Guardian

Guardian is an open-source security and management platform for Plex Media Server that monitors active streams and enforces device- and user-level access policies. It provides a web UI to observe sessions in real time, approve or block devices, and automate actions based on rules and schedules.

Key Features

• Real-time session tracking for Plex and Plexamp including title, quality, duration, client platform, IP and last-seen.
• Device approval workflow: detect new devices and require manual or automatic approval/rejection per user or globally.
• Automated session termination and enforcement of per-user or global concurrent stream limits.
• IP- and schedule-based access controls (LAN/WAN, CIDR ranges, time windows).
• Temporary device permissions and automatic cleanup of inactive devices.
• Notifications via SMTP and Apprise for many integrations (Discord/Slack/Telegram/etc.).
• Export/import database, admin tools for user/password management, and configurable refresh/monitor intervals.

Use Cases

• Protect a home Plex server by requiring manual approval for unknown devices and terminating suspicious sessions.
• Enforce parental or household access schedules and per-user concurrent stream limits.
• Receive alerts for new device connections or blocked streams and audit historical session activity.

Limitations and Considerations

• Default storage is a single-file SQLite database; this design suits small/home deployments but limits horizontal scaling and multi-node high availability.
• Integration is specific to Plex (and Plexamp); it does not act as a general network firewall or replace network-level enforcement tools.
• Some advanced enterprise features (clustering, external database defaults) are not provided out-of-the-box and require manual adaptation.

Guardian is intended as a practical tool for Plex administrators who need visibility and fine-grained device control. It is best suited for single-server/home deployments where easy Docker-based installation and realtime control are priorities.