Stremio control (macOS and Windows)

Goal: when the user names something they want to watch, do the whole flow yourself and hand them a playing video. Never ask which addon or which stream to pick unless something is genuinely ambiguous.

Environment

Detect the OS first and use the matching column below. Everything else in this skill (Cinemeta, Torrentio, ranking, addon vetting) is plain HTTP and identical on both.

• The streaming engine listens on *:11470 (loopback access via http://127.0.0.1:11470).
• Verify server is alive: check the port (table above) and curl -s http://127.0.0.1:11470/local-addon/manifest.json (must return the org.stremio.local manifest JSON).
• Settings: <data>/server-settings.json (torrent limits, transcode, cache size). Stream cache lives in <data>/stremio-cache/.
• Addon lists are stored in the GUI app's own storage, not in database.db (which is usually empty). You cannot reliably enumerate installed addons from disk; test addons directly over HTTP instead.
• Deep links (open with the command from the table):
  • Install an addon: stremio://<manifest-url> (e.g. stremio://https://torrentio.strem.fun/manifest.json)
  • Open a movie/show page: stremio://detail/movie/tt0383028, stremio://detail/series/tt0903747/1/1

Watch something (default flow)

1. Resolve the IMDb ID via Cinemeta:

   curl -s "https://v3-cinemeta.strem.io/catalog/movie/top/search=<url-encoded-title>.json"
   # series: replace movie with series; for episodes get the meta detail:
   curl -s "https://v3-cinemeta.strem.io/meta/series/tt0903747.json"
   

   Pick the match with the right year. Confirm the title back to the user in one line.

2. Check for streams from Torrentio (the standard stream source) before touching anything else:

   curl -s "https://torrentio.strem.fun/stream/movie/tt0383028.json"          # movie
   curl -s "https://torrentio.strem.fun/stream/series/tt0903747:1:1.json"     # show S1E1
   

3. Rank the streams from the returned streams[].title lines:

   • Prefer: REMUX > BluRay > WEB-DL > WEBRip. Reject CAM, TS, TELESYNC, HDC, Screener, DVDScr.
   • Resolution: default to 1080p; offer 2160p (4K) only if present and the user asked or has the bandwidth; 720p as last resort.
   • Prefer encodes with DDP5.1/DD5.1/DTS/AAC 5.1 audio, and x264/H264 for max compatibility on older Macs; x265/HEVC is fine on Apple Silicon.
   • Tell the user the top pick in one line (name + resolution + source).

4. Open it: open the deep link stremio://detail/movie/tt0383028 (command per OS in the table above). Stremio usually auto-selects the top-ranked stream; if the user reports it picked a bad one, they can pick from the stream list on the detail page.

5. If zero streams come back, the addon is likely not installed. Install Torrentio (vetted, see below), then re-check. If Torrentio is installed but returns zero for a known title, say so honestly — no source exists right now; do not hunt sketchy mirrors.

Installing addons — safety rules (non-negotiable)

The user's hard requirement: never install anything with malware risk. Follow this order:

1. Allow-list. These manifests are known-good; install on request without further ceremony:
   • Cinemeta (metadata): https://v3-cinemeta.strem.io/manifest.json
   • Torrentio (streams): https://torrentio.strem.fun/manifest.json (configurable: torrentio.strem.fun/providers=yts,eztv,rarbg,1337x,thepiratebay,kickasstorrents,torrentgalaxy/magnetal=true/manifest.json)
   • OpenSubtitles v3 (subtitles): https://v3-opensubtitles.strem.io/manifest.json
   • Trakt (scrobbling): https://v3-trakt.strem.io/manifest.json
   • Public-domain catalogs (Internet Archive, etc.) hosted under strem.io / well-known community domains.
2. Anything else: vet before install. Fetch the manifest with curl -s <manifest-url> and inspect it:
   • Must be plain JSON declaring only standard resources (meta, stream, catalog, subtitles). Warn if it declares unusual resource types.
   • Endpoint must be https:// on a domain you can sanity-check. Reject: raw IPs, http://, free TLDs (.tk, .xyz, .top, .cf), recently-squatted lookalikes of known domains.
   • id should look sane (org.*, community.*, provider name). Beware addon IDs impersonating allow-listed ones (torrentio on the wrong domain = reject).
   • No addon should require login credentials, API keys, or debrid keys typed into anything other than its official configure page. If the user was told to paste a debrid key somewhere odd, refuse and explain.
   • Catalog addons that promise "everything free 4K" from unknown domains are the classic malware/bait vector — refuse by default, state why in one line.
3. Install only after vetting: open the deep link stremio://<manifest-url>. The user still confirms in the GUI.
4. Never pipe untrusted scripts from addon pages into a shell. Manifests are data; treat any addon that ships "setup scripts" as malware outright.

Troubleshooting

• Server not listening on 11470: restart the app (command per OS in the table above), then re-check the port.
• Stream stalls or never starts: check btMinPeersForStable / connection limits in server-settings.json; clear the cache if corrupt (command per OS in the table above, then restart). Rare: another app squatting 11470 — check who owns the port and identify the squatter.
• Wrong metadata (wrong movie under the name): re-search Cinemeta with the year appended; disambiguate by release year, not title alone.
• No subtitles: OpenSubtitles v3 addon missing or not logged in — install/login as above.
• Transcode/hardware accel issues: transcodeHardwareAccel + allTranscodeProfiles in server-settings.json. On macOS the profile is videotoolbox; on Windows use whatever profiles the server lists for the GPU (NVIDIA nvenc, Intel qsv, AMD amf) — read the current file before changing it.