How StreamBridge works

Plex reads films from a folder. StreamBridge makes that folder a virtual disk and fills each file in from your debrid service as Plex asks for it, so nothing big is stored on your Mac.

  1. On your MacStreamBridge

    You pick a film and it finds a stream

  2. On your MacVirtual disk

    Looks like movie files, holds about 25 MB of each

  3. On your MacPlex Media Server

    Scans it like any library folder

  4. AnywherePlex apps

    TV, phone, browser

Video streams from your debrid account into the virtual disk as Plex reads it

Plex only ever talks to a folder on your Mac. StreamBridge fills in the bytes as they're asked for.

Fetched as Plex reads

In the virtual disk a film is as big as the real file, but only its first bit is on your Mac. When Plex reads further in, or jumps ahead, StreamBridge fetches that part from your debrid service.

If a link expires mid-film it gets a new one, and if a source slows down it switches to another copy of the same file.

A small cache

About 25 MB of each title stays on your Mac so scans and starts are quick: roughly 6 GB for 240 4K films. What you watch is kept for a while too, up to a limit you set, oldest first. Settings shows how much it's using.

StreamBridge's Cache settings: 152 of 152 titles ready to play, 15.5 GB of 32 GB used

A library folder for Plex

StreamBridge adds the virtual disk to Plex as a library folder. Plex sees ordinary movie files, so artwork, watch history and remote streaming all work as usual, even though the films aren't on your drive.

It keeps going after you quit

The part that serves the films runs on its own, so quitting, restarting or updating the app doesn't stop what's playing on the TV.

What you need

There's no Docker, no config file and nothing to install on your TV.