**Quality Gate** is a Jellyfin plugin that caps the video height each user can be served: 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1440p or 4K, per user or as a default for everyone. The cap is measured on the file's real video stream, so a rename, a re-encode or a symlink does not get around it. Media above the cap arrives as a capped transcode, or as a smaller version of the same item when one exists, and the original file is refused. Jellyfin's own limit is a bitrate for remote clients, not a height: a low-bitrate 4K file passes it, a viewer on the local network is not limited at all, and a client's quality setting is the viewer's own choice. Quality Gate checks pixels, for every client, on every route that hands out video, with one documented exception.

## Features - A measured cap: 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1440p or 4K, checked against the item's video stream, never its filename. - Per-user policies: assign one per user, set a default for everyone else, or mark a user unrestricted. - A capped user cannot direct-play, stream, download or fetch the original file; one legacy HLS segment route is a documented exception. - Smaller copies play as they are: keep a 720p encode beside each original and capped viewers get it without a transcode. - One film, two qualities: optional version grouping shows `Film.mkv` and `Film - 720p.mkv` as one film with two versions, in movies libraries, rebuilt on every scan. - API keys and anonymous requests can be held to a policy of their own. - Encode priority for [quality-gate-encoder](https://github.com/GeiserX/quality-gate-encoder): the copies your capped viewers are about to watch are encoded first. - A different intro video per policy, and a log line for every decision naming the user, the cap and the policy. ## Quick start Needs Jellyfin 12: add this repository under **Dashboard, Plugins, Repositories**, install **QualityGate** from the catalogue, restart, and confirm it shows **Active**: ```text https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/manifest.json ``` Then open **Dashboard, Plugins, QualityGate**, add a policy with **Maximum Resolution** `720p` (the only field that restricts playback), assign a user under **User Access** and save. As that user, a `curl` on `/Items//Download` of a 1080p film must answer `403`, and an unrestricted user must get `200` ([Getting started](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/getting-started/#prove-it-works) has the command). It is not DRM, and if the plugin fails to load every user is unrestricted, so watch that it stays **Active**. ## Documentation The full documentation is at [geiserx.github.io/quality-gate](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/). - [Getting started](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/getting-started/): install from the repository or by hand, cap one user at 720p, prove it, upgrade - [Usage](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/usage/): the settings page section by section, with screenshots - [One library, two qualities](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/one-library/): a smaller copy beside each original, shown as one film with two versions - [Encode priority](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/encode-priority/): having the encoder make the copies capped viewers need first - [Configuration](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/configuration/): every setting, how a user's policy is chosen, and the fields that do not restrict playback - [How it works](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/how-it-works/): the routes covered, the one that is not, what to trust - [Troubleshooting](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/troubleshooting/): when it is not behaving - [Development](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/development/): building from source, tests, releases - [Related projects](https://geiserx.github.io/quality-gate/related/): the encoder and the rest of the family Report security problems through the [security policy](SECURITY.md), not in a public issue. ## Related projects - [quality-gate-encoder](https://github.com/GeiserX/quality-gate-encoder) (formerly jellyfin-encoder) does automatic 720p HEVC, H.264 or AV1 transcoding, with optional symlinks for multi-version support - [smart-covers](https://github.com/GeiserX/smart-covers) provides cover extraction for books, audiobooks, comics, magazines and music libraries, with online fallback - [whisper-subs](https://github.com/GeiserX/whisper-subs) generates subtitles locally using Whisper - [jellyfin-telegram-channel-sync](https://github.com/GeiserX/jellyfin-telegram-channel-sync) syncs Jellyfin access with Telegram channel membership ## License [GPL-3.0-or-later](LICENSE). Thanks to [Jellyfin](https://jellyfin.org) and its plugin community.