{
  "id": 750239,
  "title": "Vibe-coded app adds a 3D video rental storefront to your Jellyfin HTPC — self-hosted, open-source project brings back memories of browsing for VHS tapes on Saturday afternoons",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/vibe-coded-app-adds-a-3d-video-rental-storefront-to-your-jellyfin",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-13T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Tom's Hardware",
    "slug": "tom-s-hardware",
    "url": "https://www.tomshardware.com/software/applications/vibe-coded-app-adds-a-3d-video-rental-storefront-to-your-jellyfin-htpc-self-hosted-open-source-project-brings-back-memories-of-browsing-for-vhs-tapes-on-saturday-afternoons"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A Redditor introduced a vibe-coded project that adds a 3D frontend to Jellyfin HTPC, aiming to recreate childhood memories of browsing video rental stores. The app, Halcyon Video, is open-source and self-hosted, allowing easy installation on HTPC. Users can navigate through the aisles, flip boxes over, and rent movies as if they were in a physical store. \"Recently Added\" becomes \"New Releases\" on the store wall, with season box sets mimicking TV series. The project includes nostalgic features like warnings, tips, and pop-up box covers, even allowing users to choose between VHS or DVD formats. Customizations include setting different eras from 1990, 1993, 2000, and 2010, as well as varying times of day. Navigation is done using WASD and arrow keys, with support for controllers and HTPC remote controls. Unlike traditional digital stores, Halcyon Video offers an immersive, locally-supported experience that uses metadata from the user's library without external calls. The project's creator encourages users to try it out, star it, and contribute to resurrecting their childhood experience.",
  "summary": "A Redditor vibe-coded a Jellyfin front-end that mimics that old video rental stores from the 1990s. This simulation is more than just a selection screen, though, and is a complete experience on its own.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}