tvbox

Your personal, self-hosted Netflix. Search for a movie or TV show in the browser, manage downloads from one dashboard, move completed files to Google Drive, and watch them through Infuse.

       

_{1. After Setup: Search for Movie / TVShow  ·  2. Downloads start in Background, and gets copied to Google Drive  ·  3. Watch it anywhere on Infuse (Apple TV supported)}

Why tvbox?

How many times have you searched for a movie only to find it unavailable on every streaming platform in your country? Search results often point to services like MUBI or Amazon Prime, but the title disappears when you open the page from your region.

tvbox solves that fragmentation with one private workflow: search → download → upload to Google Drive → watch in Infuse.

Deployment options

Setup	Best for	Requires
Local	Trying tvbox on your own machine	Docker, rclone, Google Drive, Infuse
VPS (24×7)	Always-on downloads and remote access	Everything above, plus a VPS
Remote browser access	Using tvbox from anywhere	Cloudflare account and a managed domain

A local install is available at http://localhost:8000 and does not require a VPS, domain, or Cloudflare Tunnel.

Estimated setup time: 1–2 hours for a first deployment.

Full setup guide

For step-by-step instructions—including headless Google Drive authentication with rclone, Prowlarr setup, Cloudflare Tunnel, and Infuse—read the walkthrough on Medium:

tvbox: A Self-Hosted Netflix for Your Personal Media

Architecture

Browser → tvbox → TMDB metadata + torrent search → aria2c download
                                              ↓
Infuse ← Google Drive ← rclone upload ← completed file

• FastAPI and Jinja2 provide the web interface and API.
• TMDB supplies titles, posters, and metadata.
• Prowlarr and direct search providers collect torrent candidates.
• aria2c downloads the selected release.
• SQLite and SQLAlchemy persist download history and status.
• rclone moves completed downloads to Google Drive and removes the local copy.
• Cloudflare Tunnel can expose the password-protected app without opening the web port publicly.
• Infuse connects to Google Drive and provides the final browsing and playback experience.

Features

• Movie and TV autocomplete powered by TMDB
• Poster thumbnails in the transfer dashboard
• Concurrent torrent search, deduplication, and seeder-aware ranking
• Preference for healthy 4K releases with automatic 1080p fallback
• Automatic retry with another candidate when a download remains stalled
• Live progress, speed, history, retry, and deletion controls
• Asynchronous Google Drive uploads
• Automatic host storage cleanup after a successful upload
• Password-protected browser access
• Docker Compose deployment for local or VPS use

Requirements

Core (local or VPS):

• Docker and Docker Compose
• Git and rclone
• A Google Drive account with enough storage
• An Infuse account and a supported playback device
• A free TMDB API key
• rclone configured with a remote named gdrive

Optional (24×7 remote access):

• A Linux VPS with enough temporary disk space for one complete download
• A domain managed by Cloudflare
• A Cloudflare account with Cloudflare Tunnel access

Leave enough free disk space for the largest file you expect to download. tvbox stores each file locally until its Google Drive upload completes.

Quick start

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/raunaqness/tvbox
   cd tvbox

2. Copy the example environment file and fill in your values:

   cp .env.example .env

3. Configure Google Drive with rclone and name the remote gdrive:

   rclone config
   rclone mkdir gdrive:/Media

   On a headless VPS, run rclone authorize "drive" on a computer with a browser and paste the token back into the VPS. See the Medium walkthrough for full instructions.

4. Start the stack:

   docker compose up -d --build

5. Open tvbox at http://localhost:8000 and sign in with APP_PASSWORD.

6. Configure indexers in Prowlarr at http://localhost:9696, copy its API key into .env, and restart the app:

   docker compose restart app

7. Add the same Google Drive account to Infuse and select the folder configured by RCLONE_REMOTE.

8. Optional: Configure Cloudflare Tunnel for remote access. Add CLOUDFLARE_TUNNEL_TOKEN to .env, point a hostname at http://app:8000, and restart cloudflared.

The stack also includes FlareSolverr for indexers that require it. Do not expose Prowlarr, aria2 RPC, or FlareSolverr to the public internet.

Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env before starting the stack.

Variable	Purpose	Default
TMDB_API_KEY	TMDB search and metadata	None
PROWLARR_API_KEY	Prowlarr API access	None
PROWLARR_URL	Internal Prowlarr URL	http://localhost:9696
ARIA2C_HOST	aria2 RPC host	http://localhost
ARIA2C_PORT	aria2 RPC port	6800
ARIA2C_SECRET	aria2 RPC secret	None
APP_PASSWORD	Web login password	admin
SECRET_KEY	Session-signing key	fallback_secret
RCLONE_REMOTE	Upload destination	gdrive:/Media
DOWNLOADS_DIR	Local download directory	./downloads
CLOUDFLARE_TUNNEL_TOKEN	Cloudflare Tunnel token for remote access	None

Always override the default password and session secret in production.

Services

Service	Role	Default port
app	tvbox web app and API	8000
aria2c	Download engine and RPC server	6800
prowlarr	Indexer manager	9696
flaresolverr	Optional anti-bot helper for Prowlarr	8191
cloudflared	Private remote access tunnel	None

FAQ

Do I need a VPS?
No. tvbox runs locally with Docker. A VPS is only needed for 24×7 availability.

Do I need Cloudflare?
No. Cloudflare Tunnel is optional and only required for secure remote browser access.

Do I need Infuse?
Infuse is the recommended playback client in this workflow, but any app that can stream from Google Drive works.

Can I use Plex or Jellyfin instead?
Not out of the box. tvbox uploads to Google Drive; Infuse is the documented playback path.

How long does setup take?
Most first-time deployments take 1–2 hours, mainly for rclone auth, Prowlarr indexers, and Infuse.

Development and tests

Install the Python dependencies and run the test suite:

python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
PYTHONPATH=. pytest tests/

Troubleshooting

• Downloads remain at 0 B/s: Verify that the torrent has active seeders and that TCP/UDP port 6888 is allowed. Some VPS providers block torrent traffic entirely.
• Prowlarr returns no results: Confirm that its indexers pass their built-in tests and that PROWLARR_API_KEY is correct.
• Uploads fail: Run rclone lsd gdrive: on the host, then docker compose exec app rclone lsd gdrive: to confirm the container can read the same credentials.
• The app is unreachable remotely: Check the Cloudflare Tunnel route and confirm that its origin points to http://app:8000.
• Infuse cannot see new files: Confirm the upload folder in RCLONE_REMOTE, then refresh the matching Google Drive share in Infuse.
• Posters do not appear after backfill: Hard-refresh the browser or purge Cloudflare cache if you use a tunnel.

Security notes

• Keep all API keys, tunnel tokens, RPC secrets, and passwords out of Git.
• Use .env for secrets; never commit real credentials.
• Expose the app through Cloudflare Tunnel for remote access; do not publicly expose its origin port.
• Restrict ports 6800, 8191, and 9696 to trusted administrators.
• Rotate any credential that has previously been committed.

License

tvbox is released under the MIT License.