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Introducing Coaxist: a single Docker container for running Plex + Debrid with automatic request fetching

Hey folks. I've run a Plex instance on my home server for friends and family for a while now. I recently discovered how easy it was to use Stremio + Torrentio + Debrid, but all my users are already used to Plex, and I like to use the Plex app to download media to my phone before I fly somewhere on vacation. The plex_debrid project made me wonder how easy it could be to use Plex with Debrid.

Over the last few months I've been putting together Coaxist, a single Docker container with Plex, Overseerr, Rclone, and Debrid support. Features include:

  • Support for multiple Media Profiles: e.g. grab 4K DV copies for home viewing, and 1080p copies for maximum compatibility
  • It's just Plex: use the Plex apps, share with other users, download for offline viewing
  • Plex watchlist and Overseerr request integration, out of the box – no copying API keys around
  • "Instant" downloads with Debrid caching support
  • Automatically refresh your Debrid files before they expire

It's easy to get started: start the container, set your Debrid credentials and media profiles in the config, and sign into Plex and Overseerr. The Connector searches Torrentio for your requests and sends the files to Debrid, while Rclone mounts the media locally for Plex to serve. Check out the Quick Start guide.

This project is still in early stages – expect many breaking changes – but if you're brave, and have a Linux, Unraid, or NAS machine that can run Docker containers, I'd love for you to try this out and let me know what you think.

12 comments
  • What's the benefit of this over just using plex_debrid?- I'm currently using plex_debrid hence the question.

    Why are they all in one container Vs using docker compose? - this kinda goes against the mantra of using containers.

    How do you intend to handle updates of the other services?

    Great work however, I don't want you to feel I'm being too negative.

    • Thanks for all the questions and I absolutely don’t think you’re being too negative! This was mainly made to scratch an itch I had, but I hope that other people find it useful too.

      The main difference between this and plex_debrid is that this is set up out of the box to work without manual integration steps. You don’t have to copy the Plex API key around — simply sign into Plex and Overseerr, and my config script handles wiring your watchlist up to request content.

      I’ve also built a high-quality media selection algorithm that I think is the best out there for getting the copies of media you want to make your users happy. Check out the docs on Media Profiles.

      Putting everything in one container doesn’t necessarily break the mantra of using containers. I use containers all day at my job and in my personal clusters. What I’ve found is using tools like Docker Compose to distribute software makes it much harder for people to run my software on home servers like Unraid — and there wasn’t a technical reason I couldn’t bundle these into one container to make it easier. In this case, the services are pretty coupled and I don’t have much need to scale them up individually.

      I haven’t built any automation for this yet, but my repo tracks the upstream sources for rclone, pms-docker, and Overseerr, and I’d like to pull in those updates as I cut new releases.

  • I know it's been around for a long time, but I just heard about Real Debrid. My current setup is Wasabi + Rclone + Jellyfin, plus all the *arr services. What's the benefit of Real Debrid over this setup, aside from cached torrents?

    • You've identified the main benefit – Debrid services provide cached torrents for "instant" downloads. Streaming straight from a Debrid service's fileshare also means you don't need to buy drives or additional storage.

      When you say Wasabi, do you mean the hosted S3-compatible cloud storage service?

  • Does this mean we only need one debrid account when using plex in different places? I am currently responsible for the movie+series management in my family and will put things on plex for whatever is in demand. However it would be nice if I didnt have to do this, and that they could just fetch things themeselves in Plex. Not super keen on having to pay for a debrid account per location, as debrid will ban the account if seen to be used on different public addresses (if im not mistaken)

12 comments