Add --pause to space out file downloads by a random delay (#185)

A new --pause MIN[:MAX] (seconds, -%G) waits a random MIN..MAX between
files so a crawl looks less like a bot and is gentler on the server; a
single value is a fixed delay. Disabled by default.

It reuses the existing non-blocking launch gate
(back_pluggable_sockets_strict): rather than Sleep() -- which would freeze
the single select() pump and stall the other in-flight transfers -- the
gate just withholds new launches until the delay elapses, one file per
gap. The per-gap target is derived from the last-request timestamp so it
stays stable across the many gate evaluations within a gap yet rerolls on
each launch; sampling rand() per evaluation would instead bias the
realized delay toward MIN.

Two int fields appended at the httrackp tail (ABI-stable, no soname bump).
Covered by a pure-function self-test (range + spread, with teeth against
the min-bias bug) and a local-server crawl that asserts the pause slows a
multi-file mirror.

Closes #185

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Xavier Roche <roche@httrack.com>

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -188,6 +188,51 @@ jobs:
         if: failure()
         run: cat tests/test-suite.log 2>/dev/null || true
 
+  # MemorySanitizer catches reads of uninitialized memory (#143's stack-garbage
+  # size filter) that ASan/UBSan miss. It flags any byte an uninstrumented lib
+  # wrote, so the job stays in our own code: offline self-tests only, no openssl
+  # (--disable-https), no zlib cache tests, static (the runtime is not in .so's).
+  msan:
+    name: msan (MemorySanitizer, clang)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+
+      - name: Install build dependencies
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+            build-essential clang autoconf automake libtool autoconf-archive \
+            zlib1g-dev
+
+      - name: Configure (MSan, static, no https)
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          autoreconf -fi
+          ./configure CC=clang \
+            CFLAGS="-fsanitize=memory -fsanitize-memory-track-origins=2 -fno-sanitize-recover=all -g -O1 -fno-omit-frame-pointer" \
+            LDFLAGS="-fsanitize=memory" \
+            --disable-https --disable-shared --enable-static
+
+      - name: Build
+        run: make -j"$(nproc)"
+
+      - name: Test (offline self-tests under MSan)
+        env:
+          MSAN_OPTIONS: abort_on_error=1:halt_on_error=1
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # Engine self-tests only; the cache trio pulls in uninstrumented zlib.
+          tests="$(cd tests && ls 01_engine-*.test | grep -v -- '-cache' | tr '\n' ' ')"
+          make check TESTS="$tests"
+
+      - name: Print the test log on failure
+        if: failure()
+        run: cat tests/test-suite.log 2>/dev/null || true
+
   # Optional-dependency build: compile and test with HTTPS/OpenSSL disabled --
   # the configuration users on minimal systems build, and one libssl is not even
   # installed here so configure cannot silently re-enable it. The matrix above

debian/control

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Description: Copy websites to your computer (Offline browser)
 Package: webhttrack
 Architecture: any
 Multi-Arch: foreign
-Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ${shlibs:Depends}, webhttrack-common, sensible-utils, firefox-esr | chromium | www-browser
+Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ${shlibs:Depends}, webhttrack-common, sensible-utils, chromium | firefox-esr | www-browser
 Replaces: webhttrack-common (<< 3.43.9-2)
 Breaks: webhttrack-common (<< 3.43.9-2)
 Suggests: httrack, httrack-doc

man/httrack.1

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 .\"
 .\" This file is generated by man/makeman.sh; do not edit by hand.
 .\" SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
-.TH httrack 1 "26 June 2026" "httrack website copier"
+.TH httrack 1 "27 June 2026" "httrack website copier"
 .SH NAME
 httrack \- offline browser : copy websites to a local directory
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ httrack \- offline browser : copy websites to a local directory
 [ \fB\-EN, \-\-max\-time[=N]\fR ]
 [ \fB\-AN, \-\-max\-rate[=N]\fR ]
 [ \fB\-%cN, \-\-connection\-per\-second[=N]\fR ]
+[ \fB\-%G, \-\-pause\fR ]
 [ \fB\-GN, \-\-max\-pause[=N]\fR ]
 [ \fB\-cN, \-\-sockets[=N]\fR ]
 [ \fB\-TN, \-\-timeout[=N]\fR ]
@@ -43,11 +44,13 @@ httrack \- offline browser : copy websites to a local directory
 [ \fB\-x, \-\-replace\-external\fR ]
 [ \fB\-%x, \-\-disable\-passwords\fR ]
 [ \fB\-%q, \-\-include\-query\-string\fR ]
+[ \fB\-%g, \-\-strip\-query\fR ]
 [ \fB\-o, \-\-generate\-errors\fR ]
 [ \fB\-X, \-\-purge\-old[=N]\fR ]
 [ \fB\-%p, \-\-preserve\fR ]
 [ \fB\-%T, \-\-utf8\-conversion\fR ]
 [ \fB\-bN, \-\-cookies[=N]\fR ]
+[ \fB\-%K, \-\-cookies\-file\fR ]
 [ \fB\-u, \-\-check\-type[=N]\fR ]
 [ \fB\-j, \-\-parse\-java[=N]\fR ]
 [ \fB\-sN, \-\-robots[=N]\fR ]
@@ -153,6 +156,8 @@ maximum mirror time in seconds (60=1 minute, 3600=1 hour) (\-\-max\-time[=N])
 maximum transfer rate in bytes/seconds (1000=1KB/s max) (\-\-max\-rate[=N])
 .IP \-%cN
 maximum number of connections/seconds (*%c10) (\-\-connection\-per\-second[=N])
+.IP \-%G
+random pause of MIN[:MAX] seconds between files (e.g. %G5:10) (\-\-pause <param>)
 .IP \-GN
 pause transfer if N bytes reached, and wait until lock file is deleted (\-\-max\-pause[=N])
 .SS Flow control:
@@ -198,6 +203,8 @@ replace external html links by error pages (\-\-replace\-external)
 do not include any password for external password protected websites (%x0 include) (\-\-disable\-passwords)
 .IP \-%q
 *include query string for local files (useless, for information purpose only) (%q0 don't include) (\-\-include\-query\-string)
+.IP \-%g
+strip query keys for dedup ([host/pattern=]key1,key2,...) (\-\-strip\-query <param>)
 .IP \-o
 *generate output html file in case of error (404..) (o0 don't generate) (\-\-generate\-errors)
 .IP \-X
@@ -209,6 +216,8 @@ links conversion to UTF\-8 (\-\-utf8\-conversion)
 .SS Spider options:
 .IP \-bN
 accept cookies in cookies.txt (0=do not accept,* 1=accept) (\-\-cookies[=N])
+.IP \-%K
+load extra cookies from a Netscape cookies.txt (\-\-cookies\-file <param>)
 .IP \-u
 check document type if unknown (cgi,asp..) (u0 don't check, * u1 check but /, u2 check always) (\-\-check\-type[=N])
 .IP \-j
@@ -225,6 +234,8 @@ tolerant requests (accept bogus responses on some servers, but not standard!) (\
 update hacks: various hacks to limit re\-transfers when updating (identical size, bogus response..) (\-\-updatehack)
 .IP \-%u
 url hacks: various hacks to limit duplicate URLs (strip //, www.foo.com==foo.com..) (\-\-urlhack)
+.br
+opt out of one url\-hack part: \-\-keep\-www\-prefix (www.foo.com<>foo.com), \-\-keep\-double\-slashes (//), \-\-keep\-query\-order (?b&a)
 .IP \-%A
 assume that a type (cgi,asp..) is always linked with a mime type (\-%A php3,cgi=text/html;dat,bin=application/x\-zip) (\-\-assume <param>)
 .br

src/htsalias.c

@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ Please visit our Website: http://www.httrack.com
   param1 : this option must be alone, and needs one distinct parameter (-P <path>)
   param0 : this option must be alone, but the parameter should be put together (+*.gif)
 */
+/* clang-format off: hand-aligned table; clang-format reflows the whole
+   initializer (2->4 space) on any edit, churning every untouched row. */
+/* clang-format off */
 const char *hts_optalias[][4] = {
   /*   {"","","",""}, */
   {"path", "-O", "param1", "output path"},
@@ -107,6 +110,12 @@ const char *hts_optalias[][4] = {
   {"disable-passwords", "-%x", "single", ""}, {"disable-password", "-%x",
                                                "single", ""},
   {"include-query-string", "-%q", "single", ""},
+  {"strip-query", "-%g", "param1",
+   "strip [host/pattern=]key1,key2,... from URLs"},
+  {"cookies-file", "-%K", "param1",
+   "load extra cookies from a Netscape cookies.txt"},
+  {"pause", "-%G", "param1",
+   "random pause of MIN[:MAX] seconds between files"},
   {"generate-errors", "-o", "single", ""},
   {"do-not-generate-errors", "-o0", "single", ""},
   {"purge-old", "-X", "param", ""},
@@ -123,6 +132,9 @@ const char *hts_optalias[][4] = {
   {"tolerant", "-%B", "single", ""},
   {"updatehack", "-%s", "single", ""}, {"sizehack", "-%s", "single", ""},
   {"urlhack", "-%u", "single", ""},
+  {"keep-www-prefix", "-%j", "single", ""},
+  {"keep-double-slashes", "-%o", "single", ""},
+  {"keep-query-order", "-%y", "single", ""},
   {"user-agent", "-F", "param1", "user-agent identity"},
   {"referer", "-%R", "param1", "default referer URL"},
   {"from", "-%E", "param1", "from email address"},
@@ -241,6 +253,7 @@ const char *hts_optalias[][4] = {
 
   {"", "", "", ""}
 };
+/* clang-format on */
 
 /* 
   Check for alias in command-line 

src/htscore.c

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ Please visit our Website: http://www.httrack.com
 
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
+#include <stdint.h> /* uint64_t for the pause mixer (already a hard dep via md5.h) */
 
 /* File defs */
 #include "htscore.h"
@@ -523,9 +524,12 @@ int httpmirror(char *url1, httrackp * opt) {
     opt->cookie = &cookie;
     cookie.max_len = 30000;     // max len
     strcpybuff(cookie.data, "");
-    // Charger cookies.txt par défaut ou cookies.txt du miroir
+    // Load the mirror's cookies.txt, then the one in the current directory
     cookie_load(opt->cookie, StringBuff(opt->path_log), "cookies.txt");
     cookie_load(opt->cookie, "", "cookies.txt");
+    // A user-supplied cookie file is merged last so it wins on conflicts
+    if (strnotempty(StringBuff(opt->cookies_file)))
+      cookie_load(opt->cookie, "", StringBuff(opt->cookies_file));
   } else
     opt->cookie = NULL;
 
@@ -3311,6 +3315,21 @@ HTS_INLINE int back_fillmax(struct_back * sback, httrackp * opt,
   return -1;                    /* plus de place */
 }
 
+/* Seed-derived: stable within a gap, rerolls per launch; a per-call rand()
+   would bias the delay toward min_ms (see header). Jitter, not crypto. */
+int hts_pause_target_ms(TStamp seed, int min_ms, int max_ms) {
+  uint64_t z = (uint64_t) seed;
+
+  if (max_ms <= min_ms)
+    return min_ms;
+  /* SplitMix64 finalizer: scrambles the low-entropy ms timestamp. */
+  z += 0x9E3779B97F4A7C15ULL;
+  z = (z ^ (z >> 30)) * 0xBF58476D1CE4E5B9ULL;
+  z = (z ^ (z >> 27)) * 0x94D049BB133111EBULL;
+  z ^= z >> 31;
+  return min_ms + (int) (z % (uint64_t) (max_ms - min_ms + 1));
+}
+
 int back_pluggable_sockets_strict(struct_back * sback, httrackp * opt) {
   int n = opt->maxsoc - back_nsoc(sback);
 
@@ -3331,6 +3350,18 @@ int back_pluggable_sockets_strict(struct_back * sback, httrackp * opt) {
     }
   }
 
+  // #185 randomized inter-file pause: non-blocking, one launch per gap
+  if (n > 0 && opt->pause_max_ms > 0 && HTS_STAT.last_connect > 0) {
+    TStamp opTime =
+        HTS_STAT.last_request ? HTS_STAT.last_request : HTS_STAT.last_connect;
+    TStamp lap = mtime_local() - opTime;
+
+    if (lap < hts_pause_target_ms(opTime, opt->pause_min_ms, opt->pause_max_ms))
+      n = 0;
+    else
+      n = 1;
+  }
+
   return n;
 }
 
@@ -3739,6 +3770,17 @@ HTSEXT_API int copy_htsopt(const httrackp * from, httrackp * to) {
   if (StringNotEmpty(from->user_agent))
     StringCopyS(to->user_agent, from->user_agent);
 
+  if (StringNotEmpty(from->strip_query))
+    StringCopyS(to->strip_query, from->strip_query);
+
+  if (StringNotEmpty(from->cookies_file))
+    StringCopyS(to->cookies_file, from->cookies_file);
+
+  if (from->pause_max_ms > 0) {
+    to->pause_min_ms = from->pause_min_ms;
+    to->pause_max_ms = from->pause_max_ms;
+  }
+
   if (from->retry > -1)
     to->retry = from->retry;
 

src/htscore.h

@@ -234,8 +234,12 @@ struct hash_struct {
   coucal adrfil;
   /* former address+path -> link index (renamed/moved entries) */
   coucal former_adrfil;
-  /* scratch buffers reused across lookups (not reentrant) */
-  int normalized;
+  /* effective urlhack sub-flags: www.==host / // collapse / query-arg sort */
+  hts_boolean norm_host;
+  hts_boolean norm_slash;
+  hts_boolean norm_query;
+  /* query-strip keys (not owned); set from opt->strip_query at hash_init */
+  const char *strip_query;
   char normfil[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2];
   char normfil2[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2];
   char catbuff[CATBUFF_SIZE];
@@ -364,6 +368,22 @@ int fspc(httrackp * opt, FILE * fp, const char *type);
 
 char *next_token(char *p, int flag);
 
+/* Like fil_normalized(), but first drops query keys in STRIP (comma-separated,
+   "*" = all); STRIP NULL/empty behaves exactly like fil_normalized(). */
+char *fil_normalized_filtered(const char *source, char *dest,
+                              const char *strip);
+
+/* As fil_normalized_filtered(), but DO_SLASH/DO_QUERY gate the // collapse and
+   the query-argument sort independently (the urlhack sub-flags). */
+char *fil_normalized_filtered_ex(const char *source, char *dest,
+                                 const char *strip, int do_slash, int do_query);
+
+/* For URL ADR/FIL, return (in DEST) the comma keylist to strip from the
+   '\n'-separated "[pattern=]keys" RULES (patterns matched on host/path via
+   strjoker, last wins); NULL if none match. Feeds fil_normalized_filtered(). */
+const char *hts_query_strip_keys(const char *rules, const char *adr,
+                                 const char *fil, char *dest, size_t destsize);
+
 /* Read a whole file into a freshly malloc'd, NUL-terminated buffer; the caller
    owns it and must release it with freet(). Return NULL on missing/unreadable
    file (readfile_or substitutes defaultdata instead). The byte content is NOT
@@ -398,6 +418,10 @@ int back_pluggable_sockets(struct_back * sback, httrackp * opt);
 
 int back_pluggable_sockets_strict(struct_back * sback, httrackp * opt);
 
+/* Randomized inter-file pause target in [min_ms,max_ms] (#185), derived from a
+   timestamp seed so it is stable within one gap and rerolls per launch. */
+int hts_pause_target_ms(TStamp seed, int min_ms, int max_ms);
+
 /* Schedule more links from the heap into free slots. Returns the number queued,
    or <=0 if none could be added (no free slot / paused / stopped). */
 int back_fill(struct_back * sback, httrackp * opt, cache_back * cache,

src/htscoremain.c

@@ -1570,6 +1570,30 @@ static int hts_main_internal(int argc, char **argv, httrackp * opt) {
                   com++;
                 }
                 break;          // url hack
+              case 'j':
+                opt->no_www_dedup =
+                    HTS_TRUE; // --keep-www-prefix: keep www.X != X
+                if (*(com + 1) == '0') {
+                  opt->no_www_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+                  com++;
+                }
+                break;
+              case 'o':
+                opt->no_slash_dedup =
+                    HTS_TRUE; // --keep-double-slashes: keep //
+                if (*(com + 1) == '0') {
+                  opt->no_slash_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+                  com++;
+                }
+                break;
+              case 'y':
+                opt->no_query_dedup =
+                    HTS_TRUE; // --keep-query-order: keep ?b&a order
+                if (*(com + 1) == '0') {
+                  opt->no_query_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+                  com++;
+                }
+                break;
               case 'v':
                 opt->verbosedisplay = HTS_VERBOSE_FULL;
                 if (isdigit((unsigned char) *(com + 1))) {
@@ -1937,6 +1961,66 @@ static int hts_main_internal(int argc, char **argv, httrackp * opt) {
                 }
                 break;
 
+              case 'g': // strip-query: accumulate "[pattern=]keys" entries
+                if ((na + 1 >= argc) || (argv[na + 1][0] == '-')) {
+                  HTS_PANIC_PRINTF("Option strip-query needs a blank space and "
+                                   "[host/pattern=]key1,key2,...");
+                  printf("Example: --strip-query "
+                         "\"www.example.com/*=utm_source,sid\"\n");
+                  htsmain_free();
+                  return -1;
+                } else {
+                  na++;
+                  if (StringNotEmpty(opt->strip_query))
+                    StringCat(opt->strip_query, "\n");
+                  StringCat(opt->strip_query, argv[na]);
+                }
+                break;
+              case 'K': // cookies-file: extra Netscape cookies.txt to preload
+                if ((na + 1 >= argc) || (argv[na + 1][0] == '-')) {
+                  HTS_PANIC_PRINTF(
+                      "Option cookies-file needs a blank space and "
+                      "a cookies.txt path");
+                  printf("Example: --cookies-file \"/home/me/cookies.txt\"\n");
+                  htsmain_free();
+                  return -1;
+                } else {
+                  na++;
+                  if (strlen(argv[na]) >= 1024) {
+                    HTS_PANIC_PRINTF("Cookie file path too long");
+                    htsmain_free();
+                    return -1;
+                  }
+                  StringCopy(opt->cookies_file, argv[na]);
+                }
+                break;
+              case 'G': // pause: randomized inter-file delay MIN[:MAX] seconds
+                if ((na + 1 >= argc) || (argv[na + 1][0] == '-')) {
+                  HTS_PANIC_PRINTF("Option pause needs a blank space and a "
+                                   "delay in seconds (MIN[:MAX])");
+                  printf("Example: --pause 5:10\n");
+                  htsmain_free();
+                  return -1;
+                } else {
+                  double pmin = 0, pmax = 0;
+                  int nf;
+
+                  na++;
+                  nf = sscanf(argv[na], "%lf:%lf", &pmin, &pmax);
+                  if (nf < 2)
+                    pmax = pmin; /* a single value means a fixed delay */
+                  /* positive-form bounds: NaN fails every comparison, so this
+                     rejects it before the undefined (int)(NaN*1000) cast */
+                  if (nf < 1 || !(pmin >= 0 && pmax >= pmin && pmax <= 86400)) {
+                    HTS_PANIC_PRINTF("Invalid --pause range (expected "
+                                     "MIN[:MAX] seconds, 0<=MIN<=MAX<=86400)");
+                    htsmain_free();
+                    return -1;
+                  }
+                  opt->pause_min_ms = (int) (pmin * 1000.0);
+                  opt->pause_max_ms = (int) (pmax * 1000.0);
+                }
+                break;
               case 't':        /* do not change type (ending) of filenames according to the MIME type */
                 opt->no_type_change = 1;
                 if (*(com+1)=='0') { opt->no_type_change = 0; com++; }

src/htshash.c

@@ -106,10 +106,10 @@ static coucal_hashkeys key_adrfil_hashes_generic(void *arg,
   const lien_url*const lien = (const lien_url*) value;
   const char *const adr = !former ? lien->adr : lien->former_adr;
   const char *const fil = !former ? lien->fil : lien->former_fil;
-  const char *const adr_norm = adr != NULL ? 
-    ( hash->normalized  ? jump_normalized_const(adr)
-                        : jump_identification_const(adr) )
-    : NULL;
+  const char *const adr_norm =
+      adr != NULL ? (hash->norm_host ? jump_normalized_const(adr)
+                                     : jump_identification_const(adr))
+                  : NULL;
 
   // copy address
   assertf(adr_norm != NULL);
@@ -117,10 +117,18 @@ static coucal_hashkeys key_adrfil_hashes_generic(void *arg,
 
   // copy link
   assertf(fil != NULL);
-  if (hash->normalized) {
-    fil_normalized(fil, &hash->normfil[strlen(hash->normfil)]);
-  } else {
-    strcpy(&hash->normfil[strlen(hash->normfil)], fil);
+  {
+    /* resolve the per-URL strip keys; strip applies even when urlhack is off */
+    char BIGSTK keybuf[HTS_URLMAXSIZE];
+    const char *const keys = hts_query_strip_keys(hash->strip_query, adr, fil,
+                                                  keybuf, sizeof(keybuf));
+
+    if (hash->norm_slash || hash->norm_query || keys != NULL) {
+      fil_normalized_filtered_ex(fil, &hash->normfil[strlen(hash->normfil)],
+                                 keys, hash->norm_slash, hash->norm_query);
+    } else {
+      strcpy(&hash->normfil[strlen(hash->normfil)], fil);
+    }
   }
 
   // hash
@@ -132,8 +140,7 @@ static int key_adrfil_equals_generic(void *arg,
                                      coucal_key_const a_,
                                      coucal_key_const b_, 
                                      const int former) {
-  hash_struct *const hash = (hash_struct*) arg;
-  const int normalized = hash->normalized;
+  hash_struct *const hash = (hash_struct *) arg;
   const lien_url*const a = (const lien_url*) a_;
   const lien_url*const b = (const lien_url*) b_;
   const char *const a_adr = !former ? a->adr : a->former_adr;
@@ -150,10 +157,10 @@ static int key_adrfil_equals_generic(void *arg,
   assertf(b_fil != NULL);
 
   // skip scheme and authentication to the domain (possibly without www.)
-  ja = normalized
-    ? jump_normalized_const(a_adr) : jump_identification_const(a_adr);
-  jb = normalized
-    ? jump_normalized_const(b_adr) : jump_identification_const(b_adr);
+  ja = hash->norm_host ? jump_normalized_const(a_adr)
+                       : jump_identification_const(a_adr);
+  jb = hash->norm_host ? jump_normalized_const(b_adr)
+                       : jump_identification_const(b_adr);
   assertf(ja != NULL);
   assertf(jb != NULL);
   if (strcasecmp(ja, jb) != 0) {
@@ -161,12 +168,23 @@ static int key_adrfil_equals_generic(void *arg,
   }
 
   // now compare pathes
-  if (normalized) {
-    fil_normalized(a_fil, hash->normfil);
-    fil_normalized(b_fil, hash->normfil2);
-    return strcmp(hash->normfil, hash->normfil2) == 0;
-  } else {
-    return strcmp(a_fil, b_fil) == 0;
+  {
+    char BIGSTK ka[HTS_URLMAXSIZE], kb[HTS_URLMAXSIZE];
+    const char *const keysa =
+        hts_query_strip_keys(hash->strip_query, a_adr, a_fil, ka, sizeof(ka));
+    const char *const keysb =
+        hts_query_strip_keys(hash->strip_query, b_adr, b_fil, kb, sizeof(kb));
+
+    if (hash->norm_slash || hash->norm_query || keysa != NULL ||
+        keysb != NULL) {
+      fil_normalized_filtered_ex(a_fil, hash->normfil, keysa, hash->norm_slash,
+                                 hash->norm_query);
+      fil_normalized_filtered_ex(b_fil, hash->normfil2, keysb, hash->norm_slash,
+                                 hash->norm_query);
+      return strcmp(hash->normfil, hash->normfil2) == 0;
+    } else {
+      return strcmp(a_fil, b_fil) == 0;
+    }
   }
 }
 
@@ -222,11 +240,17 @@ static int key_former_adrfil_equals(void *arg,
   return key_adrfil_equals_generic(arg, a, b, 1);
 }
 
-void hash_init(httrackp *opt, hash_struct * hash, int normalized) {
+void hash_init(httrackp *opt, hash_struct *hash, hts_boolean normalized) {
   hash->sav = coucal_new(0);
   hash->adrfil = coucal_new(0);
   hash->former_adrfil = coucal_new(0);
-  hash->normalized = normalized;
+  /* urlhack is the umbrella; per-feature negatives opt out of each part */
+  hash->norm_host = normalized && !opt->no_www_dedup;
+  hash->norm_slash = normalized && !opt->no_slash_dedup;
+  hash->norm_query = normalized && !opt->no_query_dedup;
+  /* snapshot the query-strip list (not owned; valid for the hash lifetime) */
+  hash->strip_query =
+      StringNotEmpty(opt->strip_query) ? StringBuff(opt->strip_query) : NULL;
 
   hts_set_hash_handler(hash->sav, opt);
   hts_set_hash_handler(hash->adrfil, opt);
@@ -282,6 +306,26 @@ void hash_free(hash_struct *hash) {
   }
 }
 
+/* Test helper: do the two URLs dedupe to the same key under opt's urlhack
+   flags? Exercises the live hash compare (norm_host/slash/query resolution). */
+hts_boolean hash_url_equals(httrackp *opt, const char *adra, const char *fila,
+                            const char *adrb, const char *filb) {
+  hash_struct hash;
+  lien_url la, lb;
+  hts_boolean eq;
+
+  memset(&la, 0, sizeof(la));
+  memset(&lb, 0, sizeof(lb));
+  la.adr = key_duphandler(NULL, adra);
+  la.fil = key_duphandler(NULL, fila);
+  lb.adr = key_duphandler(NULL, adrb);
+  lb.fil = key_duphandler(NULL, filb);
+  hash_init(opt, &hash, opt->urlhack);
+  eq = key_adrfil_equals(&hash, &la, &lb);
+  hash_free(&hash);
+  return eq;
+}
+
 // retour: position ou -1 si non trouvé
 int hash_read(const hash_struct * hash, const char *nom1, const char *nom2,
               hash_struct_type type) {

src/htshash.h

@@ -51,8 +51,12 @@ typedef enum hash_struct_type {
 } hash_struct_type;
 
 // tables de hachage
-void hash_init(httrackp *opt, hash_struct *hash, int normalized);
+void hash_init(httrackp *opt, hash_struct *hash, hts_boolean normalized);
 void hash_free(hash_struct *hash);
+/* Test helper: HTS_TRUE if the two URLs dedupe together under opt's urlhack
+   flags. */
+hts_boolean hash_url_equals(httrackp *opt, const char *adra, const char *fila,
+                            const char *adrb, const char *filb);
 int hash_read(const hash_struct * hash, const char *nom1, const char *nom2,
               hash_struct_type type);
 void hash_write(hash_struct * hash, size_t lpos);

src/htshelp.c

@@ -521,6 +521,7 @@ void help(const char *app, int more) {
   infomsg("  EN maximum mirror time in seconds (60=1 minute, 3600=1 hour)");
   infomsg("  AN maximum transfer rate in bytes/seconds (1000=1KB/s max)");
   infomsg(" %cN maximum number of connections/seconds (*%c10)");
+  infomsg(" %G  random pause of MIN[:MAX] seconds between files (e.g. %G5:10)");
   infomsg
     ("  GN pause transfer if N bytes reached, and wait until lock file is deleted");
   infomsg("");
@@ -563,6 +564,7 @@ void help(const char *app, int more) {
     (" %x  do not include any password for external password protected websites (%x0 include)");
   infomsg
     (" %q *include query string for local files (useless, for information purpose only) (%q0 don't include)");
+  infomsg(" %g  strip query keys for dedup ([host/pattern=]key1,key2,...)");
   infomsg
     ("  o *generate output html file in case of error (404..) (o0 don't generate)");
   infomsg("  X *purge old files after update (X0 keep delete)");
@@ -571,6 +573,7 @@ void help(const char *app, int more) {
   infomsg("");
   infomsg("Spider options:");
   infomsg("  bN accept cookies in cookies.txt (0=do not accept,* 1=accept)");
+  infomsg(" %K  load extra cookies from a Netscape cookies.txt");
   infomsg
     ("  u  check document type if unknown (cgi,asp..) (u0 don't check, * u1 check but /, u2 check always)");
   infomsg
@@ -587,6 +590,9 @@ void help(const char *app, int more) {
     (" %s  update hacks: various hacks to limit re-transfers when updating (identical size, bogus response..)");
   infomsg
     (" %u  url hacks: various hacks to limit duplicate URLs (strip //, www.foo.com==foo.com..)");
+  infomsg("     opt out of one url-hack part: --keep-www-prefix "
+          "(www.foo.com<>foo.com), --keep-double-slashes (//), "
+          "--keep-query-order (?b&a)");
   infomsg
     (" %A  assume that a type (cgi,asp..) is always linked with a mime type (-%A php3,cgi=text/html;dat,bin=application/x-zip)");
   infomsg("     shortcut: '--assume standard' is equivalent to -%A "

src/htslib.c

@@ -3610,7 +3610,10 @@ static int sortNormFnc(const void *a_, const void *b_) {
   return strcmp(*a + 1, *b + 1);
 }
 
-HTSEXT_API char *fil_normalized(const char *source, char *dest) {
+/* Path normalizer core: optionally collapse redundant '//' (DO_SLASH) and/or
+   sort query arguments (DO_QUERY) so equivalent URLs dedupe. */
+static char *fil_normalized_ex(const char *source, char *dest, int do_slash,
+                               int do_query) {
   char lastc = 0;
   int gotquery = 0;
   int ampargs = 0;
@@ -3620,8 +3623,8 @@ HTSEXT_API char *fil_normalized(const char *source, char *dest) {
   for(i = j = 0; source[i] != '\0'; i++) {
     if (!gotquery && source[i] == '?')
       gotquery = ampargs = 1;
-    if ((!gotquery && lastc == '/' && source[i] == '/') // foo//bar -> foo/bar
-      ) {
+    if (do_slash && !gotquery && lastc == '/' && source[i] == '/') {
+      // foo//bar -> foo/bar
     } else {
       if (gotquery && source[i] == '&') {
         ampargs++;
@@ -3633,7 +3636,7 @@ HTSEXT_API char *fil_normalized(const char *source, char *dest) {
   dest[j++] = '\0';
 
   /* Sort arguments (&foo=1&bar=2 == &bar=2&foo=1) */
-  if (ampargs > 1) {
+  if (do_query && ampargs > 1) {
     char **amps = malloct(ampargs * sizeof(char *));
     char *copyBuff = NULL;
     size_t qLen = 0;
@@ -3681,6 +3684,153 @@ HTSEXT_API char *fil_normalized(const char *source, char *dest) {
   return dest;
 }
 
+HTSEXT_API char *fil_normalized(const char *source, char *dest) {
+  return fil_normalized_ex(source, dest, 1, 1);
+}
+
+/* Is query key ARG[0..keylen) in the comma-separated STRIP list? "*" = all;
+   case-sensitive, space-trimmed tokens. */
+static int hts_query_key_stripped(const char *arg, size_t keylen,
+                                  const char *strip) {
+  const char *p = strip;
+
+  while (*p != '\0') {
+    const char *start = p;
+    size_t toklen;
+
+    while (*p != '\0' && *p != ',')
+      p++;
+    toklen = (size_t) (p - start);
+    while (toklen > 0 && *start == ' ') {
+      start++;
+      toklen--;
+    }
+    while (toklen > 0 && start[toklen - 1] == ' ')
+      toklen--;
+    if (toklen == 1 && start[0] == '*')
+      return 1;
+    if (toklen == keylen && strncmp(start, arg, keylen) == 0)
+      return 1;
+    if (*p == ',')
+      p++;
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
+/* see htscore.h */
+char *fil_normalized_filtered_ex(const char *source, char *dest,
+                                 const char *strip, int do_slash,
+                                 int do_query) {
+  const char *query;
+  char BIGSTK tmp[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2];
+  htsbuff cb;
+  int wrote = 0;
+
+  /* No strip list, or no query: plain normalization. */
+  if (strip == NULL || *strip == '\0' ||
+      (query = strchr(source, '?')) == NULL) {
+    return fil_normalized_ex(source, dest, do_slash, do_query);
+  }
+
+  /* Copy the path, re-emit kept query args, let fil_normalized() sort. Walk
+     every field incl. empty/trailing ("a&","?&&") so the result is a fixpoint
+     (the read re-normalizes it; a dropped empty arg would miss dedup). */
+  cb = htsbuff_ptr(tmp, sizeof(tmp));
+  htsbuff_catn(&cb, source, (size_t) (query - source));
+  for (query++;;) {
+    const char *const arg = query;
+    const char *eq = NULL;
+    size_t keylen, arglen;
+
+    while (*query != '\0' && *query != '&') {
+      if (eq == NULL && *query == '=')
+        eq = query;
+      query++;
+    }
+    arglen = (size_t) (query - arg);
+    keylen = eq != NULL ? (size_t) (eq - arg) : arglen;
+    if (!hts_query_key_stripped(arg, keylen, strip)) {
+      htsbuff_catc(&cb, wrote ? '&' : '?');
+      htsbuff_catn(&cb, arg, arglen);
+      wrote = 1;
+    }
+    if (*query == '\0')
+      break;
+    query++;
+  }
+  return fil_normalized_ex(tmp, dest, do_slash, do_query);
+}
+
+/* see htscore.h */
+char *fil_normalized_filtered(const char *source, char *dest,
+                              const char *strip) {
+  return fil_normalized_filtered_ex(source, dest, strip, 1, 1);
+}
+
+/* see htscore.h */
+const char *hts_query_strip_keys(const char *rules, const char *adr,
+                                 const char *fil, char *dest, size_t destsize) {
+  const char *p, *q;
+  const char *result = NULL;
+  char BIGSTK url[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2];
+
+  if (rules == NULL || *rules == '\0' || destsize == 0)
+    return NULL;
+
+  /* Match string = normalized host/path, query removed. jump_normalized_const
+     collapses www+scheme/auth so read and write (double-normalized) agree;
+     query excluded keeps the decision on host/path only. */
+  url[0] = '\0';
+  strcatbuff(url, jump_normalized_const(adr));
+  if (fil[0] != '/')
+    strcatbuff(url, "/");
+  q = strchr(fil, '?');
+  if (q != NULL)
+    strncatbuff(url, fil, (int) (q - fil));
+  else
+    strcatbuff(url, fil);
+
+  /* Walk the '\n' entries; last match wins (like the +/- filter eval). Each is
+     "pattern=keys"; no '=' is the bare form, pattern "*". */
+  for (p = rules; *p != '\0';) {
+    const char *const line = p;
+    const char *eol, *eq, *keys;
+    char BIGSTK pat[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2];
+
+    while (*p != '\0' && *p != '\n')
+      p++;
+    eol = p;
+    if (*p == '\n')
+      p++;
+    if (eol == line)
+      continue;
+    eq = memchr(line, '=', (size_t) (eol - line));
+    if (eq != NULL) {
+      size_t patlen = (size_t) (eq - line);
+
+      if (patlen >= sizeof(pat))
+        patlen = sizeof(pat) - 1;
+      memcpy(pat, line, patlen);
+      pat[patlen] = '\0';
+      keys = eq + 1;
+    } else {
+      pat[0] = '*';
+      pat[1] = '\0';
+      keys = line;
+    }
+    if (strjoker(url, pat, NULL, NULL) != NULL) {
+      size_t klen = (size_t) (eol - keys);
+
+      if (klen >= destsize)
+        klen = destsize - 1;
+      memcpy(dest, keys, klen);
+      dest[klen] = '\0';
+      result = dest;
+    }
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
 #define endwith(a) ( (len >= (sizeof(a)-1)) ? ( strncmp(dest, a+len-(sizeof(a)-1), sizeof(a)-1) == 0 ) : 0 );
 HTSEXT_API char *adr_normalized_sized(const char *source, char *dest,
                                       size_t destsize) {
@@ -5890,7 +6040,14 @@ HTSEXT_API httrackp *hts_create_opt(void) {
   opt->verbosedisplay = HTS_VERBOSE_NONE; // no text animation
   opt->sizehack = HTS_FALSE;
   opt->urlhack = HTS_TRUE;
+  opt->no_www_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+  opt->no_slash_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+  opt->no_query_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
   StringCopy(opt->footer, HTS_DEFAULT_FOOTER);
+  StringCopy(opt->strip_query, "");
+  StringCopy(opt->cookies_file, "");
+  opt->pause_min_ms = 0;
+  opt->pause_max_ms = 0;
   opt->ftp_proxy = HTS_TRUE;
   opt->convert_utf8 = HTS_TRUE;
   StringCopy(opt->filelist, "");
@@ -6035,6 +6192,8 @@ HTSEXT_API void hts_free_opt(httrackp * opt) {
     StringFree(opt->urllist);
     StringFree(opt->footer);
     StringFree(opt->mod_blacklist);
+    StringFree(opt->strip_query);
+    StringFree(opt->cookies_file);
 
     StringFree(opt->path_html);
     StringFree(opt->path_html_utf8);

src/htsname.c

@@ -198,6 +198,13 @@ int url_savename(lien_adrfilsave *const afs,
   // copy of fil, used for lookups (see urlhack)
   const char *normadr = adr;
   const char *normfil = fil_complete;
+  /* query keys to strip for this URL (NULL = none); decoupled from urlhack */
+  char BIGSTK stripkeys[HTS_URLMAXSIZE];
+  const char *const strip =
+      StringNotEmpty(opt->strip_query)
+          ? hts_query_strip_keys(StringBuff(opt->strip_query), adr,
+                                 fil_complete, stripkeys, sizeof(stripkeys))
+          : NULL;
   const char *const print_adr = jump_protocol_const(adr);
   const char *start_pos = NULL, *nom_pos = NULL, *dot_pos = NULL;     // Position nom et point
 
@@ -230,9 +237,13 @@ int url_savename(lien_adrfilsave *const afs,
   // www-42.foo.com -> foo.com
   // foo.com/bar//foobar -> foo.com/bar/foobar
   if (opt->urlhack) {
-    // copy of adr (without protocol), used for lookups (see urlhack)
-    normadr = adr_normalized_sized(adr, normadr_, sizeof(normadr_));
-    normfil = fil_normalized(fil_complete, normfil_);
+    // dedup-lookup key; honor the per-feature negatives like htshash.c so
+    // distinct URLs keep distinct savenames (else keep normadr = adr)
+    if (!opt->no_www_dedup)
+      normadr = adr_normalized_sized(adr, normadr_, sizeof(normadr_));
+    normfil =
+        fil_normalized_filtered_ex(fil_complete, normfil_, strip,
+                                   !opt->no_slash_dedup, !opt->no_query_dedup);
   } else {
     if (link_has_authority(adr_complete)) {     // https or other protocols : in "http/" subfolder
       char *pos = strchr(adr_complete, ':');
@@ -245,6 +256,11 @@ int url_savename(lien_adrfilsave *const afs,
         normadr = normadr_;
       }
     }
+    // strip still applies with urlhack off (host left untouched); no // or
+    // query-sort here, to match the hash key (norm_slash/norm_query are 0 when
+    // urlhack is off) so a URL is looked up under the key it was stored with
+    if (strip != NULL)
+      normfil = fil_normalized_filtered_ex(fil_complete, normfil_, strip, 0, 0);
   }
 
   // à afficher sans ftp://

src/htsopt.h

@@ -529,6 +529,16 @@ struct httrackp {
   htslibhandles libHandles; /**< loaded external module handles */
   //
   htsoptstate state; /**< embedded live engine state */
+  String strip_query; /**< query keys to drop when deduping URLs (-strip-query);
+                           appended at the tail to keep field offsets stable */
+  hts_boolean
+      no_www_dedup; /**< with urlhack, keep www.host distinct from host */
+  hts_boolean no_slash_dedup; /**< with urlhack, keep redundant // in paths */
+  hts_boolean no_query_dedup; /**< with urlhack, keep query-argument order */
+  String cookies_file;        /**< extra Netscape cookies.txt to preload
+                                 (--cookies-file) */
+  int pause_min_ms; /**< inter-file pause lower bound, ms (0=off, #185) */
+  int pause_max_ms; /**< inter-file pause upper bound, ms */
 };
 
 /* Running statistics for a mirror. */

src/htsparse.c

@@ -3602,16 +3602,28 @@ int hts_mirror_check_moved(htsmoduleStruct * str,
              ident_url_relatif(mov_url, urladr(), urlfil(), moved)) >= 0) {
           int set_prio_to = 0;  // pas de priotité fixéd par wizard
 
-          // check whether URLHack is harmless or not
-          if (opt->urlhack) {
+          // check whether URLHack is harmless or not (per the effective
+          // sub-flags)
+          if (opt->urlhack && (!opt->no_www_dedup || !opt->no_slash_dedup ||
+                               !opt->no_query_dedup)) {
+            const int norm_host = !opt->no_www_dedup;
+            const int norm_slash = !opt->no_slash_dedup;
+            const int norm_query = !opt->no_query_dedup;
             char BIGSTK n_adr[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2], n_fil[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2];
             char BIGSTK pn_adr[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2], pn_fil[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2];
 
-            n_adr[0] = n_fil[0] = '\0';
-            (void) adr_normalized_sized(moved->adr, n_adr, sizeof(n_adr));
-            (void) fil_normalized(moved->fil, n_fil);
-            (void) adr_normalized_sized(urladr(), pn_adr, sizeof(pn_adr));
-            (void) fil_normalized(urlfil(), pn_fil);
+            strlcpybuff(n_adr,
+                        norm_host ? jump_normalized_const(moved->adr)
+                                  : jump_identification_const(moved->adr),
+                        sizeof(n_adr));
+            strlcpybuff(pn_adr,
+                        norm_host ? jump_normalized_const(urladr())
+                                  : jump_identification_const(urladr()),
+                        sizeof(pn_adr));
+            fil_normalized_filtered_ex(moved->fil, n_fil, NULL, norm_slash,
+                                       norm_query);
+            fil_normalized_filtered_ex(urlfil(), pn_fil, NULL, norm_slash,
+                                       norm_query);
             if (strcasecmp(n_adr, pn_adr) == 0
                 && strcasecmp(n_fil, pn_fil) == 0) {
               hts_log_print(opt, LOG_WARNING,

src/htsselftest.c

@@ -899,12 +899,71 @@ static int st_copyopt(httrackp *opt, int argc, char **argv) {
   if (to->parseall != HTS_TRUE)
     err = 1;
 
+  /* String field: a non-empty source deep-copies across, an empty source
+     leaves the target intact (StringNotEmpty guard). Covers the exported
+     copy_htsopt String path that no crawl test reaches. */
+  StringCopy(from->cookies_file, "/tmp/jar.txt");
+  StringCopy(to->cookies_file, "");
+  copy_htsopt(from, to);
+  if (strcmp(StringBuff(to->cookies_file), "/tmp/jar.txt") != 0)
+    err = 1;
+  StringCopy(from->cookies_file, "");
+  copy_htsopt(from, to);
+  if (strcmp(StringBuff(to->cookies_file), "/tmp/jar.txt") != 0)
+    err = 1;
+
+  /* #185 pause pair: copied when enabled (max>0), the 0 sentinel skips */
+  from->pause_min_ms = 5000;
+  from->pause_max_ms = 10000;
+  to->pause_min_ms = to->pause_max_ms = 0;
+  copy_htsopt(from, to);
+  if (to->pause_min_ms != 5000 || to->pause_max_ms != 10000)
+    err = 1;
+  from->pause_min_ms = from->pause_max_ms = 0;
+  copy_htsopt(from, to);
+  if (to->pause_min_ms != 5000 || to->pause_max_ms != 10000)
+    err = 1;
+
   hts_free_opt(from);
   hts_free_opt(to);
   printf("copy-htsopt: %s\n", err ? "FAIL" : "OK");
   return err;
 }
 
+static int st_pause(httrackp *opt, int argc, char **argv) {
+  int err = 0, i, seen_low = 0, seen_high = 0;
+
+  (void) opt;
+  (void) argc;
+  (void) argv;
+  /* Consecutive-ms seeds (production shape: launch timestamps a few ms apart)
+     must stay in range and spread, not collapse to a bound -- worst case for a
+     weak low-bit mixer. */
+  for (i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
+    int t = hts_pause_target_ms((TStamp) (1719500000000LL + i), 5000, 10000);
+
+    if (t < 5000 || t > 10000)
+      err = 1;
+    seen_low |= (t < 6000);
+    seen_high |= (t > 9000);
+  }
+  if (!seen_low || !seen_high)
+    err = 1;
+  if (hts_pause_target_ms(12345, 8000, 8000) != 8000) /* equal bounds = fixed */
+    err = 1;
+  /* deterministic: a seed yields the same target even after an intervening call
+     with another seed (no global PRNG state to perturb it) */
+  {
+    int a = hts_pause_target_ms(99, 5000, 10000);
+
+    (void) hts_pause_target_ms(54321, 5000, 10000);
+    if (hts_pause_target_ms(99, 5000, 10000) != a)
+      err = 1;
+  }
+  printf("pause: %s\n", err ? "FAIL" : "OK");
+  return err;
+}
+
 static int st_relative(httrackp *opt, int argc, char **argv) {
   char s[HTS_URLMAXSIZE * 2];
 
@@ -1052,6 +1111,173 @@ static int st_cookies(httrackp *opt, int argc, char **argv) {
   return err;
 }
 
+/* --strip-query: resolver + fil_normalized_filtered, end to end. */
+static int st_stripquery(httrackp *opt, int argc, char **argv) {
+  char dest[1024], keys[256], ref[1024];
+  const char *k;
+
+  (void) opt;
+  (void) argc;
+  (void) argv;
+
+  /* empty rules == plain fil_normalized */
+  assertf(hts_query_strip_keys(NULL, "h.com", "/p?a=1", keys, sizeof(keys)) ==
+          NULL);
+  assertf(hts_query_strip_keys("", "h.com", "/p?a=1", keys, sizeof(keys)) ==
+          NULL);
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?b=2&a=1", dest, NULL),
+                 fil_normalized("/p?b=2&a=1", ref)) == 0);
+
+  /* bare form (*=keys): strip the key everywhere, keep+sort the rest */
+  k = hts_query_strip_keys("sid", "any.com", "/p?b=2&sid=x&a=1", keys,
+                           sizeof(keys));
+  assertf(k != NULL && strcmp(k, "sid") == 0);
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?b=2&sid=x&a=1", dest, k),
+                 "/p?a=1&b=2") == 0);
+
+  /* reordered variant + an extra stripped key == the clean URL */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?sid=y&a=1&b=2", dest, "sid"),
+                 fil_normalized("/p?a=1&b=2", ref)) == 0);
+
+  /* host pattern matches only that host, incl. its www-normalized forms */
+  assertf(hts_query_strip_keys("ex.com/*=utm", "other.com", "/p?utm=1", keys,
+                               sizeof(keys)) == NULL);
+  assertf(hts_query_strip_keys("ex.com/*=utm", "ex.com", "/p?utm=1", keys,
+                               sizeof(keys)) != NULL);
+  assertf(hts_query_strip_keys("ex.com/*=utm", "www.ex.com", "/p?utm=1", keys,
+                               sizeof(keys)) != NULL);
+  assertf(hts_query_strip_keys("ex.com/*=utm", "http://www-3.ex.com",
+                               "/p?utm=1", keys, sizeof(keys)) != NULL);
+
+  /* last match wins, wholesale: host rule overrides global, no union */
+  k = hts_query_strip_keys("*=sid\nex.com/*=utm", "ex.com",
+                           "/p?sid=1&utm=2&a=3", keys, sizeof(keys));
+  assertf(k != NULL && strcmp(k, "utm") == 0);
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?sid=1&utm=2&a=3", dest, k),
+                 "/p?a=3&sid=1") == 0);
+  k = hts_query_strip_keys("*=sid\nex.com/*=utm", "z.com", "/p?sid=1&a=3", keys,
+                           sizeof(keys));
+  assertf(k != NULL && strcmp(k, "sid") == 0);
+
+  /* whole-key match, not prefix: "utm" must not strip utm_source */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?utm_source=x&a=1", dest, "utm"),
+                 "/p?a=1&utm_source=x") == 0);
+
+  /* "*" drops every param; a fully-stripped single-arg query loses its '?' */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?a=1&b=2", dest, "*"), "/p") == 0);
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?utm=1", dest, "utm"), "/p") == 0);
+
+  /* degenerate forms a=, b, c== (key 'c'); strip c keeps a= and b */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?a=&b&c==", dest, "c"),
+                 "/p?a=&b") == 0);
+  /* short key must not strip a longer one: 'c' must not touch 'cc' */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?cc=1&c=2", dest, "c"),
+                 "/p?cc=1") == 0);
+
+  /* repeated key: every occurrence is stripped, not just the first */
+  assertf(
+      strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?foo=42&bar=13&foo=43", dest, "foo"),
+             "/p?bar=13") == 0);
+  /* repeated key mixing missing/empty values */
+  assertf(
+      strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?foo&bar=13&foo=42&foo=", dest, "foo"),
+             "/p?bar=13") == 0);
+  /* repeated key kept (no match): all occurrences retained, then sorted */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?foo=42&bar=13&foo=43", dest, "z"),
+                 "/p?bar=13&foo=42&foo=43") == 0);
+
+  /* value containing '=': the key is only the part before the first '='. Strip
+     'foo' drops "foo=42=17" whole; the '=' in the value is not a delimiter. */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?foo=42=17&bar=", dest, "foo"),
+                 "/p?bar=") == 0);
+  /* keeping it preserves the embedded '=' verbatim */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?foo=42=17&bar=", dest, "bar"),
+                 "/p?foo=42=17") == 0);
+  /* a value segment is not a key: stripping "42" must not touch foo=42=17 */
+  assertf(strcmp(fil_normalized_filtered("/p?foo=42=17", dest, "42"),
+                 "/p?foo=42=17") == 0);
+
+  /* Idempotency: the read path re-normalizes an already-normalized fil, so the
+     result must be a fixpoint or dedup misses (catches a dropped empty/trailing
+     arg like "?&&", "a&"). */
+  {
+    static const char *const qs[] = {"/p?a=&b&c==",
+                                     "/p?a&&b",
+                                     "/p?&a",
+                                     "/p?a&",
+                                     "/p?",
+                                     "/p?=v",
+                                     "/p?&&",
+                                     "/p?b=2&a=1",
+                                     "/p?utm=x&",
+                                     "/p?&utm=x",
+                                     "/p?foo=42&bar=13&foo=43",
+                                     "/p?foo&bar=13&foo=42&foo=",
+                                     "/p?foo=42=17&bar="};
+    static const char *const strips[] = {NULL, "z", "utm", "*", "a", "foo"};
+    char once[1024], twice[1024];
+    size_t i, j;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < sizeof(qs) / sizeof(qs[0]); i++) {
+      for (j = 0; j < sizeof(strips) / sizeof(strips[0]); j++) {
+        fil_normalized_filtered(qs[i], once, strips[j]);
+        fil_normalized_filtered(once, twice, strips[j]);
+        assertf(strcmp(once, twice) == 0);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  printf("strip-query self-test OK\n");
+  return 0;
+}
+
+/* -%u url-hack split (#271): each sub-flag must toggle independently. */
+static int st_urlhack(httrackp *opt, int argc, char **argv) {
+  (void) argc;
+  (void) argv;
+#define EQ(aa, fa, ab, fb) hash_url_equals(opt, aa, fa, ab, fb)
+  /* urlhack on, no opt-outs: www, // and query order all collapse */
+  opt->urlhack = HTS_TRUE;
+  opt->no_www_dedup = opt->no_slash_dedup = opt->no_query_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+  assertf(EQ("www.foo.com", "/a", "foo.com", "/a"));
+  assertf(EQ("foo.com", "/a//b", "foo.com", "/a/b"));
+  assertf(EQ("foo.com", "/p?b=2&a=1", "foo.com", "/p?a=1&b=2"));
+
+  /* keep-www-prefix: host off; // and query still collapse */
+  opt->no_www_dedup = HTS_TRUE;
+  assertf(!EQ("www.foo.com", "/a", "foo.com", "/a"));
+  assertf(EQ("foo.com", "/a//b", "foo.com", "/a/b"));
+  assertf(EQ("foo.com", "/p?b=2&a=1", "foo.com", "/p?a=1&b=2"));
+  opt->no_www_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+
+  /* keep-double-slashes: // significant; www, query order still collapse */
+  opt->no_slash_dedup = HTS_TRUE;
+  assertf(!EQ("foo.com", "/a//b", "foo.com", "/a/b"));
+  assertf(EQ("www.foo.com", "/a", "foo.com", "/a"));
+  assertf(EQ("foo.com", "/p?b=2&a=1", "foo.com", "/p?a=1&b=2"));
+  opt->no_slash_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+
+  /* keep-query-order: query order significant; www and // still collapse */
+  opt->no_query_dedup = HTS_TRUE;
+  assertf(!EQ("foo.com", "/p?b=2&a=1", "foo.com", "/p?a=1&b=2"));
+  assertf(EQ("www.foo.com", "/a", "foo.com", "/a"));
+  assertf(EQ("foo.com", "/a//b", "foo.com", "/a/b"));
+  opt->no_query_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+
+  /* all opt-outs == urlhack off entirely */
+  opt->no_www_dedup = opt->no_slash_dedup = opt->no_query_dedup = HTS_TRUE;
+  assertf(!EQ("www.foo.com", "/a", "foo.com", "/a"));
+  assertf(!EQ("foo.com", "/a//b", "foo.com", "/a/b"));
+  assertf(!EQ("foo.com", "/p?b=2&a=1", "foo.com", "/p?a=1&b=2"));
+  opt->urlhack = HTS_FALSE;
+  opt->no_www_dedup = opt->no_slash_dedup = opt->no_query_dedup = HTS_FALSE;
+  assertf(!EQ("www.foo.com", "/a", "foo.com", "/a"));
+  assertf(!EQ("foo.com", "/a//b", "foo.com", "/a/b"));
+#undef EQ
+  printf("urlhack self-test OK\n");
+  return 0;
+}
+
 /* ------------------------------------------------------------ */
 /* Registry: name -> handler, with a usage hint and a one-line description. */
 /* ------------------------------------------------------------ */
@@ -1068,6 +1294,10 @@ static const struct selftest_entry {
      "size-aware filter verdict (negative size = unknown/scan time)",
      st_filtersize},
     {"simplify", "<path>", "collapse ./ and ../ in a path", st_simplify},
+    {"stripquery", "", "--strip-query pattern/key stripping self-test",
+     st_stripquery},
+    {"urlhack", "", "-%u url-hack sub-flag (www/slash/query) self-test",
+     st_urlhack},
     {"mime", "<filename>", "MIME type for a filename", st_mime},
     {"charset", "<charset> <string>",
      "convert a string to UTF-8 from a charset", st_charset},
@@ -1080,6 +1310,7 @@ static const struct selftest_entry {
     {"strsafe", "[overflow|overflow-buff [str]]", "bounded string-op self-test",
      st_strsafe},
     {"copyopt", "", "copy_htsopt option-copy self-test", st_copyopt},
+    {"pause", "", "randomized inter-file pause target self-test", st_pause},
     {"relative", "<link> <curr-file>", "relative link between two paths",
      st_relative},
     {"resolve", "<link> <adr> <fil>", "resolve a link against an origin",

tests/01_engine-cmdline.test

@@ -90,4 +90,16 @@ refused "dangling-quote argument not refused cleanly"
 run_only "$tmp/q-lone" '"'
 refused "lone-quote argument not refused cleanly"
 
+# --pause (#185): valid MIN[:MAX] accepted; malformed, reversed, over-range and
+# non-finite values refused cleanly. NaN defeats naive `<`/`>` checks (it
+# compares false to everything), so it must not slip through to the int cast.
+run "$tmp/pause-ok" --pause 0.2:0.4
+accepted "$tmp/pause-ok" "#185: valid --pause range rejected"
+run "$tmp/pause-fix" --pause 0.2
+accepted "$tmp/pause-fix" "#185: valid fixed --pause rejected"
+for bad in nan nan:5 5:nan inf 10:5 99999; do
+    run "$tmp/pause-bad" --pause "$bad"
+    refused "#185: invalid --pause '$bad' not refused cleanly"
+done
+
 exit 0

tests/01_engine-pause.test

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# --pause (#185): the inter-file pause target must stay in [min,max] and spread
+# across it (a per-call rand() would collapse it toward min). Driven by the
+# in-process 'httrack -#test=pause' test. POSIX-portable ($(BASH) is /bin/sh on macOS).
+
+set -eu
+
+# 'run' is an ignored placeholder argument.
+out=$(httrack -#test=pause run)
+
+test "$out" = "pause: OK" || {
+    echo "expected 'pause: OK', got: $out" >&2
+    exit 1
+}

tests/01_engine-stripquery.test

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# --strip-query: pattern-scoped query-key stripping for dedup. All assertions
+# live in the engine self-test (hts_query_strip_keys + fil_normalized_filtered).
+httrack -O /dev/null -#test=stripquery | grep -q "strip-query self-test OK"

tests/01_engine-urlhack.test

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# -%u url-hack split (#271): www / // / query-order dedup toggle independently.
+# All assertions live in the engine self-test (hash compare flag resolution).
+httrack -O /dev/null -#test=urlhack run | grep -q "urlhack self-test OK"

tests/26_local-strip-query.test

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# End-to-end --strip-query (#112): two links to one resource differing only by
+# ?utm_source dedup to a single saved file (2 files written: index + resource);
+# the control crawl without the option keeps both variants (3 files). Locks the
+# CLI->opt->hash plumbing the engine self-test can't reach.
+
+set -e
+
+: "${top_srcdir:=..}"
+
+# stripped: the two ?utm_source variants collapse to one resource
+bash "$top_srcdir/tests/local-crawl.sh" --errors 0 --files 2 \
+    httrack 'BASEURL/stripquery/index.html' --strip-query 'utm_source'
+
+# control: no stripping -> both query-named variants are saved
+bash "$top_srcdir/tests/local-crawl.sh" --errors 0 --files 3 \
+    httrack 'BASEURL/stripquery/index.html'
+
+# strip still applies with url-hack off (-%u0): exercises the urlhack-off
+# savename branch, which must normalize the dedup key the same way the hash does
+bash "$top_srcdir/tests/local-crawl.sh" --errors 0 --files 2 \
+    httrack 'BASEURL/stripquery/index.html' -%u0 --strip-query 'utm_source'

tests/27_local-cookies-file.test

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# End-to-end --cookies-file (#215): /gated/secret.php needs a cookie no page
+# ever Set-Cookies, so it is reachable only when the option preloads it from a
+# Netscape cookies.txt. Locks the CLI->opt->cookie_load->wire plumbing.
+
+set -e
+
+: "${top_srcdir:=..}"
+
+# preloaded cookie -> secret page is served. -o0 means a 500 leaves no file, so
+# --found/--files only hold when the secret is genuinely fetched (200).
+bash "$top_srcdir/tests/local-crawl.sh" --cookie 'session=opensesame' \
+    --errors 0 --files 2 \
+    --found 'gated/index.html' --found 'gated/secret.html' \
+    httrack 'BASEURL/gated/index.php' -o0
+
+# control: without the cookie the secret 500s; -o0 suppresses the error page so
+# its absence is real (error + missing file)
+bash "$top_srcdir/tests/local-crawl.sh" --errors 1 \
+    --found 'gated/index.html' --not-found 'gated/secret.html' \
+    httrack 'BASEURL/gated/index.php' -o0

tests/28_local-pause.test

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# --pause (#185): a fixed inter-file delay must slow a multi-file crawl. Measure
+# the same crawl with and without --pause and compare: the harness overhead
+# cancels, leaving only the pause. Integer seconds keep it portable (BSD date
+# has no %N); a lower bound is not timing-flaky since a pause only adds time.
+
+set -e
+
+: "${top_srcdir:=..}"
+
+run() { # echoes the wall-clock seconds of one crawl
+    local t0 t1
+    t0=$(date +%s)
+    bash "$top_srcdir/tests/local-crawl.sh" --errors 0 \
+        httrack 'BASEURL/types/index.html' -c1 "$@" >/dev/null 2>&1
+    t1=$(date +%s)
+    echo $((t1 - t0))
+}
+
+base=$(run)
+paused=$(run --pause 0.5)
+delta=$((paused - base))
+
+echo "crawl: ${base}s, with --pause 0.5: ${paused}s (delta ${delta}s)"
+if [ "$delta" -lt 2 ]; then
+    echo "FAIL: --pause did not delay the crawl (delta ${delta}s)" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi

tests/Makefile.am

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST = $(TESTS) crawl-test.sh run-all-tests.sh check-network.sh \
 	proxy-https-server.py \
 	local-crawl.sh local-server.py server.crt server.key \
 	server-root/simple/basic.html server-root/simple/link.html \
+	server-root/stripquery/index.html server-root/stripquery/a.html \
 	fixtures/cache-golden/hts-cache/new.zip
 
 TESTS_ENVIRONMENT =
@@ -40,12 +41,15 @@ TESTS = \
 	01_engine-idna.test \
 	01_engine-mime.test \
 	01_engine-parse.test \
+	01_engine-pause.test \
 	01_engine-rcfile.test \
 	01_engine-relative.test \
 	01_engine-savename.test \
 	01_engine-selftest-dispatch.test \
 	01_engine-simplify.test \
+	01_engine-stripquery.test \
 	01_engine-strsafe.test \
+	01_engine-urlhack.test \
 	02_manpage-regen.test \
 	02_update-cache.test \
 	10_crawl-simple.test \
@@ -68,6 +72,9 @@ TESTS = \
 	22_local-broken-size.test \
 	23_local-errpage.test \
 	24_local-resume-overlap.test \
-	25_local-mime-exclude.test
+	25_local-mime-exclude.test \
+	26_local-strip-query.test \
+	27_local-cookies-file.test \
+	28_local-pause.test
 
 CLEANFILES = check-network_sh.cache

tests/local-crawl.sh

@@ -12,11 +12,14 @@
 # the mirror directory name.
 #
 # Usage:
-#   bash local-crawl.sh [--tls] [--root DIR] \
+#   bash local-crawl.sh [--tls] [--root DIR] [--cookie NAME=VALUE ...] \
 #       --errors N --files N --found PATH ... --directory PATH ... \
 #       --log-found REGEX ... --log-not-found REGEX ... \
 #       httrack BASEURL/some/path [httrack-args...]
 # --log-found/--log-not-found grep (ERE) the crawl's hts-log.txt.
+# --cookie writes a Netscape cookies.txt (scoped to the discovered host:port,
+# which the ephemeral port forces into the cookie domain) and passes it to
+# httrack via --cookies-file, to exercise preloaded cookies.
 
 set -u
 
@@ -85,6 +88,7 @@ tmpdir=$(mktemp -d "${tmptopdir}/httrack_local.XXXXXX") || die "could not create
 
 # --- parse leading control flags --------------------------------------------
 declare -a audit=()
+declare -a cookies=()
 scheme=http
 pos=0
 args=("$@")
@@ -105,6 +109,10 @@ while test "$pos" -lt "$nargs"; do
         pos=$((pos + 1))
         root="${args[$pos]}"
         ;;
+    --cookie)
+        pos=$((pos + 1))
+        cookies+=("${args[$pos]}")
+        ;;
     --errors | --files)
         audit+=("${args[$pos]}" "${args[$((pos + 1))]}")
         pos=$((pos + 1))
@@ -158,6 +166,17 @@ while test "$pos" -lt "$nargs"; do
     pos=$((pos + 1))
 done
 
+# --- materialize any --cookie entries into a cookies.txt ---------------------
+if test "${#cookies[@]}" -gt 0; then
+    jar="${tmpdir}/cookies.txt"
+    : >"$jar"
+    for spec in "${cookies[@]}"; do
+        printf '127.0.0.1:%s\tTRUE\t/\tFALSE\t1999999999\t%s\t%s\n' \
+            "$port" "${spec%%=*}" "${spec#*=}" >>"$jar"
+    done
+    hts+=(--cookies-file "$jar")
+fi
+
 # --- run httrack -------------------------------------------------------------
 which httrack >/dev/null || die "could not find httrack"
 ver=$(httrack -O /dev/null --version | sed -e 's/HTTrack version //')

tests/local-server.py

@@ -110,6 +110,19 @@ class Handler(SimpleHTTPRequestHandler):
             return self.fail_cookie("badger")
         self.send_html("\tThis is a test.")
 
+    # --cookies-file (#215): the secret page needs a cookie no page ever sets,
+    # so it is reachable only when --cookies-file preloads it.
+    GATE_COOKIE = ("session", "opensesame")
+
+    def route_gated_index(self):
+        self.send_html('\tThis is a <a href="secret.php">link</a>')
+
+    def route_gated_secret(self):
+        name, value = self.GATE_COOKIE
+        if self.request_cookies().get(name) != value:
+            return self.fail_cookie(name)
+        self.send_html("\tThis is the secret.")
+
     def route_robots(self):
         body = b"User-agent: *\nDisallow:\n"
         self.send_response(200)
@@ -345,6 +358,8 @@ class Handler(SimpleHTTPRequestHandler):
         "/cookies/entrance.php": route_entrance,
         "/cookies/second.php": route_second,
         "/cookies/third.php": route_third,
+        "/gated/index.php": route_gated_index,
+        "/gated/secret.php": route_gated_secret,
         "/robots.txt": route_robots,
         "/types/index.html": route_types_index,
         "/types/control.php": route_types,

tests/server-root/stripquery/a.html

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<html><body>resource A</body></html>

tests/server-root/stripquery/index.html

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<html><body>
+Two links to one resource, differing only by a tracking parameter.
+<a href="a.html?utm_source=x">x</a>
+<a href="a.html?utm_source=y">y</a>
+</body></html>