Install torf-cli with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• torf

Project history

The official README presents torf-cli as a focused packaging of torrent metadata operations for terminal users. It depends only on torf and pyxdg, provides both human-readable output and parseable output for standard CLI tools, and ships documentation as a man page mirrored on the project's GitHub Pages site.

The tool's history is best understood as part of the BitTorrent metainfo tooling niche: rather than being a downloader, it handles the .torrent metadata layer, including creating torrents, inspecting existing torrents, editing fields such as comments, verifying files against torrent metadata, and reusing existing piece hashes to avoid rehashing.

Adoption history

Official installation notes say the latest release is available on PyPI and AUR, and recommend pipx as the cleanest install method. The input package facts add Homebrew packaging, which places torf-cli in the package-manager niche for users who want a single torf executable rather than writing Python against the torf library.

How it is used

The README examples show creating private torrents with trackers and fixed creation dates, displaying torrent information, editing an existing torrent into a revised output file, verifying a filesystem path against torrent contents with detailed errors, and emitting JSON/metainfo that can be piped into tools such as grep, cut, and jq.

For package nerds, torf-cli is useful because it makes BitTorrent metadata reproducible and scriptable. It can fit into release pipelines, archival workflows, tracker/private-torrent preparation, and integrity checks without opening a graphical torrent client.

Why package nerds care

torf-cli is significant in a narrow but real CLI niche: it turns torrent metainfo into inspectable, editable, and automatable terminal output. Its package-manager value is strongest for users who manage torrent files as artifacts and want predictable command output and JSON for shell pipelines.

Timeline

• Project docs: README defines torf-cli as a tool to create, read, edit, and verify torrent files and magnet URIs.
• Packaging: README documents PyPI and AUR availability; input facts add Homebrew.
• Current docs: Project documentation is published as an online torf(1) man page at rndusr.github.io/torf-cli.

Related projects

• The README names torf, the underlying Python library, and pyxdg as its only dependencies. It also positions jq, grep, and cut as useful companion tools for parseable output.

Sources

• https://github.com/rndusr/torf-cli#readme
• https://rndusr.github.io/torf-cli/torf.1.html
• source_facts.package-manager