Build a video streaming app
How to build a video streaming app with AI
To build a video streaming app, describe who it is for and what they do in it, and let Forge64 plan and generate the app. Upload or ingest video, transcode it into an adaptive-bitrate ladder (HLS/DASH), serve it from object storage behind a CDN, with catalog, search, recommendations, subscriptions/entitlements and watch-history events. The core parts of a first version are upload and ingest, transcoding ladder, manifests and segment storage, cdn delivery and catalog and discovery.
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What the first version needs
These are the parts a video streaming app needs before it is useful. Each one is something the plan covers.
- Upload and ingest: Accept large source files reliably and register them for processing.
- Transcoding ladder: Produce adaptive renditions so every device and network gets a playable stream.
- Manifests and segment storage: Store immutable segments and per-title manifests.
- CDN delivery: Serve bytes from the edge, not from the app or the origin.
- Catalog and discovery: Titles, series/seasons/episodes, categories, search and browse rows.
- Subscriptions and entitlements: Decide who may watch what: free, subscription, rental/purchase, region windows.
- Watch-history event pipeline: Record playback events without making the playback path depend on the database.
Parts you can add in the first version
- Content moderation and takedown: Reports, review queue, takedown (DMCA-style) and strike handling for user-uploaded video.
- Recommendations: Personalised rows: continue watching, because you watched, trending.
The data it stores
Each table below becomes part of the Postgres database that belongs to your app.
- videos: status: uploading|uploaded|processing|ready|failed|removed; ready only after every rendition verifies; search column maintained by trigger.
- renditions: one row per ladder rung; written only by the transcode worker.
- transcode_jobs: attempt cap 3, exponential backoff, dead-letter status=failed with error; idempotent per (video_id, rendition).
- titles: movie|series; series have seasons->episodes, each episode is a videos row.
- entitlements: scope: subscription|rental|purchase|free; written only by billing webhooks and admin grants.
- watch_events: insert-only, batched; never read on the playback path.
- watch_progress: single-row-per-pair upsert keeps resume O(1).
- catalog_rows: rebuilt by cron; the home page never runs ranking queries.
- reports: user-uploaded video needs a takedown path.
Pages and endpoints
| Route | Who can use it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| /browse | public | home rows, cursor-paginated, edge-cacheable for logged-out users. |
| /watch/[id] | authed | player page; calls canWatch before issuing the manifest. |
| /api/videos/upload | authed | create video row and presigned multipart URLs, size/type/quota checked. |
| /api/videos/[id]/manifest | authed | entitlement check then short-lived signed master manifest. |
| /api/events/watch | authed | batched heartbeat intake, idempotent by client_event_id, rate limited. |
| /studio | authed | creator upload and processing status. |
| /api/webhooks/transcode | internal | transcode worker completion callback, signature verified. |
What to leave out of version one
- No live streaming or DRM-protected studio content in phase 1.
- No per-segment authorisation (it defeats CDN caching).
- No proxying video bytes through the Next.js server.
- Live streaming: plan for it, build it later.
- DRM and offline: plan for it, build it later.
How Forge64 builds it
Forge64 matches your description to one of 12 reference architectures, writes the plan and data model into the project, generates the app, and runs a quality gate over the code before you see it. Each app gets its own Postgres database and sign-in with no per-user fee. Hosting on Forge Cloud and Forge Payments are rolling out.
This is a reference design for the category, not a promise that every item is generated today. Built-ins such as email, background jobs, file uploads and search are coming soon, so anything here that needs them is something you add yourself for now.
FAQ
- What does a video streaming app need first?
- Upload and ingest, transcoding ladder, manifests and segment storage, cdn delivery, catalog and discovery and subscriptions and entitlements. The plan for a video streaming app covers all of these before it generates code.
- What should I leave out of the first version of a video streaming app?
- No live streaming or DRM-protected studio content in phase 1. No per-segment authorisation (it defeats CDN caching). No proxying video bytes through the Next.js server.
- Which products define the video streaming app category?
- Well-known examples include Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, Mux and Twitch. Use them to decide which features your users expect, then describe your own version.
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