[opensourcedex]

MovieBox-Tui is a free, open source media & streaming project written in Rust and released under Apache-2.0. It has 2,029 GitHub stars, 216 forks and 12 open issues, and was last pushed 39 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #19 of 27 tracked projects in Media & Streaming, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available. It gained 36 stars over the last 3 tracked days.

What is MovieBox-Tui?

What it is

MovieBox-Tui is a Rust terminal user interface for finding, downloading, and streaming movies, TV shows, anime, and live television. It lives in the command-line media ecosystem, using ratatui and local players such as mpv, IINA, VLC, or Android video players. The project gives users one keyboard-driven workspace for searching titles, browsing providers, importing IPTV playlists, and launching playback.

Users may need separate tools for on-demand movies, series, anime, M3U live TV, and downloads. MovieBox-Tui combines those tasks in one interface. It searches across multiple providers and community Stremio addons, displays posters, manages a library and history, and sends streams to a native player. It also supports downloads for single episodes or entire seasons, with pause and resume behavior.

Key capabilities

  • On-demand streaming for movies, series, and anime across multiple providers and community Stremio addons.
  • Live TV and IPTV support through custom M3U playlist URLs, with channel search, category browsing, and live playback.
  • Native video playback through mpv, IINA, VLC, or Android players, with hardware acceleration when supported.
  • Automatic subtitle discovery and loading in a preferred language.
  • Download management for episodes or seasons, with pause and resume support.
  • Terminal poster rendering in graphics-capable terminals such as Ghostty, Kitty, WezTerm, or iTerm2.
  • Library, history, bookmarks, custom themes, and settings for resuming titles and terminal appearance.

Who uses it and how

  • Desktop users install the application on macOS, Linux, or Windows, then run moviebox-tui to search and play titles.
  • Android users run the tool inside Termux, install required packages, grant storage permission, and use Android players.
  • IPTV users import M3U playlist URLs, browse categories, search channels, and stream live television from the terminal.
  • Download users save episodes or seasons locally, using the built-in engine or yt-dlp and ffmpeg for MovieBox DASH streams.
  • Terminal enthusiasts use graphics-capable terminals for posters, while standard terminals receive clean text layouts.

Getting started

Typical installation uses the automated shell or PowerShell installer, Homebrew on macOS, Cargo from crates.io, or a source build. After installation, users run moviebox-tui, search a title, and press Enter to play.

When to use it — and when not to

MovieBox-Tui is useful for local, keyboard-driven on-demand, anime, and IPTV workflows with native players. It is less suitable for hosted services, web interfaces, or managed media servers, because the README describes local installation and playback. Its limits include dependence on providers and community addons, a required media player, graphics-capable terminals for posters, and extra yt-dlp and ffmpeg setup for MovieBox DASH downloads.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

MovieBox-TUI

Terminal interface to find, download, and stream movies, TV shows, and live TV using local media players.

English • বাংলা • हिन्दी • Español

Telegram Donate

moviebox-tui-walkthrough.webm

Features

  • On Demand Streaming: Stream movies, series, and anime across multiple providers and community Stremio addons.
  • Live TV and IPTV: Import custom M3U playlist URLs to search channels, browse categories, and stream live television.
  • Native Video Playback: Plays directly in your favorite player (mpv, IINA, VLC, or Android video players) with smooth hardware acceleration.
  • Automatic Subtitles: Automatically searches and loads subtitles in your preferred language into your player.
  • Fast Downloads: Save single episodes or entire seasons to your computer with pause and resume support.
  • Visual Posters: Displays cover art and movie posters directly inside your terminal window.
  • Library and History: Bookmark your favorite titles and pick up watching right where you left off.
  • Custom Themes: Built in color themes and settings to match your personal terminal look and feel.
  • Cross Platform: Works identically on macOS, Linux, Windows, and Android.

Prerequisites

Requires at least one media player for streaming:

  • mpv (recommended across Linux, macOS, and Windows)
  • IINA (macOS)
  • VLC (cross platform)
  • Any Android Video Player via Termux (VLC, Just Player, MX Player)

Poster graphics: Image rendering requires a graphics capable terminal (Ghostty, Kitty, WezTerm, or iTerm2). Standard terminals display clean text layouts automatically.

Optional for MovieBox downloads: yt-dlp and ffmpeg are required only for downloading DASH streams from the MovieBox provider. All other providers download directly with the built in engine.

Installation

macOS and Linux

Automated install:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mesamirh/MovieBox-Tui/main/install.sh | bash

Homebrew (macOS):

brew tap mesamirh/moviebox-tui https://github.com/mesamirh/MovieBox-Tui
brew install moviebox-tui

Note: If Homebrew prompts for tap verification, run brew trust mesamirh/moviebox-tui.

Windows

PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mesamirh/MovieBox-Tui/main/install.ps1 | iex

Android (Termux)

  1. Install dependencies and run the installer:
pkg update && pkg install -y curl tar termux-tools termux-am
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mesamirh/MovieBox-Tui/main/install.sh | bash
  1. Grant storage permission (required for video players and downloads):
termux-setup-storage
Cargo and Source Build

From crates.io:

cargo install moviebox-tui --locked

From source:

git clone https://github.com/mesamirh/MovieBox-Tui.git
cd MovieBox-Tui
cargo build --release --locked
Verify Release Integrity
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing
gh attestation verify <archive-file> -R mesamirh/MovieBox-Tui

Quick Start

moviebox-tui
  • Type any title to search, press Enter to play.
  • Press ? inside the TUI for shortcuts, or type /settings for preferences.

Documentation

Comprehensive guides and architectural references are available at mesamirh.github.io/MovieBox-Tui or in the docs/ directory.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Review CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting pull requests.

Report bugs or submit feature requests through GitHub Issues.

Optional Support

If you would like to support ongoing development directly:

Network / Asset Address
USDT (TRC20) TL4yW73qmbKZpBWwbEFgjBpwVkPDFTkJgV
Bitcoin (BTC) 3MEAtqtRWrQBhnaMi3Zuf5nt2efNUS2LUQ
Ethereum / EVM 0x7ea20d5fa29d87f33195f5a3b211ff94038d794c
Solana (SOL) 6ctm5WFv73MNywoCKAz3xK72yizSspHa72rFNygooU6

Privacy

MovieBox-TUI contains zero telemetry, analytics, or user tracking. All search history, bookmarks, and configuration files remain strictly on your local filesystem.

License

Licensed under either MIT or Apache-2.0.

Disclaimer

This project does not host or store any media. It is an independent client for playing publicly available streams. Users are responsible for complying with the laws of their country.

Frequently asked questions

Is MovieBox-Tui free to use?

MovieBox-Tui is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does MovieBox-Tui do?

Terminal interface to find, download, and stream movies, TV shows, and live TV using local media players.

What is MovieBox-Tui written in?

MovieBox-Tui is primarily written in Rust. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/mesamirh/MovieBox-Tui, and it has 2,029 GitHub stars.