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github-actions[bot] edited this page Aug 17, 2026 · 1 revision

Jellyfin Plugins

Which plugins are worth installing when the stack is tuned for direct play on a native TV client, and why. Written against Jellyfin 10.11 in 2026-08; re-check versions before trusting specifics.

The constraint behind every decision: the primary client is the native Jellyfin app on a Fire Stick / Android TV (jellyfin-androidtv). That rules out most of what appears in "best Jellyfin plugins" lists. Jellyfin runs outside this stack (see cloudflared for addressing it from a container), and Bazarr owns subtitles.

Two current landmines

Intro Skipper cannot be installed. Its manifest URL https://intro-skipper.org/manifest.json (and manifest.intro-skipper.org) returns a 308 redirect to the bare GitHub org, so Jellyfin cannot add the repository. Re-verified 2026-08-17. It remains the highest-value plugin here if distribution is ever fixed, so it is described below.

⚠ Do not install TheIntroDB as a substitute. It looks right — targets 10.11.6+, drives the same media-segments table, no CPU-heavy fingerprinting. In practice its Dispose() throws:

[FTL] Main: Unhandled Exception
System.ObjectDisposedException: The CancellationTokenSource has been disposed.
   at TheIntroDB.TheIntroDbUsageReportingService.Dispose()

That unhandled exception takes down Jellyfin's shutdown path, so the server does not come back after a restart and must be started by hand. It also produced zero segments across 206 lookups, warning every ~2 minutes. Remove its repository as well as the plugin.

Removing any media-segment provider purges the segments table. Re-run the Media Segment Scan task afterwards or every skip button silently disappears.

Net effect: intro skipping comes from Chapter Segments Provider alone.

The rule: server-side vs. web-UI

Server-side plugins run inside the server process — metadata, media segments, scrobbling, reporting. Their effects reach every client.

Web-UI plugins inject JavaScript or CSS into jellyfin-web. The Fire Stick app is a separate Android application that never loads that page, so these are completely inert on the main viewing device: Jellyfin Enhanced, Media Bar, Home Sections, Collection Sections, Custom Tabs, HoverTrailer, InPlayerEpisodePreview, JellyfinTweaks, KefinTweaks, the JavaScript Injector, and every skin.

If a plugin's selling point is how the interface looks, assume it does nothing here.

Recommended

Intro Skipper — fingerprints audio across a season, finds repeated intro and credit sequences, and writes typed entries into the media segments table. The Android TV client reads that type natively and shows a real skip button. Not in the official catalog. Needs ≥10.11.11 — don't roll the server back below that without uninstalling first. The analysis scan decodes audio across the whole library, so schedule it off-hours. Does not work when playback is handed to an external player.

Chapter Segments Provider — official, v4.0.0.0. Reads chapter titles already in the file, pattern-matches them (Intro, Recap, Credits, Previously On, …) and writes the same typed segments, so the same skip button. Database rows only: no decoding, effectively instant.

It depends entirely on releases carrying meaningful chapter names. A 25-file sample from one library:

Result Count Examples
Usable intro/recap titles 6 (24%) Obi-Wan Kenobi, House of the Dragon, Superman & Lois, Blue Mountain State
Credits only 3 (12%) Tangled, Toy Story 2
No chapters at all 16 (64%) Netflix WEBRips, most movie rips

The pattern: Disney+ and HBO sources carry rich chapter names; Netflix WEBRip and most movie releases carry none. Survey your own library:

docker exec bazarr ffprobe -v error -show_chapters -of json "/data/complete/tv/<show>/<file>.mkv"

(That path assumes docker-compose.override.yml; without it Bazarr sees /tv and /movies.)

TMDb Box Sets — official, v13.0.0.0. Builds collections from TMDb box-set data. Server-side, so collections appear in the Fire Stick UI like any other item.

Playback Reporting — official, v17.0.0.0. Who watched what, when, and critically, what transcoded. The only good instrument for finding files the Fire Stick can't direct-play, which is the central question on a stack tuned for direct play.

Optional

Plugin Version Why
Trakt 30.0.0.0 Scrobbles from any client, Fire Stick included, because scrobbling is server-side.
Reports 18.0.0.0 Library auditing — gaps, quality, missing metadata.
Transcode Killer 4.0.0.0 Kills any transcoding session, forcing direct play or failure. Blunt, but surfaces problem files fast.
Merge Versions third-party Merges duplicate 1080p/4K entries into one item with a version picker. Needs danieladov's repo; verify the 10.11 build.

Not recommended

  • Open Subtitles — Bazarr owns subtitles here. Two systems writing subtitle files for the same media.
  • JellyScrub — superseded. Trickplay is built into 10.11: enable it on the libraries, then turn on Developer options → Enable trickplay in video player in the Android TV app.
  • Every web-UI plugin — see the rule above.

Subtitles: how the pieces interact

The reference Bazarr config in ${CONFIG_ROOT}/config/bazarr/config/config.yaml:

Setting Value Meaning
use_embedded_subs false Embedded tracks do not satisfy a language requirement
enabled_providers opensubtitlescom, gestdown, subf2m, yifysubtitles embeddedsubtitles is configured but not enabled
subfolder current Sidecar files land next to the video
ignore_pgs_subs / ignore_vobsub_subs true Inert unless use_embedded_subs is on

So this is not "embedded first, Bazarr as fallback" — Bazarr downloads an external subtitle for essentially everything. Both tracks appear in the picker and Jellyfin's default-track logic chooses.

Subtitle Extract (catalog v7.0.0.0) — skip, conditionally. It pre-extracts embedded subtitle streams so Jellyfin doesn't run ffmpeg on demand. It writes to Jellyfin's internal cache (/config/data/subtitles, keyed by item ID), not sidecar files, so it cannot collide with Bazarr. It's skipped only because with use_embedded_subs: false a Bazarr sidecar already exists nearly everywhere, so the stall it prevents rarely happens. It also never prunes its cache when media is deleted.

If you enable embedded subtitles, which way you do it inverts the answer:

  • use_embedded_subs: true (Bazarr accepts embedded tracks and stops fetching externals) → more playback uses embedded tracks, the extraction stall becomes real, so install Subtitle Extract. Keep ignore_pgs_subs and ignore_vobsub_subs true; they go live under this setting and correctly force a text subtitle for image-only files.
  • The embeddedsubtitles provider (Bazarr extracts tracks out to sidecars) → nothing is left for Jellyfin to extract, so Subtitle Extract stays redundant.

The constraint neither changes: image subtitles (PGS, VOBSUB) cannot be sent as a separate stream. Jellyfin burns them into the picture, forcing a full video transcode even on a file that would otherwise direct-play. No plugin fixes this — always having a text subtitle does, which is what Bazarr is already for.

Fire Stick app settings

Installing segment plugins is half the job. In the Android TV app:

  • Playback → Media Segments — set Intro and Outro to Skip or Ask to skip. Left at the default, the plugins produce no visible behaviour at all.
  • Developer options → Enable trickplay in video player — experimental, off by default.

Segment skipping does not work with an external player.

Installing

Catalog plugins install from Dashboard → Plugins → Catalog, or via the API. Jellyfin must restart before a plugin loads.

J=http://JELLYFIN_HOST:8096
K=$(python3 -c "import json;print(json.load(open('.claude/settings.json'))['services']['jellyfin']['apiKey'])")

curl -s -H "X-Emby-Token: $K" "$J/Plugins" | python3 -c \
  "import json,sys;[print(p['Name'],p['Version'],p['Status']) for p in json.load(sys.stdin)]"

curl -s -X POST -H "X-Emby-Token: $K" "$J/Packages/Installed/Chapter%20Segments%20Provider"

Everything the catalog has a 10.11 build for:

curl -s -H "X-Emby-Token: $K" "$J/Packages" | python3 -c "
import json,sys
for p in json.load(sys.stdin):
    ok=[v for v in p.get('versions',[]) if v.get('targetAbi','').startswith('10.11')]
    print(('YES ' if ok else '--  ')+p['name']+' | '+(ok[0]['version'] if ok else 'no 10.11 build'))
"

Summary

Plugin Source Status
Intro Skipper intro-skipper.org Uninstallable — manifest 308s. Would need ≥10.11.11, scan off-hours
TheIntroDB Third-party Do not install — crashes Jellyfin's shutdown path
Chapter Segments Provider Official Install
TMDb Box Sets Official Install
Playback Reporting Official Install
Trakt / Reports / Transcode Killer Official Optional
Merge Versions Third-party Optional, verify 10.11 build
Subtitle Extract Official Conditional — only if use_embedded_subs: true
Open Subtitles Official Skip — Bazarr owns subtitles
JellyScrub Third-party Skip — built into 10.11
Any web-UI plugin — Skip — inert on Fire Stick

References

Core

Guides

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