In some instances, we have to use the Metadata API to download XML files for analysis. However, the Metadata API is a pain to use. Even Salesforce recognizes this and suggests using a migration tool like Gearset to extract these: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.246.0.api_meta.meta/api_meta/file_based.htm

Since Gearset retrieves these files during comparison, it would be great if there was an option to download them to a zip file directly.

Note: There is already a "Download Package" feature on the deployment page. However, we obviously can't add items to this page if there is no change between the orgs. So, if a similar feature were available from the Comparisons page, we could download all of the retrieved XML files from an org directly.