WebEncode

Distributed, Plugin-Based Video Transcoding Platform

WebEncode is a high-performance, distributed media processing engine designed for scale. It features a micro-kernel architecture where all major functionality (Auth, Storage, Encoding, Live Streaming, Publishing) is offloaded to a resilient, gRPC-based plugin mesh.

Features

• Hyper-Modular Architecture: 5-Pillar Plugin System (Auth, Storage, Encoder, Live, Publisher)
• Distributed Workers: Scalable FFmpeg execution engine powered by NATS JetStream
• Modern UI: Next.js 16 Dashboard with real-time monitoring
• Live Streaming: Zero-config RTMP ingest to HLS via MediaMTX integration
• Production Ready: Docker, Kubernetes, OpenTelemetry, and structured logging
• Restreaming: 1:N simulcasting to YouTube, Twitch, Kick, and Rumble with unified chat

Technology Stack

Backend

• Language: Go 1.24+
• Framework: Chi/v5 (HTTP), gRPC (plugins)
• Database: PostgreSQL 16 (pgx/v5)
• Message Bus: NATS JetStream 2.10+
• Plugin System: HashiCorp go-plugin

Frontend

• Framework: Next.js 16 with React 19
• UI Components: Shadcn/ui, Radix UI
• Styling: Tailwind CSS 4
• State Management: TanStack React Query

Infrastructure

• Containerization: Docker, Docker Compose
• Orchestration: Kubernetes
• Live Streaming: MediaMTX (RTMP/WebRTC)
• Storage: S3-compatible (MinIO) + Local filesystem

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose
• Go 1.24+ (for local development)
• Node.js 22+ (for UI development)

Run with Docker

# Start the entire stack (Kernel, Workers, UI, NATS, Postgres, MediaMTX)
make up

Once running:

• Dashboard: http://localhost:3000
• API: http://localhost:8080
• MediaMTX: http://localhost:8888

Build from Source

# Build all binaries (kernel, worker, plugins)
make build-all

# Run tests
make test

# Generate test coverage
make test-coverage

Project Structure

WebEncode/
├── cmd/                  # Entry points (kernel, worker)
├── internal/             # Core business logic
│   ├── api/              # REST API handlers
│   ├── orchestrator/     # Job orchestration
│   ├── plugin_manager/   # Plugin lifecycle
│   └── worker/           # Worker tasks
├── pkg/                  # Shared libraries
│   ├── api/              # API models
│   ├── bus/              # NATS messaging
│   ├── db/               # Database models (SQLC)
│   └── pluginsdk/        # Plugin SDK interfaces
├── plugins/              # 5-Pillar Plugin System
│   ├── auth-*/           # Authentication plugins
│   ├── storage-*/        # Storage plugins
│   ├── encoder-*/        # Encoder plugins
│   ├── live-*/           # Live streaming plugins
│   └── publisher-*/      # Publisher plugins
├── proto/                # gRPC Protobuf definitions
├── ui/                   # Next.js Frontend
├── deploy/               # Docker & Kubernetes configs
└── docs/                 # Documentation

Plugin Architecture

WebEncode uses a 5-pillar plugin system:

Pillar	Purpose	Included Plugins
Auth	User authentication	Basic, OIDC, LDAP, Cloudflare Access
Storage	File storage	Filesystem, S3/MinIO
Encoder	Transcoding	FFmpeg
Live	RTMP/WebRTC ingest	MediaMTX
Publisher	Distribution	YouTube, Twitch, Kick, Rumble, Generic RTMP

Documentation

• Specification: Complete system specification
• Contributing Guide: Development setup and plugin development
• API Reference: REST API documentation
• Plugin SDK: Guide for writing plugins
• Operator Runbook: Deployment and operations guide
• OpenAPI Spec: OpenAPI 3.1 specification
• Issues & Roadmap: Implementation status and known issues

Configuration

WebEncode is configured via environment variables. See the Operator Runbook for full configuration options.

Key environment variables:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/webencode
NATS_URL=nats://localhost:4222
AUTH_PLUGIN=auth-basic
STORAGE_PLUGIN=storage-fs

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read the Contributing Guide for development setup and guidelines.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.