Options

cross-seed has several program options, which can either be specified on the command line or in a configuration file. The priority is shown below.

CLI > config file > defaults

If you specify an option both on the command line and in the config file, the command line value will override the config file value.

Options on the command line

All options on the command line have a long form, which looks like --long-form-option <value>. Some more common options have a single-letter short form as well, which look like -f <value>.

Some options take multiple arguments, which are always separated by spaces:

--variadic-option arg1 arg2 arg3

tip

Any references to options you see in camelCase have their corresponding long-form option name as the kebab-cased variant. For example, the excludeRecentSearch option's long-form CLI option name is --exclude-recent-search.

Options in the config file

cross-seed will look for a configuration file at

• Mac/Linux/Unix: ~/.cross-seed/config.js
• Windows: AppData\Local\cross-seed\config.js

tip

If you would like to use a custom config directory, you can set the CONFIG_DIR environment variable.

To create an editable config file, run the following command:

cross-seed gen-config

From there, you can open the config file in your favorite editor and set up your configuration.

tip

The configuration file uses JavaScript syntax, which means:

• Array/multi options must be enclosed in [brackets].
• Strings must be enclosed in "quotation" marks.
• Array elements and options must be separated by commas.

Options used in cross-seed search

Option	Required
delay
torznab	Required
torrentDir	Required
outputDir	Required
includeEpisodes
includeNonVideos
fuzzySizeThreshold
excludeOlder
excludeRecentSearch
action
rtorrentRpcUrl
qbittorrentUrl
notificationWebhookUrl

Options used in cross-seed daemon

Option	Required
delay
torznab	Required
torrentDir	Required
outputDir	Required
includeEpisodes
includeNonVideos
fuzzySizeThreshold
excludeOlder
excludeRecentSearch
action
rtorrentRpcUrl
qbittorrentUrl
notificationWebhookUrl
port
rssCadence
searchCadence

All options

delay

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI Long form	Format	Default
delay	-d <value>	--delay <value>	number (seconds)	10

When running a search with cross-seed search or using searchCadence in daemon mode, the delay option lets you set how long you want cross-seed to sleep in between searching for each torrent. If you set it higher, it will smooth out load on your indexers, but if you set it lower, cross-seed will run faster. I don't recommend setting this lower than 2, as it could garner you unwanted attention from tracker staff.

delay Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search -d 10
cross-seed search --delay 3
cross-seed daemon -d 5

delay Examples (Config file)

delay: 20,

torznab*

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI Long form	Format	Default
torznab	-T <urls...>	--torznab <urls...>	string[]	[] (empty list)

List of Torznab URLs. You can use Jackett, Prowlarr, or indexer built-in Torznab implementations.

caution

http://localhost:9117/p/a/t/h?query=string
└────────host───────┘└─path─┘└───query───┘

The path of each URL should end in /api.

Finding your Torznab URLs

For Prowlarr, click (i) and copy the Torznab Url, then append ?apikey=YOUR_PROWLARR_API_KEY.

For Jackett, click Copy RSS feed.

note

This works because in Torznab, "RSS feeds" are just a search for the first page of unfiltered (no search query) results from the indexer.

torznab Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search --torznab https://localhost/prowlarr/1/api?apikey=12345
cross-seed search -T http://prowlarr:9696/1/api?apikey=12345 http://prowlarr:9696/2/api?apikey=12345
cross-seed search -T http://jackett:9117/api/v2.0/indexers/oink/results/torznab/api?apikey=12345

torznab Examples (Config file)

torznab: ["https://localhost/prowlarr/1/api?apikey=12345"],

torznab: [
    "http://prowlarr:9696/1/api?apikey=12345",
    "http://prowlarr:9696/2/api?apikey=12345"
],

torznab: ["http://jackett:9117/api/v2.0/indexers/oink/results/torznab/api?apikey=12345"],

torrentDir*

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
torrentDir	-i <dir>	--torrent-dir <dir>	string

Point this at a directory containing torrent files. If you don't know where your torrent client stores its files, the table below might help.

Docker users

Leave the torrentDir as /torrents and use Docker to map your directory to /torrents.

Client	Linux	Windows	Mac
rTorrent	your session directory as configured in .rtorrent.rc	your session directory as configured in .rtorrent.rc	your session directory as configured in .rtorrent.rc
Deluge	/home/<username>/.config/deluge/state	Unknown (please submit a PR!)	Unknown (please submit a PR!)
Transmission	/home/<username>/.config/transmission/torrents	Unknown (please submit a PR!)	Unknown (please submit a PR!)
qBittorrent	/home/<username>/.local/share/data/qBittorrent/BT_backup	C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\qBittorrent\BT_backup	~/Library/Application Support/qBittorrent/BT_backup

torrentDir Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search --torrent-dir ~/.config/deluge/state
cross-seed search -i ~/.config/transmission/torrents

torrentDir Examples (Config file)

torrentDir: "/home/<username>/.config/deluge/state",

torrentDir: "/torrents",

outputDir*

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
outputDir	-o <dir>	--output-dir <dir>	string

cross-seed will store the torrent files it finds in this directory. If you use Injection with rTorrent, you'll need to make sure rTorrent has access to this path also.

Docker users

Leave the outputDir as /cross-seeds and use Docker to map your directory to /cross-seeds.

outputDir Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search -o .
cross-seed search --output-dir /tmp/output

outputDir Examples (Config file)

outputDir: "/output",

outputDir: "/tmp/output",

outputDir: ".",

includeEpisodes

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
includeEpisodes	-e	--include-episodes	boolean	false

Set this to true to include single episode torrents in the search (which are ignored by default).

includeEpisodes Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search -e # will include episodes
cross-seed search --include-episodes # will include episodes
cross-seed search --no-include-episodes # will not include episodes
cross-seed search # will not include episodes

includeEpisodes Examples (Config file)

includeEpisodes: true,

includeEpisodes: false,

includeNonVideos

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
includeNonVideos		--include-non-videos	boolean	false

Set this to true to include torrents which contain non-video files (.mp4, .avi, .mkv) in the search (which are ignored by default).

includeNonVideos Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search --include-non-videos # will include non-videos
cross-seed search --no-include-non-videos # will not include non-videos
cross-seed search # will not include non-videos

includeNonVideos Examples (Config file)

includeNonVideos: true,

includeNonVideos: false,

fuzzySizeThreshold (experimental)

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
fuzzySizeThreshold		--fuzzy-size-threshold <value>	number (decimal from 0 to 1)	0.02

Increase this number to reject fewer torrents based on size. There is no guarantee that it will increase your match rate.

https://github.com/cross-seed/cross-seed/blob/port-docs-from-wiki/src/decide.ts#L70-L87

caution

This option has very limited utility and under normal operation, does not need to be modified.

fuzzySizeThreshold Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search -d 10
cross-seed search --fuzzy-size-threshold 3
cross-seed daemon -d 5

fuzzySizeThreshold Examples (Config file)

fuzzySizeThreshold: 20,

excludeOlder

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
excludeOlder	-x <value>	--exclude-older <value>	string in the ms format)

When running a search of your torrentDir, exclude torrents first searched more than this long ago. This option is only relevant in search mode or in daemon mode with searchCadence turned on.

note

excludeOlder will never exclude torrents that are completely new.

excludeOlder Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search -x 10h # only search for torrents whose first search was less than 10 hours ago or never
cross-seed search --exclude-older "3 days" # only search for torrents whose first search was less than 3 days ago or never
cross-seed search -x 0s # only search for each torrent once ever

excludeOlder Examples (Config file)

excludeOlder: "10 hours",

excludeOlder: "3days",

excludeOlder: "0s",

excludeRecentSearch

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
excludeRecentSearch	-r <value>	--exclude-recent-search <value>	string in the ms format)

When running a search of your torrentDir, exclude torrents which have been searched more recently than this long ago. This option is only relevant in search mode or in daemon mode with searchCadence turned on.

excludeRecentSearch Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search -r 1day # only search for torrents that haven't been searched in the past day
cross-seed search --exclude-recent-search "2 weeks" # only search for torrents that haven't been searched in the past 2 weeks

excludeRecentSearch Examples (Config file)

excludeRecentSearch: "1 day",

excludeRecentSearch: "2 weeks",

action

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
action	-A <save/inject>	--action <save/inject>	save/inject	save

cross-seed can either save the found cross-seeds, or inject them into your client. If you use inject, you will need to set up your client. Read more in the Injection tutorial.

action Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search -A inject
cross-seed search --action save

action Examples (Config file)

action: "save",

action: "inject",

rtorrentRpcUrl

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
rtorrentRpcUrl		--rtorrent-rpc-url <url>	URL

The url of your rTorrent XMLRPC interface. Only relevant with Injection. Often ends in /RPC2.

If you use Sonarr or Radarr, cross-seed is configured the same way. ruTorrent installations come with this endpoint configured but naked rTorrent does not provide this wrapper. If you don't use ruTorrent, you'll have to set up the endpoint yourself with a webserver.

If you use HTTP Digest Auth on this endpoint (recommended), then you can provide credentials in the following format: http://username:password@localhost/rutorrent/RPC2

rtorrentRpcUrl Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search --rtorrent-rpc-url http://rutorrent/rutorrent/RPC2
cross-seed search --rtorrent-rpc-url http://user:pass@localhost:8080/RPC2

rtorrentRpcUrl Examples (Config file)

rtorrentRpcUrl: "http://rutorrent/rutorrent/RPC2",

rtorrentRpcUrl: "http://user:pass@localhost:8080/RPC2",

qbittorrentUrl

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
qbittorrentUrl		--qbittorrent-url <url>	URL

The url of your qBittorrent Web UI. Only relevant with Injection.

qBittorrent doesn't use HTTP Basic/Digest Auth, but you can provide your qBittorrent credentials at the beginning of the URL like so: http://username:password@localhost:8080/qbittorrent

qbittorrentUrl Examples (CLI)

cross-seed search --qbittorrent-url http://qbittorrent:8080/qbittorrent
cross-seed search --qbittorrent-url http://user:pass@localhost:8080

qbittorrentUrl Examples (Config file)

qbittorrentUrl: "http://qbittorrent:8080/qbittorrent",

qbittorrentUrl: "http://user:pass@localhost:8080",

notificationWebhookUrl

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
notificationWebhookUrl		--notification-webhook-url <url>	URL

cross-seed will send a POST request to this URL with the following payload:

POST notificationWebhookUrl
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "string",
  "body": "string",
  "extra": {
    "event": "RESULTS",
    "name": "string",
    "infoHashes": "string[]",
    "trackers": "string[]",
    "source": "reverselookup | search",
    "result": "SAVED | INJECTED | FAILURE"
  }
}

Currently, cross-seed only sends the "RESULTS" event. In the future it may send more. This payload supports both apprise and Notifiarr.

notificationWebhookUrl Examples (CLI)

cross-seed daemon --notification-webhook-url http://apprise:8000/notify

notificationWebhookUrl Examples (Config file)

notificationWebhookUrl: "http://apprise:8000/notify",

port

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
port	-p <port>	--port <port>	number	2468

In Daemon Mode, cross-seed runs a webserver listening for a few types of HTTP requests. You can use this option to change the port it listens on.

port Examples (CLI)

cross-seed daemon --port 3000
cross-seed daemon -p 3000

port Examples (Config file)

port: 3000,

rssCadence

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
rssCadence		--rss-cadence <cadence>	string in the ms format

In Daemon Mode, with this option enabled, cross-seed will run periodic RSS searches on your configured indexers to check if any new uploads match torrents you already own. Setting this option to null, or not specifying it at all, will disable the feature.

note

There is a minimum cadence of 10 minutes. I recommend keeping it at a relatively low number (10-30 mins) because if an indexer has a high frequency of new uploads, keeping the number low will make sure cross-seed gets a chance to see each new upload.

rssCadence Examples (CLI)

cross-seed daemon --rss-cadence 10min

rssCadence Examples (Config file)

rssCadence: null, // disable the RSS feature

rssCadence: "10 minutes",

rssCadence: "20min",

searchCadence

Config file name	CLI short form	CLI long form	Format	Default
searchCadence		--search-cadence <cadence>	string in the ms format

In Daemon Mode, with this option enabled, cross-seed will run periodic searches of your torrents (respecting your includeEpisodes, includeNonVideos, excludeOlder, and excludeRecentSearch settings).

tip

If you have RSS and on-finished-download searches set up, you can run these very infrequently - on the order of dozens of weeks. There is a minimum of 1 day.

searchCadence Examples (CLI)

cross-seed daemon --search-cadence "2 weeks"
cross-seed daemon --search-cadence "2w"

searchCadence Examples (Config file)

searchCadence: null, // disable the periodic search feature

searchCadence: "2w",

searchCadence: "4 weeks",