downloader-mcp

An MCP server for download clients — SABnzbd (usenet) and qBittorrent (torrents) — packaged as a Docker container. Companion to media-management MCPs like servarr-mcp.

Each client is optional: configure only the ones you actually run, and only those tools register.

Tools

SABnzbd (usenet)

qBittorrent (torrents)

Configuration

Each client requires its full config block to enable; partial config silently disables the client.

API keys / credentials are found in each app's settings:

• SABnzbd: Config → General → API Key

• qBittorrent: Tools → Options → Web UI (default user admin)

Note: SABnzbd and qBittorrent both default to port 8080. If you run both on the same host, remap one of them in its own config.

At least one client must be configured or the server exits with an error.

Run with Docker

docker build -t downloader-mcp .
docker run -i --rm \
  -e SABNZBD_URL=http://192.168.1.50:8080 -e SABNZBD_API_KEY=... \
  -e QBITTORRENT_URL=http://192.168.1.50:8081 \
  -e QBITTORRENT_USERNAME=admin -e QBITTORRENT_PASSWORD=... \
  downloader-mcp

Use with Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "downloader": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "SABNZBD_URL", "-e", "SABNZBD_API_KEY",
        "-e", "QBITTORRENT_URL",
        "-e", "QBITTORRENT_USERNAME", "-e", "QBITTORRENT_PASSWORD",
        "downloader-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SABNZBD_URL": "http://192.168.1.50:8080",
        "SABNZBD_API_KEY": "...",
        "QBITTORRENT_URL": "http://192.168.1.50:8081",
        "QBITTORRENT_USERNAME": "admin",
        "QBITTORRENT_PASSWORD": "..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Drop the -e/env entries for whichever client you don't run.

Local development

npm install
cp .env.example .env  # then edit
SABNZBD_URL=... SABNZBD_API_KEY=... npm run dev

Security

• Container runs as a non-root user (mcp).

• Credentials passed via env vars — never baked into the image.

• A .githooks/pre-commit runs gitleaks (secrets) and a PII pattern check (user-home paths, personal-domain emails). Activate it once per clone: git config core.hooksPath .githooks.