How it works
One small program, and live TV on every screen
You install one thing. It finds the channels, builds the guide, and serves both to whatever you watch on. Each step below opens up if you want to know exactly what's going on underneath.
Install it once
Our setup guide writes your configuration file for you — you paste it in and start it up. It takes a few minutes, and you only ever do it once.
What's actually happening
Pull the container and bring it up with Docker Compose (or a Podman Quadlet unit). On first boot it connects to Rebel's curated channel directory and sets up its dashboard.
It builds your channel list
It goes and finds the channels, sorts out their proper names and logos, checks each one actually works, and figures out what's on when — then puts it all in one list with a TV guide.
What's actually happening
The agent scrapes its sources — plus any M3U files or URLs you add — matches them to the channel directory, validates each feed and drops the ones that are offline, then renders one M3U and a full XMLTV EPG.
It keeps itself up to date
It rechecks in the background and quietly drops anything that's stopped working. If something isn't available where you live, one switch pulls it through our relay instead.
What's actually happening
Your instance serves the playlist, guide and streams, with stream-health filtering dropping dead channels. Flip on relay mode and it pulls feeds through the Rebel IPTV relay instead — so you can still watch sources that are blocked or geo-restricted where you are.
Watch on anything
Watch straight away in your browser, or paste your playlist address into your TV app. Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and Channels DVR can also treat it as a proper TV tuner, complete with recording.
What's actually happening
Open the dashboard to watch in-browser, point any IPTV app at your M3U + EPG URLs, or add your server to Plex, Emby, Jellyfin or Channels DVR as an HDHomeRun tuner — on that route the guide is added separately, since the tuner protocol carries no programme data.
Architecture
The pieces, and what each one does
The program you run
The one thing you install. It finds the channels, checks they work, builds your list and guide, serves the dashboard you watch in, and updates itself when you tell it to.
The technical detail
A single Docker container you host. It scrapes its sources — plus any M3U files or URLs you add — validates each feed, renders one M3U + XMLTV, serves the dashboard, answers as an HDHomeRun tuner for media servers, and updates itself in place when you click Update now.
Our relay (only if you want it)
Our servers, used only when you switch relay mode on. They reach a channel from somewhere it works and pass the video straight through to you. Nothing is stored along the way.
The technical detail
Pass-through proxying only — the relay pulls each source from a region where it's reachable and streams it on, so geo-restricted or regionally-blocked sources stay watchable. No streams are stored.
The channel directory
A master list of what each channel is really called and what its logo looks like. It's what turns messy source data into one tidy lineup with no duplicates.
The technical detail
A curated, canonical directory your instance matches scraped sources against — the naming and logos behind the de-duplicated output.
Logos & artwork
Proper channel logos, team and league badges, and artwork for each upcoming match — dropped into your guide so it looks like a real TV service.
The technical detail
Every logo the guide and EPG reference, plus composited team, league and live-event matchup cards, served straight into your guide.
(or our relay)Your machine tidies
and serves it allOne channel list
+ TV guideWhatever you
watch on
Your apps always talk to your own machine, never to us. Turning on relay mode only changes where it gets the feeds from — nothing on your side changes.
Two ways to get your channels
Fetch them yourself, or let us fetch them
It's a switch in your dashboard, under Settings → Sources, and you can flip it at any time without breaking anything.
Your machine does everything
Out of the box, your own machine goes and finds the channels, builds your guide, and passes the video along itself. Nothing depends on us — the only things leaving your network are the channel sources you chose in the first place.
- Everything happens on your own hardware
- Works even if our servers are having a bad day
- You pick the sources; you're in charge of them
We fetch them on your behalf
Switch Settings → Sources to Use Rebel IPTV playlist and your machine stops doing the fetching. Instead it takes a ready-made channel list, guide and events from our relay, which reaches each source from somewhere it works — so you keep watching even when those channels are blocked or unavailable in your country. We pass the video straight through and keep none of it.
- A switch in your dashboard — on or off whenever you like
- Reaches channels that are blocked or unavailable where you are
- Same channels and same numbering, so nothing you set up breaks
Ready to wire it up?
The setup guide walks you through Docker Compose, the dashboard, and pointing your first player at the playlist.