CouchTube

CouchTube is a lightweight Go application that recreates a TV-channel experience by scheduling playback of curated YouTube videos from user-provided JSON playlists. It presents channel lists and plays specified video sections according to the current time so viewers see consistent, time-aligned playback.

Key Features

• Time-based scheduler that maps channel playlists to the current time so users see the same video for a given channel at the same moment.
• JSON-based channel and video format (channels → videos with id, sectionStart, sectionEnd) for easy sharing and customization.
• Trims playback to a specified sectionStart/sectionEnd within each video for curated excerpts rather than full videos.
• Skips videos that are private, restricted, or disabled for embedding and advances to the next available item.
• Single-file SQLite database for local state and pre-populated channel lists via a videos.json bundle.
• Container-friendly distribution with a provided Docker image and docker-compose configuration.
• Configurable via environment variables (port, DB file path, JSON file path, full-scan and read-only modes).

Use Cases

• Ambient or background “TV channel” streams for co-watching, events, or office displays.
• Community-maintained themed channels where contributors submit shared JSON playlists of clips.
• Curated presentation mode for installations or kiosks that play selected video excerpts on a schedule.

Limitations and Considerations

• Playback depends on the availability and embeddability of external videos; private or non-embeddable videos will be skipped.
• Basic error handling and early-stage development: expect occasional bugs and limited production hardening.
• Scheduling consistency requires correct server time; deployments should ensure accurate system clocks.

CouchTube is intended for simple, shareable channel-style playback of existing videos using a compact configuration format. It is focused on ease of customization and simple deployment rather than complex streaming infrastructure.