Allow clients to access media files directly (without proxying through the Emby server)

[Dsp442 0]

Hi,

 

I’m wondering if Emby supports (or plans to support) a setup where clients can access media files directly, without the Emby server having to proxy or relay the actual media traffic.

 

In other words, is there a way for Emby to provide the client (e.g., Emby for iOS, Infuse, or a web client) with the original file path or direct URL to the media file, so playback happens directly from the storage source instead of going through the Emby server’s /videos/... endpoint?

 

Here’s the use case:

 

• The Emby server indexes media from remote or distributed sources such as NAS, WebDAV shares, cloud storage, or edge nodes.
• When a client starts playback, Emby could ideally hand out the original resource URL, e.g.

https://edge-node01.lan/media/MovieName.mkv
 

instead of

 

http://embyserver:8096/videos/.../stream

 

 

 

• Clients that already have network access to these locations (same LAN, VPN, etc.) could then stream the file directly, which would reduce server load and make distributed setups much more efficient.

 

 

I’ve already tested this using Path Substitution, both globally and under specific libraries, but it didn’t work as expected — the substitution only applied locally on the server side, and clients still received the Emby proxy stream URL. Even when paths were accessible from the client network, Emby didn’t seem to provide or honor the substituted paths for direct access.

 

So my question is:

Is there any supported or planned feature (or plugin interface, e.g., through IMediaSourceProvider) that would allow Emby to expose direct file URLs or WebDAV/SMB access paths to clients for playback?

 

This would be extremely useful in environments where Emby primarily manages metadata and access control, but actual media delivery is handled by distributed edge servers or remote shares.

 

Thanks in advance for any clarification or pointers!

 

Best regards,

Dsp

 

[Abobader 3464]

Hello Dsp442,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[pwhodges 2012]

There was once a client that did this (for local connections) when direct play was possible, but the feature was removed.

Paul

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  There are some long discussions from a couple of  years ago that you can find and read if you like.

The issue boils down to the fact that direct file system access from apps delivered in the primary app stores require permission levels that will scare many users and we are not willing to do that for this one very edge-case feature.

Emby Theater used to have this feature but I'm actually not sure if it was carried over to the new Windows app.

[Luke 42077]

Quote

Emby Theater used to have this feature but I'm actually not sure if it was carried over to the new Windows app.

It has not been (yet), but it is possible to do so.

On some platforms like the web and Roku and Smart TV's, the direct file access isn't even possible.