Intermodal
A 40' shipping container for the Internet
Intermodal is a user-friendly and featureful command-line BitTorrent metainfo
utility. The binary is called `imdl` and runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS.
At the moment, creation, viewing, and verification of `.torrent` files is
supported. See [the book](https://imdl.io/book/) for examples and usage
information.
For more about the project and its goals, check out
[this post](https://rodarmor.com/blog/intermodal).
![demonstration animation](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/casey/intermodal/master/www/demo.gif)
## Table of Contents
- [Supported Operating Systems](#supported-operating-systems)
- [Packages](#packages)
- [Pre-built binaries](#pre-built-binaries)
- [Linux and MacOS Install Script](#linux-and-macos-install-script)
- [Cargo](#cargo)
- [Shell Completion Scripts](#shell-completion-scripts)
- [Usage](#usage)
- [Commands](#commands)
- [Examples](#examples)
- [FAQ](#faq)
- [Notes for Packagers](#notes-for-packagers)
- [Build Artifacts](#build-artifacts)
- [Release Updates](#release-updates)
- [Chat](#chat)
- [Contributing](#contributing)
- [Benchmarks](#benchmarks)
- [Semantic Versioning](#semantic-versioning)
- [Unstable Features](#unstable-features)
- [New Releases](#new-releases)
- [Acknowledgments](#acknowledgments)
## Installation
### Supported Operating Systems
`imdl` supports Linux, MacOS, and Windows, and should work on other unix OSes.
If it does not, please open an issue!
### Packages
| Operating System | Package Manager | Package | Command |
|:--------------------------------------------------------------------:|:--------------------------------------------------:|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------:|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------:|
| [Various](https://forge.rust-lang.org/release/platform-support.html) | [Cargo](https://www.rust-lang.org) | [imdl](https://crates.io/crates/imdl) | `cargo install imdl` |
| [Arch Linux](https://www.archlinux.org) | [Yay](https://github.com/Jguer/yay) | [intermodal-bin](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/intermodal-bin)AUR | `yay -S intermodal-bin` |
| [Arch Linux](https://www.archlinux.org) | [Yay](https://github.com/Jguer/yay) | [intermodal](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/intermodal)AUR | `yay -S intermodal` |
| [Arch Linux](https://www.archlinux.org) | Manual Installation | [intermodal](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/intermodal)AUR | [wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_User_Repository#Installing_packages) |
| [Void Linux](https://voidlinux.org) | [XBPS](https://docs.voidlinux.org/xbps/index.html) | [intermodal](https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/blob/master/srcpkgs/intermodal/template) | `xbps-install -S intermodal` |
| [Windows](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows) | [Scoop](https://scoop.sh) | [intermodal](https://github.com/ScoopInstaller/Main/blob/master/bucket/intermodal.json) | `scoop install intermodal` |
### Pre-built binaries
Pre-built binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows can be found on
[the releases page](https://github.com/casey/intermodal/releases).
### Linux and MacOS Install Script
You can use the following command on Linux and MacOS to download the latest
binary, just replace `DEST` with the directory where you'd like to install the
`imdl` binary:
```sh
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://imdl.io/install.sh | bash -s -- --to DEST
```
A good place to install personal binaries is `~/bin`, which `install.sh` uses
when `--to` is not supplied. To create the `~/bin` directory and install `imdl`
there, do:
```sh
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://imdl.io/install.sh | bash
```
Additionally, you'll have to add `~/bin` to the `PATH` environment variable,
which the system uses to find executables. How to do this depends on the shell.
For `sh`, `bash`, and `zsh`, it should be done in `~/.profile`:
```sh
echo 'export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.profile
```
For `fish`, it should be done in `~/.config/fish/config.fish`:
```fish
echo 'set -gx PATH ~/bin $PATH' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish
```
### Cargo
`imdl` is written in [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/) and can be built from
source and installed with `cargo install imdl`. To get Rust, use the
[rustup installer](https://rustup.rs/).
### Shell Completion Scripts
Shell completion scripts for Bash, Zsh, Fish, PowerShell, and Elvish are
included in all [binary releases](https://github.com/casey/imdl/releases).
For Bash, move `imdl.bash` to `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/bash_completion` or
`/etc/bash_completion.d/`.
For Fish, move `imdl.fish` to `$HOME/.config/fish/completions/`.
For the Z shell, move `_imdl` to one of your `$fpath` directories.
For PowerShell, add `. _imdl.ps1` to your PowerShell
[profile](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb613488(v=vs.85).aspx)
(note the leading period). If the `_imdl.ps1` file is not on your `PATH`, do
`. /path/to/_imdl.ps1` instead.
The `imdl` binary can also generate the same completion scripts at runtime,
using the `completions` command:
```sh
$ imdl completions --shell bash > imdl.bash
```
The `--dir` argument can be used to write a completion script into a directory
with a filename that's appropriate for the shell. For example, the following
command will write the Z shell completion script to `$fpath[0]/_imdl`:
```sh
$ imdl completions --shell zsh --dir $fpath[0]
```
## Usage
Online documentation is available in the book, hosted
[here](https://imdl.io/book/).
### Commands
Adding `--help` to any command will print help text about how to use that
command, including detailed information about any command-line arguments it
accepts.
So, to get information about `imdl torrent create`, run `imdl torrent create
--help`.
Additionally, the same help text is available online in
[the book](https://imdl.io/book/).
### Examples
The intro to [the book](https://imdl.io/book/) has a few simple examples. Check
[the FAQ](https://imdl.io/book/faq.html) for more complex usage examples.
### FAQ
The [FAQ](https://imdl.io/book/faq.html) covers a variety of specific
use-cases. If there's a use case you think should be covered, feel free to open
[an issue](https://github.com/casey/intermodal/issues/new).
## Notes for Packagers
First off, thank you very much! If I can do anything to make packaging
Intermodal easier, please don't hesistate to open
[an issue](https://github.com/casey/intermodal/issues/new).
The Intermodal binary is called `imdl`, and the suggested name for the package
is `intermodal`.
Intermodal is written in Rust, and can be built with `cargo build --release`.
Intermodal is distributed under the
[Creative Commons Zero](https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/),
a public domain dedication with a fallback all-permissive license. The SPDX
identifier of the CC0 is [CC0-1.0](https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html).
### Build Artifacts
There are a number of build artifacts: the binary, the man pages, the
changelog, and the shell completion scripts.
The binary is built with `cargo`, and the other artifacts are built `gen`,
located in `bin/gen`.
The binary can be built with:
cargo build --release
_`gen` requires [`help2man`](https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/) to be
installed, which is used to generate man pages from subcommand `--help`
strings._
The rest of the build artifacts can be built with `gen`:
cargo run --package gen -- --bin target/release/imdl all
_The path to the built `imdl` executable should be passed to `gen` with the `--bin` flag._
After running the above commands, the following table shows the location of the
built artifacts.
| Artifact | Location |
|--------------------|----------------------------|
| Binary | `target/release/imdl` |
| Man Pages | `target/gen/man/*` |
| Completion Scripts | `target/gen/completions/*` |
| Changelog | `target/gen/CHANGELOG.md` |
| Readme | `target/gen/README.md` |
### Release Updates
If you'd like to receive an update whenever a new version is released, you can
watch the intermodal repository in "Releases only" mode.
## Chat
The primary chat is on [Discord](https://discord.gg/HaaT5Qz).
## Contributing
Your bug reports, feature requests, pull requests, and design help are much
appreciated!
Check out issues with the
["good first issue" label](https://github.com/casey/intermodal/labels/good%20first%20issue)
for some ideas.
Quite a few files are generated by the program in `bin/gen`. Some files are
generated from templates, so those templates should be edited to make changes
to those files:
- `bin/gen/templates/SUMMARY.md` -> `book/src/SUMMARY.md`
- `bin/gen/templates/README.md` -> `README.md`
- `bin/gen/templates/introduction.md` -> `book/src/introduction.md`
Some files are completely generated, and so shouldn't be manually edited at
all:
- `CHANGELOG.md`
- `book/src/commands/*`
- `completions/*`
- `man/*`
All files can be regenerated by running `cargo run --package gen all`, or
`just gen`, if you have [just](https://github.com/casey/just) installed.
The changelog is generated from YAML metadata in commit messages. Here is an
example commit message, with metadata:
```
Upgrade foo
Upgrade foo to v7.5, which is much better.
type: changed
pr:
- https://github.com/casey/intermodal/pull/1
fixes:
- https://github.com/intermodal/issues/2
- https://github.com/intermodal/issues/3
```
The only required field is `type`. To see the possible values for `type`, run
`cargo run --package gen commit-types`.
## Benchmarks
Performance benchmarks can be run with:
```shell
$ cargo bench --features bench
```
The benchmark framework used is [`criterion`](https://github.com/bheisler/criterion.rs).
The bench targets themselves are in the `benches` directory. These targets call benchmarking functions in `src/benches.rs`, which are only enabled when the `bench` feature is enabled.
## Semantic Versioning
Intermodal follows [semantic versioning](https://semver.org/).
In particular:
- v0.0.X: Breaking changes may be introduced at any time.
- v0.X.Y: Breaking changes may only be introduced with a minor version number
bump.
- vX.Y.Z: Breaking changes may only be introduced with a major version number
bump
## Unstable Features
To avoid premature stabilization and excessive version churn, unstable features
are unavailable unless the `--unstable` / `-u` flag is passed, for example
`imdl --unstable torrent create .`. Unstable features may be changed or removed
at any time.
## New Releases
New releases of `imdl` are made frequently so that users quickly get access to
new features.
Release commit messages use the following template:
```
Release x.y.z
- Bump version: x.y.z → x.y.z
- Update changelog
- Update changelog contributor credits
- Update dependencies
```
## Acknowledgments
The formatting of `imdl torrent show` is entirely copied from
[torf](https://github.com/rndusr/torf-cli), an excellent command-line torrent
creator, editor, and viewer.