🎬 Netflix Discord RPC

Show what you're watching on Netflix directly in your Discord status — in real time.

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✨ What it does

Netflix Discord RPC automatically detects what you're watching on Netflix (Microsoft Edge) and displays it as a Rich Presence activity on your Discord profile — including the show title, episode name, and a live playback timer.

🎬 Watching: Lucifer
   📺 S1 E4 — Manly Whatnots
   ⏱ 23:09 / 42:09

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🧩 How it works

Edge Extension     ──► accesses Netflix internal player API (window.netflix)
        │
        │  HTTPS POST (localhost:27843)
        ▼
Node.js RPC Server ──► pushes activity to Discord via IPC
        │
        ▼
Discord Desktop App ──► displays Rich Presence on your profile

The extension runs in MAIN world context, meaning it has direct access to Netflix's internal JavaScript API (window.netflix) to reliably extract the title, episode, and playback state — no fragile DOM scraping.

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📋 Requirements

Requirement	Version
Node.js	18 or newer
Microsoft Edge	Any recent version
Discord Desktop	Must be running
A Discord Application	Create one here
OpenSSL or Node.js (node-forge)	For self-signed SSL certificate

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🚀 Setup

1. Create a Discord Application

1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal
2. Click New Application and name it Netflix
3. Copy the Client ID from the General Information page
4. Go to Rich Presence → Art Assets and upload the following images:

Asset Key	Description
netflix_logo	Netflix "N" logo (large image)
play_icon	Play button icon (small image)
pause_icon	Pause button icon (small image)

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2. Generate a Self-Signed SSL Certificate

The server must run over HTTPS because Netflix blocks HTTP requests to localhost via its Content Security Policy.

Option A — Git Bash / OpenSSL:

openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365 -nodes -subj "/CN=localhost"

Option B — Node.js (no OpenSSL needed):

Create generate-cert.js:

const forge = require('node-forge');
const fs = require('fs');

const pki = forge.pki;
const keys = pki.rsa.generateKeyPair(2048);
const cert = pki.createCertificate();
cert.publicKey = keys.publicKey;
cert.serialNumber = '01';
cert.validity.notBefore = new Date();
cert.validity.notAfter = new Date();
cert.validity.notAfter.setFullYear(cert.validity.notBefore.getFullYear() + 1);
const attrs = [{ name: 'commonName', value: 'localhost' }];
cert.setSubject(attrs);
cert.setIssuer(attrs);
cert.sign(keys.privateKey);
fs.writeFileSync('cert.pem', pki.certificateToPem(cert));
fs.writeFileSync('key.pem', pki.privateKeyToPem(keys.privateKey));
console.log('✅ cert.pem and key.pem generated!');

npm install node-forge
node generate-cert.js

⚠️ Keep key.pem and cert.pem out of your server folder (if Edge refused the extension it's recommended to move em to Desktop. Try to update the path in server.js) — never inside the extension folder.

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3. Set up the Node.js Server

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/MABDesigns/netflix-extension.git
cd netflix-extension

# Install dependencies
npm install

Open server.js and configure:

const CLIENT_ID = 'YOUR_DISCORD_CLIENT_ID'; // ← paste your Discord app Client ID
const PORT = 27843;

Also update the certificate paths to match where you saved them:

const sslOptions = {
  key: fs.readFileSync('C:\\Users\\YourName\\Desktop\\key.pem'),
  cert: fs.readFileSync('C:\\Users\\YourName\\Desktop\\cert.pem'),
};

Start the server (make sure Discord is already open):

node server.js

You should see:

🚀 Netflix RPC server running on https://localhost:27843
✅ Discord RPC connected as: YourUsername

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4. Trust the SSL Certificate in Edge

1. Open Edge and go to https://localhost:27843/status
2. Click Advanced → Continue to localhost (unsafe)
3. You should see: {"rpcReady":true,"currentActivity":null}

You only need to do this once. Without this step, Edge will silently block all requests to the local server.

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5. Load the Edge Extension

1. Open Edge and go to edge://extensions
2. Enable Developer mode (bottom-left toggle)
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select the netflix-extension/ folder

The extension is now active and will poll Netflix every 5 seconds.

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6. Watch something on Netflix

Open netflix.com in Edge and start playing any title. Your Discord status will update within 5 seconds.

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📁 Project Structure

netflix-extension/
├── server.js              # Express HTTPS server + Discord RPC bridge
├── package.json
├── generate-cert.js       # One-time SSL certificate generator (after you create it)
├── manifest.json      # Edge extension manifest (Manifest V3)
├── content.js         # Reads Netflix internal API & sends to server
└── background.js      # Service worker (required by MV3)

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⚙️ Configuration

All config lives at the top of server.js:

Variable	Default	Description
CLIENT_ID	YOUR_DISCORD_CLIENT_ID	Your Discord app's Client ID
PORT	27843	Local HTTPS port the server listens on

The extension polls Netflix every 5 seconds — you can adjust this in content.js:

setInterval(() => { ... }, 5000); // change 5000 to your preferred interval (ms)

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🔌 API Endpoints

The local server exposes a small REST API for debugging:

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/update	Receives playback data from the Edge extension
GET	/clear	Clears the Discord activity manually
GET	/status	Returns current RPC connection state and activity

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🛠 Troubleshooting

Discord RPC won't connect

Make sure the Discord desktop app is open before starting the Node.js server. The server retries the connection every 10 seconds automatically.

Status not updating on Netflix

Make sure you visited https://localhost:27843/status in Edge and accepted the certificate. Without this, all requests are silently blocked. Also confirm the extension is loaded in edge://extensions.

{"rpcReady":true,"currentActivity":null} but nothing updates

Hard refresh the Netflix tab (Ctrl+Shift+R) after loading the extension, then play something and wait 5 seconds.

Edge warning about key.pem in extension folder

Move key.pem and cert.pem out of the extension folder into your server folder. They should never be bundled with the extension.

Edge popup on every launch asking to disable the extension

This is normal for unpacked Developer Mode extensions. To avoid it permanently, publish the extension to the Edge Add-ons store.

Timer not showing

The countdown timer only appears when a video is actively playing and has a known duration. It disappears when paused — this is by design.

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🤝 Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! If Netflix updates their internal API and the extension breaks, feel free to open an issue or PR with the fix.

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b fix/netflix-api
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'fix: update Netflix internal API access'
4. Push and open a Pull Request

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Made with ❤️ for people who want their Discord status to be as cinematic as their taste.