1.Dd January 31, 2026
 2.Dt PARADOS 1
 3.Os
 4.Sh NAME
 5.Nm parados
 6.Nd simple HTTP media server
 7.Sh SYNOPSIS
 8.Nm parados
 9.Op Fl v
10.Sh DESCRIPTION
11.Nm
12is a minimal HTTP media server for serving local audio and
13video files over a network.  It exposes a HTTP interface
14intended for use by external clients such as media players
15or web frontends.
16.Pp
17The server scans a directory tree at startup and exposes the
18contents through a simple HTTP API.  Each file is assigned
19an identifier derived from its relative path.
20.Pp
21.Nm
22does not provide a user interface; all interaction is
23expected to happen through clients.
24.Sh OPTIONS
25.Bl -tag -width Ds
26.It Fl v
27Print version information and exit.
28.El
29.Sh OPERATION
30On startup,
31.Nm
32performs the following steps:
33.Bl -enum -compact
34.It
35Load configuration from
36.Ev PARADOS_CONFIG
37if set, otherwise
38.Pa /etc/parados.conf
39or, if not present,
40.Pa ./parados.conf .
41.It
42Parse user and access rules.
43.It
44Scan the configured media directory and build the media
45library.
46.It
47Bind to the configured address and port.
48.It
49Accept and handle HTTP requests.
50.El
51.Pp
52Each incoming connection is handled independently in its own
53thread.  The maximum number of concurrent clients is limited
54by the
55.Ic max_clients
56configuration option.
57.Pp
58Connections are closed after each request.
59.Sh LOGGING
60.Nm
61writes diagnostic and status messages to standard error.
62.Pp
63Logging verbosity is controlled by the
64.Ic verbose_log
65setting in
66.Xr parados.conf 5 .
67.Sh HTTP INTERFACE
68The HTTP interface is documented in
69.Xr parados 7 .
70.Sh AUTHENTICATION
71Authentication is optional and configured through
72.Xr parados.conf 5 .
73.Pp
74If no users are defined, all requests are served without
75authentication.  If one or more users are defined, HTTP
76Basic authentication is required for all endpoints except
77.Pa /ping .
78.Pp
79Access to media files is restricted per user based on
80configured allow-lists.
81.Sh LIBRARY MANAGEMENT
82The media library is scanned at startup.
83.Pp
84If authentication is enabled, the library may be rescanned
85at runtime by issuing a request to the
86.Pa /rescan
87endpoint.
88.Sh EXIT STATUS
89.Ex -std
90.Sh SEE ALSO
91.Xr parados.conf 5 ,
92.Xr parados 7
93.Sh AUTHORS
94.An Abhinav Prasai
95