Documentation Getting Started

Getting Started

Turn your folders into a channel lineup.

Claim your server

Open setup: The first time Magpie starts, setup opens in your browser on this computer. To open it again, choose Set Up or Reset Passcode from the Magpie icon in the menu bar or system tray.
Name it and set a passcode: Give your network the name every screen will show, then a username and a passcode of at least 15 characters.
Titles and artwork: Magpie gets titles, posters and cast from TMDb.

Point it at your media

Add a library: Under Library › Libraries, press Add Library, say what it holds (movies, shows, music and so on), name it, and add every folder it lives in, with the path of each. Add as many libraries as you have.
Scan: Press Scan Everything. If the titles look wrong, the folder layout probably does not match the kind you picked.
Your files stay as they are: Magpie changes your folders only when you turn on a feature that writes to them.

Put something on the air

Make a channel: Open Channels, make a channel, and fill its week with titles and collections. The calendar is exactly what airs.
Watch it: Open a Magpie app on the screen you watch from. Choose your profile, and the console shows the request at the top of every page and under Overview › Device Requests. Choose Approve.
Or just a browser: Or open the server's address in a browser.

What reaches the internet

Coming in: Nothing outside your home reaches Magpie until you open a way in yourself, with a port forward or a tunnel. A screen outside your home network then signs in to a profile before it can watch; Who Can Watch, under Broadcasting › Your Network, changes that.
Going out: With remote access off, the server still contacts these services to do its work. Each one also sees your internet address.
TMDb: The title and year of each film or show it looks up, to fetch details and artwork. On from the start; Fill Details Automatically turns it off.
MusicBrainz and Cover Art Archive: Artist, album and track names, when music is identified.
OpenSubtitles: Your account and the title, only when you turn on Download Subtitles.
Internet Archive: What you search for and the items you fetch, only when you use it under Downloads.
Services you add: The download servers and indexers you add, podcast feeds you subscribe to, tuner sources, web addresses you give for artwork or off-air clips, catalogues you add under External Catalogues, and an Ask Magpie provider you connect. Installing Ask Magpie on this computer downloads its program from GitHub and its model from Hugging Face, and installing local captions downloads their model from Hugging Face. Each receives only what that feature needs.
Trailers: Only when you turn on Download Trailers Automatically: the server fetches the yt-dlp tool and the deno runtime from GitHub, and yt-dlp downloads each film's trailer from YouTube. With YouTube Trailers on, a title with no trailer file plays one on the viewer's screen from YouTube; the server sends YouTube nothing.
WatchMagpie: A ready-made network you join is read from watchmagpie.com. Your network's name, description, address, seats, viewer count and channel lineup, with what is on now and next, are sent to the WatchMagpie directory only if you make your listing public.
Updates and reports: The Magpie app in the menu bar or system tray checks GitHub once a day for a newer release while automatic updates are on. When you review and send a problem report, your server forwards it to Ayers Electronics if sending reports is enabled. A technical summary appears on GitHub; the full diagnostic bundle is stored privately for up to 90 days. Kids' reports and reports filed with sending disabled stay on your server. Read the privacy policy before including sensitive details.

Worth knowing on day one

Every TV agrees: Two screens on the same live channel show the same moment.
Backups: Choose a backup folder under Settings › Storage and Backups. Backups hold your channels, people and settings, not your media, and Check the Newest Copy checks one without restoring it.