OvenbirdBT

OvenbirdBT is a TUI torrent client built on libtorrent and FTXUI.

Features

• Download and upload multiple torrents simultaneously.
• Support for .torrent files and magnet links.
• Partial download.
• Restore torrents across restarts.
• Terminal User Interface with mouse support.
• Select torrents in the list and pause/resume, remove, or inspect them.
• Show progress, state, peers, seeds, download/upload rates.
• Cross-platform C++ code.

Dependencies

• libtorrent
• FTXUI
• simpleini

Linux packages vary by distribution. On Debian/Ubuntu systems, install CMake, Ninja, a C++17 compiler, libtorrent-rasterbar development files, and FTXUI development files. SimpleIni is used as a local header-only file at src/SimpleIni.h.

On Windows, install vcpkg, Visual Studio 2022 or Build Tools for Visual Studio with the "Desktop development with C++" workload.

Build

Linux:

cmake --preset linux-release
cmake --build --preset linux-release
./build/linux-release/ovenbirdbt

Windows with vcpkg and MSVC from a regular PowerShell:

cmake --preset windows-vs-vcpkg
cmake --build --preset windows-vs-vcpkg
.\build\windows-vs\Release\ovenbirdbt.exe

Configuration

ovenbirdbt reads an INI configuration file at startup. By default it looks for %APPDATA%\ovenbirdbt\config.ini on Windows, ~/.config/ovenbirdbt/config.ini on Linux, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ovenbirdbt/config.ini.
--config PATH can point to a different file.

Example:

[paths]
save = /path/to/downloads
state = /path/to/ovenbirdbt-state

[libtorrent]
user_agent = OvenbirdBT
enable_dht = true
enable_lsd = true
enable_upnp = true
enable_natpmp = true
tracker_completion_timeout = 60
tracker_receive_timeout = 10
stop_tracker_timeout = 5
peer_connect_timeout = 15
request_timeout = 20
listen_interfaces = 0.0.0.0:6881,[::]:6881
# Comma-separated. When omitted, ovenbirdbt adds its built-in default trackers.
# Set to an empty value to disable built-in additional trackers.
additional_trackers = http://tracker.example/announce, udp://tracker.example:1337/announce
# Rate limits are in Kb/s; 0 means unlimited.
upload_rate_limit = 0
download_rate_limit = 0

Command-line --save and --state values override the INI file for that launch.

Print the application version:

ovenbirdbt --version

By default, ovenbirdbt stores resume data under %APPDATA%\ovenbirdbt on Windows, ~/.local/state/ovenbirdbt on Linux, or $XDG_STATE_HOME/ovenbirdbt

You can also pass startup torrents:

ovenbirdbt --save ~/Downloads "magnet:?xt=urn:btih:..." ./example.torrent

Controls

In main list use the arrow keys to select a torrent, Enter or i to open its information window, t to open partial download file selection, a to open the Add torrent window, p to pause or resume, d to delete, and q for exit. In the information window, use 1-4 to switch tabs. Confirm dialogs with Enter, or cancel with Esc. In the partial download screen, use Space or Enter to toggle the selected file, a to select all files, and n to select none. The same actions are also exposed as clickable on-screen buttons.