Per-build downloads of the dotnet runtime (~80 MB) were slow and flaky (IncompleteRead killed a CI run). The .NET SDK is now a build-host prerequisite; vpk and ffmpeg download once into a user-level cache (~/.cache/mediahive-build, %LOCALAPPDATA%\mediahive-build) that survives the per-run build dir.
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Development
This document covers the developer-facing ways to run MediaHive locally. The main README.md covers end-user startup across platforms (installer/AppImage downloads, uvx --from mediahive[gui] mediahive on Linux/other).
Requirements
- Python 3.14+
uv- Node.js 18+
Install Dependencies
uv sync --extra gui --group dev
cd frontend
npm install
Run The Backend Directly
uv run mediahive /path/to/media/folder
This starts the FastAPI backend and serves the built frontend.
Run Frontend + Backend In Development
uv run scripts/devserver.py /path/to/media/folder
This starts the FastAPI backend with auto-reload plus the Vite frontend dev server.
Run The Desktop App In Development
uv run --extra gui python -m mediahive.winmain /path/to/media/folder
This launches the same pywebview-based desktop flow used by the Windows build.
Building And Releasing
The helper scripts are directly executable via their uv run shebang (on Windows, run them with uv run scripts/<name>.py):
./scripts/guibuild.pybuilds the PyInstaller desktop app and packages it with Velopack underbuild/: per-userSetup.exe(Windows),.pkginstaller (macOS),.AppImage(Linux), plus the update feed inbuild/velopack/. On Windows it also creates a-win64-portable.zip(no auto-updates). Requires the .NET SDK (>= 8 runtime) installed on the build host;vpkand ffmpeg are downloaded once into a persistent user cache (~/.cache/mediahive-build,%LOCALAPPDATA%\mediahive-buildon Windows)../scripts/release.pypublishes a release to the Gitea releases page, uploading the platform artifacts and the Velopack update feed files — installed apps auto-update from the latest release.
Python packaging builds the frontend automatically through the hatch build hook scripts/fastapi-vue/buildhook.py (see pyproject.toml), so wheels and sdists always ship a fresh mediahive/frontend-build.
Notes
- The selected media folder is scanned continuously by the backend.
- The desktop app remembers the chosen folder between launches.
- HTTP and WebSocket endpoints are documented in API.md.
- MPC-BE integration details (Windows only) live in mpc-be.md.
- Scanner/indexer design notes and the v0.5.0 rescan fixes are reviewed in scanning-review.md.