ed2k — ED2K Link Handler

ed2k is a command-line utility shipped with aMule that adds eD2k links, eD2k-compatible magnet links and eMule collections to a running aMule instance. Links clicked in a browser are handled by aMule itself (see eD2k and Magnet Links); ed2k is meant for scripts and for manually registered handlers.

Overview

Unlike amulegui, amuleapi, amulecmd, and amuleweb, the ed2k command does not use the External Connections (EC) protocol. Instead, it communicates with aMule through the ED2KLinks file: a plain text file that aMule checks roughly once per second. When aMule detects the file, it reads the links inside, queues them for download, and deletes the file.

The ED2KLinks file lives in aMule's configuration directory; its location depends on the platform (see Configuration Files → Platform paths). If aMule uses a non-default configuration directory, the file lives inside that directory instead (see the -c option below).

This interface is:

• Mono-directional — commands go from ed2k into aMule; there is no response.
• In-going only — ed2k cannot query aMule's state.
• Simple — no authentication or network connection required; aMule and ed2k must run as the same user.

Usage

ed2k [-c <path>] [-t <num>] [-e] [-l] <link>
ed2k -h
ed2k -v

The simplest invocation queues a file link for download:

ed2k "ed2k://|file|NAME|SIZE|MD4HASH|/"

The double quotes are required so that the shell does not interpret the pipe characters (|) — and the ampersands (&) that appear in magnet links — as shell operators.

Accepted link types

ed2k accepts more than just file links:

• File link (ed2k://|file|...) — queued for download.
• Server link (ed2k://|server|...) — added to the server list.
• Serverlist link (ed2k://|serverlist|...) — makes aMule update its server list.
• Magnet URI (magnet:?...) — converted to an eD2k link, then queued.
• eMule collection file (.emulecollection) — see the -e / -l options.

For the detailed syntax of each eD2k link type, see eD2k Links.

Magnet links must be eD2k-compatible

A magnet link must carry the file's MD4 hash and size; BitTorrent-only magnets cannot be imported. See eD2k and Magnet Links → Magnet Links for the exact rules.

Options

Option	Description
-h, --help	Print a short usage description.
-v, --version	Display the version (aMule ED2k link parser v1.5.1).
-c, --config-dir <path>	Use <path> as aMule's configuration directory instead of the default. Also written as -c<path> or --config-dir=<path>.
-t, --category <num>	Add the following link(s) to category number <num>.
-e, --emulecollection <file>	Load every link found in the given .emulecollection file.
-l, --list <file>	Print every link found in the given .emulecollection file, without adding them.

Option order is important. Options apply to the links that follow them, and you can pass several links — each with its own options — in a single call. For example, ed2k <link1> -t 2 <link2> queues <link1> in the default category and <link2> in category 2.

Examples:

# Queue a file link into category 2
ed2k -t 2 "ed2k://|file|NAME|SIZE|MD4HASH|/"

# Add a magnet link
ed2k "magnet:?xt=urn:ed2k:MD4HASH&xl=SIZE&dn=NAME"

# List the links inside an eMule collection without adding them
ed2k -l mycollection.emulecollection

# Load all links from an eMule collection
ed2k -e mycollection.emulecollection

ED2KLinks File

You can write to the ED2KLinks file directly without using the ed2k command:

ed2k://|file|debian-live-13.1.0-amd64-kde.iso|4127195136|6879BBE25C84E01EE4DCA0B783FF7C01|/
ed2k://|file|ubuntu-24.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso|6655619072|0031C9CBA65C50DD2015C184B2CA2C88|/
ed2k://|file|Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-34-1.2.iso|2007367680|ABCC5847A58F4844CCE2946D9A62A757|/

Rules:

• One link per line: an eD2k link or an eD2k-compatible magnet link. A :<n> suffix after the link (for example …|/:2) adds it to category number <n>.
• The file must end with a newline after the last link.
• aMule deletes the file after reading it; do not rely on it persisting.
• Any line containing only RAISE_DIALOG causes aMule to raise its window. This is an internal marker that a second aMule instance writes to the file when it is started while one is already running — it is not a valid argument for the ed2k command (passing it on the command line is rejected as a bad parameter).

Finding the ed2k Binary

Installation method	Typical path
Windows installer	C:\Program Files\aMule\bin\ed2k.exe
Windows portable build	amule-portable-<arch>\bin\ed2k.exe in the extracted folder
macOS	/Applications/aMule.app/Contents/MacOS/ed2k
Linux AppImage	a symlink named ed2k pointing at the AppImage (see Installation → AppImage)
Linux Flatpak	flatpak run --command=ed2k org.amule.aMule
Distribution package	/usr/bin/ed2k (on Debian/Ubuntu, install the amule-utils package, and also amule-ed2k on Debian)
Self-compiled aMule	/usr/local/bin/ed2k

On Linux and BSD, which ed2k shows where it is installed.

Browser Integration

Browser and file-manager integration — registering aMule for ed2k:// and magnet: links and .emulecollection files, registering a handler by hand (for example one that calls ed2k with -c), and remote handling with amulecmd — is described in eD2k and Magnet Links.