foxyzandClaude Opus 5.5
e0db5cc655
Putting anything up offline starts a solo session: an in-app server bound to 127.0.0.1 only, joined like hosting, so tracking, next episode and the player all work. Invite friends re-hosts on the Host card's port and password with the same media and position; Stop needs no confirmation. Offline, the Library opens with a welcome band (Join a friend, Host, Watch solo); without a Jellyfin account it leads with Files and Link, Jellyfin is an optional card. Play buttons work offline. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
100 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
100 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
# How it works
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A five-minute tour. Details: [ARCHITECTURE.md](ARCHITECTURE.md), wire format:
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[PROTOCOL.md](PROTOCOL.md).
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## The pieces
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```
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your PC friend's PC
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+-------------------+ +-------------------+
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| app (mpv inside) | | app (mpv inside) |
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+---------+---------+ +---------+---------+
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| sync (WebSocket) | sync (WebSocket)
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v v
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+----------------------------------------+
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| server (who is ready, where are we) |
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+----------------------------------------+
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video bytes come from somewhere else:
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- a link (any http/https URL): each app fetches it directly
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- a Jellyfin item: each app plays it with its own Jellyfin account,
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friends without one through the server
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- a file on the host's disk: the server streams it (/m/... endpoint)
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- the relay (/r/...): a member's computer passes a file, a link or a
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Jellyfin item on to the server, which keeps a few minutes in memory
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and streams it to everyone who needs it
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```
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- **App**: the desktop window. It draws the video with mpv, shows who is
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here, and sends what you do (ready, seek, chat).
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- **Server**: keeps one shared clock and the list of people. It never sees
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video frames, only "position 123 s, playing". There is exactly one server
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and one watch session on it.
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- **Jellyfin** (or any web host): where the video lives. For a Jellyfin
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item the server only knows which item it is; each app signs in with its
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own account and reports what it watched. For friends without an account
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the member who put it up passes it on through the server (their sign-in
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stays on their computer).
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## Ways to run
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- **Host from the app**: the app you click Host in also runs the server.
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Simplest. The server lives as long as that app.
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- **Dedicated server**: `watch-together-server`, a separate program in the
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release tarball, for an always-on box. See the README.
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Friends join either way with Join a friend in the strip at the top of the
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window; guests need no Jellyfin or account.
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- **Watch solo**: put something up without joining or hosting and the
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app hosts a private server reachable only from this computer, so
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watching alone works like a session (progress, next episode). Invite
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friends turns it into a normal hosted server, video and position kept.
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## One session, start to finish
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1. **Connect.** The app opens a WebSocket to the server and says hello
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(version, password, name, avatar). Wrong password or version: refused with
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a reason. Otherwise the server answers with a welcome and the current state.
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2. **Catch up.** The app opens the current video, jumps to where the server
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says we are, and buffers. Arriving while the video is stopped, you are
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waited for; arriving while it plays, you never hold anyone back.
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3. **Ready gate.** Press Space to say you are ready. The server starts
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playback only when everyone who is ready has at least 4 seconds buffered
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(or what is left, near the end). At the end everyone stops and the server
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stays finished until someone seeks back or changes the video.
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Everyone who was there before it started must be ready, so one person
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alone cannot start it for the others. A lone viewer can play alone.
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4. **Play.** The server owns the clock. Each app compares its mpv position
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to the clock: a small lead slows mpv a little (0.95x), a big gap (over 5 s)
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jumps. If someone's buffer runs dry the server pauses everyone and resumes
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when they have caught up.
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5. **Seek.** Anyone can seek, anytime. The server moves the clock and
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everybody follows. Seeking does not change anyone's ready flag.
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6. **Swap.** Anyone can change the video by pasting another link. Everybody
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stops at 0 and the gate runs again for everyone there; ready flags stay
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as they were (a setting unreadies you instead).
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7. **Leave.** Closing or leaving drops you from the server; the others keep
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going. If you vanish without saying goodbye, you are marked stale after 15 s
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(stops blocking) and removed after 30 s. The app reconnects by itself and
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takes over your old place (same member, ready flag and video).
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There are no roles: anyone can seek, swap, force-ready others, nudge
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anyone, and sit anyone out (the host too). Someone sitting out stays
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connected and in the chat, but their app loads nothing and nobody waits
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for them until they join back.
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## Where video comes from
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- **Link**: you paste an http(s) URL. Every app plays it directly with mpv;
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a web page (YouTube, X, ...) goes through yt-dlp, which the app and the
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server download and update by themselves.
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A pasted Jellyfin link becomes the Jellyfin item below when possible.
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- **Jellyfin item**: picked in the app's library browser. Shared as "this
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item on this Jellyfin server", never as a link with someone's sign-in.
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- **Local file (host only)**: you pick a file on your disk. The server
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streams it to everyone, host included, over HTTP with range requests, each
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with a per-person token. Nothing is stored or converted.
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- No transcoding, ever. Quality is whatever the file is.
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