NoBuf

Zero-buffer video streaming. Powered by Telegram.

An open-source desktop app that streams video from Telegram channels with continuous prebuffering — so playback never stalls, even on seeks.

💡 Already have a Telegram channel?

Just append [NB] to the channel name — NoBuf detects it automatically. No re-upload, no migration needed.

Example: My Media → rename to My Media [NB] → it appears in NoBuf instantly.

✨ Key Highlights

The things that make NoBuf different from every other Telegram file manager.

🤔 Why "NoBuf"?

Because buffering is a solved problem — we just solved it differently.

NoBuf uses Media Source Extensions (MSE) to stream video directly from Telegram's servers into your browser engine. There's no download-first, no transcode-wait, no spinner. The player continuously prebuffers the next 180 seconds while you watch, so playback never stalls.

Telegram channels become your video library. Telegram's CDN becomes your streaming backend. NoBuf is the player that makes it feel local.

⚡ How It Works

You click play
       │
       ▼
  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │  512 KB fetched from Telegram (first frame in ~200ms)           │
  │       │                                                         │
  │       ▼                                                         │
  │  Format detected (MP4 / TS / MKV / WebM)                       │
  │       │                                                         │
  │       ▼                                                         │
  │  In-browser transmuxer → MediaSource SourceBuffers              │
  │       │                                                         │
  │       ▼                                                         │
  │  ▶️  Playback starts immediately                                 │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
       │
       │  Meanwhile, in the background:
       ▼
  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │  Progressive prebuffer (next 180 seconds):                      │
  │                                                                 │
  │  512KB → 1MB → 2MB → 4MB → 8MB   (fragment sizes ramp up)      │
  │                                                                 │
  │  Downloaded bytes → disk cache (.dat + .meta)                   │
  │  Cache tracks exact byte ranges — knows what's cached            │
  │  3 parallel TCP connections saturate your bandwidth              │
  │  Overlapping range requests are deduplicated                     │
  │  VBR-accurate byte↔time calibration → correct green bar          │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
       │
       │  You seek to a new position:
       ▼
  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │  500ms debounce (prevents wasteful downloads on rapid seeks)    │
  │  Cache checked first → instant playback if already buffered      │
  │  Otherwise → fresh 512KB fetch → immediate playback              │
  │  Old buffer evicted, new prebuffer starts from seek point        │
  │  Refills stop on keyframe boundaries → zero-overlap decode       │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
       │
       │  You close the player:
       ▼
  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │  Background cache continues downloading the full video           │
  │  Gap detection finds what's missing, fills it in parallel        │
  │  Next time you open this video → instant playback from cache     │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

🎬 Format Support

NoBuf's MSE engine handles multiple container formats with intelligent codec routing:

Audio note: Primary TS playback preserves original audio (no re-encoding). The ffmpeg /remux path (used for timed_id3 TS files and HEVC MKV) re-encodes audio to AAC 192k.

Important

Unsupported: MKV with codecs not listed above falls back to native <video> (best-effort). Truly unsupported codecs surface a clear "unsupported codec" message in the UI.

🧠 The Tech Behind Zero-Buffer

🌟 Full Feature Set

📺 Streaming Engine

• 🎬 MSE Video Player — Media Source Extensions with format-aware routing (MP4 / TS / MKV / WebM). Progressive fragment sizing for instant first frame.
• 🔄 Continuous Prebuffer — 180-second look-ahead (sliding window: 180s ahead / 30s behind). Downloads while you watch.
• 💾 Disk-Backed Cache — Byte-range tracking with gap detection. Cached videos replay instantly.
• 🔁 Background Cache — Close the player, download continues. Come back later, instant playback.
• 🎞️ Scrub Previews — Sprite sheet generation for frame-accurate seeking.
• 🎵 Audio Playback — Built-in player with speed control.
• ⏸️ Pause/Resume Prefetch — Paused stays paused. Prebuffer persists through seeks. Only the resume button unpauses.
• 🟢 VBR-Accurate Buffer Bar — Green prebuffer bar calibrated from real keyframe cue anchors, not linear estimates.
• ❄️ Cold-Start Optimization — Dynamic threshold overlay gates playback on real buffered runway, not a timer.
• 🧩 Source ID Isolation — Thumbnail pipeline and player downloads are tagged separately so they can't cancel each other.

📁 File Management

• 📂 Folder System — Telegram channels as folders. Create, rename, delete, drag-and-drop.
• 🗂️ File Explorer — Grid and list views with virtual scrolling for thousands of files.
• 📤 Drag & Drop Upload — Upload queue with progress, speed tracking, and cancellation.
• 🖱️ External Drag-Drop — Drag files directly from Windows Explorer into NoBuf.
• 📥 Parallel Downloads — 3 concurrent TCP connections per file. ~3× faster than single-threaded.
• 🖼️ Image Preview — Inline thumbnails and full-resolution viewer.
• 📄 PDF Viewer — Infinite-scroll rendering with zoom and page navigation.
• 🗜️ Archive Extraction — Browse and extract entries from ZIP/RAR/7Z archives.
• 🔗 Remote Upload — Upload files from a URL directly to Telegram.

📡 Public Channel Browsing

• 🔍 Paste-Link Join — Paste any t.me/channelname or t.me/+invite link to preview and join.
• 📋 Browse Joined — See all your joined channels; sort by name or [NB] folder.
• ♾️ Infinite Scroll — Paginated file listing with IntersectionObserver.
• 📤 Forward to Folder — Forward files from public channels to your private folders.
• 🔒 Read-Only Mode — Not-a-member channels show a banner and prevent download/stream.
• 🏷️ [NB-PUB] Auto-Sync — Public channels with [NB-PUB] in the name are auto-synced.

🔐 Authentication

• 📱 Phone + Code + 2FA — Standard Telegram login flow with two-factor support.
• 📲 QR Login — Scan a QR code with your Telegram app to log in instantly. Handles DC migration and flood-wait protection.
• 🔄 Auto-Reconnect — Detects dropped connections and re-establishes them automatically.
• 🛡️ Session Recovery — Corrupted session files are detected and recreated automatically.

⚙️ Platform

• 🤖 REST API — Local HTTP API (off by default) with API key auth. Enables AI agents and automation.
• 📊 Bandwidth Monitor — Daily upload/download tracking with configurable limits.
• 🎚️ Speed Limiter — Per-session throttle for streaming and downloads.
• 🔄 Auto-Updates — Built-in update delivery via Tauri's updater plugin.

  [!CAUTION] Auto-update is not yet active. Watch Releases for new builds.

• 🔒 Local-Only — All credentials and data stay on your machine. No telemetry, no third-party servers.
• 🖥️ Cross-Platform — Windows, macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), Linux (AppImage + .deb).
• 🚪 Exit Options — Choose what happens on close: minimize to tray, quit, or cancel.
• 🎛️ Video Player Settings — Playback speed, video fit mode, brightness, rotation, and loop control.

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        Tauri v2 Desktop Shell                    │
│                                                                  │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  React 19 + TypeScript + TailwindCSS 4                     │  │
│  │                                                            │  │
│  │  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌────────────────┐  │  │
│  │  │ FastStream    │  │ File Explorer │  │ Public Channel  │  │
│  │  │ MSE Engine    │  │ (Grid/List)   │  │ Browser         │  │
│  │  │               │  │               │  │                 │  │
│  │  │ mp4box.js     │  │ Drag & Drop   │  │ Paste-Link Join │  │
│  │  │ mpegts.js     │  │ Virtual Scroll│  │ Infinite Scroll │  │
│  │  │ Mediabunny    │  │ Thumbnails    │  │ Forward/Remove  │  │
│  │  │ SourceBuffer  │  │ PDF Viewer    │  │                 │  │
│  │  │ Prebuffer      │  │               │  │                 │  │
│  │  └──────┬────────┘  └───────┬───────┘  └────────┬────────┘  │  │
│  └─────────┼──────────────────┼────────────────────┼──────────┘  │
│            │       Tauri IPC Commands (74 commands) │             │
│  ┌─────────┴──────────────────┴────────────────────┴──────────┐  │
│  │                    Rust Backend (Grammers)                    │  │
│  │                                                              │  │
│  │  ┌──────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐  │  │
│  │  │ Auth         │ │ File System   │ │ Download Pool       │  │  │
│  │  │ (phone/QR/   │ │ (CRUD/Move/   │ │ (3 parallel TCP     │  │
│  │  │  2FA)        │ │  Upload)      │ │  connections)       │  │
│  │  └──────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └────────────────────┘  │  │
│  │  ┌──────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐  │  │
│  │  │ Stream Cache │ │ Coordinator   │ │ Public Channels    │  │  │
│  │  │ (.dat + .meta│ │ (dedup range  │ │ (join/list/sync/   │  │  │
│  │  │  byte ranges)│ │  requests)    │ │  forward/remove)   │  │  │
│  │  └──────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └────────────────────┘  │  │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                                  │
│  ┌─────────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │
│  │  Streaming Server        │  │  REST API Server                │ │
│  │  Actix-web :14201        │  │  Actix-web :configurable        │ │
│  │                          │  │                                  │ │
│  │  GET /stream/{id}/{msg}  │  │  GET /api/v1/files              │ │
│  │  GET /remux/{id}/{msg}   │  │  GET /api/v1/files/{id}         │ │
│  │  GET /fmp4/*             │  │  GET /api/v1/files/{id}/download│ │
│  │  Range requests          │  │  X-API-Key auth                 │ │
│  │  Cache-first serving     │  │  SHA-256 key hashing            │ │
│  └────────────┬─────────────┘  └────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                │
                ▼
       ┌──────────────────┐
       │  Telegram Cloud  │
       │  (MTProto API)   │
       │                  │
       │  Channels        │──→ Video Library
       │  Saved Messages  │──→ Quick Access
       │  Public Channels │──→ Browse & Stream
       └──────────────────┘

🛠️ Tech Stack

📸 Screenshots

Main Dashboard	Grid View

List View	Video Player Settings

Preview Thumbnails	Cache Playback

Settings	Exit Options

Download / Upload	Authentication

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+ — nodejs.org
• Rust (latest stable) — install via rustup.rs
• Telegram API credentials — obtain from my.telegram.org → API development tools

xcode-select --install

sudo apt update && sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential curl wget file \
  libxdo-dev libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev

Install & Run

# 1. Clone
git clone https://github.com/Istiaq-Edu/NoBuf.git
cd NoBuf

# 2. Install frontend dependencies
cd app
npm install

# 3. Run in development mode
npm run tauri dev

# 4. Build for production
npm run tauri build

First build takes 5–15 minutes — Rust compiles 670+ crates on initial build. Subsequent builds are fast.

📡 REST API

NoBuf includes a local REST API for programmatic access and AI integration. Disabled by default — enable in Settings.

Endpoints

Authentication

All endpoints require the X-API-Key header. Generate a key in Settings → API. Keys are SHA-256 hashed locally — the raw key is only shown once.

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" http://localhost:PORT/api/v1/files?limit=10

📊 Project Stats

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Telegram-Drive — NoBuf's core architecture is based on caamer20's Telegram-Drive project. The idea of using Telegram channels as a file storage backend and the initial Tauri + Grammers integration originate from this work.
• FastStream — the MSE video prebuffering engine and progressive fragment strategy were adapted from Andrews54757's FastStream project. The lib/faststream/ module is based on their approach to Media Source Extensions streaming.
• Mediabunny — the in-browser MKV/WebM transmuxing engine that powers native keyframe seeking for Matroska containers.

_{This application is not affiliated with Telegram FZ-LLC. Use responsibly and in accordance with Telegram's Terms of Service.}