Jackett API Simplifies Torrent Searches Across Multiple Trackers

Jackett, a useful and straightforward solution for finding torrents, has garnered attention for its ease of use and efficiency. This article will delve into Jackett's capabilities and explore alternatives for both user interfaces and API (Application Programming Interface).

Overview

Previously, insights were shared about a small project designed to manage torrent clients and provide access to the Kinozal tracker interface via a Telegram bot. This solution, integrated with the TMDB database, serves as a commendable alternative to the servarr stack. Feedback indicates that many users found the bot's setup simpler. The primary goal is to consolidate all interfaces into one, enabling remote search and management of content downloads from phones. Despite supporting only one tracker for media content searches, this limitation is often sufficient.

Recently, instructions for running the bot in a Docker container were added. This enhancement simplifies deployment and management.

Servarr Stack

The servarr stack adopts a fundamentally different architectural approach. For instance, Sonarr automates the process of searching for and downloading series by tracking new episode releases and automatically downloading based on specified criteria. However, users still need to interact with the interface periodically. A significant challenge encountered was the lack of content search with Russian localization, a problem effectively addressed by Jackett.

Jackett

Jackett serves as an API (essentially a remote management interface for utilizing its functions in other applications) for a vast number of providers, facilitating centralized and simultaneous (parallel) searches across multiple trackers. Beyond its API, the user interface is particularly beneficial, allowing users to search for torrents without needing to navigate various websites. After familiarizing yourself with this interface, you might find yourself deleting all your tracker bookmarks from your browser. It’s impressive that everything is available out of the box, without requiring additional plugins or modules (unlike plugins for qBittorrent).

You can launch Jackett either through an executable file or as a service on Windows (available for download in the GitHub repository) or, more conveniently, in a Docker container. Here’s an example of launching the container with a single command:


# Create a directory for Jackett data
sudo mkdir /jackett
# Run the Jackett container
sudo docker run -d 
  --name=jackett 
  -e PUID=1000 
  -e PGID=1000 
  -e TZ=Etc/UTC 
  -e AUTO_UPDATE=true `#optional` 
  -e RUN_OPTS= `#optional` 
  -p 9117:9117 
  -v /jackett/data:/config 
  -v /jackett/blackhole:/downloads 
  --restart unless-stopped 
  lscr.io/linuxserver/jackett:latest

Settings for all trackers (also known as indexers) are stored in the directory /jackett/data/Jackett/Indexers/ (on Windows: C:ProgramDataJackettIndexers), while the server configuration can be found at /jackett/data/Jackett/ServerConfig.json (on Windows: C:ProgramDataJackettServerConfig.json). Transitioning from Windows to Linux (directly to the container) is seamless, requiring only the replacement of files in the specified directories.

The interface is designed to be maximally simple yet convenient. All settings are located on the main and only page in the browser, and adding trackers for indexing requests is done through a modal window in the interface.

How to use jackett with qbittorrent?

To use Jackett with qBittorrent, first ensure both applications are installed. Open Jackett and add your desired trackers by following the on-screen instructions. Copy the Jackett API key from the settings. In qBittorrent, open the settings menu, go to "Search" and install search plugins. Use the custom search plugin to add Jackett by entering the API endpoint and the API key. Test the connection and save the settings. You can now search torrents in qBittorrent using Jackett.

How to use jackett?

To use Jackett, download and install it. Once installed, open Jackett and go to the web interface. Click on the "Add Indexer" button to add a new tracker. Follow the instructions for your chosen tracker, which usually involves entering a URL and maybe some login credentials. After adding the tracker, you'll get an API Key and endpoint, which you can use in other applications to fetch torrents. Jackett acts as a bridge, translating queries from applications to tracker-specific queries, enabling you to download torrents from a variety of trackers easily.