Pokécast

Watch the videos on your PC on a Smart TV (Chromecast / Android TV) straight from your browser: folder-grouped list, player controls, autoplay and resume-where-you-left-off.

I built this to watch Pokémon with my son, but it works for any kind of video.

Requirements

• Linux with ufw
• Node 20+ (recommended via nvm)
• Smart TV with built-in Chromecast (Android TV) on the same Wi-Fi network

Install

1. Copy the Pokécast files (server.js, index.html, package.json, start.sh) into the folder where your videos live.
2. Organize the videos into subfolders (e.g. one per season) — the UI groups by folder.
3. Make the launcher executable (once):

   chmod +x start.sh

Usage

./start.sh

• The first run asks for sudo once to open the firewall for your local network.
• It opens http://localhost:8099. Click an episode to play it on the TV.
• To stop: Ctrl-C in the terminal, or the Shut down button on the page.

Features

• Videos grouped by subfolder, with search
• Play/pause, stop, seek and volume
• Autoplay the next episode in the folder
• Remembers where you stopped (auto-resume + per-episode progress bar; ↺ restarts)
• Finds the TV on its own (mDNS) — the TV's IP can change without breaking anything

Configuration (optional)

Variable	Default	What for
POKECAST_TV	first TV found	TV name, in case you have more than one cast device
POKECAST_PORT	8099	Server port

POKECAST_TV="living room" ./start.sh

How it works

The PC does not push the picture: it hands the TV a URL and the TV fetches the video from a local HTTP server. That is why the firewall has to allow inbound traffic from your network (the launcher does this for you).

browser  ->  server (PC)  ->  "play this URL"  ->  TV
                ^                                    |
                +--------  TV fetches video (HTTP) --+

Range support (HTTP 206) is what makes the seek bar work.

Troubleshooting

• Says it is playing but nothing shows on the TV: the TV may be on another input (HDMI). Switch to Home/TV, or enable HDMI-CEC so it switches automatically.
• "TV not found": make sure the TV is on and on the same network, then click Reconnect.
• Video does not load on the TV: firewall. If you changed networks, run sudo ufw allow from <your_subnet> and delete the .firewall-done file.
• Codec: native casting plays H.264/AAC. An H.265/HEVC file may fail — in that case use a USB stick + VLC installed on the TV.