a developer could adapt it relatively easily to his own needs. In addition, the highly modular nature of this application facilitates the execution of each script independently of the others ; and independently of the application itself. Finally, as this application uses many APIs, it is an appropriate study object to analyze the basic functioning of these APIs (cf. /script folder). The developer will be able to see it as an easy way to get started with them (cf. /sample folder).

What data does the script backup ?

This list may not be complete.

• Firefox :

  1. backup of bookmarks (bookmarkbackups file)
  2. backup of bookmark favicons (favicons.sqlite)
  3. backup of the browsing history, downloads, bookmarks (places.sqlite)

• JDownloader :

  1. backup of the download list (latest downloadList*.zip)
  2. backup of the link collector (latest linkcollector*.zip)

• Pocket :

  1. backup of your articles (ids, titles, URLs + all data in JSON format)

• Reddit :

  1. backup of your subscribed subreddits (names + all data in JSON format)
  2. backup of your saved posts (all data in JSON format)

• Steam :

  1. backup of your friends list (ids, usernames)
  2. backup of your owned games (ids)
  3. backup of your wishlist (all data in JSON format)

• Trello :

  1. backup of all your boards (all data in JSON format)
  2. backup of your favorite cards (all data in JSON format)

• Twitter :

  1. backup of your followers (ids)
  2. backup of your friends (ids)

• Youtube :

  1. backup of your suscribed channels (ids, youtuber usernames + all data in JSON format)
  2. backup of your playlists (names, video ids, video titles + all data in JSON format)

How to run Phoenix Down Script ?

The following instructions are not a step-by-step process. Phoenix Down Script is a pure back-end application, which you may need to adapt to your work environment and your needs.

List (not exhaustive) of dependencies needed to run Phoenix Down Script (if you want to run ALL scripts) :

• Selenium
• Tweepy
• Geckodriver

Phoenix Down Script was developed under Ubuntu 18.04, in the Python 3 programming language.

To run Phoenix Down Script, you will need to :

• copy constants_example.py and credentials_example.py in phoenix_down_script/example folder and paste them into the root of the application ;
• rename constants_example.py and credentials_example.py respectively into constants.py and credentials.py ;
• set values into constants.py and credentials.py (follow the instructions inside them). For credentials, You will have to use the respective APIs of each of the scripts. This usually requires the opening of a developer account. Each site will propose you the steps to follow to obtain the tokens or other necessary authorizations ;
• comment or uncomment the instances of each of the scripts in mother_of_all_scripts.py file, depending on which ones you want to execute or not. Phoenix Dow Script is designed to be modular ;

       tlls = TrelloScript()
       tlls.run_script()
   
       fs = FirefoxScript()
       fs.run_script()
   
       js = JdownloaderScript()
       js.run_script()
   
       twts = TwitterScript()
       twts.run_script()
   
       stms = SteamScript()
       stms.run_script()
   
       rs = RedditScript()
       rs.run_script()
   
       ps = PocketScript()
       ps.run_script()
   
       ys = YoutubeScript()
       ys.run_script()

• create on your server a directory at your convenience for the Phoenix Down Script application. In this directory, you will have to create a folder for each script used, according to the name of the application_name variable present in each sub-script. For example, a /youtube folder for the Youtube script ;

• Do the same on your computer (or any other storage medium) for local backup (depending on the paths you set in constants_example.py)

• run main.py and pray for the application to launch properly.

Warning: the authentication of a user on Youtube is a rather nebulous process in itself, made here even more complex by the need to bypass browser authentication (generally used method), for a purpose of total automation (purely back end and silent process). You may have to study the Youtube API by yourself and choose an authentication method that suits your needs, to use this script specifically. Same observation for Pocket script.