Maven has the -T <num_threads> option. Is there anything similar for SBT? How can make it download my dependencies in parallel threads rather than doing it sequentially?
Parallel dependency download has been supported since SBT 1.0:
sbt 1 by default uses Gigahorse HTTP client (backed by Square OkHttp) to download artifacts in parallel.
This is also discussed in Download artifacts in parallel #590
coursier SBT plugin also supports downloading of dependencies in parallel:
By default, downloads happen in a global fixed thread pool (with 6 threads, allowing for 6 parallel downloads), but you can supply your own thread pool to
Cache.default.