Stream Server

🚀 Open Source Torrent Streaming Engine

A modern, high-performance alternative to Stremio's closed-source server.js

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💡 About

Stream Server is a fully open-source replacement for Stremio's proprietary server.js. While Stremio's streaming backend remains closed-source, this project provides complete transparency, community-driven development, and the freedom to run your streaming engine locally on your own terms.

Built in Rust for maximum performance, minimal memory footprint, and rock-solid reliability.

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🌟 Why Stream Server?

Feature	Stream Server	Stremio server.js
Open Source	✅ Yes (MIT License)	❌ Closed source
Performance	⚡ Native Rust	Node.js overhead
Memory Usage	~50MB	~200MB+
Control	✅ Full local control	⚠️ Limited
Customizable	✅ Fork & modify	❌ No access
HLS Transcoding	✅ Built-in	✅
Seekable Streams	✅ Instant	⚠️ Variable
Archive Streaming	✅ RAR/ZIP/7Z	✅

Seamless Migration: Drop-in compatible with existing Stremio setups. Same API endpoints, same functionality — just faster and open source.

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✨ Features

Core Streaming

• 🚀 High Performance: Native Rust with optional C++ libtorrent backend
• 📺 HLS Transcoding: Real-time video transcoding via FFmpeg (master.m3u8, stream.m3u8)
• 🔧 Multiple Backends: librqbit (pure Rust) or libtorrent (battle-tested C++)
• 📡 HTTP Range Requests: Full support for instant seeking

Media Support

• 📝 Subtitle Extraction: Automatic detection, OpenSubtitles hash calculation
• 🎬 Video Probing: FFprobe integration for track analysis
• 📦 Archive Streaming: Direct playback from RAR, ZIP, 7Z, TAR archives

API Compatibility

• 🔌 Stats API: /stats.json for server status and torrent info
• 🌐 Network Info: /network-info endpoint for interface discovery
• 💓 Heartbeat: /heartbeat for health checks
• ⚙️ Settings: Runtime-configurable via /settings

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📦 Installation

Pre-built Binaries

Download from Releases:

Platform	Download
Windows	stream-server-windows-amd64.exe / .msi
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)	.deb package
Linux (Universal)	.AppImage
Arch Linux	.pkg.tar.zst

Build from Source

# Default build (librqbit - recommended)
cargo build --release

# With libtorrent backend (advanced)
cargo build --release --features libtorrent --no-default-features

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🚀 Quick Start

# Run the server
./stream-server

# Or with cargo
cargo run --release -p server

The server starts on http://localhost:11470 by default (compatible with standard streaming server port).

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🔧 Build Instructions

🐧 Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S rustup
rustup default stable

# For libtorrent backend
sudo pacman -S libtorrent-rasterbar boost pkg-config

🐧 Ubuntu / Debian

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev

# For libtorrent backend
sudo apt install libtorrent-rasterbar-dev libboost-all-dev

🐧 Fedora / RHEL

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env

sudo dnf install gcc gcc-c++ pkg-config openssl-devel

# For libtorrent backend
sudo dnf install rb_libtorrent-devel boost-devel

🍎 macOS

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env

# For libtorrent backend
brew install libtorrent-rasterbar boost pkg-config

🪟 Windows

# 1. Install Rust from https://rustup.rs
# 2. Install Visual Studio Build Tools with "Desktop development with C++"
# 3. For libtorrent, use vcpkg:
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg
.\vcpkg\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat
.\vcpkg\vcpkg install libtorrent:x64-windows-static

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📊 Backend Comparison

Feature	librqbit	libtorrent
Language	Pure Rust	C++ via FFI
Binary Size	Smaller	Larger
Maturity	Newer	Battle-tested
DHT	✅	✅
uTP	✅	✅
Piece Deadline	❌	✅
Windows Setup	✅ Easy	⚠️ Complex

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📁 Project Structure

stream-server/
├── server/           # HTTP server and API routes
├── enginefs/         # Torrent engine abstraction
│   └── src/backend/
│       ├── librqbit.rs   # Pure Rust backend
│       └── libtorrent.rs # Native C++ backend
└── libtorrent-sys/   # FFI bindings to libtorrent-rasterbar

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🐛 Troubleshooting

libtorrent not found

pkg-config --exists libtorrent-rasterbar && echo "Found" || echo "Not found"
pkg-config --cflags --libs libtorrent-rasterbar

Boost not found

Install boost development headers:

• Arch: boost
• Ubuntu: libboost-all-dev
• Fedora: boost-devel
• macOS: brew install boost

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📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

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Keywords

stremio server.js alternative open source streaming engine torrent streaming local streaming desktop streaming hls transcoding rust torrent libtorrent video streaming server media engine torrent player stream torrents stremio alternative enginefs stremio open source