Overview
The ReelRifter Scrobbler is a free Chrome / Edge browser extension that watches the streaming services you watch and adds titles to your ReelRifter watchlist automatically. No copy-pasting, no forgetting to log a movie after the credits.
Get it from /extension.
Supported services
- •Netflix — title detection and episode tracking
- •Disney+ — title detection (episode tracking partial; see Limitations)
- •Prime Video — title detection (episode tracking partial)
- •Max — title detection and episode tracking
For Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby users, the same watchlist-update logic is wired up as a webhook. Configure it at Settings → Integrations.
Install
1. Generate a personal API token at Settings → Integrations and label it something like "Browser Scrobbler". 2. Download the extension zip from /extension and extract it to a permanent folder. 3. Open chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions) and turn on Developer mode. 4. Click Load unpacked and pick the extracted folder. Accept the Notifications permission prompt. 5. Right-click the extension icon → Options. Paste your API token and click Test connection. 6. Start watching something. Within 10–15 seconds you'll see a desktop toast and the title in your watchlist.
How detection works
A content script runs only on the supported services' watch pages. Every 5 seconds, while a video element is actively playing past the first 5 seconds, it reads the title from stable signals (the page title in most cases). After the same detection is stable for 10 seconds, the extension sends a scrobble to ReelRifter's public API.
A 10-minute cooldown per *(title, season, episode)* prevents duplicate scrobbles during a single play. If the API hiccups on a transient error, the extension retries with exponential backoff so transient blips don't lose your scrobble.
What scrobbling does
- •New title. Adds it to your watchlist with status WATCHING and the matched TMDB poster.
- •Existing title not yet finished. Updates progress (season/episode) when supplied and bumps WANT_TO_WATCH to WATCHING.
- •Already FINISHED. Logs a Rewatch entry. Your rewatch counter ticks up automatically.
- •Caught up to the latest aired season. Auto-transitions the show to FINISHED so it drops out of Continue Watching. Future-announced seasons are correctly ignored.
Desktop notifications
On a successful scrobble that matches on TMDB, you get a desktop toast:
> *Pollyanna — Added to your watchlist*
Notifications collapse per title (repeats don't stack). Disable them anytime via the extension's Options page.
Privacy
- •The extension only sends the title (and season/episode when available) currently displayed in the player. It never reads your broader viewing history.
- •Your API token is stored in
chrome.storage.sync, encrypted at rest by the browser's data store. - •No third-party analytics, no telemetry, no ads. The only network call is to
reelrifter.com/api/public/v1/scrobble. - •The content script only injects on the supported services' watch URLs — never on email, banking, or any other site.
- •Revoke the token at Settings → Integrations at any time. The extension stops working instantly.
Troubleshooting
- •Popup says "No API token configured." Open Options and paste a token.
- •Popup says "Connected. Start playing something…" Token works but nothing's scrobbled yet. Make sure the video is actually playing past 5 seconds. Hard-reload the streaming tab if you reloaded the extension recently — content scripts only inject on fresh page loads.
- •A toast fired but the title didn't appear. Either the production server was mid-deploy (wait a minute and try again) or TMDB had no match for the title. Click the extension icon — the popup shows whether the last scrobble matched.
- •Wrong title matched. TMDB's auto-pick can't always tell which "Pollyanna" you mean (1960 movie vs 2003 series). Delete the wrong entry and add the right one manually via site search.
Known limitations
- •Episode tracking on Disney+ and Prime Video is partial. Both moved their players to component frameworks that hide episode metadata. Show-level scrobbling works; per-episode progress requires reading the streaming manifest, which is planned.
- •Scrobbles fire as "watching", not "watched". The episode pointer advances but episodes aren't auto-marked as fully watched yet. Completion-aware tracking is planned.
- •Chrome / Edge only. Firefox MV3 support is on the roadmap.