CODEWITHSUNDEEP
fileencodingprotocolsbittorrent
ThePiachu
ThePiachu

Reputation: 9185

Torrent file protocol - custom field

I am wondering if there is any available field in the .torrent files that could be used for some custom functionality in someone's implementation of a torrent client? For example, one might want to encode an URL to the file owner's website, someone else - some custom message to be displayed when opening the files, etc. Is something like this feasible in the current implementation of .torrent files?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 565

Answers (1)

Arvid
Arvid

Reputation: 11245

Yes. .torrent files are just bencoded dictionaries and can hold arbitrary key-value pairs.

The main consideration when adding a custom field is to determine whether it should go into the root of the .torrent or inside the info dictionary.

If it goes into the root, it will not affect the info hash (which is the unique identifier of the torrent), and it will also not be available when downloading magnet links.

If it goes into the info dictionary, it is sort of locked down to the info-hash, in the sense that the info-hash depends on it. It will be transferred as part of the metadata when downloading magnet links and it cannot be changed (without changing the info-hash and thus creating a separate swarm).

So, if it's something you want 3rd parties should be able to change after the torrent was created, it should go in the root, if you want it to be entered once when the torrent is created and never change, it should go in the info dict.

Upvotes: 8

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