Cross-host manifest mode¶

When the encoder and Jellyfin run on different hosts (e.g., encoder on a NAS, Jellyfin on another server connected via CIFS/SMB), real symlinks cannot be created over the network mount. The manifest mode solves this:

Encoder writes a .symlink-manifest.json to DEST_FOLDER listing all encoded files and their Jellyfin container target paths.
Jellyfin host reads the manifest via a CIFS mount and creates real local symlinks.

Encoder Configuration¶

Set SYMLINK_MANIFEST_TARGET to the path prefix as seen inside the Jellyfin container:

services:
  quality-gate-encoder:
    image: drumsergio/quality-gate-encoder:1.5.12
    environment:
      SYMLINK_MANIFEST_TARGET: "/media-720/Peliculas"  # Jellyfin container path
      # ...other settings

The manifest is updated on encode, delete, and cleanup, and fully rebuilt at startup.

Jellyfin Host¶

Install scripts/symlink-from-manifest.sh on the Jellyfin host and run it via cron:

# Copy script to Jellyfin host
cp scripts/symlink-from-manifest.sh /boot/config/symlink-from-manifest.sh
chmod +x /boot/config/symlink-from-manifest.sh

# Add cron (runs every 5 minutes)
echo '*/5 * * * * /boot/config/symlink-from-manifest.sh' | crontab -

Edit the script's configuration variables (REMOTE_ROOT, MEDIA_ROOT, LIBRARIES) to match your setup. The script creates symlinks in MEDIA_ROOT pointing to the Jellyfin container path from the manifest, and removes orphaned symlinks not present in the manifest.

Manifest Format¶

{
  "version": 1,
  "symlinks": {
    "Movie (2024)/Movie (2024) - 720p.mkv": "/media-720/Peliculas/Movie (2024)/Movie (2024) - 720p.mkv"
  }
}

Same-Host vs Cross-Host¶

Mode	Variable	Use Case
Same-host	`SYMLINK_TARGET_PREFIX`	Encoder and Jellyfin share a filesystem — encoder creates real symlinks directly
Cross-host	`SYMLINK_MANIFEST_TARGET`	Encoder and Jellyfin on different hosts — encoder writes manifest, Jellyfin host creates symlinks

Both modes can coexist. If only SYMLINK_MANIFEST_TARGET is set, symlinks are managed exclusively via the manifest.