Output Structure

Every Vesper Orbit scan produces a single self-contained folder. This page describes the folder layout, the manifest CSV, and the rules Orbit follows when naming downloaded files.

Folder layout

By default, Orbit writes scans to ~/Downloads/. You can change the save folder with the Change folder link below the Start button. Each scan creates its own subfolder, named after the host plus a timestamp:

[chosen folder]/
  [host-with-dashes]-[YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM]/
    pdfs/
    images/
    audio/
    video/
    _manifest.csv

Concrete example, scanning archive.example.org at 2:30 PM on May 7, 2026:

~/Downloads/
  archive-example-org-2026-05-07-1430/
    pdfs/
      oral-history-jane-doe.pdf
      annual-report-1953.pdf
    images/
      archive-photo-1947.jpg
      campus-map-1962.png
    audio/
      interview-tape-12.mp3
    video/
      orientation-1968.mp4
    _manifest.csv

The timestamp ensures re-scans of the same site never overwrite prior captures - you can run Orbit weekly against the same domain and accumulate a clean history.

Filename rules

Vesper Orbit preserves the original filename whenever the URL has one:

https://archive.example.org/files/oral-history-jane-doe.pdf → oral-history-jane-doe.pdf
https://archive.example.org/img/photo_1947.jpg → photo_1947.jpg

Collisions

When two URLs would land at the same local filename, Orbit appends a numeric suffix to avoid overwriting:

First file: annual-report.pdf
Second collision: annual-report-2.pdf
Third collision: annual-report-3.pdf

Nameless URLs

When a URL has no usable filename in its path - typical of CDN-hosted media with hashed paths or query-string-only identifiers - Orbit generates a short hash of the URL and uses it as the filename, preserving the extension:

https://cdn.example.org/v2/?asset=8421 → a3f2c8.jpg (extension inferred from Content-Type)

The manifest CSV

_manifest.csv at the root of every scan is the source of truth for what happened during that crawl. Open it in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.

Columns

Column	Description
`source_url`	The URL Orbit attempted to fetch.
`local_path`	Path of the saved file relative to the scan folder, or empty if the file was not saved.
`type`	One of `pdf`, `image`, `audio`, `video`.
`bytes`	File size in bytes, or empty if not downloaded.
`status`	One of `ok`, `too_large`, `error`, `skipped_type`.

Status values explained

ok - file downloaded successfully and saved at local_path.
too_large - file exceeded the 100 MB cap. Not downloaded. local_path is empty.
error - HTTP error, network failure, or unreachable URL. Check the bytes column for any partial response info.
skipped_type - the file's media type was disabled in your scan settings. Useful when you turned off Video to keep the scan small but want a record of what would have been captured.

Defaults summary

Setting	Default
Save folder	`~/Downloads/`
Max crawl depth	8
Max pages	5,000
Max file size	100 MB
Media types	All four ON
Subdomains	OFF
Exclusions	Vesper Audit defaults