4gray
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An Xtream activity row is built from its `content` row, and the catalog endpoints that create those rows carry only a title and a poster. So the dashboard hero and the recommendations rail rebuilt their TMDB query from the display title alone, while the detail view had searched with the original title, the release date and often a TMDB id. Without a year `pickConfidentMatch` requires a globally unique exact title, which common titles never satisfy — "Inside Out" matches several films and resolves to nothing, every time. Three `content` columns close that gap next to the existing `backdrop_url`: `tmdb_id`, `release_year`, `original_title`. The detail views back-fill them from what is on screen, the activity SELECTs project them, and `buildDashboardTmdbAttempts` reads them back. Stalker keeps stating the same facts through its stored entry, and rows with neither keep the title-only fallback. Measured against a real profile before building: of 58 distinct Xtream movie/series activity rows, 16 (28%) produce a year-less key — the cohort where a miss is guaranteed rather than likely. Contracts worth preserving: - Per-column, never overwrite. Enrichment supplies the pieces at different times, so a row-level guard would let the first arrival block every later one forever. - `release_year` is the year the PROVIDER stated. The TMDB merge fills the date field when the provider left it empty, so it marks its own substitution with `tmdb_supplied_release_date` and the extractor skips those — making contamination structurally impossible rather than avoided. - The id is stored unvetted: every consumer re-gates it through `assessProviderId`, which re-decides per lookup where a write-time verdict would be permanent. - No media-type column — for Xtream the catalog files movies and series apart, so `content.type` already is the media type. Worker requests now await `getDatabase()` before dispatching. The renderer loads before `initDatabase()` and the worker opens the database file without running migrations, so a query issued during startup on an upgraded install could otherwise hit a schema whose new columns do not exist yet. Not covered: the PWA, whose catalog cache is rebuilt from the API on every load, so a stored id would never outlive the detail view that resolved it.
IPTVnator - IPTV Player Application
🌐 Website | Telegram channel for discussions | Buy me a coffee | GitHub Sponsors
IPTVnator is a video player application that provides support for IPTV playlist playback (m3u, m3u8). The application allows users to import playlists using remote URLs or by uploading files from the local file system. Additionally, it supports EPG information in XMLTV format which can be provided via URL.
The application is a cross-platform, open-source project built with Electron and Angular.
⚠️ Note: IPTVnator does not provide any playlists or other digital content. The channels and pictures in the screenshots are for demonstration purposes only.
Important
Official sources only. IPTVnator is a free, open-source player — it never sells IPTV subscriptions, channels, or playlists. Websites offering "IPTVnator subscriptions/channels/premium/activated" builds are not affiliated with this project. Get the app only from the official website or GitHub Releases. See Beware of unofficial IPTVnator websites and IPTV services for details.
Features
Playlists & sources
- M3U / M3U8 playlists from local files or remote URLs 📂, with automatic updates on startup
- Xtream Codes (XC) and Stalker / Ministra (STB) portal support
- Custom "User-Agent" header per playlist
Playback
- Built-in HTML5 player (HLS.js or Video.js) with a resizable, resumable inline view
- Optional unified IPTVnator controls for HTML5, Video.js, and ArtPlayer, enabled in Settings → Playback (experimental)
- External players — MPV, VLC, and IINA on macOS (
mpv.app/VLC.appbundle paths supported) (desktop) - Embedded MPV — native mpv rendered inside the app window on macOS, Windows & Linux 🖥️ (experimental · desktop)
- Dedicated radio player for
radio="true"streams 📻
Live TV & EPG
- EPG / XMLTV TV guide with a live timeline ribbon and multi-channel grid (desktop)
- TV archive / catch-up / timeshift (desktop)
- Group-based channel list, channel-number selection, and search 🔍
Movies & series (VOD)
- Redesigned two-state detail pages (browse ↔ watch) with season tabs and resume positions
- Download manager for offline movies & episodes ⬇️ (desktop)
- "Recently added" feeds and category grids with sorting & pagination
Discovery & metadata
- Global search across live TV, movies, and series (desktop)
- TMDB enrichment (opt-in) — plots, cast & crew, trailers, ratings, artwork, a "Similar" rail, clickable actor pages, and a trending dashboard rail (trending rail: desktop)
- Dashboard with recently watched & continue-watching
Organization
- Per-playlist and global favorites, aggregated across all playlists ⭐
- Recently viewed / watch history
- Command palette (
Ctrl/Cmd+K)
Platform
- Cross-platform desktop (Electron) and installable PWA
- Desktop auto-updater and mobile remote control (desktop)
- Docker self-hosting for the PWA + web backend
- 19 languages (translation files), light & dark themes, and keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts
Press ? or Shift+/ in the workspace to open the in-app shortcuts list.
| Area | Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Global | Ctrl/Cmd+K |
Open command palette |
| Global | Ctrl/Cmd+F |
Open global search in the desktop app |
| Global | Ctrl/Cmd+R |
Open recently viewed in the desktop app |
| Global | Enter in workspace search |
Submit the current search |
| Navigation | Ctrl/Cmd+B |
Toggle the live sidebar |
| Navigation | 0-9 |
Select an M3U channel by number |
| Playback | Space / K |
Play or pause playback |
| Playback | F |
Toggle player fullscreen |
| Playback | ArrowLeft / ArrowRight |
Seek VOD playback by 5 seconds |
| Playback | ArrowUp / ArrowDown |
Adjust volume by 5% |
| Playback | M |
Mute audio |
| Dialogs and lists | ArrowUp / ArrowDown |
Move command palette selection |
| Dialogs and lists | Enter |
Run the selected command or open a focused item |
| Dialogs and lists | Escape |
Close dialogs and dismiss overlays |
Screenshots:
| Dashboard with recently watched content | Live channels with inline player and EPG |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Add playlist dialog for M3U, Xtream, and Stalker | Live category channel list |
 |
 |
| Global search across live TV, movies, and series | Manage visible live categories |
 |
 |
| Movie category grid with sorting and pagination | Recently added movies and series |
 |
 |
| VOD details with playback and download actions | Download manager |
 |
 |
| Multi-channel EPG grid | External MPV player support |
 |
 |
| Radio playback with dedicated audio player | Light theme |
 |
 |
| Application settings | |
 |
Note: First version of the application which was developed as a PWA is available in an extra git branch.
Self-hosted PWA
The Docker setup builds the Angular PWA and the monorepo web backend into one
image. The backend handles remote M3U parsing plus Xtream and Stalker proxy
requests under /api, so a separate 4gray/iptvnator-backend container is not
required for the default self-hosted flow.
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up --build -d
The application is available at http://localhost:4333. See
docker/docker-compose.yml for the ready-to-run
compose file and docker/README.md for environment
variables, reverse proxy notes, PWA limitations, and build details.
The self-hosted image runs the browser PWA rather than the Electron desktop app: EPG/XMLTV panels, Embedded MPV, managed MPV/VLC launching, the download manager, and Electron remote-control features are not available there. If browser playback fails, copy the stream URL and open it manually in an external player such as MPV, VLC, or IINA.
Download
Download the latest version of the application for macOS, Windows, and Linux from the release page.
Alternatively, you can install the application using one of the following package managers:
Homebrew
$ brew install iptvnator
Snap
$ sudo snap install iptvnator
Arch
Also available as an Arch PKG, iptvnator-bin, in the AUR (using your favourite AUR-helper, .e.g. yay)
$ yay -S iptvnator-bin
Gentoo
You can install IPTVnator from the gentoo-zh overlay
sudo eselect repository enable gentoo-zh
sudo emerge --sync gentoo-zh
sudo emerge iptvnator-bin
Linux Embedded MPV Support
Embedded MPV on Linux is experimental and currently supports x64 desktop
sessions where IPTVnator runs under X11 or Xwayland. Native Wayland embedding
is not supported yet. Linux package launchers request X11 with
--ozone-platform=x11, so Wayland desktops still need Xwayland available.
The Linux backend starts a system mpv executable with --wid, so mpv must
be installed and available on PATH. CI validates the Linux native addon and
standard packages on Ubuntu 22.04, with Flatpak packaging built on Ubuntu 24.04.
Expected user targets are Ubuntu/Debian .deb, Arch/Manjaro pacman, RPM
distributions, and AppImage on x64 systems with X11/Xwayland plus mpv
installed. Flatpak and Snap builds remain available, but embedded MPV is not
announced as supported there yet because those sandboxed formats do not expose
the host mpv executable to the embedded backend by default.
Troubleshooting
macOS: "App is damaged and can't be opened"
Older unsigned macOS builds may require removing the quarantine flag from the downloaded application:
xattr -c /Applications/IPTVnator.app
Alternatively, if the app is located in a different directory:
xattr -c ~/Downloads/IPTVnator.app
Linux: chrome-sandbox Issues
If you encounter the following error when launching IPTVnator:
The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly.
Rather than run without sandboxing I'm aborting now.
You need to make sure that chrome-sandbox is owned by root and has mode 4755.
Solution 1: Fix chrome-sandbox permissions (Recommended for .deb/.rpm installations)
Navigate to the IPTVnator installation directory and run:
sudo chown root:root chrome-sandbox
sudo chmod 4755 chrome-sandbox
Solution 2: Launch with --no-sandbox flag
Edit the desktop launcher file to add the --no-sandbox flag:
-
Find your desktop file location:
- Ubuntu/Debian:
~/.local/share/applications/iptvnator.desktop - System-wide:
/usr/share/applications/iptvnator.desktop
- Ubuntu/Debian:
-
Edit the file and modify the
Execline:Exec=iptvnator --no-sandbox %U -
Save the file and relaunch the application from your application menu.
Alternatively, you can launch IPTVnator from the terminal with the flag:
iptvnator --no-sandbox
GNU/Linux: Wayland startup failure
If IPTVnator exits on GNU/Linux with errors about failing to connect to Wayland or initialize the Ozone platform, force X11/XWayland instead:
iptvnator --ozone-platform=x11
This workaround is mainly for older or problematic Linux graphics stacks. The Snap package already includes this X11 override by default. For AppImage, direct binaries, and other Linux package formats, pass the flag manually when needed.
How to Build and Develop
Requirements:
- Node.js 22.13–22.x or 24 and newer with pnpm (via Corepack)
-
Clone this repository and install project dependencies:
$ corepack enable $ pnpm install -
Start the application:
$ pnpm run serve:backend
This will open the Electron app in a separate window, while the Angular dev server will run at http://localhost:4200.
The equivalent Nx command is:
$ nx serve electron-backend
To start Electron with an empty, isolated data directory instead of your normal
~/.iptvnator folder, set IPTVNATOR_E2E_DATA_DIR for that run:
$ rm -rf .tmp/iptvnator-empty && mkdir -p .tmp/iptvnator-empty
$ IPTVNATOR_E2E_DATA_DIR="$PWD/.tmp/iptvnator-empty" pnpm run serve:backend
This redirects the SQLite database, Electron user data, and local config under the given directory. Delete that directory whenever you want a fresh empty state.
If you need startup diagnostics for a white screen or a frozen route, you can also turn on opt-in Electron tracing. These logs are written to the Electron terminal output so they still help when the renderer DevTools never open:
$ IPTVNATOR_TRACE_STARTUP=1 pnpm run serve:backend
Nx equivalent:
$ IPTVNATOR_TRACE_STARTUP=1 nx serve electron-backend
Useful narrower flags:
IPTVNATOR_TRACE_IPC=1logs rendererwindow.electron.*calls reaching the Electron bridgeIPTVNATOR_TRACE_DB=1logs DB worker requests and request-scoped DB eventsIPTVNATOR_TRACE_SQL=1logs SQLite statements in both the main connection and DB worker connectionIPTVNATOR_TRACE_WINDOW=1logs BrowserWindow load, navigation, and unresponsive eventsIPTVNATOR_TRACE_RENDERER_CONSOLE=1mirrors renderer console messages into the Electron terminal output
Security-sensitive network compatibility flags are opt-in:
IPTVNATOR_ALLOW_PRIVATE_NETWORK_URLS=1permits strict EPG fetches from playlist metadata (x-tvg-url,url-tvg, ortvg-url) to resolve to localhost, LAN, or other private addresses. Directly configured Xtream/Stalker portals and private playlist servers remain supported without this flag. Prefer the in-app source-scoped “Allow source” action for a trusted EPG URL.IPTVNATOR_ALLOW_INSECURE_TLS=1disables certificate validation for remote playlist imports and refreshes for the whole Electron process. Prefer the in-app host-scoped trust action for a trusted provider with a self-signed or otherwise invalid certificate.
If the local Nx daemon gets into a bad state before rerunning Electron, reset it:
$ pnpm nx reset
To run only the Angular app without Electron, use:
$ pnpm run serve:frontend
Disclaimer
IPTVnator doesn't provide any playlists or other digital content.
Trademark
The name "IPTVnator" and the IPTVnator logo are unregistered trademarks of the project owner. The MIT license covers the source code only — it does not grant rights to the name or logo. Forks and redistributions (including app-store submissions) must use a different name and their own icon. See TRADEMARK.md for details.
