WatcherX

A skeleton based around a video-sharing platform which enables users to upload, process, and share videos efficiently.

Key Features

• Secure Uploads: Firebase Authentication ensures only authorized users can request signed URLs for uploading videos
• Serverless Architecture: Fully managed services (Cloud Functions, Pub/Sub, Cloud Run, Cloud Storage, Firestore) with no VM maintenance
• Automated Transcoding: Videos automatically transcoded to 360p resolution using FFmpeg in Cloud Run workers
• Auto-Scaling: Cloud Run workers scale automatically based on message queue demand
• Public Streaming: Processed videos become publicly accessible for efficient streaming
• Metadata Tracking: Processing status, timestamps, and video information stored in Firestore
• CORS-Enabled: Cloud Storage configured for cross-origin requests

How It Works

1. Authentication: Users log in via Firebase Authentication
2. Upload: Web client requests signed URL from Cloud Functions
3. Processing: Video upload triggers Cloud Pub/Sub message
4. Transcoding: Cloud Run worker processes video using FFmpeg to 360p
5. Storage: Processed video saved and metadata updated in Firestore
6. Delivery: Video becomes publicly accessible from Cloud Storage

Technologies Used

• Backend: Cloud Functions (Node.js), Cloud Run (TypeScript)
• Frontend: Next.js + TypeScript
• Storage: Google Cloud Storage (GCS)
• Database: Firestore
• Messaging: Cloud Pub/Sub
• Authentication: Firebase Authentication
• Containerization: Docker
• Video Processing: FFmpeg
• Infrastructure: Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Architecture

Three-layer platform:

• API Service: Cloud Functions for authentication & signed URL generation
• Processing Workers: Cloud Run service for video transcoding
• Web Client: Next.js application for user interface