Feature Status

Current implementation status of Pincer Engine features. This document tracks what has been achieved, what remains, and the prioritized roadmap for upcoming work.

For dependency migration strategy, see Roadmap.

Achieved Features

• Command-line interface (lexopt)
• Download files through HTTP(S)
• FTP / SFTP Protocol Support: Seamless integration for anonymous and authenticated secure file transfers.
• Metalink Support: Full support for addMetalink & XML parsing, enabling robust multi-source failover and SHA-256 checksum verification.
• Daemon Mode: Running pincer-engine as a detached background service without a terminal window (--daemon).
• Concurrent Segmented downloading (up to 99 threads)
• Sequential Resume utilizing HTTP Range headers
• JSON-RPC (over WebSocket) interface for real-time status updates
• Session Persistence & Resumption (pincer.session auto-saving)
• Configuration File & Dynamic Options (pincer.conf support, changeOption)
• Download / Upload Speed Throttling (max-download-limit, speed-mode)
• Basic Advanced HTTP (Proxy and Auth properties integrated into settings)

Features Left to Implement

• Full RPC Standard Methods: system.multicall, system.listMethods, system.listNotifications, getSessionInfo.
• Detailed Task Introspection RPCs: getFiles, getUris, getPeers, getServers.
• Advanced Task Modification: changeUri, changePosition, forcePause, forcePauseAll.
• Batch Downloading (Parameterized URIs, Reading URIs from a text file)
• Netrc Support
• BitTorrent Support

Prioritized Next Steps

1. Missing RPC Standard & Introspection Methods (getFiles, getUris, system.multicall): Critical for GUI/Web UI frontends to display file contents.
2. Advanced Task Modification (changeUri, changePosition): Highly requested for dynamic download environments.
3. Batch Downloading & Parameterized URIs: Useful for downloading sequences (e.g., image_{1..100}.jpg).