StreamVault

A small Windows app that downloads and extracts compressed archives (ZIP, TAR/TAR.GZ/TAR.XZ, RAR, 7z) while using as little extra disk space as possible — for ZIP/TAR and single-volume RAR it extracts while downloading, so it never keeps a full compressed copy sitting on disk alongside the extracted files.

Built with AI assistance. This app was built collaboratively with Claude (Anthropic). Treat it accordingly — review the code yourself before relying on it for anything important, and please open an issue if something looks off.

How to use it

1. Grab the latest StreamVault.exe from the Releases page — it's a single file, no installer needed.
   • Windows may show a "Windows protected your PC" SmartScreen warning when you run it, since the exe isn't code-signed. Click More info, then Run anyway to proceed.
2. Run it. Click Add Download.
3. Paste a direct download URL to an archive.
4. Once the destination folder field unlocks, pick (or type) where you want it extracted.
5. Check the size/fit info that appears — it tells you the compressed size, an estimated peak disk usage, and whether it'll fit on the chosen drive.
6. Click Add to Queue. Watch it download and extract, with live speed and ETA.
7. When it's done, use Show in folder to jump straight to the result.

That's it — no configuration needed for the basics. The collapsible Settings panel (bottom of the window) lets you change the default destination folder, how many downloads run at once, and whether the downloaded archive is deleted after extraction (on by default).

Supported formats

Format	Streams while downloading?
ZIP	Yes
TAR / TAR.GZ / TAR.XZ	Yes
RAR (single-volume)	Yes
RAR (multi-volume, .part1.rar etc.)	No — downloads fully first
7z	No — downloads fully first (the format's index sits at the end of the file, so nothing can safely extract until the whole archive has arrived)

When streaming isn't possible, StreamVault still deletes the downloaded archive once extraction finishes (unless you turn that off in Settings), and the app tells you up front which mode it's using and why.

Known limitations

• Password-protected RAR/7z archives aren't supported — you'll get a clear error instead of a silent failure.
• ZIP64 archives/entries over 4GB and encrypted ZIP entries aren't supported yet.
• Servers that don't support HTTP Range requests will break resuming a failed download.
• No pause/resume for in-progress items yet — only cancel and retry.

Running from source / contributing

python -m venv .venv
.venv/Scripts/pip install -e ".[dev]"
.venv/Scripts/python -m pytest tests/ -q
.venv/Scripts/python -m streamvault.app

To build the exe yourself:

.venv/Scripts/pip install -e ".[build]"
.venv/Scripts/pyinstaller packaging/streamvault.spec --noconfirm --clean

packaging/bin/UnRAR.exe is RARLAB's freeware UnRAR console tool, bundled so RAR extraction works with no separate install — freely redistributable independently of WinRAR itself (see packaging/bin/license.txt).