Frequently Asked Questions
Does ChannelWatch work with Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin?
Section titled “Does ChannelWatch work with Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin?”No. ChannelWatch is built specifically for Channels DVR. It connects to the Channels DVR event stream API, which is unique to that platform. Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin use different APIs and are not supported.
Can I monitor multiple Channels DVR servers from one ChannelWatch instance?
Section titled “Can I monitor multiple Channels DVR servers from one ChannelWatch instance?”Yes. ChannelWatch v1.6.5 supports multiple DVR servers from a single instance. You add each server through the web UI under Settings > General > DVR Servers. Each server gets its own connection, alert routing, and health monitoring.
Does ChannelWatch record or store my viewing activity?
Section titled “Does ChannelWatch record or store my viewing activity?”Yes. ChannelWatch keeps activity history, notification delivery records, per-DVR session state, settings, and logs in your /config volume. Watch History lets you search and export recorded activity.
Configured notification destinations receive alert content such as program, channel, and device names. Update checks and optional support submissions also contact the documented release and support services. The self-hosted app does not send usage analytics. See Privacy for the storage and outbound-request details.
Why did I receive a flood of notifications when ChannelWatch started?
Section titled “Why did I receive a flood of notifications when ChannelWatch started?”ChannelWatch persists per-DVR session state so a restart does not normally announce the same active playback again. Repeat alerts can occur when that state is missing, cannot be written, or was not carried through an older migration.
Check /config permissions and startup logs for session-state or migration errors. The disk startup grace period applies to disk alerts, not every notification. Follow Notification flood on reconnect before changing cooldowns or deleting state files.
If the problem continues, prepare a support report with the version, affected DVR, and a short redacted log window.
What notification providers does ChannelWatch support?
Section titled “What notification providers does ChannelWatch support?”ChannelWatch routes the named provider settings through Apprise, including:
- Pushover, Telegram, Slack, Email (SMTP), Gotify, and Matrix
- Custom Apprise for complete Apprise URLs that are not exposed as named settings
For Discord, ChannelWatch sends standard webhook URLs directly and falls back to Apprise text delivery when the direct sender is unavailable.
You configure providers through the web UI. Some provider settings can also be seeded by supported environment variables where documented. See the Notification Providers section for per-provider setup guides.
Do I need to use host network mode?
Section titled “Do I need to use host network mode?”Host network mode is the default in the example docker-compose.yml because it simplifies mDNS discovery of Channels DVR servers on the local network. Bridge mode works too, but you may need to configure DNS manually and add explicit port mappings.
If you run in bridge mode and ChannelWatch cannot find your DVR, add the DVR host and port manually through the web UI. See Common Issues for bridge mode DNS troubleshooting steps.
How much memory and CPU does ChannelWatch use?
Section titled “How much memory and CPU does ChannelWatch use?”ChannelWatch is designed as a single-container home-lab service. Exact CPU and memory use depends on DVR count, event volume, enabled notification providers, and host hardware.
| Resource | Current guidance |
|---|---|
| CPU and memory | Size for your enabled DVR count and event volume; Kubernetes users should set local resources.requests and resources.limits values. |
| Docker image | Published for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. Use coderluii/channelwatch:1.6.5 for pinned installs or latest for rolling updates. |
| Startup readiness | Use /healthz/startup, /healthz/ready, and /healthz/live instead of assuming a fixed startup time. |
| Scaling | One ChannelWatch container owns one /config volume. The bundled Helm chart is single-replica in v1.6.5. |
For larger multi-DVR setups, watch /api/health, /metrics, and the per-DVR health pages. More than 10 enabled DVRs logs a soft warning and should be treated as an advanced setup.
Can I run ChannelWatch on a Raspberry Pi or ARM device?
Section titled “Can I run ChannelWatch on a Raspberry Pi or ARM device?”Yes. The Docker image is published as a multi-platform image supporting linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. Docker automatically pulls the correct variant for your hardware when you run:
docker pull coderluii/channelwatch:latestThis covers Raspberry Pi 4, Raspberry Pi 5, and Apple Silicon Macs running Docker.
Is ChannelWatch affiliated with Channels DVR or Fancy Bits LLC?
Section titled “Is ChannelWatch affiliated with Channels DVR or Fancy Bits LLC?”No. ChannelWatch is an independent community project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Fancy Bits LLC or the Channels DVR team. It uses the Channels DVR API to monitor activity, the same way any third-party tool would.
See the Disclaimer for the full nominative fair use notice.
Is ChannelWatch free to use?
Section titled “Is ChannelWatch free to use?”Yes. ChannelWatch is MIT licensed and free to use, modify, and distribute. There are no paid tiers, no feature gates, and no subscription.
If you find it useful, voluntary support through GitHub Sponsors, Buy Me a Coffee, or PayPal helps fund continued development.
Where can I get help?
Section titled “Where can I get help?”- GitHub Discussions for questions and community support
- GitHub Issues for bug reports and feature requests
- Common Issues for self-serve troubleshooting
- CLI Commands for diagnostic commands