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CLI Reference

exiftool CLI is designed for ExifTool compatibility with additional features for C2PA and modern workflows.

Basic Usage​

# Basic usage
exiftool-ts image.jpg

# Multiple files
exiftool-ts image1.jpg image2.png

# All supported files in directory
exiftool-ts -r /path/to/photos

Output Formats​

JSON (ExifTool Compatible)​

# Pretty JSON
exiftool-ts -j image.jpg

# Compact JSON
exiftool-ts -j -c image.jpg

# Specific tags as JSON
exiftool-ts -j -Title -Artist -Copyright image.jpg

CSV​

exiftool-ts -csv image.jpg
exiftool-ts -csv -r -Title -Artist /photos

Tabular (Default)​

exiftool-ts image.jpg
# Output:
# ExifToolVersion         : 13.55
# FileName                : image.jpg
# ImageWidth              : 4096
# ImageHeight             : 2160
# ...

XML​

exiftool-ts -X image.jpg

Tag Selection​

Include Tags​

# Single tag
exiftool-ts -Title image.jpg

# Multiple tags
exiftool-ts -Title -Artist -Copyright image.jpg

# All tags in group
exiftool-ts -EXIF:All image.jpg
exiftool-ts -XMP:All image.jpg
exiftool-ts -IPTC:All image.jpg

Exclude Tags​

# Exclude specific tags
exiftool-ts --Title --Artist image.jpg

# Exclude group
exiftool-ts --EXIF:All image.jpg

Wildcards​

# Prefix match
exiftool-ts -GPS* image.jpg
exiftool-ts -EXIF:GPS* image.jpg

C2PA Specific Flags (not yet implemented)​

The following flags are designed for ExifTool compatibility and will be implemented per the C2PA plan:

# All C2PA tags
exiftool-ts -C2PA image.jpg

# Specific C2PA tags
exiftool-ts -Claim_generator -ActionsAction -ActionsSoftwareAgent image.jpg

# JSON output
exiftool-ts -j -C2PA image.jpg

Output Options​

FlagDescription
-jJSON output (ExifTool compatible)
-cCompact JSON (no whitespace)
-XXML output
-csvCSV output
-tTabular (default)
-csvCSV format
-g[n]Group names (0=none, 1=full, 2=short)
-G[n]Group names prefix (0=none, 1=full, 2=short)

Date/Time Formatting​

# Default: "2024:01:15 14:30:22"
exiftool-ts -DateTimeOriginal image.jpg

# Custom format
exiftool-ts -d "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" -DateTimeOriginal image.jpg

# ISO 8601
exiftool-ts -d "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z" -DateTimeOriginal image.jpg

Filtering​

# Only files with GPS
exiftool-ts -if "$GPSLatitude" -r /photos

# Only images with C2PA
exiftool-ts -if "$Claim_generator" -r /photos

# Complex conditions
exiftool-ts -if '$Make eq "Canon" and $ISO gt 400' -r /photos

File Processing​

# Recursive
exiftool-ts -r /photos

# Follow symlinks
exiftool-ts -r -follow /photos

# Preserve timestamps
exiftool-ts -P image.jpg

# Overwrite original
exiftool-ts -overwrite_original image.jpg

# Dry run
exiftool-ts -n image.jpg

Configuration File​

Create .exiftool-ts.json in project root or home:

{
  "dateFormat": "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S",
  "groupPrefix": 1,
  "dateFormat": "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S%z",
  "binary": "base64",
  "dateFormat": "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S",
  "groupPrefix": 1,
  "coordFormat": "%.6f",
  "escapeHTML": false
}

Exit Codes​

CodeMeaning
0Success
1General error
2File not found
3Invalid arguments
4Parse error
5Write error

Examples​

Extract All Metadata​

exiftool-ts -j -G1 -a image.jpg

Batch Rename by Date​

exiftool-ts '-FileName<DateTimeOriginal' -d "%Y%m%d_%H%M%S%%-c.%%e" -r /photos

Remove All Metadata​

exiftool-ts -all= image.jpg

Export Thumbnail​

exiftool-ts -b -ThumbnailImage -w thumbnail_%f.jpg image.jpg

C2PA Validation​

exiftool-ts -j -C2PA -if '$Claim_generator' image.jpg