An open-source desktop player that streams video from Telegram channels
with continuous prebuffering — so playback never stalls, even on seeks.
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Just append
[NB]to the channel name — NoBuf detects it automatically. No re-upload, no migration needed.Example:
My Media→ rename toMy Media [NB]→ it appears in NoBuf instantly.
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 60 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.
You click play
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 512 KB fetched from Telegram (first frame in ~200ms) │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ mp4box.js demuxes MP4 → video + audio init segments │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ MediaSource SourceBuffers receive fragments │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ▶️ Playback starts immediately │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
│ Meanwhile, in the background:
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Progressive prebuffer (next 60 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 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
│ 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 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
│ 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 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| What | How | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Progressive fragments | 512KB → 8MB sizes after seek | First frame in ~200ms, then saturate bandwidth |
| 60s prebuffer window | Continuously fetches ahead of playback | You never outrun the buffer |
| Disk-backed stream cache | .dat data + .meta byte-range sidecar |
Instant replay, survives app restarts |
| Download coordinator | Deduplicates overlapping range requests | No wasted bandwidth on concurrent seeks |
| 3× parallel TCP pool | Split file across 3 connections to Telegram DC | ~3× bandwidth vs single-threaded |
| Background cache | Continues after player close | Next play is instant from cache |
| Seek debounce | 500ms delay for rapid seeks | Arrow-key spam doesn't spawn 15 overlapping downloads |
| VBR byte→time table | Built from mp4box calibration points | Accurate seek-to-byte for variable bitrate content |
| 50MB buffer cap + 2min backpressure | Stops downloading when ahead enough | Prevents memory bloat on long videos |
Important
Format Support: The MSE prebuffer pipeline currently supports .mp4 files only. Support for .ts (MPEG-TS) and .mkv containers is planned for a future release. Non-MP4 video files fall back to direct download playback.
| What you get | How it works |
|---|---|
| Unlimited storage | Telegram stores files permanently — no quotas, no expiry |
| Global CDN | Streams from the nearest data center worldwide |
| 2 GB per file | That's a full 4K movie or an entire TV season |
| Zero cost | Free for all users, no subscription needed |
| Instant availability | No processing delays — upload, stream, or download immediately |
Your Telegram channels become a video library. Your Saved Messages become a quick-access drive. NoBuf gives you the explorer UI and streaming engine to make it seamless.
Streaming
- 🎬 MSE Video Player — Media Source Extensions with mp4box.js demuxing. Progressive fragment sizing for instant first frame.
- 🔄 Continuous Prebuffer — 60-second look-ahead. 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.
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.
- 📥 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.
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.
| Main Dashboard | Grid View |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| List View | Video Player Settings |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Preview Thumbnails | Cache Playback |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Settings | Exit Options |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Download / Upload | Authentication |
|---|---|
 |
 |
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Tauri v2 Desktop Shell │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ React + TypeScript + Tailwind │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ FastStream │ │ File Explorer │ │ Settings & │ │ │
│ │ │ MSE Player │ │ (Grid/List) │ │ API Config │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ mp4box demux │ │ Drag & Drop │ │ Speed Limits │ │ │
│ │ │ SourceBuffer │ │ Virtual Scroll │ │ Bandwidth │ │ │
│ │ │ Prebuffer │ │ Thumbnails │ │ REST API key │ │ │
│ │ └──────┬───────┘ └────────┬─────────┘ └───────┬───────┘ │ │
│ └─────────┼──────────────────┼─────────────────────┼──────────┘ │
│ │ Tauri IPC Commands │ │
│ ┌─────────┴──────────────────┴─────────────────────┴──────────┐ │
│ │ Rust Backend (Grammers) │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ ┌──────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Auth │ │ File System │ │ Download Pool │ │ │
│ │ │ (phone/qr/ │ │ (CRUD/Move/ │ │ (3 parallel TCP │ │ │
│ │ │ 2FA) │ │ Upload) │ │ connections) │ │ │
│ │ └──────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └────────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ ┌──────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Stream Cache │ │ Coordinator │ │ Speed Limiter │ │ │
│ │ │ (.dat + .meta│ │ (dedup range │ │ (prebuffer + │ │ │
│ │ │ byte ranges)│ │ requests) │ │ download) │ │ │
│ │ └──────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Streaming Server │ │ REST API Server │ │
│ │ Actix-web :14201 │ │ Actix-web :configurable │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ GET /stream/{id}/{msg} │ │ GET /api/v1/files │ │
│ │ Range requests │ │ GET /api/v1/files/{id} │ │
│ │ Cache-first serving │ │ GET /api/v1/files/{id}/download│ │
│ │ HLS manifest gen │ │ X-API-Key auth │ │
│ └────────────┬─────────────┘ └────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ Telegram Cloud │
│ (MTProto API) │
│ │
│ Channels │──→ Video Library
│ Saved Messages │──→ Quick Access
└──────────────────┘
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Frontend | React 19, TypeScript, TailwindCSS 4, Framer Motion |
| Video Engine | mp4box.js (demux), MediaSource Extensions (playback) |
| Backend | Rust, Grammers (Telegram MTProto), Actix-web 4 |
| Streaming | Byte-range HTTP, stream cache, HLS manifest generation |
| Media | ffmpeg-sidecar, pdfjs-dist |
| Build | Tauri v2, Vite 7, Cargo |
| Testing | Vitest, Testing Library |
| CI/CD | GitHub Actions (Win / Linux / macOS-Intel / macOS-ARM) |
- Node.js v18+ — nodejs.org
- Rust (latest stable) — install via rustup.rs
- Telegram API credentials — obtain from my.telegram.org → API development tools
Windows
- Install Visual Studio Build Tools — select "Desktop development with C++"
- Windows 10/11 includes WebView2. If not, download from Microsoft.
macOS
xcode-select --installLinux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt update && sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential curl wget file \
libxdo-dev libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev# 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 buildFirst build takes 5–15 minutes — Rust compiles 300+ crates on initial build. Subsequent builds are fast.
NoBuf includes a local REST API for programmatic access and AI integration. Disabled by default — enable in Settings.
| Method | Path | Description |
|---|---|---|
GET |
/api/v1/health |
Health check + version |
GET |
/api/v1/files |
List files (paginated, filterable by folder/search) |
GET |
/api/v1/files/{id} |
Get file metadata |
GET |
/api/v1/files/{id}/download |
Download file (supports Range headers) |
HEAD |
/api/v1/files/{id}/download |
File metadata + content-length discovery |
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
- 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.
MIT License. See LICENSE for details.
This application is not affiliated with Telegram FZ-LLC. Use responsibly and in accordance with Telegram's Terms of Service.