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What This Does

Hotstar locks streams behind authentication, geo-checks, and TLS fingerprinting. This relay sits between your browser and Hotstar, handles all of that on your behalf, and gives you a clean public link to share.

1. Run the relay on your machine
2. Log in with OTP through the built-in browser UI
3. Paste any Hotstar live URL
4. Copy the generated link and share it

Your machine only proxies the tiny playlist files (a few KB every 2 seconds). All video bytes travel directly from Hotstar's CDN to each viewer. Bandwidth cost on your end is minimal.

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How It Works

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1f7ef530-2ffc-4ecc-88a9-4cf24fb10e45

System Architecture

flowchart TD
    subgraph your_machine ["Your Machine"]
        RELAY["hotstar-stream-proxy\nFlask :8080"]
        NGROK["ngrok tunnel\n(optional)"]
        TOKEN["hotstar_token.json"]
        RELAY <--> NGROK
        TOKEN --> RELAY
    end

    subgraph hotstar_infra ["Hotstar Infrastructure"]
        BFF["BFF API\nbff.hotstar.com"]
        CDN["Akamai CDN\nlive segments"]
    end

    RELAY -- "signed BFF requests\n(JWT + HMAC + proxystate)" --> BFF
    BFF -- "m3u8 playlist URL" --> RELAY
    RELAY -- "rewritten playlist" --> VIEWER

    CDN -- "video bytes DIRECT\n(no relay)" --> VIEWER

    NGROK -- "public HTTPS link" --> VIEWER

    VIEWER(["Browser\nViewer"])

Protection Layers Bypassed

HLS Rewriting Pipeline

sequenceDiagram
    participant V as Viewer
    participant R as Relay
    participant H as Hotstar CDN

    V->>R: GET /proxy/{id}/master.m3u8
    R->>H: fetch master playlist (signed request)
    H-->>R: master.m3u8 (sub-playlist URLs pointing to CDN)
    R-->>V: rewritten master.m3u8 (URLs now point back to relay)

    V->>R: GET /proxy/{id}/sub/{lang}/...
    R->>H: fetch sub-playlist
    H-->>R: sub.m3u8 (segment URLs)
    R-->>V: rewritten sub.m3u8 (segment URLs now relay-prefixed)

    V->>H: GET .ts video segments DIRECTLY
    H-->>V: video bytes (relay not involved)

All three HLS layers are rewritten: master playlist, sub-playlist, and segment URLs. Segment bytes bypass the relay entirely.

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Setup

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• A JioHotstar account (used for OTP login in the browser UI)

Install

git clone https://github.com/arvind88765/hotstar-stream-proxy
cd hotstar-stream-proxy
pip install -r requirements.txt

Run

python hotstar_live.py

Your default browser opens at http://localhost:8080.

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Usage

Step 1: Log In

Open the Login tab at http://localhost:8080.

Enter your 10-digit Indian mobile number
→ Send OTP
→ Enter the OTP Hotstar texts you
→ Verify OTP

Your token is saved to hotstar_token.json. The next time you start the relay, it detects the token and drops you straight into the Stream tab.

Already use jiohotstar-downloader? Both tools share the same hotstar_token.json. Copy it into this folder and click Use This Token on the Login tab. No second login needed.

Step 2: Generate a Link

Switch to the Stream tab.

1. Paste a JioHotstar live URL
2. Select the audio language
3. Click Generate Link
4. Open the link in VLC or any browser

Supported URL formats:

https://www.hotstar.com/in/shows/bigg-boss/123456789/live
https://www.hotstar.com/in/sports/cricket/ipl-match/123456789
https://www.hotstar.com/in/channels/star-sports-1/1260008666/live

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Share with Friends

Set up an ngrok tunnel to expose your relay over a public HTTPS URL that anyone can open from anywhere.

flowchart LR
    A["Your relay\nlocalhost:8080"] -->|"ngrok tunnel\nplaylist only"| B["Public URL\nabc123.ngrok.io"]
    B -->|"rewritten playlist"| C["Friend's browser\nanywhere in the world"]
    D["Hotstar CDN"] -->|"video bytes\ndirect to viewer"| C

1. Sign up at ngrok.com (free tier is enough)
2. Copy your authtoken from the ngrok dashboard
3. Paste it into the ngrok card in the Stream tab
4. Click Save and Start Tunnel
5. Share the generated URL with anyone

You:          http://localhost:8080/watch/xxxxxxxx
Your friends: https://abc123.ngrok.io/watch/xxxxxxxx

Only playlist files (a few KB every 2 seconds) flow through the ngrok tunnel. Video bytes go CDN-to-viewer directly. Free tier handles it with no issues.

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Project Structure

hotstar-stream-proxy/
├── hotstar_live.py          # relay server (Flask + HLS proxy + OTP login)
├── requirements.txt         # dependencies
├── hotstar_token.json       # login token (gitignored, generated on first login)
├── ngrok_token.txt          # ngrok authtoken (gitignored)
├── hotstar_proxystate.json  # optional manual proxystate override (gitignored)
└── .gitignore

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Configuration

Everything is configured through the browser UI. The only supported environment variable:

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FAQ

Does this work for DRM-protected streams? Live HLS streams on JioHotstar are served as plain (non-DRM) HLS. DRM is used on DASH VOD content. This relay handles HLS live streams only.

How long does a share link last? Around 30 minutes. Hotstar embeds time-limited hdnea tokens in the m3u8 URL. Use the Refresh button in the UI to get a new link without re-entering the URL.

Do my friends need to install anything? No. The watch page uses hls.js loaded inline. Any modern browser works, including mobile.

Will this work outside India? Hotstar enforces geo-restrictions. If the machine running the relay is outside India, the BFF API returns geo errors. Running the relay behind a VPN set to India fixes this.

Is my Hotstar account safe? Your token is used exclusively to call Hotstar's own BFF API. It is never sent to any third-party server. The relay runs entirely on your machine.

My token expired. What do I do? Tokens last around 2 hours. Open the Login tab and run the OTP flow again. The new token overwrites the old one automatically.

Can I run this on a server (VPS)? Yes. Run python hotstar_live.py on any Linux VPS with Python 3.8+. Skip ngrok and expose port 8080 directly. You do not need the desktop browser to open since the server has no GUI.

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Related

• jiohotstar-downloader ---- GUI app for downloading JioHotstar VOD content with Widevine DRM support, multi-language audio tracks, and subtitle extraction. Shares login tokens with this relay.

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Give it a Star

If this project saved your night during a match, leave a star. It helps people find it.

Issues and pull requests are open. If a new Hotstar API version breaks something, open an issue with the error log and the stream URL.

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Disclaimer

This project is for personal and educational use only. It does not redistribute, cache, or permanently store any content owned by JioHotstar, Star India, or The Walt Disney Company. It relays streams that the operator is already authorized to access, to devices the operator controls or chooses to share with. The author is not affiliated with JioHotstar or any related entity. Use responsibly and in accordance with JioHotstar's terms of service.

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