ELI6 Movies

Free streaming for movies, TV shows, and anime. Zero ads, zero subscription, zero sign-up required.

Live: https://eli6movies.vercel.app

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Features

• 10+ embed servers with automatic failover — if one source doesn't play, it tries the next
• Source quality badge — shows CAM / WEB / HD / AIRING based on release dates (TMDB)
• User accounts — optional; required only for My List and episode notifications
• My List & Keep Watching — pick up where you left off, with auto-resume
• Trakt.tv scrobbling — connect your Trakt account and watched items sync automatically
• Episode notifications — get an email when a new episode of a show you follow drops
• Multi-language UI — English, Italian, Russian
• Mobile-first — bottom navigation, responsive layout, Android TV / spatial nav support
• Multiple themes — Pulse, Noir, Marquee, and more
• Zero tracking — no third-party analytics or ad networks

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Stack

Layer	Technology	Cost
Frontend	Vanilla JS + HTML/CSS on Vercel	Free
Backend	Node.js / Express on Render	Free
Database	MongoDB Atlas M0	Free
Metadata	TMDB API	Free
Avatars	Cloudinary	Free
Email	Resend	Free
Video	Third-party embed providers (no files hosted here)	—

Total hosting cost: $0/month

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Self-hosting guide

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/EliseyRotar/eli6_movies.git
cd eli6_movies

2. MongoDB Atlas (free database)

1. Create a free M0 cluster at mongodb.com/atlas
2. Database Access → add a user with a strong password
3. Network Access → Add Render's outbound CIDR ranges for your region (Render Dashboard → your service → Connect → Outbound tab). This is safer than 0.0.0.0/0 — restricts access to Render's IP space only. Ranges are fixed per region even on the free tier.
4. Database → Connect → Drivers → copy the connection string:

   mongodb+srv://user:password@cluster.mongodb.net/eli6_movies?retryWrites=true&w=majority
   

3. TMDB API key (free)

1. Register at themoviedb.org
2. Settings → API → Request an API key (v3 auth)

4. Backend on Render

1. render.com → New Web Service → connect your fork
2. Root Directory: backend
3. Start command: node server.js
4. Environment variables:

Variable	Value
NODE_ENV	production
PORT	3000
MONGODB_URI	your Atlas connection string
JWT_SECRET	any 64+ character random string (openssl rand -hex 32)
JWT_EXPIRES_IN	90d
JWT_COOKIE_MAX_AGE	7776000000
TMDB_API_KEY	your TMDB v3 API key
TMDB_LANGUAGE	en-US
TMDB_TIMEOUT_MS	8000
FRONTEND_ORIGIN	your Vercel URL
APP_URL	your Vercel URL
SITE_HOST	your Vercel domain (no https://)

Optional — for episode email notifications:

Variable	Value
RESEND_API_KEY	API key from resend.com
MAIL_FROM	e.g. ELI6 Movies <you@yourdomain.com>
CRON_SECRET	any random string (protects the cron endpoint)

Optional — for Trakt.tv scrobbling:

Variable	Value
TRAKT_CLIENT_ID	from trakt.tv/oauth/applications
TRAKT_CLIENT_SECRET	from the same Trakt app page
TRAKT_REDIRECT_URI	https://your-vercel-url.vercel.app/trakt-callback.html

To set up: create a new app at trakt.tv/oauth/applications, set the redirect URI to your Vercel URL + /trakt-callback.html, and add your Vercel origin in the CORS origins field.

Optional — for profile picture uploads:

Variable	Value
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME	from cloudinary.com
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY	Cloudinary API key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET	Cloudinary API secret

5. Frontend on Vercel

1. vercel.com → New Project → import your fork
2. Set Root Directory to frontend
3. No build step needed — pure static files
4. In frontend/js/config.js, update the API URL to your Render service:

   window.API_BASE_URL = 'https://your-render-service.onrender.com/api';

6. Wire together and deploy

# Update config.js with your Render URL, then commit
git add frontend/js/config.js
git commit -m "config: set production API URL"
git push

Vercel auto-deploys on push. In Render, update FRONTEND_ORIGIN to your Vercel URL and redeploy.

7. Keep backend awake (optional)

Render free tier sleeps after 15 minutes idle. Prevent this with UptimeRobot (free):

• Monitor type: HTTP(S)
• URL: https://your-render-url.onrender.com/api/health
• Interval: 5 minutes

8. Episode notifier cron (optional)

If you set up Resend, trigger the episode checker daily via cron-job.org:

• URL: POST https://your-render-url.onrender.com/api/cron/check-episodes
• Header: X-Cron-Secret: <your CRON_SECRET>
• Schedule: once daily

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Local development

cd backend
cp env.example .env
# Fill in MONGODB_URI, JWT_SECRET, TMDB_API_KEY in .env
npm install
node server.js

# In a separate terminal — serve the frontend
cd ../frontend
python3 -m http.server 5500
# Open http://localhost:5500

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Project structure

eli6_movies/
├── frontend/          # Static site (Vercel)
│   ├── index.html     # Homepage
│   ├── movies.html    # Movies browse
│   ├── tvshows.html   # TV shows browse
│   ├── anime.html     # Anime browse
│   ├── player.html    # Video player
│   ├── search.html    # Search
│   ├── mylist.html    # Watchlist
│   ├── account.html   # Login / profile
│   ├── settings.html  # User settings
│   ├── css/           # Stylesheets (theme system)
│   ├── js/
│   │   ├── config.js      # API URL configuration
│   │   ├── components.js  # Shared UI components
│   │   ├── theme.js       # Theme switcher
│   │   ├── i18n.js        # Internationalization (EN/IT/RU)
│   │   ├── mylist.js      # My List sync
│   │   └── ...
│   └── vercel.json    # Clean URL rewrites + CSP headers
└── backend/           # Express API (Render)
    ├── server.js      # Entry point
    ├── routes/
    │   ├── auth.js         # Login, register, logout
    │   ├── user.js         # Profile, My List, Keep Watching, avatar
    │   ├── tmdb.js         # TMDB proxy with tiered cache
    │   ├── catalog.js      # Browse endpoints
    │   ├── checkServers.js # Embed provider health check
    │   ├── cron.js         # Episode notifier trigger
    │   └── passwordReset.js
    ├── models/
    │   └── User.js         # User schema
    ├── middleware/
    │   ├── auth.js         # JWT auth
    │   ├── rateLimit.js    # Rate limiting
    │   └── csrf.js         # CSRF protection
    └── jobs/
        └── episodeNotifier.js  # New episode email logic

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API reference

Method	Path	Auth	Description
GET	/api/health	—	Health check
POST	/api/register	—	Create account
POST	/api/login	—	Login (sets JWT cookie)
POST	/api/logout	—	Logout
GET	/api/user/profile	JWT	Profile + My List
POST	/api/user/mylist	JWT	Add to My List
DELETE	/api/user/mylist/:id/:type	JWT	Remove from My List
GET	/api/user/keep-watching	JWT	Keep Watching list
POST	/api/user/keep-watching	JWT	Update progress
POST	/api/user/avatar	JWT	Upload profile picture
GET	/api/tmdb/*	—	Proxied TMDB requests (cached)
GET	/api/check-servers	—	Embed provider health
POST	/api/cron/check-episodes	Cron-Secret header	Episode notifier trigger
GET	/api/trakt/auth-url	JWT	Returns Trakt OAuth URL
POST	/api/trakt/callback	JWT	Exchange OAuth code for tokens
GET	/api/trakt/status	JWT	Trakt connection status
DELETE	/api/trakt/disconnect	JWT	Disconnect Trakt
POST	/api/trakt/scrobble	JWT	Proxy scrobble to Trakt

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Credits

• Movie and TV metadata: TMDB
• Video embed providers: third-party (this project does not host any video files)

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License

MIT