Replay downloads¶

Download a League of Legends replay by player name through your running League Client, or use Riot Sign On to download replays returned by the public API. Both workflows are included in the base package.

To choose one of another player's recent matches, open League, sign in, and run:

riotskillissue-cli replays download --player "GameName#TagLine"

Use the full Riot ID, including the tag. The command shows recent matches and asks which replay to download. This mode needs neither a Riot API key nor an RSO token.

Download by player name¶

Keep the League Client running while using these commands. The target player and match must be accessible on the client's current region. --route is an RSO-only option and cannot be combined with --player.

To inspect up to 20 recent matches:

riotskillissue-cli replays list --player "GameName#TagLine"

The table shows the selection number, match ID, queue, and patch. Recent matches can include unavailable replays; the client checks the selected replay when you request a download.

For interactive selection from a smaller list:

riotskillissue-cli replays download --player "GameName#TagLine" --count 5

Or select a one-based entry directly:

riotskillissue-cli replays download 1 --player "GameName#TagLine"

The League Client downloads the selected replay into its configured replay folder. The CLI waits for completion and prints the resulting path. To keep a copy somewhere else:

riotskillissue-cli replays download 1 --player "GameName#TagLine" --output ./replays/game.rofl

--output copies the completed replay to that file without changing the League Client's settings. Missing parent directories are created. An existing output file is preserved unless you pass --overwrite, and a failed copy leaves no partially written destination.

--lockfile, --count, and --timeout apply only when --player is set.

The list is fetched anew for each invocation. Its order may change between list and download 1. Omit the index to choose from the exact list that the download command will use. The number is a row selection, not a match ID.

Find your League client¶

The CLI checks these standard lockfile locations:

On Windows, the drive comes from SYSTEMDRIVE, normally C:.

For a custom installation, pass the exact path or set RIOT_LCU_LOCKFILE:

riotskillissue-cli replays list --player "GameName#TagLine" --lockfile "D:/Riot Games/League of Legends/lockfile"

The lockfile is created by the running League Client and contains local connection credentials. Use the file on your own machine; do not copy it from another player or commit it to a repository. Run the command in the same Windows or macOS environment as League, rather than a remote server, container, or WSL.

Download limits¶

Riot's Patch 26.21 notes, published on October 20, 2026, retain downloads of your own, friends', and other players' replays with a limit of 10 downloads per hour.

Player mode asks your League Client to download the replay and follows its server-enforced limit, including downloads started through the client UI. The CLI downloads one selected replay per invocation. It does not retry rejected download requests or invent a local count of remaining downloads. If Riot rejects a download, wait for the reported interval where available before trying again.

That client announcement does not specify the public API's replay quota. The RSO workflow below also respects rate-limit responses.

What the endpoint supports¶

Without --player, RiotSkillIssue uses the public endpoint match-v5.getReplayByAccessToken:

GET https://{route}.api.riotgames.com/lol/match/v5/matches/replays
Authorization: Bearer <RSO access token>

The response contains total and matchFileURLs. It lists replays for the player identified by the access token. The endpoint has no Riot ID, PUUID, match-ID, or pagination parameter. The CLI can download files from that list; this RSO mode cannot look up another player's replay by name or match ID. Use player mode for a lookup through your local League Client.

Authentication¶

These requirements apply to the public API workflow, without --player. Player mode uses the running League Client instead.

Riot's RSO integration guide requires an approved production-key application and RSO onboarding. The player then signs in through Riot's authorization flow. The replay operation requires the openid scope.

RiotSkillIssue provides RSO helpers for applications that already have that integration. The CLI accepts an existing access token; it does not register an application, run a browser login, or extract tokens from the League client.

Set the token in the terminal where you will run the replay commands:

export RIOT_RSO_ACCESS_TOKEN="your-rso-access-token"

$env:RIOT_RSO_ACCESS_TOKEN = "your-rso-access-token"

Both commands also accept --access-token. Using the environment variable keeps the token out of the replay command's arguments. Treat access tokens and signed download URLs as credentials. No RIOT_API_KEY is needed for these commands.

List available replays¶

With an RSO token configured, list the authenticated player's public API replays:

riotskillissue-cli replays list --route europe

The table shows a one-based selection number and a suggested filename. The CLI does not print the signed download URLs. Choose the regional route that holds the player's replays: americas, asia, europe, or sea. The default is europe; platform routes such as euw1 are not accepted here.

Riot returns URLs without separate match metadata. A filename is inferred when the URL contains a usable name; otherwise the command supplies a fallback. Do not assume every row includes a match ID, date, champion, or game mode.

Download a replay¶

For an interactive selection from the RSO replay list, run:

riotskillissue-cli replays download --route europe

The command fetches the list and asks which entry to download. It downloads from that same list, so the selected number refers to the row you just saw.

To select a number directly and choose a destination:

riotskillissue-cli replays download 1 --route europe --output ./replays/my-game.rofl

Each command fetches the current list. Its order and contents may change between a separate list call and download 1; use interactive selection when you want to inspect the exact list being used. Numbers start at 1 and are not match IDs.

Files are streamed to disk, and missing parent directories are created. The destination is published only after the transfer completes; a failed transfer cleans up its temporary file and preserves any existing destination. To replace a file deliberately:

riotskillissue-cli replays download 1 --output ./replays/my-game.rofl --overwrite

The command downloads one file per invocation and does not retry file downloads automatically. If the server limits requests, wait before trying again. Run riotskillissue-cli replays download --help for the installed version's options.

Use from Python¶

League Client¶

Use LeagueReplayClient as an async context manager while League is running:

import asyncio

from riotskillissue import LeagueReplayClient


async def main() -> None:
    async with LeagueReplayClient() as league:
        replays = await league.player_replays("GameName#TagLine", count=5)
        if replays:
            path = await league.download_replay(replays[0], timeout=120)
            print(path)


asyncio.run(main())

player_replays() returns list[ClientReplay] for the named player's recent matches. Pass a destination to download_replay() to copy the completed replay to another file; omit it to use the League Client's replay folder. The method returns a pathlib.Path and accepts overwrite=True for replacing an explicit destination. This client does not use RiotClient, an API key, or an RSO token.

Public API with RSO¶

The async and sync Riot clients expose the same RSO workflow. Both examples read RIOT_RSO_ACCESS_TOKEN from the environment.

import asyncio

from riotskillissue import RegionalRoute, RiotClient


async def main() -> None:
    async with RiotClient() as riot:
        replays = await riot.lol.replays(route=RegionalRoute.EUROPE)
        for replay in replays:
            print(replay.index, replay.filename)
        if replays:
            path = await riot.lol.download_replay(
                replays[0], "replays/my-game.rofl"
            )
            print(path)


asyncio.run(main())

from riotskillissue import RegionalRoute, SyncRiotClient

with SyncRiotClient() as riot:
    replays = riot.lol.replays(route=RegionalRoute.EUROPE)
    if replays:
        path = riot.lol.download_replay(replays[0], "replays/my-game.rofl")
        print(path)

replays() returns list[ReplayFile]. Each entry has index, filename, and url; the URL is omitted from the object's representation. download_replay() returns a pathlib.Path and accepts overwrite=True for explicit replacement. Keep returned entries only as long as needed to download them, since signed URLs may expire.

When embedding the client in an application, keep HTTP request logging disabled for replay downloads: httpx INFO logs and httpcore debug logs can include signed URLs. The CLI does not enable that logging.

For applications that need the unmodified response, the generated method remains available:

replay_data = await riot.raw.lol.match.get_replay_by_access_token(
    route=RegionalRoute.EUROPE,
)

Troubleshooting¶

Downloaded .rofl files are game replays, not video exports. Downloading a file does not launch League or convert it to another format.