foxyzandClaude Opus 5.5
745717a4a0
yt-dlp: a managed, checksum-verified, daily-updated yt-dlp in the app and the dedicated server (--[no-]yt-dlp, --yt-dlp-dir). Pasted links are probed: direct files stay links, pages are resolved for title, uploader, duration and thumbnail. Everyone fetches it: mpv's ytdl hook on the managed copy. I pass it on / the server fetches it: the best single-file format, re-resolved once when its URL expires. Relay names never split the /r/ path; viewers of server-fetched pages wait for the relay to go live. No wire change. Icon: two stars orbiting a play button (assets/icon/icon.svg, PNGs, the Windows .ico). GTK app id moe.senkochan.watch_together; release builds install their .desktop file and icons into ~/.local/share so Wayland shows the icon; the window icon is set for X11. README shows the icon. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
92 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
92 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
# How it works
|
|
|
|
A five-minute tour. Details: [ARCHITECTURE.md](ARCHITECTURE.md), wire format:
|
|
[PROTOCOL.md](PROTOCOL.md).
|
|
|
|
## The pieces
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
your PC friend's PC
|
|
+-------------------+ +-------------------+
|
|
| app (mpv inside) | | app (mpv inside) |
|
|
+---------+---------+ +---------+---------+
|
|
| sync (WebSocket) | sync (WebSocket)
|
|
v v
|
|
+----------------------------------------+
|
|
| server (who is ready, where are we) |
|
|
+----------------------------------------+
|
|
|
|
video bytes come from somewhere else:
|
|
- a link (any http/https URL): each app fetches it directly
|
|
- a Jellyfin item: each app plays it with its own Jellyfin account,
|
|
friends without one through the server
|
|
- a file on the host's disk: the server streams it (/m/... endpoint)
|
|
- the relay (/r/...): a member's computer passes a file, a link or a
|
|
Jellyfin item on to the server, which keeps a few minutes in memory
|
|
and streams it to everyone who needs it
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
- **App**: the desktop window. It draws the video with mpv, shows who is
|
|
here, and sends what you do (ready, seek, chat).
|
|
- **Server**: keeps one shared clock and the list of people. It never sees
|
|
video frames, only "position 123 s, playing". There is exactly one server
|
|
and one watch session on it.
|
|
- **Jellyfin** (or any web host): where the video lives. For a Jellyfin
|
|
item the server only knows which item it is; each app signs in with its
|
|
own account and reports what it watched. For friends without an account
|
|
the member who put it up passes it on through the server (their sign-in
|
|
stays on their computer).
|
|
|
|
## Ways to run
|
|
|
|
- **Host from the app**: the app you click Host in also runs the server.
|
|
Simplest. The server lives as long as that app.
|
|
- **Dedicated server**: `watch-together-server`, a separate program in the
|
|
release tarball, for an always-on box. See the README.
|
|
|
|
Friends join either way with Join in the strip at the top of the window.
|
|
|
|
## One session, start to finish
|
|
|
|
1. **Connect.** The app opens a WebSocket to the server and says hello
|
|
(version, password, name, avatar). Wrong password or version: refused with
|
|
a reason. Otherwise the server answers with a welcome and the current state.
|
|
2. **Catch up.** The app opens the current video, jumps to where the server
|
|
says we are, and buffers. Arriving while the video is stopped, you are
|
|
waited for; arriving while it plays, you never hold anyone back.
|
|
3. **Ready gate.** Press Space to say you are ready. The server starts
|
|
playback only when everyone who is ready has at least 4 seconds buffered
|
|
(or what is left, near the end). At the end everyone stops and the server
|
|
stays finished until someone seeks back or changes the video.
|
|
Everyone who was there before it started must be ready, so one person
|
|
alone cannot start it for the others. A lone viewer can play alone.
|
|
4. **Play.** The server owns the clock. Each app compares its mpv position
|
|
to the clock: a small lead slows mpv a little (0.95x), a big gap (over 5 s)
|
|
jumps. If someone's buffer runs dry the server pauses everyone and resumes
|
|
when they have caught up.
|
|
5. **Seek.** Anyone can seek, anytime. The server moves the clock and
|
|
everybody follows. Seeking does not change anyone's ready flag.
|
|
6. **Swap.** Anyone can change the video by pasting another link. Everybody
|
|
stops at 0 and the gate runs again for everyone there; ready flags stay
|
|
as they were (a setting unreadies you instead).
|
|
7. **Leave.** Closing or leaving drops you from the server; the others keep
|
|
going. If you vanish without saying goodbye, you are marked stale after 15 s
|
|
(stops blocking) and removed after 30 s. The app reconnects by itself and
|
|
takes over your old place (same member, ready flag and video).
|
|
|
|
There are no roles: anyone can seek, swap, force-ready others and kick
|
|
anyone except the host.
|
|
|
|
## Where video comes from
|
|
|
|
- **Link**: you paste an http(s) URL. Every app plays it directly with mpv;
|
|
a web page (YouTube, X, ...) goes through yt-dlp, which the app and the
|
|
server download and update by themselves.
|
|
A pasted Jellyfin link becomes the Jellyfin item below when possible.
|
|
- **Jellyfin item**: picked in the app's library browser. Shared as "this
|
|
item on this Jellyfin server", never as a link with someone's sign-in.
|
|
- **Local file (host only)**: you pick a file on your disk. The server
|
|
streams it to everyone, host included, over HTTP with range requests, each
|
|
with a per-person token. Nothing is stored or converted.
|
|
- No transcoding, ever. Quality is whatever the file is.
|