ReadMeABook/documentation/phase3/qbittorrent.md

qBittorrent Integration

Status: ✅ Implemented

Free, open-source BitTorrent client with comprehensive Web API.

Enterprise Torrent Addition

Challenge: /api/v2/torrents/add returns only "Ok." without torrent hash.

Solution (Professional):

Magnet Links:

1. Extract info_hash from magnet URI (deterministic)
2. Upload via urls parameter
3. Return extracted hash immediately

Torrent Files:

1. Download .torrent file to memory
2. Parse with parse-torrent (bencode decoder)
3. Extract info_hash (SHA-1 of info dict)
4. Upload file content via torrents parameter (multipart/form-data)
5. Return extracted hash immediately

Benefits: Deterministic, no race conditions, works with Docker networking, handles expired URLs

API Endpoints

Base: http://qbittorrent:8080/api/v2 Auth: Cookie-based (login required)

POST /auth/login - Get session cookie POST /torrents/add - Add torrent (supports urls and torrents params, savepath override) GET /torrents/info?hashes={hash} - Get status/progress POST /torrents/pause - Pause torrent POST /torrents/resume - Resume POST /torrents/delete - Delete torrent GET /torrents/files - Get file list POST /torrents/createCategory - Create category with save path POST /torrents/editCategory - Update category save path POST /torrents/setCategory - Set category for torrent

Config

Required (database only, no env fallbacks):

• download_client_url - qBittorrent Web UI URL (supports HTTP and HTTPS)
• download_client_username - qBittorrent username
• download_client_password - qBittorrent password
• download_dir - Download save path (passed to qBittorrent for all torrents)

Optional (SSL/TLS):

• download_client_disable_ssl_verify - Disable SSL certificate verification for HTTPS (boolean as string "true"/"false", default: "false")
  • Use when connecting to qBittorrent with self-signed certificates
  • ⚠️ Security warning: Only use on trusted private networks
  • Enhanced error messages guide users when SSL issues detected

Optional (Remote Path Mapping):

• download_client_remote_path_mapping_enabled - Enable path mapping (boolean as string "true"/"false")
• download_client_remote_path - Remote path prefix from qBittorrent
• download_client_local_path - Local path prefix for ReadMeABook

Validation: All required fields checked before service initialization. Path mapping fields validated when enabled.

Singleton Invalidation: Service uses singleton pattern for performance. When settings change (via admin settings page), singleton is invalidated to force reload:

• invalidateQBittorrentService() called after updating paths or download client settings
• Forces service to re-read database config on next torrent addition
• Ensures category save path and credentials are always current

Category Management

Category: readmeabook (auto-created for all torrents)

Save Path Synchronization:

• Category created/updated on every torrent addition
• Category save path always synced with download_dir config
• Handles config changes: if user changes download_dir, category updates automatically
• Uses both createCategory and editCategory APIs for reliability

Why Both Create and Edit:

1. Create: Ensures category exists (idempotent, won't fail if exists)
2. Edit: Updates save path to match current config (handles user changing settings)

This prevents issues where category retains old save path after user changes download_dir setting.

Remote Path Mapping

Use Case: qBittorrent runs on different machine/container with different filesystem perspective.

Example Scenario:

• qBittorrent reports: /remote/mnt/d/done/Audiobook.Name
• ReadMeABook needs: /downloads/Audiobook.Name
• Mapping: Remote /remote/mnt/d/done → Local /downloads

Configuration:

1. Admin Settings → Download Client → Enable Remote Path Mapping
2. Enter remote path (as reported by qBittorrent)
3. Enter local path (accessible to ReadMeABook)
4. Test connection validates local path exists
5. Save settings

Implementation:

• PathMapper utility (src/lib/utils/path-mapper.ts) handles transformation
• Applied in monitor-download.processor.ts when download completes
• Applied in retry-failed-imports.processor.ts for failed imports
• Uses simple prefix replacement with path normalization
• Graceful fallback: if path doesn't match remote prefix, returns unchanged

Path Transformation:

// Input from qBittorrent
qbPath = "/remote/mnt/d/done/Audiobook.Name"

// Config
remotePath = "/remote/mnt/d/done"
localPath = "/downloads"

// Output (used for file organization)
organizePath = "/downloads/Audiobook.Name"

Validation:

• Local path accessibility checked during test connection
• Prevents misconfiguration before save
• Warning shown for existing downloads (mapping only affects new downloads)

Behavior:

• Mapping only applies when enabled
• If path doesn't start with remote prefix, returns original (logs warning)
• Path normalization handles trailing slashes, backslashes, redundant separators
• Works with both content_path and constructed save_path + name

Data Models

interface TorrentInfo {
  hash: string;
  name: string;
  size: number;
  progress: number; // 0.0-1.0
  dlspeed: number; // bytes/s
  upspeed: number;
  eta: number; // seconds
  state: TorrentState;
  category: string;
  savePath: string;
  completionDate: number;
}

type TorrentState = 'downloading' | 'uploading' | 'stalledDL' |
  'pausedDL' | 'queuedDL' | 'checkingDL' | 'error' | 'missingFiles';

Fixed Issues ✅

1. Naive torrent identification - Fixed with deterministic hash extraction 2. Docker networking issues - Fixed by downloading .torrent ourselves 3. Duplicate detection - Check if hash exists before adding 4. Config fallbacks to env - Removed, database only 5. Unclear error messages - List missing fields explicitly 6. Race condition on torrent availability - Fixed with 3s initial delay + exponential backoff retry (500ms, 1s, 2s) 7. Error logging during duplicate check - Removed console.error in getTorrent() during expected "not found" cases (duplicate checking) 8. Prowlarr magnet link redirects - Some indexers return HTTP URLs that redirect to magnet: links. Fixed by intercepting 3xx redirects before axios follows them, extracting the Location header, and routing to magnet flow if target is a magnet: link 9. Category save path not updating - When user changes download_dir setting, category keeps old path. Fixed by:

• Checking existing categories before create/edit (avoid unnecessary 409 errors)
• Invalidating service singleton when settings change (forces config reload)
• Settings API calls invalidateQBittorrentService() after updating paths or credentials 10. Remote seedbox path mismatch - qBittorrent on remote machine reports different filesystem paths. Fixed by:
• Remote path mapping feature with toggle in admin settings and setup wizard
• PathMapper utility for prefix replacement transformation
• Local path validation during test connection
• Applied in download completion and import retry processors 11. HTTPS SSL certificate errors - Users with seedboxes using self-signed certificates or Let's Encrypt couldn't connect. Fixed by:
• Optional SSL verification disable toggle in setup wizard and admin settings
• Custom HTTPS agent with rejectUnauthorized: false when enabled
• Enhanced error messages identifying SSL/TLS certificate issues with actionable guidance
• Secure by default (SSL verification enabled), with clear security warnings when disabled
• URL format: https://qbt.domain.com:443/qbittorrent fully supported 12. CSRF protection HTTP 401 errors - qBittorrent v4.1.0+ has CSRF protection enabled by default, causing authentication failures (HTTP 401) when Referer/Origin headers missing. Browsers work because they auto-send these headers. Fixed by:
• Adding Referer and Origin headers to all login requests
• Headers set to qBittorrent base URL (e.g., https://seedbox.example.com:443/qbittorrent)
• Applied to both login() and testConnectionWithCredentials() methods
• Works with all qBittorrent versions and configurations
• Enhanced debug logging for troubleshooting authentication issues (enable with LOG_LEVEL=debug) 13. Nginx/Apache reverse proxy HTTP Basic Auth - Many seedboxes use nginx or Apache reverse proxy with HTTP Basic Authentication in front of qBittorrent. This causes HTTP 401 errors with www-authenticate: Basic header. Browsers handle this by prompting for credentials and sending Authorization: Basic header. Fixed by:
• Adding HTTP Basic Auth to all axios requests using auth parameter
• Same credentials used for both Basic Auth (nginx/Apache) and qBittorrent Web UI authentication
• Applied to axios client instance and all standalone requests
• Works transparently with or without reverse proxy
• Compatible with popular seedbox providers (seedit4.me, etc.)

Tech Stack

• axios (HTTP + cookie mgmt)
• parse-torrent (bencode + hash extraction)
• form-data (multipart uploads)

Related

• See File Organization for seeding support