webfilecast 1.1.3

Webfrontend to cast local videos to your chromecast

Webfilecast

A simple, modern web frontend for Terminalcast to cast local video files to your Chromecast.

Features

• Modern, responsive UI: A clean, dark interface that works on desktop and mobile.
• Searchable File List: Instantly find the file you're looking for, even in large collections. The search supports fuzzy matching and exact phrases in quotes (e.g., SomeSeries "Episode 7").
• Natural Sorting: Files are sorted logically, so "Episode 2" comes before "Episode 10".
• Clear Controls: Icon-based buttons for starting the server, playing on Chromecast, opening in browser, and stopping the server.
• Dynamic UI: Buttons are enabled/disabled based on the application state to guide the user.
• Real-time Feedback: See the connection status, server status, and file scan progress at a glance.

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• Redis Server (running on localhost)

Installation

You can install Webfilecast directly from PyPI:

pip install webfilecast

For a production deployment, it is recommended to install the deployment dependencies as well:

pip install "webfilecast[deployment]"

Usage

1. Set Environment Variables: The application is configured via environment variables.

   • MOVIE_DIRECTORY: (Required) The absolute path to the directory where your video files are stored.
   • CORS_ORIGINS: (Required) A semicolon-separated list of allowed origins for the web frontend (e.g., http://localhost:8000;http://127.0.0.1:8000).
   • TERMINALCAST_KNOWN_HOSTS: (Optional) A comma-separated list of known Chromecast IP addresses to speed up discovery.

2. Run the application:

   For Development: A simple development server can be started using the webfilecast command. Note: Real-time feedback during the initial file scan may not work correctly with this server.

   # Example
   export MOVIE_DIRECTORY="/path/to/your/videos"
   export CORS_ORIGINS="http://127.0.0.1:5000"
   
   flask --app webfilecast run
   

   For Production (Recommended): For the best performance and to ensure all real-time features work correctly, it is highly recommended to use a production-ready WSGI server like gunicorn with eventlet.

   # Example
   export MOVIE_DIRECTORY="/path/to/your/videos"
   export CORS_ORIGINS="http://your-domain.com"
   
   gunicorn --worker-class eventlet -w 1 --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 "webfilecast:app"
   

   Then open your browser and navigate to the specified host and port.

How it works

The application scans the MOVIE_DIRECTORY for video files and caches their metadata in Redis. The web frontend communicates with the Python backend via Socket.IO to select a file, choose an audio stream, and control the casting process. When a video is to be played, a temporary web server is started via terminalcast to stream the file to the Chromecast.