https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur
Library management and playback for your movies and TV — the *ARR stack and a couch-ready player in one self-hosted Linux app. Watches directories, identifies via TMDB, plays through mpv. No Docker, no accounts, no transcoding, no streaming.
https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur
broadway elixir jellyfin-alternative linux media-center media-library mpv phoenix phoenix-liveview prowlarr radarr-alternative self-hosted sonarr-alternative sqlite tmdb
Last synced: 9 days ago
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Library management and playback for your movies and TV — the *ARR stack and a couch-ready player in one self-hosted Linux app. Watches directories, identifies via TMDB, plays through mpv. No Docker, no accounts, no transcoding, no streaming.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur
- Owner: media-centaur
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-02-19T11:19:39.000Z (4 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-05-30T23:48:40.000Z (22 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-05-31T00:11:59.725Z (22 days ago)
- Topics: broadway, elixir, jellyfin-alternative, linux, media-center, media-library, mpv, phoenix, phoenix-liveview, prowlarr, radarr-alternative, self-hosted, sonarr-alternative, sqlite, tmdb
- Language: Elixir
- Homepage: https://media-centarr.net/
- Size: 107 MB
- Stars: 4
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
- Agents: AGENTS.md
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README
# Media Centaur
**Library management and playback for your personal movie and TV collection — the \*ARR stack and a couch-ready player in one self-hosted Linux app.**
 
Point it at your video directories. It identifies your movies and TV shows via TMDB, downloads artwork, tracks your progress, and plays everything locally through mpv — all from a real-time browser UI that's fast at your desk and made for your couch.
Zero-config SQLite. No Docker. No transcoding server. No accounts. No cloud.
**🌐 [Visit the site](https://media-centaur.github.io/media-centaur/) · 📖 [Read the docs](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki)**
> [!NOTE]
> **Pre-1.0 and actively developed.** Functional for daily use; expect the occasional rough edge or breaking change between releases.
> [!NOTE]
> **UI overhaul in progress.** A complete pass over the visual design is shipping page by page. Every page is fully operational throughout — we're raising the bar on craft, not gating anything behind the rebuild.
>
> | Page | Status |
> | ----------------- | ------------- |
> | Home | **Done** |
> | Library | **Done** |
> | Release tracking | In progress |
> | Acquisition | In progress |
> | Dashboard | In progress |
> | Review | In progress |
> | Settings | In progress |
> [!IMPORTANT]
> **macOS support — experimental (Apple Silicon).** The Mac build now ships: the one-line installer works on Apple Silicon, autostart runs via launchd, and in-app updates work the same as on Linux. **Linux remains the fully-supported, primary platform.**
>
> Because we don't own Mac hardware, the macOS path is Linux-developer-tested only — so it's genuinely experimental and we need real-world reports. If you run it on macOS, please [open a `[macOS]` issue](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/issues/new?labels=macos) for anything that doesn't work. See the wiki's **[macOS](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki/macOS)** page for install steps and the honest done/not-done list.
---
---
## What it does
- **Library management** — watches your directories for new video files, identifies movies and TV shows via TMDB, and downloads artwork automatically. Low-confidence matches wait for manual review instead of polluting your library with wrong guesses.
- **Playback** — launches mpv on the local machine, tracks your progress, resumes where you left off, and auto-advances to the next episode.
- **Release tracking** — monitors TMDB daily for upcoming movies and new TV seasons tied to the shows in your library.
- **Acquisition** *(optional)* — search and queue downloads via Prowlarr. Entirely optional: Media Centaur is a full library manager without it.
- **Couch-first UI** — keyboard *and* gamepad navigation, large artwork, dark-first. Built to drive a TV from across the room.
- **Real-time** — every change (new file, metadata fetched, playback started) appears instantly via Phoenix LiveView. No polling, no refresh.
## Non-goals
Media Centaur is deliberately **not** a streaming server or cross-platform media suite. It does not stream to remote devices, transcode, run in Docker, or support multiple users. If you need those, [Jellyfin](https://jellyfin.org/) and Plex do them well.
See the [FAQ](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki/FAQ) for the full list and reasoning.
---
## Install
```sh
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/main/installer/install.sh | sh
```
Downloads the latest release, verifies its checksum, installs atomically under `~/.local/lib/media-centaur/`, generates a `SECRET_KEY_BASE`, and sets up a systemd user unit. **The installer is idempotent** — re-run it any time to reset to the latest stable build, recover from a half-applied update, or roll a wedged install forward. Your config, data, and cache live elsewhere and are preserved.
After install, everyday updates happen inside the app: **Settings → System → Update now**.
Full installation guide and recovery playbook: **[Wiki → Installation](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki/Installation)** · **[Wiki → Troubleshooting](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki/Troubleshooting#reset-by-re-running-the-installer)**.
## Requirements
- SQLite3, mpv, inotify-tools
- A free [TMDB API key](https://www.themoviedb.org/settings/api)
**Arch:** `sudo pacman -S sqlite mpv inotify-tools` · **Debian/Ubuntu:** `sudo apt install sqlite3 mpv inotify-tools`
---
## Documentation
All end-user documentation lives in the **[Wiki](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki)**:
- [Getting Started](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki) — install, first run, add your library
- [Using Media Centaur](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki) — browsing, playback, keyboard & gamepad, review queue
- [Setup Guides](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki) — TMDB, Prowlarr, backup & restore, running as a service
- [Reference](https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur/wiki) — settings, FAQ, troubleshooting
---
## For contributors
```bash
git clone https://github.com/media-centaur/media-centaur.git
cd media-centaur
mix setup
mix phx.server
```
Architecture, pipeline internals, input system, and other developer documentation live in [`docs/`](docs/) and [`AGENTS.md`](AGENTS.md). Decision records are in [`decisions/`](decisions/).
---
## License
[MIT](LICENSE) — Copyright (c) 2026 Shawn McCool
## Acknowledgments
This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
