# zmzhang8/Photon

A lightweight multi-threaded downloader based on aria2.

Repository: https://github.com/zmzhang8/Photon
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/zmzhang8-photon
Language: JavaScript
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: downloader, download, multi-threaded, aria2, cross-platform
Archived: true
Last push: 2022-06-16T23:52:57+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3031, "days_push": 1539, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2991, forks 278 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:35.549450+00:00)

## What it is
Photon is a lightweight multi-threaded desktop download manager built on the aria2 download core, packaged as an Electron application. It supports HTTP/HTTPS downloads, magnet links, BitTorrent, and Metalink, and works with aria2 RPC-compatible browser extensions.

## Use cases
- download large files with multi-threaded acceleration
- download torrents and magnet links with a gui
- manage http and https downloads on mac and windows
- use a desktop frontend for aria2
- send downloads to aria2 from browser extensions via rpc

## When to avoid
- you need a native linux release, which was not yet available
- you want an actively developed project with recent releases
- you prefer a command-line downloader without a gui

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: http-client, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform, files
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: downloader, aria2, multi-threaded-download, bittorrent, magnet-links, metalink, electron-app, download-manager, macos, electron

## Member repositories
- zmzhang8/Photon (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:35.549450+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:31:21.225154+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/zmzhang8/Photon (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:35.549450+00:00, sha 2c5556723668)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.