mkbrr

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mkbrr is a tool to create and inspect torrent files.

Usage:
  mkbrr [command]

Available Commands:
  create      Create a new torrent file
  inspect     Inspect a torrent file
  modify      Modify existing torrent files using a preset
  update      Update mkbrr
  version     Print version information
  help        Help about any command

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for mkbrr

Use "mkbrr [command] --help" for more information about a command.

What is mkbrr?

mkbrr (pronounced "make-burr") is a simple yet powerful tool for:

Creating torrent files
Inspecting torrent files
Modifying torrent metadata
Supports tracker-specific requirements automatically

Why use mkbrr?

🚀 Fast: Blazingly fast hashing beating the competition
🔧 Simple: Easy to use CLI
📦 Portable: Single binary with no dependencies
💡 Smart: Will attempt to detect possible missing files when creating torrents for season packs

Quick Start

Install

Pre-built binaries

Download a ready-to-use binary for your platform from the releases page.

Homebrew

brew tap autobrr/mkbrr
brew install mkbrr

Creating a Torrent

# torrents are private by default
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce

# public torrent
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce --private=false

# Create with randomized info hash
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce -e

Installation

Choose the method that works best for you:

Prebuilt Binaries

Download a ready-to-use binary for your platform from the releases page.

Homebrew (macOS and Linux)

brew tap autobrr/mkbrr
brew install mkbrr

Build from Source

Requirements: See go.mod for Go version.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/autobrr/mkbrr.git
cd mkbrr

# Install the binary to $GOPATH/bin
make install

# Or install system-wide (requires sudo)
sudo make install    # installs to /usr/local/bin

Go Install

If you have Go installed:

go install github.com/autobrr/mkbrr@latest

# make sure its in your PATH
export PATH=$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin

Usage

Creating Torrents

The basic command structure for creating torrents is:

mkbrr create [path] [flags]

For help:

mkbrr create --help

Basic Examples

# Create a private torrent (default)
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce

# Create a public torrent
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce --private=false

# Create with a comment
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce -c "My awesome content"

# Create with a custom output path
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce -o custom-name.torrent

# Create with randomized info hash
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce -e

# Create a torrent excluding specific file patterns (comma-separated)
mkbrr create path/to/file -t https://example-tracker.com/announce --exclude "*.nfo,*.jpg"

# Create a torrent including only specific file patterns (comma-separated)
mkbrr create path/to/video-folder -t https://example-tracker.com/announce --include "*.mkv,*.mp4"

Note

The exclude and include patterns feature supports standard glob pattern matching (like * for any number of characters, ? for a single character) and is case-insensitive. Precedence: Inclusion patterns (--include) take precedence.

If --include is used:
- A file matching an --include pattern is always kept, even if it also matches an --exclude pattern.
- A file not matching any --include pattern is always ignored.
If --include is not used, then only --exclude patterns are considered, and matching files are ignored.

Inspecting Torrents

View detailed information about a torrent:

mkbrr inspect my-torrent.torrent

This shows:

Name and size
Piece information and hash
Tracker URLs
Creation date
File list (for multi-file torrents)

Modifying Torrents

Update metadata in existing torrent files without access to the original content:

# Basic usage
mkbrr modify original.torrent --tracker https://new-tracker.com

# Modify multiple torrents
mkbrr modify *.torrent --private=false

# See what would be changed without making actual changes
mkbrr modify original.torrent --tracker https://new-tracker.com --dry-run

# Randomize info hash
mkbrr modify original.torrent -e

Advanced Usage

Preset Mode

Presets save you time by storing commonly used settings. Great for users who create torrents for the same trackers regularly.

See presets example here.

# Uses the ptp-preset (defined in your presets.yaml file)
mkbrr create -P ptp path/to/file

# Override some preset values
mkbrr create -P ptp --source "MySource" path/to/file

Tip

The preset file can be placed in the current directory, ~/.config/mkbrr/, or ~/.mkbrr/. You can also specify a custom location with --preset-file. Presets support both exclude_patterns and include_patterns fields, allowing you to define default or preset-specific file filtering.

Batch Mode

Create multiple torrents at once using a YAML configuration file:

mkbrr create -b batch.yaml

See batch example here.

Tip

Batch mode processes jobs in parallel (up to 4 at once) and shows a summary when complete. Batch mode also supports both exclude_patterns and include_patterns fields.

Tracker-Specific Features

mkbrr automatically enforces some requirements for various private trackers so you don't have to:

Piece Length Limits

Different trackers have different requirements:

HDB, BHD, SuperBits: Max 16 MiB pieces
Emp, MTV: Max 8 MiB pieces
GazelleGames: Max 64 MiB pieces

Torrent Size Limits

Some trackers limit the size of the .torrent file itself:

Anthelion: 250 KiB
GazelleGames: 1 MB

[!INFO] When creating torrents for these trackers, mkbrr automatically adjusts piece sizes to meet requirements, so you don't have to.

A full overview over tracker-specific limits can be seen in trackers.go

Incomplete Season Pack Detection

If the input is a folder with a name that indicates that its a pack, it will find the highest number and do a count to look for missing files.

mkbrr create ~/Kyles.Original.Sins.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264 -t https://tracker.com/announce/1234567

Files being hashed:
  ├─ Kyles.Original.Sins.S01E01.Business.and.Pleasure.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264.mkv (3.3 GiB)
  ├─ Kyles.Original.Sins.S01E02.Putting.It.Back.In.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264.mkv (3.4 GiB)
  └─ Kyles.Original.Sins.S01E04.Cursor.For.Life.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264.mkv (3.3 GiB)


Warning: Possible incomplete season pack detected
  Season number: 1
  Highest episode number found: 4
  Video files: 3

This may be an incomplete season pack. Check files before uploading.

Hashing pieces... [3220.23 MB/s] 100% [========================================]

Wrote title.torrent (elapsed 3.22s)

Performance

mkbrr is optimized for speed and consistently outperforms other popular torrent creation tools in our benchmarks.

Benchmark Methodology

All tests were performed using hyperfine with 5 runs per tool after a warm-up run. Cache was cleared between runs on the servers, but not on the Macbook.

Benchmark Results

Hardware	Test Size	mkbrr	mktorrent	torrenttools	torf
Leaseweb Server (SSD)	21 GiB	7.24s	45.41s	9.07s	8.85s
Hetzner Server (HDD)	14 GiB	41.02s	68.17s	47.97s	58.19s
Macbook Pro M4 (NVME)	30 GiB	9.71s	10.90s	-	9.78s

Speed Comparison

Hardware	vs mktorrent	vs torrenttools	vs torf
Leaseweb Server (SSD)	6.3× faster	1.3× faster	1.2× faster
Hetzner Server (HDD)	1.7× faster	1.2× faster	1.4× faster
Macbook Pro M4 (NVME)	1.1× faster	-	Similar

Consistency

Besides raw speed, mkbrr shows more consistent performance between runs, with standard deviation percentages between 0.25-3.7% across platforms compared to much higher variances for other tools (up to 39%). This predictable performance is particularly noticeable on mechanical storage where other tools showed wider fluctuations.

Hardware Specifications

Leaseweb Dedicated Server (SSD)

CPU: Intel Xeon E-2274G @ 4.00GHz
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 1 × SAMSUNG MZQL21T9HCJR-00A07 1.92TB SSD

Hetzner Dedicated Server (HDD)

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (12) @ 4.71GHz
RAM: 64GB
Storage: 4 × TOSHIBA MG08ACA16TEY in RAID0

Macbook Pro M4

CPU: Apple M4
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB NVME

Full results

View Full Benchmark Commands & Results

Leaseweb Server (21 GiB 1080p season pack)

hyperfine --warmup 1 --runs 5 \
  --setup 'sudo sync && sudo sh -c "echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches"' \
  --prepare 'sudo sync && sudo sh -c "echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches" && rm -f /home/user/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP.torrent' \
  'mkbrr create /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP' \
  'mktorrent /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP' \
  'torrenttools create --threads 8 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP' \
  'torf --threads 8 /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP'

Benchmark 1: mkbrr create /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP
  Time (mean ± σ):      7.244 s ±  0.018 s    [User: 31.245 s, System: 7.554 s]
  Range (min … max):    7.225 s …  7.270 s    5 runs

Benchmark 2: mktorrent /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP
  Time (mean ± σ):     45.407 s ±  0.163 s    [User: 36.495 s, System: 4.983 s]
  Range (min … max):   45.135 s … 45.539 s    5 runs

Benchmark 3: torrenttools create --threads 8 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP
  Time (mean ± σ):      9.074 s ±  0.093 s    [User: 29.248 s, System: 5.228 s]
  Range (min … max):    8.908 s …  9.122 s    5 runs

Benchmark 4: torf --threads 8 /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP
  Time (mean ± σ):      8.854 s ±  0.077 s    [User: 25.829 s, System: 5.136 s]
  Range (min … max):    8.771 s …  8.937 s    5 runs

Summary
  'mkbrr create /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP' ran
    1.22 ± 0.01 times faster than 'torf --threads 8 /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP'
    1.25 ± 0.01 times faster than 'torrenttools create --threads 8 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP'
    6.27 ± 0.03 times faster than 'mktorrent /home/user/torrents/qbittorrent/Show.S01.DL.1080p.WEB.H264-GROUP'

Hetzner Server (14 GiB 1080p season pack)

hyperfine --warmup 1 --runs 5 \
  --setup 'sudo sync && sudo sh -c "echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches"' \
  --prepare 'sudo sync && sudo sh -c "echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches" && rm -f /home/user/mkbrr/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP.torrent' \
  'mkbrr create ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP' \
  'mktorrent ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP' \
  'torrenttools create --threads 12 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP' \
  'torf --threads 12 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP'

Benchmark 1: mkbrr create ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
  Time (mean ± σ):     41.022 s ±  0.979 s    [User: 13.691 s, System: 6.747 s]
  Range (min … max):   39.938 s … 42.467 s    5 runs

Benchmark 2: mktorrent ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
  Time (mean ± σ):     68.168 s ± 26.654 s    [User: 17.934 s, System: 6.543 s]
  Range (min … max):   39.268 s … 97.574 s    5 runs

Benchmark 3: torrenttools create --threads 12 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
  Time (mean ± σ):     47.968 s ± 10.552 s    [User: 7.052 s, System: 6.551 s]
  Range (min … max):   39.460 s … 66.296 s    5 runs

Benchmark 4: torf --threads 12 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
  Time (mean ± σ):     58.187 s ±  5.787 s    [User: 7.185 s, System: 6.511 s]
  Range (min … max):   50.125 s … 65.807 s    5 runs

Summary
  mkbrr create ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP ran
    1.17 ± 0.26 times faster than torrenttools create --threads 12 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
    1.42 ± 0.15 times faster than torf --threads 12 ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
    1.66 ± 0.65 times faster than mktorrent ~/torrents/qbittorrent/tv/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP

Macbook Pro M4 (30 GiB 1080p season pack)

hyperfine --warmup 1 --runs 5 \
  --prepare 'rm -f Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP.torrent' \
  'mkbrr create ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP' \
  'mktorrent ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP' \
  'torf --threads 10 ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP'

Benchmark 1: mkbrr create ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
  Time (mean ± σ):      9.708 s ±  0.355 s    [User: 10.823 s, System: 4.297 s]
  Range (min … max):    9.479 s … 10.323 s    5 runs

Benchmark 2: mktorrent ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
  Time (mean ± σ):     10.897 s ±  0.701 s    [User: 11.021 s, System: 3.038 s]
  Range (min … max):    9.950 s … 11.620 s    5 runs

Benchmark 3: torf --threads 10 ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
  Time (mean ± σ):      9.779 s ±  0.749 s    [User: 10.776 s, System: 5.253 s]
  Range (min … max):    9.383 s … 11.112 s    5 runs

Summary
  mkbrr create ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP ran
    1.01 ± 0.09 times faster than torf --threads 10 ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP
    1.12 ± 0.08 times faster than mktorrent ~/Desktop/Show.S01.1080p.SRC.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-GRP

License

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

See LICENSE for the full license text.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 67 Commits
.github		.github
cmd		cmd
docs/benchmarks		docs/benchmarks
examples		examples
internal		internal
schema		schema
.gitignore		.gitignore
.goreleaser.yml		.goreleaser.yml
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum
main.go		main.go

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mkbrr

What is mkbrr?

Quick Start

Install

Pre-built binaries

Homebrew

Creating a Torrent

Table of Contents

Installation

Prebuilt Binaries

Homebrew (macOS and Linux)

Build from Source

Go Install

Usage

Creating Torrents

Basic Examples

Inspecting Torrents

Modifying Torrents

Advanced Usage

Preset Mode

Batch Mode

Tracker-Specific Features

Piece Length Limits

Torrent Size Limits

Incomplete Season Pack Detection

Performance

Benchmark Methodology

Benchmark Results

Speed Comparison

Consistency

Hardware Specifications

Leaseweb Dedicated Server (SSD)

Hetzner Dedicated Server (HDD)

Macbook Pro M4

Full results

Leaseweb Server (21 GiB 1080p season pack)

Hetzner Server (14 GiB 1080p season pack)

Macbook Pro M4 (30 GiB 1080p season pack)

License

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