A high-performance BitTorrent search program for desktop. It collects and indexes torrents from the DHT network, allowing powerful full-text search through torrent statistics and categories. Works over a P2P network and supports Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms.

Rats Search 2.0 is a complete rewrite in C++/Qt, delivering a native desktop application with significantly improved performance and efficiency.

• Native C++/Qt Application — Fast, responsive, and lightweight desktop client
• Powered by librats — High-performance P2P networking core library
• Improved Resource Efficiency — Lower memory footprint and CPU usage compared to Electron
• Modern Dark UI — Beautiful, modern interface with smooth animations
• Full-Text Search — Powered by Manticore Search for blazing-fast queries
• REST/WebSocket API — Built-in API server for integrations and custom clients
• Cross-Platform — Native builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS

The previous Electron/Node.js version is available in the legacy folder and can still be used for the web interface. See Legacy Version section below.

• Works over P2P torrent network, doesn't require any trackers
• DHT crawling and automatic torrent indexing
• Full-text search over torrent collection (powered by Manticore)
• Torrent and files search
• Search filters (size ranges, files, seeders, etc.)
• Collection filters (regex filters, adult filters)
• Tracker peers scan support
• Collects only statistical information and doesn't save any internal torrent data

• Supports its own P2P protocol for additional data transfer (search between Rats clients, descriptions/votes transfer, etc.)
• P2P Search protocol: Search in other Rats clients
• Supports torrent rating (voting)
• Description association from trackers
• Top list (most common and popular torrents)
• Feed list (Rats clients activity feed)

• Integrated torrent client for downloading
• Drag and drop torrents (expand local search database with specific torrents)
• Torrent generation and automatic adding to search database

• System tray support with minimize/close to tray
• Translations: English, Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Hindi
• Modern dark UI with customizable settings
• REST & WebSocket API for custom clients and integrations

Rats Search 2.0 is built on librats — a high-performance P2P networking library. Key capabilities inherited from librats:

For more details, see the librats documentation.

⬇️ Download the latest release for Windows, Linux, or macOS.

• CMake 3.16+
• Qt 6.9+ (with WebSockets module)
• C++17 compatible compiler (MSVC, GCC, or Clang)
• Ninja (recommended) or Make

Clone the repository with submodules:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/DEgITx/rats-search.git
cd rats-search

Configure and build:

cmake -B build -G "Ninja" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release

The executable will be in build/bin/.

After first launch, a configuration file rats.json will be created in the data directory:

{
    "p2pPort": 4445,
    "dhtPort": 4446,
    "httpPort": 8095,
    "restApiEnabled": true,
    "indexerEnabled": true,
    "darkMode": true
}

Rats Search 2.0 includes a built-in REST API server for integrations and custom clients.

📖 API Documentation

• English
• Russian

We welcome all contributions: bug fixes, improvements, code refactoring, and other enhancements.

• Translation Guide
• Tracker Support

The previous Electron-based version is preserved in the legacy/ folder for reference and for running the web server interface.

cd legacy
npm install --force
npm run buildweb
npm run server

Access the web interface at: http://localhost:8095

docker build -t rats-search:legacy -f Dockerfile .
docker run -p 8095:8095 rats-search:legacy

Legacy Server Configuration

Server Compatibility Notes

❤️ Support Rats Search development on OpenCollective

• Twitter/X: @RatsSearch
• Discord Community
• GitHub Issues

MIT License © 2025