[Feature Request] - Automation of the download cycle

[SpudmanWP]

I'd like to set up my Tribler instance to be as hands-off as possible.
It's currently in it's own Linux VM but will be in a Docker container when that gets released for 8.x

To that end, I'd like to propose some features to support automation:

1. Given that Tribler already supports subfolders in the Watch folder, let those folders represent a "Category".
2. Have "Category" appear in a UI column for the download.
3. Have the ability to change the Category after a download has started.
4. When a file completes, move the Watch folder torrent file to a "completed" folder that mimics the Watch folder, including Category subfolders.
5. When a file completes, move the completed download folder to another location according to a rules-based filter (based on Category, Name, etc). The file should still be able to be shared after moving.

[qstokkink]

If you want this level of complexity, it's probably a better to make your own script.

Tribler supports a REST API that allows you directly read and modify your downloads. You can play around with this by browsing to http://127.0.0.1:12345/docs (where 127.0.0.1 and 12345 are the IP and port Tribler is running on).

For example, moving a download with infohash abcdefabcdefabcdef00 can be done with an HTTP PATCH request to http://127.0.0.1:12345/api/downloads/abcdefabcdefabcdef00 and the request body:

{
    "state": "move_storage",
    "dest_dir": "/some/directory"
}

[armchairancap]

If you want this level of complexity, it's probably a better to make your own script.

Makes sense. Such automation belongs to workflow/automation tools and seems out of scope for Tribler.

I created this simple example to get people started.
https://github.com/armchairancap/magnet-link-downloader-tribler-firefox

Notes:

• It doesn't automate post-download steps, as that was out of scope for me and is highly workflow-dependent
• What this does is initiate Tribler API (download) requests from the browser,and it shows how the API could be used into implement such workflows and rules in a Firefox browser extension. (That would be out of scope for this extension as well; personally I'd prefer to implement it in another service that would manage them and run workflows).

• If someone wonders what's the problem with copying links manually and pasting them into Tribler, that was a tool for a chat integration PoC.

• Another use case is stand-alone, for headless Tribler.

Not to sound completely negative, I think there's some room for (scoped-down) improvement, i.e. if one could add tags to downloads, filtering by some categories could be helpful to API clients that wish to automate workflows. Presently, without tags, I'd probably go with a small Web/DB combo to manage tags and workflows. Not very complicated, but more complicated than a 200 LoC Python script running periodically from cron.

Another idea I've tested was an upload/download bot for the chat I mentioned above. I haven't published that code, but the way it worked is exactly as one may expect - the bot shares and posts magnet links to private chats, and can also download links posted by others (which is OK if in a community of friends or relatives) using Tribler.