Imgur Batch Delete 🗑️

A Node.js script that automatically deletes the images from your Imgur account, whether they are in albums or not.

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Features

• Automatically fetches an access_token from your refresh_token.
• Batch deletion with rate limit handling.
• Dry-run mode (simulation).
• Delete mode (actual deletion).

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Requirements

• Node.js v22+
• An Imgur account and a Client ID / Client Secret from the Imgur dashboard
• A refresh token, generated during OAuth authorization

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Getting your Imgur API keys

1. Create an application

   • Go to https://api.imgur.com/oauth2/addclient
   • Choose "OAuth2 without callback" (or with a callback if you have a URL)
   • Write down the Client ID and the Client Secret.

2. Generate a refresh token

   • Open this URL in your browser:

     https://api.imgur.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&response_type=token
     

     Replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID with your own Client ID.

   • Authorize the application, then copy the refresh_token value from the redirect URL in your browser.

Configuration

1. Copy .env.example to .env at the root of the project:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Open .env and add your keys:

   IMGUR_CLIENT_ID="your_client_id"
   IMGUR_CLIENT_SECRET="your_client_secret"
   IMGUR_REFRESH_TOKEN="your_refresh_token"

Warning: never share your credentials in plain text.

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Installation

Install the dependencies listed in package.json:

npm install

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Usage

Dry-run mode

Shows how many images would be deleted, without deleting anything:

npm run dry

Delete mode

Actually deletes all the listed images:

npm run delete

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Rate limit handling

Deletions run with limited concurrency (3 requests at a time), and each failed request is retried with exponential backoff (up to 5 retries, from 1 s to 30 s), which covers 429 Rate Limit responses. If you keep getting blocked, wait a moment, or lower the concurrency value in src/api/deleteImages.js.

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Contributing

1. Fork this repo
2. Create a branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add a feature')
4. Push the branch (git push origin feature/my-feature)
5. Open a pull request