Click a magnet link. It lands on your home server.
MagnetRelay is a small menu bar app for your Mac. It becomes the handler for magnet: links, so whatever you click in a browser or mail app goes straight to the download app on your NAS or home server.
Mac App Store: coming soon.
Or build it from source. MagnetRelay needs macOS 13 Ventura or later.
- Pick your app. The one that runs downloads on your server or NAS.
- Enter its address. The one you'd type in a browser to open its web page.
- Sign in. The same login you use on that page. Your password goes in your Keychain.
MagnetRelay checks the connection, and you're set. From now on every magnet link you click goes to your server, and a notification tells you it was sent.
Open it again from the menu bar under Settings…. It's a small panel that gets out of your way: press Esc, or just click somewhere else.
The last five links you sent stay on your Mac. Pick one from Recent links, or from the menu bar, and it goes to your server again.
| App | Default port | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| qBittorrent | 8080 | Switch on the Web UI. |
| Transmission | 9091 | Switch on remote access. |
| Deluge | 8112 | Password only, no username. If the Web UI isn't connected to a daemon, MagnetRelay connects it to the first host in the list. |
| rTorrent | 8080 | Through an XML-RPC web front end. The path /RPC2 is filled in for you. |
| Synology Download Station | 5000 (HTTP), 5001 (HTTPS) | HTTPS is required outside your home network. Plain HTTP is fine for local and private addresses, .local names and single-word names like diskstation. |
MagnetRelay has no analytics, no tracking and no account. It only talks to the server you set up. Your settings and recent links stay on your Mac, and your password stays in the macOS Keychain. The details are in the Privacy Policy.
Does it download anything?
No. MagnetRelay only passes the link to your own download app. The files are downloaded by your server, never by your Mac.
Where is my password stored?
In the macOS Keychain, separate from the other settings. It is never written to a file in plain text and never leaves your Mac except to sign in to your own server.
My client is behind a reverse proxy.
On the address step choose Add a path and enter the sub-path, for example /qbittorrent. Use port 443 and switch on Use HTTPS if the proxy serves HTTPS.
Synology says HTTPS is required.
MagnetRelay only sends your password over plain HTTP on your home network: local and private addresses, .local names and single-word names like diskstation. For anything else, switch on Use HTTPS and use port 5001 (or your reverse proxy's HTTPS port).
MagnetRelay is Swift and SwiftUI with no third-party dependencies. You need Xcode and XcodeGen.
git clone https://github.com/n0dal/MagnetRelay.git
cd MagnetRelay
brew install xcodegen
xcodegen generate
xcodebuild -project MagnetRelay.xcodeproj -scheme MagnetRelay -configuration Debug buildThe repo map, tests, screenshot tools and gotchas are in docs/DEVELOPMENT.md.
MIT. Please read the disclaimer before use. Security issues: see SECURITY.md. What the app is built on: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.
MagnetRelay forwards links to a server you run and downloads nothing itself. What your server downloads is up to you; use it for content you have the right to get, like Linux ISOs and open-source releases.
MagnetRelay is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apple, the qBittorrent, Transmission, Deluge or rTorrent projects, or Synology Inc. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.