Bolt

The Linux download manager. Fast, segmented downloads with a clean GUI, browser integration, and deep desktop integration.

Screenshots

Features

• Segmented downloading — splits files into up to 32 concurrent connections (default 16)
• Pause and resume — segment progress persists to SQLite, survives process restarts
• Auto-retry — per-segment exponential backoff for transient failures
• Download queue — configurable max concurrent downloads with FIFO scheduling
• Speed limiter — global rate limiting across all active segments
• Queue reordering — drag and drop to reprioritize pending downloads
• Dead link refresh — automatic URL renewal for expired CDN links
• Checksum verification — SHA-256, SHA-512, SHA-1, MD5; verified on completion
• Download details — per-segment progress, URL refresh, checksum editing, full metadata view
• Dark theme — system, light, and dark modes
• Desktop notifications — completion and failure alerts via notify-send
• Keyboard shortcuts — Ctrl+N (add), Ctrl+V (paste URL), Delete (remove), Space (pause/resume), Ctrl+A (select all), Ctrl+Q (quit)
• Batch URL import — paste or load a text file of URLs
• Browser extensions — Chrome and Firefox extensions intercept downloads, with configurable filters and domain blocklist
• REST API + WebSocket — full HTTP API for scripting and browser extension integration

Install

One-liner:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fhsinchy/bolt/master/install.sh | sh

This downloads the latest release, installs the binary to ~/.local/bin, sets up a systemd user service, desktop entry, and icon. Bolt starts automatically on login.

To uninstall:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fhsinchy/bolt/master/install.sh | sh -s -- --uninstall

Make sure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH.

Manual install

Download the latest tarball from GitHub Releases:

tar xzf bolt-linux-amd64.tar.gz
cd bolt-linux-amd64

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin ~/.config/systemd/user ~/.local/share/applications ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps
cp bolt ~/.local/bin/
cp bolt.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
sed "s|Exec=bolt|Exec=$HOME/.local/bin/bolt|" bolt.desktop > ~/.local/share/applications/bolt.desktop
cp appicon.png ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/bolt.png
gtk-update-icon-cache -f -t ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor 2>/dev/null || true
update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications 2>/dev/null || true
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now bolt

Browser Extension

Bolt ships browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox that intercept downloads and forward them to Bolt.

Submissions to the Chrome Web Store and Firefox Add-ons (AMO) are in progress. In the meantime, you can install the extensions manually.

Chrome:

1. Download bolt-capture-chrome.zip from the latest release
2. Unzip the file
3. Open chrome://extensions and enable Developer mode
4. Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder

Firefox:

Firefox requires add-ons to be signed by Mozilla. Until the AMO submission is approved, you can load it temporarily:

1. Download bolt-capture-firefox.zip from the latest release and unzip it
2. Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox
3. Click Load Temporary Add-on...
4. Select any file inside the unzipped folder

Note: Temporary add-ons are removed when Firefox restarts. A signed version will be available on AMO soon.

The extension popup lets you configure the server URL and auth token. On first install, a welcome page walks you through setup.

Build from Source

Prerequisites

System dependencies:

Fedora:

sudo dnf install golang gtk3-devel webkit2gtk4.1-devel gcc-c++

Ubuntu / Debian:

sudo apt install golang libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential

Arch:

sudo pacman -S go gtk3 webkit2gtk-4.1

Node.js (see nodejs.org/en/download):

curl -fsSL https://fnm.vercel.app/install | bash
fnm use --install-if-missing 20

pnpm (see pnpm.io/installation):

curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -

Wails CLI:

go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latest

Verify your environment with wails doctor.

Build

git clone https://github.com/fhsinchy/bolt.git
cd bolt
make build

Development

make dev           # hot-reload development
make test          # run all tests
make test-race     # run tests with race detector
make build         # production build
make install       # build + install locally with systemd service
make uninstall     # remove everything

Architecture

Single GUI binary — Wails window + HTTP server + download engine.

cmd/bolt/           Entry point (GUI launch)
internal/
  engine/           Download engine (segmented downloading, retry, resume)
  queue/            Queue manager (concurrency control)
  server/           HTTP server (REST API + WebSocket)
  app/              Wails IPC bindings
  db/               SQLite data access layer
  config/           Configuration management
  event/            Event bus (pub/sub)
  tray/             System tray
  notify/           Desktop notifications
  model/            Shared types
frontend/           Svelte 5 + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS
extensions/         Chrome + Firefox browser extensions

Tech Stack

Component	Technology
Backend	Go 1.23+
GUI	Wails v2
Frontend	Svelte 5, TypeScript 5, Vite 6, Tailwind CSS 4
Database	SQLite via modernc.org/sqlite (pure Go, no CGO)
WebSocket	nhooyr.io/websocket
System tray	energye/systray

License

MIT