louislam/akaigrid

AkaiGrid

AkaiGrid is a fancy frontend for browsing your video folders on Windows.

Features

• ✨ Fancy UI - displays your video libraries in a fancy layout
• 📂 Respects your folder structure
• 🚗 Support local and network drives (SMB)
• 📺 Launches video in your favorite video player
• 🖼️ Generates thumbnails for each video and folder
  • Supports cover.jpg / cover.png for folders
• 🛤️ Tracks your watched status easily
  • ⏯️ Display the last playback position of videos (MPC-HC only)
  • ✅ Mark videos as "watched/done" by right-clicking
  • 🔢 Highlights episode numbers in filenames for easier reading
• 🪟 Sets Grid view, List view, and sorting options for each folder
• 📦 Portable

Demo

You can feel it by visiting the demo site, but there is no actual video content.

Please note that AkaiGrid is a local app, you need to download and run it on your own computer to have the full experience.

https://akaigrid.kuma.pet

Comparison

The same folder in Windows Explorer. AkaiGrid is better, right?

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (x64)
• Modern browser like Firefox or Chrome
• Your favorite video player (MPC-HC is recommended)
• Resolution: 1920x1080 (100 dpi) or higher
• (Optional) K-Lite Codec Pack - Full version is recommended, includes MPC-HC
• (Optional) MPC-HC extra settings - improve user experience

How to Use

Method 1: Download the compiled binary (.exe)

1. Download akaigrid-win-x64.7z

2. Decompress with 7-Zip or WinRAR

3. Edit config.yaml to set your video folder paths

   folders:
       - C:\My Videos Folder
       - \\SMB\My Videos Folder
   

4. Run AkaiGrid.exe to start the server

Method 2: Run the source code using Deno

Extra requirements:

• Install Deno 2.7.1 or higher (https://docs.deno.com/runtime/)
• Install Git (https://git-scm.com/downloads)

1. Clone this repository and install dependencies:

   git clone https://github.com/louislam/akaigrid
   cd akaigrid
   git checkout 1.2.0
   deno task setup
   

2. Edit config.yaml to set your video folder paths:

   folders:
       - C:\My Videos Folder
       - \\SMB\My Videos Folder
   

3. Start the server:

   deno task start
   

Gallery

It is how it feels on my 48" TV:

Playback position and mark as watched features:

Motivation

I used Jellyfin and Chromecast (with Google TV) to stream videos to my TV for a while. Jellyfin is great, but I faced issues with subtitles, fonts, naming, and audio sync. At times, I spent more time fixing problems than enjoying videos.

Recently, I switched to a Windows mini PC (Intel N100 CPU) as my "video player" in my living room. With MPC-HC and K-Lite Codec Pack, this combo plays videos smoothly with minimal issues, and the performance is much better than Chromecast.

However, there aren’t many frontends for managing videos on Windows. So, I decided to create one.

I also wanted to try developing with Deno 2 and learn the Vue 3 Composition API in this project.

FAQ

Akai?

Akai (赤い / あかい / a-ka-i) is a Japanese word meaning "red". It is an adjective. So AkaiGrid means "Red Grid".

Why red? I don't know, but some popular online video platforms are also red, haha.

How to refresh cached thumbnails in browser?

Ctrl + F5 in your browser.

Can I use it on my phone?

No.

Can I use it on Mac/Linux Desktop?

No. AkaiGrid is built for Windows. For other systems, someone else would need to fork it.

Jellyfin replacement?

No. AkaiGrid focuses on displaying your video libraries on Windows and relies on video players like MPC-HC for playback.

If you want to stream videos to your phone or play music, you may still need Jellyfin.