🚀 btget - BitTorrent Get CLI

A modern, fast, and lightweight BitTorrent client for the command line.

Features • Installation • Usage • Development • Contributing

btget is a command-line BitTorrent client designed for speed and ease of use. It allows you to download files from .torrent files directly, with real-time progress and a focus on efficiency. The interface is designed to be intuitive, allowing you to use it directly like wget or with explicit commands like download and info.

🌟 Features

• ⚡ High Performance: Built on Bun for a fast startup and optimized runtime performance.
• 🌐 DHT Support: Tracker-less peer discovery using the Distributed Hash Table (BEP 0005).
• 🧠 Smart Peer Management: Intelligent connection pooling and download speed tracking.
• 🛡️ Resilient Downloads: End-to-end data integrity verification with SHA-1 hashing.
• 📊 Real-Time Progress: A clean interface showing download speed, peer count, and progress bars.
• 🎯 Multi-Tracker Support: Connects to multiple trackers to ensure reliable peer discovery.
• 📁 Multi-File Torrents: Seamlessly handles torrents containing multiple files and complex directory structures.
• 🔍 Torrent Inspector: Allows viewing detailed information about a .torrent file without starting the download.
• 📦 Cross-Platform: A single executable that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

✅ Prerequisites

• Node.js: Required for using npm or npx.
• Bun: Required for development and building from source.

🚀 Quick Start

For most users, global installation via npm is the simplest method.

npm install -g btget

Usage

# Download a torrent to a specified output directory
btget my-file.torrent -o ./downloads

# View details about a torrent file
btget info ubuntu.torrent

# Get help on commands
btget --help

📦 Installation

Option 1: Global Installation (Recommended)

This makes the btget command available system-wide.

npm install -g btget

Option 2: Local Installation

This installs btget in your current project for programmatic use or testing.

npm install btget
npx btget my-file.torrent

Option 3: From Source

Build the project directly for development or contributing.

git clone https://github.com/UtkarshTheDev/btget.git
cd btget
bun install
bun run build
./dist/index.js --help

📖 Usage

Download Command

To download a torrent, provide the path to the .torrent file. You can use the command directly (like wget) or with the download subcommand.

# Direct usage
btget <torrent-file> [options]

# Command-based usage
btget download <torrent-file> [options]

# Options
  -o, --output <directory>    Output directory (default: current directory)
  --dht-only                  Use only DHT for peer discovery (disable trackers)
  -h, --help                  Show help

Examples:

# Download to the current directory
btget movie.torrent

# Download to a specific directory
btget ubuntu.torrent -o ~/Downloads

# Download using only DHT (useful for testing or privacy)
btget ubuntu.torrent --dht-only

Debugging and Logging

For debugging, use --debug, --verbose, or --trace flags:

btget file.torrent -o output --debug                    # Basic debugging
btget file.torrent -o output --verbose                  # Detailed logs
btget file.torrent -o output --trace --log-category=UPLOAD  # Filter by category

📚 See docs/LOGGING.md for complete logging documentation.

Info Command

To inspect the contents and metadata of a .torrent file without downloading:

btget info <torrent-file>

Example:

btget info movie.torrent

# Example Output:
# 📁 Torrent Information:
#    Name: Big Buck Bunny
#    Size: 158.31 MB
#    Files: 1
#    Piece Length: 65536 bytes
#    Number of Pieces: 2417
#    Main Tracker: http://tracker.example.com/announce

🛠️ Development

For development setup, available scripts, and contribution guidelines, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

git clone https://github.com/UtkarshTheDev/btget.git
cd btget
bun install
bun run build

📋 Roadmap

• [x] Resume Downloads: Continue interrupted downloads (Auto-resume supported).
• [ ] Seeding Support: Share completed downloads.
• [ ] Bandwidth Limiting: Control upload/download speeds.
• [ ] Magnet Link Support: Download directly from magnet links.
• [x] DHT Support: Peer discovery via Distributed Hash Table.
• [ ] Protocol Encryption: Encrypt peer communication for privacy.
• [ ] JSON Configuration: Support for configuring BitTorrent connections and other settings via a JSON file.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details on how to get started.

Contribution Workflow

1. Fork the repository.
2. Clone your fork: git clone https://github.com/yourusername/btget.git
3. Create a branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
4. Make your changes.
5. Test your changes: bun test
6. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
7. Push to your fork: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
8. Submit a Pull Request.

Areas for Contribution

• 🐛 Bug Fixes: Help squash bugs and improve stability.
• ✨ New Features: Implement items from the roadmap.
• 📚 Documentation: Improve guides and examples.
• 🧪 Testing: Add unit or integration tests.
• ⚡ Performance: Find and implement further optimizations.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• BitTorrent Protocol: Bram Cohen and the BitTorrent community.
• Bun: The amazing Bun team for incredible performance.
• TypeScript: Microsoft and the TypeScript team.
• Open Source Community: All contributors and supporters.

📊 Stats

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Made with ❤️ by UtkarshTheDev and contributors