Quantum Download Manager

A modern, open-source download manager for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Multi-segment acceleration • YouTube & media • Browser integration • System tray • Beautiful dark UI

Features • Installation • Extension • Configuration • Development • Credits

✨ Features

Core Download Engine

⚡ Multi-Segment Acceleration — Splits files into up to 32 parallel segments for maximum speed, each with its own HTTP connection and Range header
⏸️ Pause & Resume — Full pause/resume with persistent segment state — survives app restarts and crashes
🔄 Auto-Retry — Failed segments retry automatically; stalled connections recover gracefully
🔍 Smart Probing — HEAD request before download to detect file size, filename, and server resumability support
📊 Real-Time Progress — Per-segment progress visualization, speed (with exponential moving average), ETA, and downloaded bytes

Media & Video

🎬 YouTube Downloads — yt-dlp integration with in-app quality selection (Best, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p, Audio Only)
📺 HLS Streaming — Full HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) engine with AES-128 decryption and multi-bitrate support
🎵 DASH Streaming — MPEG-DASH parser for adaptive video/audio streams
🖥️ Media Grabber — Detects videos, audio, and streams from any website you browse via the extension
🍪 Cookie Support — Passes browser cookies to yt-dlp for age-restricted and member-only content

Browser Integration

🌐 Chrome Extension (MV3) — Auto-intercepts downloads and media streams, works just like IDM
🔗 Context Menu — Right-click any link or media → Download with QDM ⚡
📋 Clipboard Monitor — Automatically detects download URLs copied to clipboard
🎥 YouTube Banner — Overlay banner on YouTube pages for one-click video download
🔔 Notifications — Desktop notifications when downloads complete

Download Management

📂 Smart Categories — Auto-sorts by type: Videos, Music, Documents, Programs, Archives, Other
🔎 Search & Filter — Instant search across all downloads by filename or URL
⚙️ Download Queues — Create named queues with concurrency limits and scheduled execution times
🔐 Auth Support — Handles HTTP 401 challenges with a credential dialog
🔗 Expired Link Detection — Detects signed/expiring URLs and prompts to re-fetch from source
🗑️ Batch Actions — Pause all, resume all, clear completed, remove selected

App & System

🖥️ System Tray — Minimize to tray, background operation, tray icon with download status
🔔 OS Notifications — Native desktop notifications for completed downloads
🔄 Auto-Updater — In-app update check on startup; one-click download and install of new versions
⬇️ Tool Management — Auto-installs yt-dlp and ffmpeg on first launch; in-app updater for both
🎨 Frameless Dark UI — Custom titlebar, segment progress bars, clean dark theme throughout
🌍 Cross-Platform — Windows (x64), macOS (Apple Silicon), Linux (x64)

🏗️ Architecture

QDM is built with Tauri 2 — a Rust backend powering a React/TypeScript frontend, with a native Axum HTTP server for browser extension communication.

Layer	Technology
Desktop framework	Tauri 2 (Rust)
UI	React 18 + TypeScript + Vite 5
Styling	Tailwind CSS 3
State management	Zustand
HTTP server (extension API)	Axum 0.7 + WebSocket
Download engine	Custom Rust multi-segment engine
Media downloader	yt-dlp (auto-managed)
Video processing	ffmpeg (auto-managed)
HLS/DASH engine	Custom Rust streaming parser
Clipboard	arboard
Icons	Lucide React

Download Engine Flow

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   File (e.g. 100 MB)             │
├──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬─────────────────┤
│ Segment 1│ Segment 2│ Segment 3│    Segment 4    │
│  25 MB   │  25 MB   │  25 MB   │     25 MB       │
│ ████████░│ ██████░░░│ ████░░░░ │  ██░░░░░░░      │
│  Conn #1 │  Conn #2 │  Conn #3 │   Conn #4       │
└──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴─────────────────┘

Probe — HEAD request: file size, resumability, Content-Disposition filename
Split — Divided into N segments (configurable 1–32) with byte-range boundaries
Parallel — Each segment downloads via a separate HTTP connection with Range header
Progress — Speed computed with exponential moving average; per-segment state persisted to disk
Assemble — Segments merged sequentially into the final file
Recovery — On restart, already-downloaded byte ranges are skipped; only missing parts re-fetched

Browser Extension Communication

Browser Extension
      │
      │  HTTP POST /download  (port 8597)
      │  HTTP POST /media
      │  WebSocket /ws  (real-time sync)
      ▼
Rust Axum Server (browser_monitor.rs)
      │
      │  Tauri event: browser:download
      │  Tauri event: browser:vid-download
      ▼
lib.rs → DownloadEngine → emits download:added → React UI

The extension authenticates every request with a session token (X-QDM-Token) obtained from /sync on connection. The token rotates between sessions.

📦 Installation

Pre-built Releases

Download the latest version from the Releases page:

Platform	File	Notes
🪟 Windows	`*_x64-setup.exe`	NSIS installer — recommended
🪟 Windows	`*_x64_en-US.msi`	MSI installer
🍎 macOS	`*.dmg`	Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)
🐧 Linux	`*.AppImage`	Universal, no install needed
🐧 Linux	`*.deb`	Debian / Ubuntu

macOS: The app is not code-signed. If macOS blocks it, run:
xattr -cr /Applications/Quantum\ Download\ Manager.app

Linux AppImage: Make executable before running:
chmod +x Quantum_Download_Manager_*.AppImage
./Quantum_Download_Manager_*.AppImage

yt-dlp & ffmpeg

QDM auto-installs yt-dlp and ffmpeg on first launch if they are not found. A progress banner is shown while they download. You can also manage them manually via Settings → Tools.

🌐 Browser Extension

The Chrome extension integrates QDM with your browser — intercepting file downloads and detecting media streams automatically, just like IDM.

Install (Chrome / Brave / Edge)

Open chrome://extensions
Enable Developer mode (top-right toggle)
Click Load unpacked
Select the extension/chrome/ folder from the QDM repository

Firefox users: extension/firefox/ is a Manifest V2 version (load via about:debugging).

How It Works

When QDM is running, the extension connects to it over WebSocket on port 8597. A session token is exchanged at startup for all subsequent requests.

Extension Features

Feature	Description
Auto-intercept	Captures `.zip`, `.exe`, `.pdf`, `.mp4`, `.mkv`, `.dmg`, `.iso` and more
Toggle	Enable/disable auto-intercept from the popup without reloading
YouTube	Hover over any YouTube video for a QDM download banner
Context menu	Right-click any link or media → Download with QDM ⚡
Manual URL	Paste any URL directly in the popup to queue it
HLS/DASH detection	`inject.js` runs in the page context to detect media streams before they load
Cookie passing	Passes cookies to QDM for authenticated/age-restricted downloads
Notifications	Chrome notification when a queued download completes

Permissions Used

Permission	Purpose
`webRequest`	Intercept and inspect network requests
`downloads`	Monitor browser-initiated downloads
`cookies`	Pass site cookies to yt-dlp for auth
`contextMenus`	Right-click "Download with QDM"
`notifications`	Download completion alerts
`storage`	Persist settings and session token
`tabs`, `scripting`	Inject YouTube banner and media detector

⚙️ Configuration

Open Settings (sidebar or Ctrl+,) to configure QDM.

Storage

Option	Default	Description
Download Directory	`~/Downloads`	Default save location for all downloads

Performance

Option	Default	Range	Description
Max Concurrent Downloads	3	1–10	How many files download simultaneously
Segments Per Download	8	1–32	Parallel connections per file (1 = safe/no splitting)
Speed Limit	0 (unlimited)	KB/s	Global bandwidth cap across all downloads

General

Option	Default	Description
Show Notifications	On	OS notification when a download completes
Minimize to Tray	On	Close button minimizes to system tray instead of quitting

Tools

Tool	Description
yt-dlp	Video downloader binary — install, update, or check version
ffmpeg	Video processing — required for 1080p+ quality merging
Browser for cookies	Choose which browser's cookie jar yt-dlp uses (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Opera, Chromium)

🎬 Adding a Download

Regular Files

Click + New Download or press Ctrl+N
Paste the URL — QDM probes it instantly for filename, size, and resumability
Edit filename or save path if needed
Adjust segment count (default 8; use 1 for servers that block parallel requests)
Click Download

YouTube / Video URLs

QDM auto-detects YouTube, Shorts, Reels, and other yt-dlp-supported URLs and shows quality presets:

Preset	Notes
Best Quality	Highest available resolution + audio, ffmpeg required
1080p HD	Full HD, ffmpeg required for muxing
720p HD	HD, ffmpeg required
480p SD	Standard definition, no ffmpeg needed
360p	Low quality, no ffmpeg needed
Audio Only	MP3 / M4A audio extraction

From the Browser Extension

Click the QDM icon in your toolbar → paste a URL or it auto-fills from the active tab
Right-click any download link → Download with QDM ⚡
Visit YouTube → hover the video → click the QDM banner

🔄 Auto-Updater

QDM checks for updates automatically on startup. If a new version is available:

A banner appears at the top: "QDM v1.x.x is available — Install now"
Click Install now to download and run the installer in-place
On Windows: the NSIS installer launches and QDM exits to allow replacement
On macOS: the .dmg opens — drag to Applications to complete
On Linux: the .AppImage is downloaded and the folder opens

You can also check manually: About → Check for Updates.

🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

Node.js 24+
Rust (stable, 1.77.2+)
Tauri v2 prerequisites for your platform

Linux extra:

sudo apt-get install -y \
  libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev librsvg2-dev patchelf \
  libgtk-3-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev

Setup

git clone https://github.com/PBhadoo/QDM.git
cd QDM
npm install

Run in Dev Mode

npm run tauri:dev

This starts the Vite dev server with hot-reload and the Tauri Rust backend simultaneously.

Build

# Current platform
npm run tauri:build

# Platform-specific
npm run tauri:build:win    # Windows — MSI + NSIS (.exe)
npm run tauri:build:mac    # macOS  — .dmg (Apple Silicon)
npm run tauri:build:linux  # Linux  — .AppImage + .deb

Build Scripts Reference

Command	Description
`npm run dev`	Vite dev server only (UI preview, no Tauri)
`npm run tauri:dev`	Full Tauri dev mode with Rust backend + hot-reload
`npm run tauri:build`	Production build for current platform
`npm run tauri:build:win`	Windows cross-target (x86_64-pc-windows-msvc)
`npm run tauri:build:linux`	Linux cross-target (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)
`npm run tauri:build:mac`	macOS cross-target (aarch64-apple-darwin)
`npm run fetch-yt-dlp`	Download platform yt-dlp binary into `src-tauri/resources/`

Project Structure

QDM/
├── src/                          # React frontend (TypeScript)
│   ├── App.tsx                   # Root — event listeners, update banner, layout
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── TitleBar.tsx          # Custom frameless title bar (minimize/maximize/close)
│   │   ├── Sidebar.tsx           # Category navigation + status counts
│   │   ├── Toolbar.tsx           # Actions: new, pause-all, resume-all, search
│   │   ├── DownloadList.tsx      # Download rows with segment progress bars
│   │   ├── NewDownloadDialog.tsx # Add download — probe + quality + segments
│   │   ├── VideoQualityDialog.tsx# yt-dlp quality picker
│   │   ├── VideoGrabber.tsx      # Media grabber panel (intercepted streams)
│   │   ├── SettingsDialog.tsx    # All app settings + tools management
│   │   ├── AboutDialog.tsx       # Version info + update checker
│   │   ├── AuthDialog.tsx        # HTTP 401 credential prompt
│   │   ├── LinkExpiredDialog.tsx # Expired/signed URL recovery
│   │   └── YtdlpLogPanel.tsx     # yt-dlp stdout/stderr log viewer
│   ├── store/
│   │   └── useDownloadStore.ts   # Zustand global state
│   └── types/
│       └── download.ts           # Shared TypeScript types
│
├── src-tauri/                    # Rust/Tauri backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── lib.rs                # All Tauri commands + app setup + event wiring
│   │   ├── download_engine.rs    # Multi-segment download engine with retry/recover
│   │   ├── hls_engine.rs         # HLS/DASH parser with AES-128 decryption
│   │   ├── yt_dlp.rs             # yt-dlp binary integration + progress parsing
│   │   ├── browser_monitor.rs    # Axum HTTP server + WebSocket hub (port 8597)
│   │   ├── clipboard_monitor.rs  # Clipboard URL watcher
│   │   ├── queue_manager.rs      # Download queue scheduler
│   │   ├── tools.rs              # yt-dlp + ffmpeg auto-install with progress
│   │   ├── types.rs              # Shared Rust types (serde)
│   │   └── main.rs               # Tauri entry point
│   ├── capabilities/
│   │   └── default.json          # Tauri permission capabilities
│   ├── icons/                    # App icons (all platforms)
│   ├── tauri.conf.json           # Tauri app config
│   └── Cargo.toml                # Rust dependencies
│
├── extension/
│   ├── chrome/                   # Chrome MV3 extension
│   │   ├── background.js         # Service worker: intercept, WebSocket, context menu
│   │   ├── content.js            # Content script: YouTube banner, link hover
│   │   ├── inject.js             # Page-world script: early media stream detection
│   │   ├── popup.html            # Extension popup UI
│   │   ├── popup.js              # Popup logic: URL input, status, settings
│   │   ├── manifest.json         # MV3 manifest
│   │   └── icons/                # Extension icons
│   └── firefox/
│       └── manifest.json         # Firefox MV2 manifest
│
└── scripts/
    └── fetch-yt-dlp.js           # Downloads correct yt-dlp binary into resources/

Tauri Commands Reference

View all backend commands

Command	Description
`download_add`	Queue a new download (URL, filename, path, segments)
`download_start`	Start a queued download
`download_pause`	Pause an active download
`download_resume`	Resume a paused download
`download_cancel`	Cancel and clean up a download
`download_remove`	Remove from list (optionally delete file)
`download_retry`	Retry a failed download
`download_get_all`	Fetch all download records
`download_open_file`	Open completed file with default app
`download_open_folder`	Reveal file in Finder/Explorer
`download_pause_all`	Pause all active downloads
`download_resume_all`	Resume all paused downloads
`download_probe`	Probe URL: size, resumability, filename
`download_provide_auth`	Submit credentials for a 401 challenge
`download_reopen_source`	Open original source page to refresh expired link
`browser_get_media_list`	Get list of media intercepted by extension
`browser_clear_media`	Clear the intercepted media list
`browser_download_media`	Send intercepted media to download engine
`browser_get_status`	Check browser monitor connectivity
`browser_set_config`	Enable/disable browser interception
`clipboard_get_enabled`	Is clipboard monitoring on?
`clipboard_set_enabled`	Toggle clipboard monitoring
`queue_get_all`	Fetch all download queues
`queue_create`	Create a new named queue
`queue_update`	Update queue settings
`queue_delete`	Delete a queue
`queue_add_downloads`	Assign downloads to a queue
`queue_set_schedule`	Set scheduled start time for a queue
`config_get`	Read app configuration
`config_set`	Write app configuration
`update_check`	Check GitHub for a newer QDM release
`update_download_install`	Download + run platform installer for a release
`ytdlp_list_formats`	List available quality formats for a URL
`ytdlp_get_version`	Get installed yt-dlp version
`ytdlp_check_update`	Check if yt-dlp has a newer release
`ytdlp_download_update`	Download and install latest yt-dlp
`tools_get_status`	Check yt-dlp + ffmpeg install status
`tools_install_ytdlp`	Auto-install yt-dlp
`tools_install_ffmpeg`	Auto-install ffmpeg

Release

Bump the version in these three files to the new version number:

package.json → "version"
src-tauri/Cargo.toml → version
src-tauri/tauri.conf.json → "version"

Then tag and push:

git tag v1.0.4
git push origin v1.0.4

GitHub Actions will build all three platforms and publish the release automatically.

🙏 Credits

XDM (Xtreme Download Manager)

By subhra74 — github.com/subhra74/xdm

QDM's multi-segment download architecture, segment splitting, Range-header resumption, and crash-recovery patterns are directly inspired by XDM's brilliant open-source engine. QDM is a spiritual successor built on a modern Rust + Tauri stack.

IDM (Internet Download Manager)

By Tonec Inc.

IDM pioneered the browser-integration model and established the gold standard for segmented download acceleration. QDM's extension design, context menu integration, and IDM-style popup follow the patterns they established.

Open Source Dependencies

Project	Use
Tauri	Cross-platform desktop framework
React	UI library
yt-dlp	Video & media downloader
ffmpeg	Video processing and muxing
Axum	Async Rust web framework
Tokio	Async runtime
reqwest	HTTP client
Tailwind CSS	Utility-first CSS
Zustand	State management
Lucide Icons	Icon library
m3u8-rs	HLS playlist parsing

📄 License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Made with ❤️ by Parveen Bhadoo

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 21 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
build		build
extension		extension
scripts		scripts
src-tauri		src-tauri
src		src
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
index.html		index.html
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
postcss.config.js		postcss.config.js
tailwind.config.js		tailwind.config.js
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json
tsconfig.node.json		tsconfig.node.json
vite.config.ts		vite.config.ts

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Quantum Download Manager

✨ Features

Core Download Engine

Media & Video

Browser Integration

Download Management

App & System

🏗️ Architecture

Download Engine Flow

Browser Extension Communication

📦 Installation

Pre-built Releases

yt-dlp & ffmpeg

🌐 Browser Extension

Install (Chrome / Brave / Edge)

How It Works

Extension Features

Permissions Used

⚙️ Configuration

Storage

Performance

General

Tools

🎬 Adding a Download

Regular Files

YouTube / Video URLs

From the Browser Extension

🔄 Auto-Updater

🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

Setup

Run in Dev Mode

Build

Build Scripts Reference

Project Structure

Tauri Commands Reference

Release

🙏 Credits

XDM (Xtreme Download Manager)

IDM (Internet Download Manager)

Open Source Dependencies

📄 License

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