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A smart bridge between your media requests and Real-Debrid streaming - zero server bandwidth, minimal storage

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Bridgarr

A smart bridge between your media requests and Real-Debrid streaming

Bridgarr is a self-hosted platform that lets you request movies and TV shows through Jellyseerr, then stream them directly from Real-Debrid's CDN - no massive storage needed, no bandwidth consumed by your server. Think of it as the bridge that connects your media requests to instant, high-quality streaming.

Why Bridgarr?

Traditional media server setups (Plex/Jellyfin + Sonarr/Radarr) require you to:

  • Download and store terabytes of media files
  • Proxy streams through your server (eating your bandwidth)
  • Wait for downloads to complete before watching
  • Manage storage, upgrades, and deletions

Bridgarr takes a different approach:

  • Store only metadata and streaming URLs (a few MB vs. TB)
  • Stream directly from debrid service CDNs (Real-Debrid, AllDebrid, Premiumize, Debrid-Link)
  • Zero bandwidth usage on your server
  • Instant playback as soon as content is cached

It's perfect if you already have a debrid service account and want a clean, simple interface to request and stream content without managing a traditional media server.

How It Works

You → Jellyseerr (request "Avatar") → Bridgarr → Real-Debrid (cache torrent)
                                         ↓
                                    TMDb (fetch metadata)
                                         ↓
                                    Store: title, poster, RD stream URL
                                         ↓
You ← Click Play ← Bridgarr Web ← Database (just metadata, ~5KB per movie)
      ↓
Stream directly from Real-Debrid CDN (no server bandwidth used!)

Quick Start

What You Need

  • A VPS or home server (1GB RAM is plenty)
  • Docker & Docker Compose installed
  • A premium account with one of the supported debrid services:
  • A TMDb API key (free)
  • 15 minutes

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/bridgarr.git
cd bridgarr

# Configure environment
cp bridgarr-backend/.env.example bridgarr-backend/.env
nano bridgarr-backend/.env
# Add your TMDb API key

# Start everything
docker-compose up -d

# Check status
docker-compose ps

Services:

  • Web UI: http://your-server:3002
  • API: http://your-server:8000
  • API Docs: http://your-server:8000/api/docs

Setup Jellyseerr Integration

  1. Install Jellyseerr (if you haven't already):

    docker run -d \
  --name jellyseerr-bridgarr \
  -p 5057:5055 \
  -v /path/to/config:/app/config \
  fallenbagel/jellyseerr:latest

  2. Configure Jellyseerr:

    • Open http://your-server:5057
    • Create admin account
    • Skip media server setup
    • Add your TMDb account or API key

  3. Connect to Bridgarr:

    cd /root/bridgarr/scripts
python3 configure-jellyseerr-webhook.py

    Enter your Jellyseerr credentials when prompted. The script will automatically configure the webhook.

  4. Start requesting!

    • Search for a movie in Jellyseerr
    • Click "Request" → Approve
    • Open Bridgarr web UI to see it appear
    • Click "Play" to stream

That's it. No downloads, no waiting for files to finish, no storage management.

Features

What's Working (v1.0.1)

  • ✅ Multiple Debrid Providers - Support for Real-Debrid, AllDebrid, Premiumize, and Debrid-Link
  • ✅ Jellyseerr Webhook Integration - Automatic content addition on approval
  • ✅ Smart File Selection - Intelligent torrent file selection, avoiding archives
  • ✅ TMDb Metadata - Automatic poster, plot, and metadata fetching
  • ✅ Netflix-Style Web UI - Browse your library with movie posters
  • ✅ Advanced Video Player - Plyr integration with quality selection and speed control
  • ✅ Multi-User Support - Each user brings their own debrid service account
  • ✅ Background Tasks - Auto-refresh streaming URLs before they expire
  • ✅ JWT Authentication - Secure API access
  • ✅ Responsive Design - Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile

What's Coming

  • TV show episode tracking
  • Search within Bridgarr
  • Continue watching section
  • Watchlist management
  • Multiple quality options (4K, 1080p, 720p)
  • Subtitle integration
  • Android TV native app

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│   Jellyseerr    │────────>│   Bridgarr   │<────────│  Web Browser    │
│   (Requests)    │ Webhook │   Backend    │  REST   │  Management UI  │
└─────────────────┘         │              │  API    │                 │
                            │  • Metadata  │         │  • Dashboard    │
                            │  • RD URLs   │<────────│  • Library      │
                            │  • Auth      │         │  • Settings     │
                            │  • Tasks     │         └─────────────────┘
                            │              │
                            └──────┬───────┘
                                   │
                                   ├─────────────────> You stream from RD CDN
                                   v                   (not from your server!)
                            ┌──────────────┐
                            │ Real-Debrid  │
                            │     API      │
                            └──────────────┘

Tech Stack:

  • Backend: FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Redis, Celery
  • Frontend: Next.js 14, React 18, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
  • Video: Plyr (advanced HTML5 player)
  • Deployment: Docker, Docker Compose

Configuration

Backend (.env)

# Application
APP_NAME=Bridgarr
APP_VERSION=1.0.0

# Database (auto-configured in Docker)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://bridgarr:password@postgres:5432/bridgarr

# Redis (auto-configured in Docker)
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379/0

# TMDb API (get your key at https://www.themoviedb.org/settings/api)
TMDB_API_KEY=your_tmdb_api_key_here

# Security (generate a random string)
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here

# Real-Debrid
RD_API_BASE_URL=https://api.real-debrid.com/rest/1.0
RD_LINK_EXPIRY_HOURS=4

User Debrid Service Tokens

Each user adds their own debrid service API token in the web UI:

  1. Log in to Bridgarr
  2. Click your username → Settings
  3. Select your debrid provider (Real-Debrid, AllDebrid, Premiumize, or Debrid-Link)
  4. Paste your API token:
  5. Save

Now when you request content, Bridgarr uses your chosen debrid service to cache and stream.

Usage

Requesting Content

  1. Open Jellyseerr (http://your-server:5057)
  2. Search for a movie (e.g., "The Matrix")
  3. Click "Request"
  4. Approve the request (or enable auto-approval)

Watching Content

  1. Open Bridgarr Web UI (http://your-server:3002)
  2. You'll see the movie appear in your library
  3. Click on the movie poster
  4. Click "Play"
  5. Stream directly from Real-Debrid's CDN

The streaming URL is valid for 4 hours and automatically refreshes in the background, so you never have broken links.

Troubleshooting

"Cannot connect to backend"

# Check if containers are running
docker-compose ps

# Restart if needed
docker-compose restart

"Requests don't appear in Bridgarr"

  1. Check webhook is configured in Jellyseerr (Settings → Notifications → Webhook)
  2. Verify webhook URL: http://your-server:8000/api/webhooks/overseerr
  3. Check backend logs: docker logs bridgarr-backend --tail 100
  4. Ensure TMDb API key is set in .env

"Cannot stream media"

  1. Verify your Real-Debrid token is saved (Settings page)
  2. Check your RD account is premium and active
  3. Check if media shows as "Available" (green badge in library)

"Video player shows no audio/subtitles"

This is a codec issue. Real-Debrid provides the raw video file, and your browser needs to support the codec. Try:

  • Use Chrome/Edge (better codec support)
  • Download the video to play in VLC if streaming doesn't work

API Reference

Interactive API documentation is available at http://your-server:8000/api/docs when the backend is running.

Key Endpoints

# Authentication
POST /api/auth/register        # Register new user
POST /api/auth/login           # Login (returns JWT)
POST /api/auth/rd-token        # Save Real-Debrid token

# Library
GET  /api/library/movies       # Get user's movie library
GET  /api/library/shows        # Get user's TV shows
GET  /api/library/stats        # Library statistics

# Media
GET  /api/media/{id}           # Get media details
GET  /api/media/{id}/play      # Get streaming URL

# Webhooks
POST /api/webhooks/overseerr   # Jellyseerr webhook endpoint

FAQ

Q: Do I need a debrid service account? A: Yes, every user needs their own premium account with one of the supported services (Real-Debrid, AllDebrid, Premiumize, or Debrid-Link). Most cost around €3/month.

Q: Does Bridgarr download files to my server? A: No! That's the point. Bridgarr only stores metadata (movie title, poster, RD URL). You stream directly from Real-Debrid's CDN.

Q: How much storage do I need? A: Virtually nothing. The database with 1000 movies is about 5-10MB. Compare that to 1-5GB per movie with traditional setups.

Q: What happens when the streaming URL expires? A: Bridgarr automatically refreshes URLs every 4 hours in the background. You'll never have a broken link.

Q: Can I use this without Jellyseerr? A: Technically yes, but Jellyseerr provides the nice request/approval workflow. You could manually add content via the API, but it's not as user-friendly.

Q: Does this work with Plex/Jellyfin? A: No, Bridgarr replaces your media server. It's a different approach - no local media files, just direct streaming from RD.

Q: Is this legal? A: Bridgarr is just software that organizes metadata and uses Real-Debrid's API. What you do with it is your responsibility. Real-Debrid has terms of service you should read.

Documentation

Contributing

This is an open source project. Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome!

If you want to contribute:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
  3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
  4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
  5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.

Credits

  • TMDb - Movie and TV metadata
  • Real-Debrid - Torrent caching and CDN infrastructure
  • Jellyseerr - Request management interface
  • Plyr - Advanced video player

Current Version: v1.0.1 Status: Production Ready Last Updated: 2025-10-17

Made with ☕ and frustration with traditional media servers eating all my storage and bandwidth.

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A smart bridge between your media requests and Real-Debrid streaming - zero server bandwidth, minimal storage

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