• Keep the original Jellyfin Web interface (Jellyfin 12 included) with all your plugins, themes and userscripts: PlayBridge only changes what happens when you press Play.
• Guided installer with a GUI: double-click Install.cmd, pick your player. No admin rights, no file to edit, no registry file.
• Jellyfin stream mode (default): your player plays the original file through Jellyfin, no conversion. Works at home and remotely, without any NAS share, mapped drive or folder setup. PlayBridge waits for sleeping NAS disks before starting the player.
• Windows file path mode: your player opens the file itself (local disk, NAS share, mapped drive): fastest seeking, subtitle files next to the video. PlayBridge finds your NAS videos by itself through your network drives and shares; if a folder can't be found, a small assistant links it in one click, once. Or both: the file path, with the stream as fallback.
• Detects your installed players (MPC-BE, MPC-HC, PotPlayer, VLC, mpv, mpv.net, SMPlayer, MPC-QT, KMPlayer, GOM Player; any other player with Browse...), your browsers (or pick any browser .exe) and your Jellyfin server, and prepares the browser script for your PC (your address and mode inside).
• Two scripts to choose from: all Play buttons open your player, or a new yellow button only.

  
  Option B: the separated yellow button

• Jellyfin Web through a browser script (Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Brave...).
• Jellyfin Media Player / Jellyfin Desktop (Windows app) through the JavaScript Injector plugin (experimental).
• All settings in one window ( menu → PlayBridge Settings), remembered for next time. Uninstall from the same window.
• Compatible with Jellyfin 12+ (and older versions). Older MPC-JF installations and scripts are upgraded automatically.

• Windows 10 or 11.
• Watched states are not synced in Jellyfin.
• Stream or download modes : the player must be able to open http links.
• Windows File path mode: compatible with all players.
• Stream or download modes : separate subtitle files (.srt next to the video) are not loaded; embedded work; subtitles located in the JF directory are not loaded.
• Windows File path mode: separate subtitle files (.srt next to the video) work; embedded work; subtitles located in the JF directory are not loaded.
• Windows File path mode: your videos must be reachable from Windows (local disk, NAS share, mapped drive).
• Restart the browser after the installation: it learns the new playbridge:// link only when it starts.
• A stream contains your Jellyfin access token. Your player may keep it in its "recent files" list. Select the Windows file path option to avoid this.

• PlayBridge.v13.0.0-pre1.zip
• ▸ Right-click the downloaded .zip → Properties → check Unblock → Apply.
• Extract it anywhere (your Downloads folder is fine).
• ▸ Install.cmd Most users just follow the in-app instructions to set up, choose, and install the userscript.

Next saves the settings, installs PlayBridge and opens page 2.

A browser never lets a program install a script by itself, so these clicks are yours. At the top, choose what you open Jellyfin with: a web browser (your default one is preselected, Browse... for any other), or the Jellyfin desktop app (see step 4). The page has a button for each step and opens everything in that browser.

Extra steps appear only when needed (auto-update with another address than localhost, or auto-update with a Jellyfin link mode).

• Off (default, recommended): the installed script is a copy prepared for this PC, with your Jellyfin address and your stream setting inside. It doesn't update itself: after a PlayBridge update, open Start menu → PlayBridge Settings, page 2, and install it again.
• On: the script is installed from GitHub and updates itself. Your address is not in that copy, so if Jellyfin is not at http://localhost:8096, add it once in Violentmonkey (the setup shows the exact line with a Copy button): Dashboard → PlayBridge → </> → Settings tab → @match rules → add http://192.168.x.xx:8096/* (keep the *). Tampermonkey: Settings tab → Includes/Excludes → User matches. With a stream mode, also turn on stream links (step shown by the setup).

Choose Jellyfin Media Player / Jellyfin Desktop app at the top of page 2: the steps adapt (no browser extension, the script is added on your server for this app only).

• Install the JavaScript Injector plugin on your Jellyfin server (a server restart may be required).
• Jellyfin → Admin Dashboard → JS Injector → Add Script. Name it PlayBridge, paste the script (Copy the script button; it carries your stream setting), check Requires Authentication and Enabled, Save.
• Open the desktop app and log in: a PlayBridge: DeviceId of this app box appears at the bottom. Click Copy.
• Back in Dashboard → JS Injector, replace PUT_DEVICE_ID_HERE with the copied DeviceId (keep the quotes), Save. Restart the app.

Change anything later: Install.cmd → PlayBridge Settings. The setup reopens with your last choices. The Help button opens this page.

Chosen on page 1, 2. How videos open.

• Jellyfin link modes: PlayBridge first asks Jellyfin for the video and starts your player as soon as Jellyfin answers, usually within milliseconds. Sleeping NAS disks can take up to a minute: a small Waiting for Jellyfin window then appears (with Cancel), and the player starts when the video is ready instead of giving up. If Jellyfin refuses the video (expired session, no download permission, file moved), PlayBridge says why.
• The links use the ApiKey parameter (Jellyfin 10.8 and newer; Jellyfin 12 turned off the old api_key by default) and keep api_key for older servers.
• With a Jellyfin link mode, the browser script sends the Jellyfin link along with the path. The copy prepared by the setup has it turned on: after switching from the file path mode, install the script again (page 2 reminds you). With auto-update, turn it on in the browser: the setup's Turn on button, or in Jellyfin press F12 → Console → localStorage.setItem('playbridge-stream', 'on') ('off' to stop).

All these players are detected by the setup (usual folders, installers, Scoop, PATH). Any other player works with Browse....

Options box: extra command-line options of your player. Put %1 where the video must go if your player needs it (the video goes first otherwise).

Jellyfin gives the path seen by your server (/share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/Movies/Film.mkv on a NAS, /data/movies/Film.mkv in Docker), not the path seen by Windows (M:\Film.mkv). PlayBridge translates it, in this order:

1. Folder links you saved (see below).
2. The same path, when Jellyfin already gives a Windows path (D:\Films\..., \\NAS\share\...).
3. Automatic, by share name: with M: mapped to \\NAS\Movies, /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/Movies/Film.mkv opens M:\Film.mkv. Works for QNAP, Synology, Unraid, TrueNAS, OpenMediaVault... as long as the share name appears in the path. Shares without a drive letter work too (the setup finds the shares of your NAS and saves them), and so do mapped drives that Windows hasn't reconnected yet.

PlayBridge never searches when a video starts. It checks these few paths and starts the player within a few seconds at most, even when the NAS disks are sleeping (the player then waits for them).

Typical cases: Docker paths, some USB disks plugged into the NAS (/share/external/DEV3502_1/...), renamed shares.

• PlayBridge shows a message and opens the assistant. Search automatically looks for the same file on all your drives and shares, two folder levels deep. Or Pick the file myself... in Windows.
• The folder link is saved: every video of that folder then opens directly.
• You can do the same in advance on page 1 of the setup: paste a Jellyfin path (movie page → ⋯ → Media info → Path) and click Check.

Plain lines in %LOCALAPPDATA%\PlayBridge\PlayBridge.ini, section [Paths]: Jellyfin folder = Windows folder. No double backslashes, no regex. The most specific line wins.

[Paths]
/share/external/DEV3502_1 = U:\
/share/CACHEDEV3_DATA/SSD2TB = M:\
/data/movies = \\NAS\video\movies

%LOCALAPPDATA%\PlayBridge\PlayBridge-custom.ps1 (create it if needed) runs on $path before PlayBridge looks for the video, like the old # YOUR NAS CONFIG section of MPC-JF. It is kept when PlayBridge is updated.

• Extract the new zip anywhere (not over an old C:\ProgramData\MPC-JF folder) and run Install.cmd.
• Your player, fullscreen setting and # YOUR NAS CONFIG lines are imported automatically: simple $path = $path -replace "\\share\\...\\", "D:" lines become folder links, other lines are kept in PlayBridge-custom.ps1. Settings of the MPC-JF 12.2 test builds (MPCJF.ini) are imported too.
• Imported settings keep the Windows file path mode, so your NAS setup keeps working. The Jellyfin stream mode is the default for new installations only: choose it on page 1 if you want it.
• Old MPCJF:// links keep working: PlayBridge registers both playbridge:// and mpcjf://. The old browser scripts MPCJF.user.js and MPCJFicon.user.js update themselves to PlayBridge and keep sending the links your PC understands; still, uninstall them and install the new script from the setup when you can, once everything works.
• Your old C:\ProgramData\MPC-JF folder is not modified: delete it once everything works. MPCJF.reg and Install-MPCJF-HiddenProtocol.ps1 are not needed anymore.
• To uninstall the old Install-MPCJF-HiddenProtocol.ps1 : run in Powershell :

  Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "HKCU:\Software\Classes\MPCJF" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  Remove-Item -Recurse -Force (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "MPCJF") -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  

** Install.cmd → Uninstall...**. It also offers to remove an old MPCJF.reg registration. Then remove the script from Violentmonkey.

• To Resume watching the last media, set your Player settings to resume the last file automatically at opening → Potplayer's preferences → General → Startup → Check Play the last played item, and Select Last used position (and open the player instead of jellyfin to resume). (tested working in Windows File path mode)
• Nothing happens when I press Play: first restart the browser (all windows), then use Test from the browser (PlayBridge Settings, page 2): if that test works, the browser side is fine and the script is the thing to check. Also press F12 in Jellyfin: the script prints [PlayBridge] opening ... in the console when it sends the link. Then look at %LOCALAPPDATA%\PlayBridge\PlayBridge.log:
  • no new entry at all: the browser didn't start PlayBridge. Check that the script runs (Violentmonkey icon, Allow User Scripts on Chrome/Edge, your Jellyfin address in the script), then refresh Jellyfin (F5).
  • an entry with play: and player:: PlayBridge started your player; the problem is on the player's side (path, options).
  • an entry with ERROR: open an issue with the log.
• Stream mode: the player shows an error, or PlayBridge says Jellyfin refused the video: look at the server : line in PlayBridge.log. HTTP 401: sign in to Jellyfin again in the browser. HTTP 403: your Jellyfin user isn't allowed (download mode: allow downloads for this user, or use the stream mode). HTTP 404: Jellyfin can't find the file (refresh the library). no answer: this PC can't reach the Jellyfin address used in the browser.
• PlayBridge says the browser script doesn't send Jellyfin links: the script was installed for the Windows file path mode. PlayBridge Settings → Next → install script A or B again.
• Only ONE script at a time: having both A and B, or an old MPC-JF script next to a PlayBridge one, in Violentmonkey gives double launches or strange behaviour. Remove the others.
• Videos stop opening after a big Windows or player update: Install.cmd → PlayBridge Settings → Next.
• "Scripts are disabled on this system" when running Install.cmd: your PowerShell execution policy is locked by a group policy (company PC). Ask your administrator.
• A PowerShell window flashes at each video: VBScript is missing on your Windows (Settings → System → Optional features → VBSCRIPT). Install it, then PlayBridge Settings → Next.
• You will have