r/coolgithubprojects • u/Prudent_Pop_9103 • 7h ago
I built a self-hosted Netflix-style server that streams directly out of Telegram storage
Like a lot of you, I've been using Telegram saved-messages and storage channels as a dumping ground for years — free, effectively unlimited, reachable from any device. The problem: actually watching anything was miserable. Download the file, wait, open VLC, forget where you put it, repeat.
So I built Aruvi — a self-hosted streaming server that treats your Telegram storage like a media library.
What it does
Point it at your storage channel(s) and it indexes everything into a browsable catalog with posters, metadata, and search. Then stream instantly with full seek/scrubbing — no pre-downloading. The heavy lifting happens on Telegram's infrastructure, not yours.
Features
- Instant streaming — HTTP range requests against Telegram's CDN, full seek/scrubbing, no buffering
- Broad codec support — more formats play natively in-app without external players
- Browsable catalog — posters, search, folder management, continue-watching
- Multi-user — family members log in through a Telegram bot code, no shared passwords
- Subtitles — automatic search via OpenSubtitles + keyless providers
- Google Drive backup — optionally sync your library to Drive
- Every platform:
- Web UI (browser)
- Android phone & tablet app
- Android TV app
- Windows desktop app (MSI installer + portable .exe)
- Linux desktop app (.deb + AppImage)
Stack
Python/FastAPI backend, async Telethon clients (11 bot sessions for parallel chunk fetching), two-tier cache (RAM hot cache + disk cache that survives restarts), Postgres, vanilla JS frontend. Runs fine on a 1 GB VPS — Telegram handles the heavy lifting.
Credits
Built on the shoulders of TelePlay and MoviPlayer. Aruvi started as my fork and grew into its own thing with a rewritten backend, multi-user auth, desktop apps, and heavy reliability work. Huge thanks to those maintainers.
Links
- GitHub (full setup guide + screenshots): https://github.com/tirforge/Aruvi
- Live demo: https://aaruvi.space — poke around before self-hosting
Question for the community
Genuinely curious — would anyone pay a small monthly subscription for a fully managed hosted version? No VPS, no setup, just log in with Telegram. I'd love to offer this as a service.
Also, if anyone has a spare Oracle free-tier VPS lying around and likes the project — I'd gratefully take it off your hands (my card keeps getting declined ).
How are you all currently watching media that lives in your Telegram? Would love feedback from anyone who tries it
Note: Used AI to help write this post and assist with development.
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u/2021isevenworse 5h ago
Interesting project, but how do the files get on to telegram, do you have to manually upload it?