FAQ - cr0wbar/fishnet GitHub Wiki

What is Fishnet?

Fishnet is a simple utility to find torrents. It aggregates results from different providers, which can be loaded remotely or locally, and displays them. The user can then copy the URL and/or the magnet link to the clipboard and do whatever he/she wants with it. Really, is just as simple as it sounds. It is also possible to search by category for a single provider, or search using all available providers in all categories. When gathering results from all providers it can display the results in a single tab (as 'Aggregated') or in different tabs, one for each provider.

What are these providers you are talking about?

Providers are just JSON files which contain information on how to fetch results from a Torrent search site. Fishnet engine's builds the query for you with the following information:

• Provider to use (First tool button on the left in main pane)
• Text to search (Text input field, just write whatever you want)
• Category to search into (Only available when using the 'Search' tool button)

Once the query is built, it extracts the torrents' data by doing XPath queries on the retrieved html code, using the information in the JSON file for a certain provider.

When, how does Fishnet load the providers?

At startup, if the Load providers list option is enabled in the settings pane (by default, it is), Fishnet will load the list of providers located at the URL also specified in the settings pane. By default it downloads the list of providers located in the fishnet-providers repository here on github. It then proceeds to load any provider in the list.

I don't like the default list of providers. How can I load other providers?

First of all, you should probably disable the Load providers list in the settings pane, so that it won't load the default providers at startup each time. Providers can be loaded either remotely (i.e. from an URL) or locally (file). If you have a provider stored in a JSON file and want to use it, just click the Provider Manager button in the toolbar and add a new local provider. If the provider has an URL, then add a new remote provider using the same procedure described above.

Why can I sometimes copy both the URL and the magnet link of a torrent to the clipboard, and some other times only one of them?

That depends on what information is retrieved by the provider. Fishnet makes available only the fetched data, meaning that sometimes magnet links or URLs are missing.

I think one of the default providers is not working properly, what should I do?

Create a issue here.

I want to develop my own providers, with blackjack and hookers, how can I do that?

See the dedicated page.

But, will it blend?

No, it won't. Sorry.