Tomato-Novel-Downloader

Project Overview

This is the full (non-slim) version of a Fanqie (Tomato) novel downloader, now completely rewritten in Rust. Refactored and optimized from an earlier fork, it adds EPUB download support, better resumable transfers, error management, book search and a Web UI, and offers three interfaces: TUI, Web UI and CLI.

Key Features

• Search books and create download tasks, with EPUB and text output, resumable transfers and error management
• Web UI: search, task list and progress refresh, directory-based browsing of the download library, direct file download, one-click folder packaging into zip, online editing of some settings, and a password lock
• A TUI interface plus the legacy CLI interface kept for visually impaired users
• Command-line mode: use --update to refresh already downloaded books, suited for automation scripts
• A Web UI Docker image with both glibc and musl tags
• Edge TTS audiobook generation with customizable voice, rate, volume, pitch and output format
• Two build modes: official-api (default) and no-official-api

Target Audience

• Users who want to read or bulk-download Fanqie novels offline
• Users who prefer operating from a browser on a LAN or self-hosted service
• Automation users who update novels for devices such as Kindle
• Visually impaired users

Quick Start

1. Download the executable for your system from the Releases page and run it
2. For first-time downloads use the TUI or Web UI; the CLI only keeps the ability to update existing local books
3. Start the Web UI with Tomato-Novel-Downloader.exe --server, listening on 127.0.0.1:18423 by default
4. Enable the password lock with the --password argument or the TOMATO_WEB_PASSWORD environment variable
5. On Android, run the install script in Termux: bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zhongbai2333/Tomato-Novel-Downloader/main/installer.sh)

Core Advantages

• Fully rewritten in Rust for stability and speed
• Three interfaces covering desktop, LAN and automation scenarios
• EPUB support and Edge TTS audiobook generation
• Docker images in both glibc and musl builds covering servers, soft routers and NAS

System Requirements

• OS: Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android (Termux only)
• Architecture: Windows x64 and Android arm64; Docker offers glibc and musl builds
• Additional dependencies: audiobook generation needs internet access to Microsoft online services

Notes

• Some third-party API related code is not open source, including addresses and tokens
• The CLI has disabled new downloads; --update only refreshes books with existing local records under the default save directory
• Downloading novels over about 1500 chapters is not recommended
• Do not use VPNs or network proxies, and do not increase thread counts to avoid stressing the server
• Downloaded content is for personal reading only; do not use it for illegal purposes or redistribution, and you bear the risks
• The service may stop working if the API becomes unavailable; report issues on the Issues page