Velocity Download Manager

Velocity Download Manager is a Windows-focused native download manager built with Rust and Slint. Version 2.0 moves the app away from the old webview/React UI and into a native Slint interface for a lighter, faster IDM-style desktop workflow.

Download Windows Installer: https://github.com/hasi98/Velocity-Downloader/releases/latest

Highlights

• Native Rust + Slint desktop UI with no React/webview frontend.
• Multi-connection segmented downloads with pause, resume, stop, retry, and queue support.
• YouTube and media downloads through bundled yt-dlp.
• FFmpeg is downloaded on demand only when media merging is needed.
• Browser extension integration for Chromium browsers.
• Persistent download history and restart recovery.
• Scheduler and batch queue tools.
• Tray icon with hide-on-close behavior.
• SHA256-verified update checks through GitHub Releases.

Screenshots

Main Window

Download Progress

Connection Details

Features

Download Engine

• Segmented downloads with configurable connections per file.
• Global connection cap to avoid too many simultaneous network streams.
• Single-stream fallback for servers that do not support ranges.
• Pause, resume, stop, redownload, retry-ready state, and remove.
• Per-download speed limiter and global speed limiter.
• Duplicate filename handling such as file (1).zip.
• Temporary segment files are cleaned after successful assembly.
• .meta files are used to restore incomplete downloads after restart.

Media Downloads

• YouTube/video URL analysis using yt-dlp.
• Quality picker with available resolutions/codecs.
• Selected quality is passed to yt-dlp with audio merge fallback.
• Real-time yt-dlp progress is shown in the main list.
• FFmpeg is fetched on demand for video/audio merging instead of being bundled into the installer.

App UI

• Native IDM-style main window with categories and sortable download history.
• Separate Add Download, Batch Download, Scheduler, Options, File Properties, Download Progress, and Download Complete windows.
• Add Download window automatically analyzes pasted URLs.
• Download progress window supports compact mode and connection details.
• Download Complete window can open the file, open with Windows, or open the folder.
• Keyboard selection support in the history list, including arrows, Delete, Ctrl select, Shift select, and Ctrl+A.
• Right-click context menu for common file/download actions.

Queues, Batch, and Scheduler

• Add single downloads to the scheduler queue.
• Batch downloads from pasted URLs or imported URL lists.
• Batch mode supports all-at-once or one-by-one.
• Scheduled batch downloads remember their selected mode.
• Scheduler starts only scheduled queued items, not normal paused downloads.
• Scheduler includes a queued-files tab.

Browser Extension

• Manifest V3 extension for Chromium browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi-style browsers.
• Browser download interception with cookies, referer, and user-agent forwarding.
• "Download with VDM" context menu.
• Small video overlay button for supported video pages, with a close button.
• Browser fallback behavior when VDM cannot accept a download.

Windows Integration

• App hides to system tray when the main window is closed.
• Tray menu includes Open, Add new download, Add new batch download, and Exit.
• Optional Start with Windows setting.
• Installer updates bundled extension files.
• App icon is used for titlebars, taskbar, tray, installer, and extension assets.

Updates

• GitHub Releases based update checks.
• latest.json includes the release version, installer URL, and SHA256 hash.
• The app verifies the downloaded installer hash before running an update.

Tech Stack

• Native UI: Slint
• Core downloader: Rust
• Packaging: Tauri bundler / NSIS
• Browser extension: Manifest V3 JavaScript
• Media engine: yt-dlp with optional FFmpeg
• Local app bridge: HTTP server on 127.0.0.1:41420

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• Node.js LTS
• Rust stable toolchain
• Visual Studio Build Tools with the Windows MSVC toolchain

Development

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/hasi98/Velocity-Downloader.git
cd Velocity-Downloader/velocity-downloader

Install dependencies:

npm install

Run the native app in development mode:

cd src-tauri
cargo run --bin velocity-native

Check the Rust app:

cd src-tauri
cargo check --bin velocity-native

Production Build

Create the Windows executable and installers:

npm run tauri -- build

Generate the update manifest after every release build:

npm run updater:manifest

Build outputs are generated here:

• Standalone executable: src-tauri/target/release/velocity-native.exe
• NSIS installer: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/Velocity Download Manager_2.0.3_x64-setup.exe
• MSI installer: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/msi/Velocity Download Manager_2.0.3_x64_en-US.msi
• Updater manifest: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/latest.json

For GitHub Releases, upload the NSIS installer and latest.json. The app checks:

https://github.com/hasi98/Velocity-Downloader/releases/latest/download/latest.json

Browser Extension Installation

The extension files are installed with the app and are also available in the extension directory.

Manual installation:

1. Open your browser extensions page:
   • Chrome: chrome://extensions
   • Edge: edge://extensions
   • Brave: brave://extensions
2. Enable Developer mode.
3. Click Load unpacked.
4. Select the installed VDM extension folder or the repository extension folder.
5. Keep Velocity Download Manager running so the extension can send links to the local app.

App Behavior

• Closing the main window hides the app to the tray instead of quitting.
• Use the tray menu to reopen the app or exit completely.
• Start with Windows can be enabled from Options.
• Completed downloads remain visible after restarting.
• Incomplete downloads are restored from .meta files when possible.
• Some sites require the browser extension because cookies, referer, and user-agent headers are needed.

Project Structure

velocity-downloader/
  bin/                    Bundled helper binaries such as yt-dlp
  extension/              Browser extension
  logo/                   Source logo assets
  scripts/                Release helper scripts
  src-tauri/              Rust native app, downloader, and installer config
  src-tauri/icons/        Generated app icons
  src-tauri/src/          Rust app source
  src-tauri/ui/           Slint UI files

Notes

• Protected streaming, DRM, or blob-only media may not be downloadable.
• FFmpeg is required for some video/audio merges and is installed on demand.
• If Windows shows an old taskbar icon after updating, unpin the old app and pin the rebuilt executable again because Windows caches pinned icons.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.