# How to get the container id's that I have downloaded from Allen Brain Observatory from the cache

**URL:** <https://community.brain-map.org/t/how-to-get-the-container-ids-that-i-have-downloaded-from-allen-brain-observatory-from-the-cache/3234>\
**Category:** Technical\
**Created:** [April 5, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/how-to-get-the-container-ids-that-i-have-downloaded-from-allen-brain-observatory-from-the-cache/3234 "2024-04-05T13:50:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mariakesa](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/community.brain-map.org/mariakesa/32/809_2.png) [@mariakesa](https://community.brain-map.org/u/mariakesa)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/how-to-get-the-container-ids-that-i-have-downloaded-from-allen-brain-observatory-from-the-cache/3234/1 "2024-04-05T13:50:43Z")

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Hello:-)

Is there a convenience function for getting all the container id’s and experimental id’s that I’ve downloaded from AllenBrainObservatory from the cache?

Thank you so much for your work!

Best,  
Maria

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**Author:** ![ray.sanchez](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/community.brain-map.org/ray.sanchez/32/679_2.png) [@ray.sanchez](https://community.brain-map.org/u/ray.sanchez)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/how-to-get-the-container-ids-that-i-have-downloaded-from-allen-brain-observatory-from-the-cache/3234/2 "2024-04-11T15:09:41Z")

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Hi Maria,

Thanks for using the Allen Brain Observatory datasets! Unfortunately we don’t have a function for this in our SDK. Please let us know how else we can help!

Thanks,  
Ray

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**Author:** ![mariakesa](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/community.brain-map.org/mariakesa/32/809_2.png) [@mariakesa](https://community.brain-map.org/u/mariakesa)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/how-to-get-the-container-ids-that-i-have-downloaded-from-allen-brain-observatory-from-the-cache/3234/3 "2024-04-11T15:28:08Z")

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Thank you for your reply:-)

I kind of solved it-- I can do os.listdir in the cache directory and the file names are the experiment id’s. Does that sound legit to you?

Best,  
Maria

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**Author:** ![saskiad](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/community.brain-map.org/saskiad/32/1695_2.png) [@saskiad](https://community.brain-map.org/u/saskiad)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/how-to-get-the-container-ids-that-i-have-downloaded-from-allen-brain-observatory-from-the-cache/3234/4 "2024-04-17T17:59:32Z")

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Yes, that’s how I’d do it. The file names are session ids - so it won’t give you experiment container ids, but it will let you see what sessions you have.

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**Author:** ![mariakesa](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/community.brain-map.org/mariakesa/32/809_2.png) [@mariakesa](https://community.brain-map.org/u/mariakesa)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://community.brain-map.org/t/how-to-get-the-container-ids-that-i-have-downloaded-from-allen-brain-observatory-from-the-cache/3234/5 "2024-04-18T16:48:33Z")

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Thank you:-) Very useful!