Policy-as-code for torrent automation

Problem Context

Self-hosted torrent automation users manage complex stacks with qBittorrent, autobrr, cross-seed, and Sonarr/Radarr. They need to maintain multiple states (e.g., active-grind, handoff) across tools while avoiding tag/group explosion and cleanup failures. Manual config management leads to misalignment and wasted time.

Pain Points

Users struggle with state drift between tools (e.g., autobrr filters vs. qbit_manage tags), manual tag/group management that becomes unmanageable, and destructive cleanup paths that accidentally delete cross-seed torrents. They’ve tried manual reinstalls, hiring consultants, and duct-tape solutions like spreadsheets, but nothing prevents drift or simplifies policy logic.

Impact

Failed handoffs cause lost revenue, manual fixes waste 5+ hours per week, and state drift leads to corrupted automation workflows. Users lose trust in their stacks and spend time fire-fighting instead of optimizing. For private trackers, this directly impacts uptime and user satisfaction.

Urgency

This problem can’t be ignored because it breaks revenue-generating workflows (e.g., failed cleanup handoffs) and forces users to spend hours weekly on manual fixes. Without a solution, the stack becomes unmaintainable as it grows, leading to downtime or abandonment of automation entirely.

Target Audience

Private tracker operators, media library curators, and self-hosted torrent automation enthusiasts who run qBittorrent + autobrr + cross-seed stacks. These users are technical but frustrated with manual config management and lack of tool synchronization. They already pay for Sonarr/Radarr and have budgets for automation tools.

Solution Approach

TorrentStack Sync is a policy-as-code platform that lets users define high-level rules (e.g., ‘If source=PT AND status=leech, then tag=active-grind’) and auto-generates synchronized configs for qbit_manage, autobrr, and cross-seed. It also monitors for state drift and blocks destructive cleanup paths, ensuring the stack stays in sync without manual intervention.

Key Features

1. Drift Detection: Monitors qbit_manage, autobrr, and cross-seed for misalignment (e.g., ‘autobrr filter X doesn’t match qbit_manage tag Y’) and alerts users.
2. Preflight Checks: Blocks cleanup actions if they conflict with cross-seed rules (e.g., ‘Don’t delete torrents in category=injected’).
3. Cleanup Path Isolation: Tags torrents to exclude them from destructive actions (e.g., ‘cross-seed=protected’).

User Experience

Users upload their existing configs, and TorrentStack Sync auto-detects their current policies. They then define high-level rules in the web app, which generates updated configs for all tools. The dashboard shows real-time drift status and blocks risky actions. Users spend minutes setting up policies instead of hours manually fixing misalignments.

Differentiation

No other tool synchronizes policies across qbit_manage, autobrr, and cross-seed. Existing tools require manual config management, leading to drift and errors. TorrentStack Sync is the only solution that prevents state drift automatically, blocks destructive actions, and scales with the user’s stack without requiring manual intervention.

Scalability

Starts with single-user policy management ($49/mo) and scales to team plans ($99/mo) with collaboration features. Add-ons like ‘advanced drift analytics’ ($20/mo) and ‘cleanup path isolation’ ($30/mo) provide upsell opportunities. Enterprise users can white-label the platform for private trackers.

Expected Impact

Users save 5+ hours/week on manual fixes, eliminate revenue losses from failed handoffs, and reduce the risk of corrupted automation workflows. Private trackers improve uptime and user satisfaction, while media libraries maintain clean, automated libraries without manual tag management.