Snöigt

Media server · free and open source

spritz

A nano DLNA media server for the terminal. No setup, no config.

brew install dfallman/tap/spritz

View on GitHub macOS, Linux, and Windows

About

Run it in a folder, and the video and audio files in it show up on the TVs, phones, and speakers on your local network. Nothing to install on most TVs, and no IP address to type.

Most media servers are built to run forever: you install a service, point it at a library, keep a database, and leave it on. Spritz is the opposite. You have just downloaded something you want to watch tonight, so you run spritz in that folder, press play on the TV, and press CtrlC when the credits roll.

DLNA is fiddly, and its usual failure is silence: the TV simply never sees the share. So Spritz checks the network as it starts and says what is in the way, whether a VPN, another app holding the discovery port, or macOS withholding Local Network access. It only answers devices on your own network unless you tell it otherwise.

What it does

  • One command

    Zero config and zero state. Serve the current folder, or name one or more. It indexes once, at start, so new files mean a restart.

  • Found automatically

    Announces itself over SSDP/UPnP, so nobody has to type an IP address.

  • Three ways to browse

    Videos, Music, and By folder, which follows the structure on disk.

  • Subtitles and artwork

    Picks up .srt, .vtt, and .ass files and cover art that sit next to your media, language tags included.

  • Honest about formats

    Reads duration, resolution, and the DLNA profile from inside the file, so a TV is never told a video is something it isn’t.

  • Says what is wrong

    Warns about a VPN, a taken discovery port, or denied Local Network access, and shows which devices found it.

  • Stays on your network

    Answers only local addresses, Tailscale included. --allow-remote opens it up, and warns you if the computer has a public address.

  • Leaves cleanly

    Says goodbye on CtrlC, so clients drop it straight away.

Who it’s for

  • You just want to watch it

    You’ve downloaded a film and want it on the TV tonight. You don’t want to set up a media library, keep a server running, or copy it to a USB stick first. Run spritz in the folder, and press play.

  • You’re away from home

    You’re in a holiday cottage or at a friend’s place, with a laptop full of films and a TV on the same Wi-Fi. Share the folder for the evening, and leave nothing installed behind.

  • You don’t like leaving servers running

    Spritz runs only while you need it, on your laptop, a NAS, a Raspberry Pi, or any server shell. Press CtrlC and it’s gone: no daemon, no database, and nothing left behind.

Install

With Homebrew, on macOS or Linux:

brew install dfallman/tap/spritz

Prebuilt binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are on the latest release page, and the source is on GitHub.

Try it

cd ~/Downloadsspritz

Within a few seconds the share appears on your TV, PS5, Xbox, or Kodi, and in Infuse or VLC on an Apple TV.

Spritz is free and open source under the MIT licence. Read the source, report an issue, or contribute on GitHub.