Playback and Players

Playback and Players

Anikoto API/MegaPlay is the default catalog. Select the independent Anikoto.cz catalog with --provider anikoto2 or ANI_CLI_PROVIDER=anikoto2. For KotoCDN HLS from either provider, ani-cli-rs starts a loopback-only relay and remains attached to the player until it exits; this translates confirmed PNG-wrapped transport-stream segments.

mpv

mpv is the default player on Linux and Windows. Install it through your operating system and ensure mpv (mpv.exe on Windows) is in PATH.

ani-cli-rs "title"

ani-cli-rs passes the stream URL, media title, and provider referrer as separate process arguments. mpv receives --tls-verify=no for compatibility with third-party media hosts.

Override the executable:

$env:ANI_CLI_PLAYER = "C:\Program Files\mpv\mpv.exe"
ani-cli-rs "title"

ANI_CLI_PLAYER=/opt/mpv/bin/mpv ani-cli-rs "title"

IINA on macOS

IINA is the default player on macOS. Install it with brew install --cask iina and ensure its iina command is on PATH. ani-cli-rs passes provider headers and subtitles through IINA's mpv-compatible options.

ANI_CLI_PLAYER overrides the platform's default executable, so it must point to an IINA-compatible command on macOS or an mpv-compatible command on Linux and Windows.

VLC

ani-cli-rs --vlc "title"

VLC receives --play-and-exit, the media title, and --http-referrer when required. The executable defaults to vlc.exe on Windows and vlc elsewhere.

Syncplay

ani-cli-rs --syncplay "title"

The executable defaults to syncplay.exe on Windows and syncplay elsewhere. ani-cli-rs supplies the stream and mpv-compatible referrer/title options to Syncplay.

Syncplay coordinates playback state; it does not make an unavailable provider source available.

Attached and detached playback

By default the player is detached after it starts. Use:

ani-cli-rs --no-detach "title"

Attached playback allows ani-cli-rs to wait for player completion before continuing. Use --exit-after-play when the player's non-zero exit should also fail the CLI command.

Environment equivalents:

ANI_CLI_NO_DETACH=true
ANI_CLI_EXIT_AFTER_PLAY=true

Accepted true values are 1, true, and yes, case-insensitively.

Interactive post-playback controls

After a single episode is launched in an interactive terminal, the action menu can include:

• Next episode;
• Replay;
• Previous episode;
• Select another episode;
• Change quality;
• Quit.

Unavailable directions are hidden. Multi-episode batches, downloads, non-terminal runs, and --exit-after-play do not open this menu.

Referrer-related failures

Many media hosts return HTTP 403 without the correct Referer or Origin. StreamLink carries these headers from resolution into player arguments. If a URL works in ani-cli-rs but not when pasted into a browser, that does not necessarily indicate a bug: the browser request may lack the required header, or the URL may be bound to an IP/expiry time.

For diagnosis, use links --json but redact signed query strings before sharing output.