Self-hosted media server for macOS
_{Automatically find, download, and organize movies and TV shows.
Browse a Netflix-like interface, click what you want, and it handles the rest.}

Why This One?

There are dozens of *arr stack Docker Compose repos on GitHub. Almost all of them dump a compose file and leave you to figure out the rest. This one is different:

• One command to install. Clone, configure, and start everything with a single curl | bash. No 45-minute manual setup.
• Auto-configures itself. The configure script wires up Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr, Seerr, and qBittorrent via their APIs. No clicking through 6 different web UIs.
• Built for macOS. Native paths, launchd instead of systemd, OrbStack or Docker Desktop instead of bare Docker. Not a Linux guide with "should work on Mac" in the footnotes.
• Self-healing. Hourly health checks restart anything that goes down. VPN drops, container crashes, stalled downloads — handled automatically.

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What's Included

Service	What It Does
Seerr	Netflix-style UI for browsing and requesting movies/shows
Plex	Plays your media on any device (TV, phone, laptop)
Jellyfin	Open-source alternative to Plex (opt-in via --jellyfin flag)
Radarr	Automatically finds and downloads movies
Sonarr	Automatically finds and downloads TV shows
Prowlarr	Manages search indexers for Radarr/Sonarr
qBittorrent	Downloads torrents through a VPN tunnel
Gluetun	VPN container (ProtonVPN WireGuard) so downloads are private
Bazarr	Auto-fetches subtitles
FlareSolverr	Bypasses Cloudflare protection on certain indexers
Watchtower	Optional auto-updater (opt-in profile)

Requirements

• macOS (any recent version)
• OrbStack (recommended) or Docker Desktop
• A Plex account (free) or Jellyfin (no account needed)
• ProtonVPN WireGuard credentials

Why OrbStack? It starts in ~2 seconds (vs 30s for Docker Desktop), uses ~1GB RAM (vs 4GB), and has 2-10x faster file I/O. It's a drop-in replacement that runs the same Docker commands. Docker Desktop works fine too.

One-Command Install

Requires OrbStack (or Docker Desktop) and Plex already installed. Handles everything else.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/liamvibecodes/mac-media-stack/main/bootstrap.sh | bash

Optional flags when running from a local clone:

bash bootstrap.sh --media-dir /Volumes/T9/Media --install-dir ~/mac-media-stack --non-interactive
bash bootstrap.sh --jellyfin  # use Jellyfin instead of Plex

Update Existing Clone

Already cloned an older version and want the latest release tag without reinstalling?

One-liner (run inside your existing clone directory):

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/liamvibecodes/mac-media-stack/main/scripts/update-to-latest-release.sh)

Local script (once present):

bash scripts/update-to-latest-release.sh

See it in action

Choosing Your Media Server

Plex (default) runs natively on macOS. Polished apps, easy remote streaming, free Plex account required.

Jellyfin is fully open source with no account needed. Add --jellyfin to the bootstrap command or set MEDIA_SERVER=jellyfin in .env. It runs as a Docker container alongside everything else.

Manual Quick Start

If you prefer to run each step yourself:

git clone https://github.com/liamvibecodes/mac-media-stack.git
cd mac-media-stack
bash scripts/setup.sh        # creates folders, generates .env
# edit .env and add your VPN keys
bash scripts/doctor.sh       # preflight validation before first boot
docker compose up -d         # start everything
# if MEDIA_SERVER=jellyfin in .env:
docker compose --profile jellyfin up -d
docker compose --profile autoupdate up -d watchtower  # optional auto-updates
bash scripts/configure.sh     # auto-configure all services

Full Setup Guide

See SETUP.md for the complete step-by-step walkthrough. Pinned digest matrix: IMAGE_LOCK.md

By default, Seerr is bound to 127.0.0.1 for safer local-only access. Set SEERR_BIND_IP=0.0.0.0 in .env only if you intentionally want LAN exposure.

Scripts

Script	Purpose
scripts/setup.sh	Creates folder structure and .env file
scripts/doctor.sh	Runs preflight checks (runtime, env, compose, ports)
scripts/configure.sh	Auto-configures all service connections
scripts/health-check.sh	Checks if everything is running correctly
scripts/auto-heal.sh	Hourly self-healer (restarts VPN/containers if down)
scripts/install-auto-heal.sh	Installs auto-heal as a background job via launchd
scripts/update-to-latest-release.sh	Updates an older clone to the latest tagged release safely
scripts/refresh-image-lock.sh	Refreshes pinned image digests and regenerates IMAGE_LOCK.md

What It Looks Like

Day-to-Day Usage

What	Where
Browse and request movies/shows	http://localhost:5055
Watch your media (Plex)	http://localhost:32400/web
Watch your media (Jellyfin)	http://localhost:8096

Everything else is automatic. Requests get searched, downloaded, imported, and subtitled without any manual steps.

How It Works

You (Seerr) -> Radarr/Sonarr -> Prowlarr (search) -> qBittorrent (download via VPN) -> Plex (watch)
                                                        Bazarr (subtitles) ^

All services run as Docker containers. Plex runs natively on macOS (or Jellyfin runs in Docker if selected). Download traffic routes through ProtonVPN. Everything else uses your normal internet connection.

Looking for More?

Check out mac-media-stack-advanced for the full power-user setup with transcoding (Tdarr), TRaSH quality profiles (Recyclarr), Plex metadata automation (Kometa), download watchdog, VPN failover, automated backups, and optional music management (Lidarr + Tidarr for Hi-Res FLAC from Tidal). Already running basic and want to migrate? Follow the upgrade guide: mac-media-stack-advanced/UPGRADE.md.

Companion Tools

Tool	What It Does
mac-media-stack-permissions	Audit and fix file permissions across your stack
mac-media-stack-backup	Automated backup and restore for configs and databases

Author

Built by @liamvibecodes

License

MIT