Service: Continue Watching Service - EyevinnOSC/community GitHub Wiki

Getting Started

The Continue Watching Service is an open source REST API that tracks the watch position for users across an OTT or video-on-demand platform. Built on Redis-compatible storage, it records what a user was watching and at what position, so your application can offer a seamless "resume from where you left off" experience. Available as an open web service in Eyevinn Open Source Cloud.

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create a Valkey instance

The Continue Watching Service uses a Redis-compatible store (Valkey) to persist watch state. Navigate to the Valkey service in the Eyevinn OSC web console. Click Create valkey, enter a name (e.g. continuestore), and click Create. Wait for the instance status to turn green.

Once running, open the instance and note the External IP and External Port.

Step 2: Create the Continue Watching Service instance

Navigate to the Continue Watching Service. Click Create continue-watching-api and fill in:

  • Name: a name for your instance (alphanumeric only, e.g. mywatchtracker)
  • RedisHost: the external IP of your Valkey instance
  • RedisPort: the external port (optional — defaults to 6379)

Leave RedisUsername and RedisPassword empty unless your Valkey instance has authentication configured.

Click Create and wait for the instance to reach running status.

Step 3: Use the API

The service exposes a simple REST API. Your application POSTs a watch event when a user pauses or navigates away, and GETs the last position when a user returns to content.

Record a watch position

curl -X PUT https://<your-instance-url>/api/v1/users/<userId>/progress/<contentId> \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"position": 1234}'
  • userId — unique identifier for the user
  • contentId — unique identifier for the content item (e.g. episode ID)
  • position — playback position in seconds

Retrieve the last watch position

curl https://<your-instance-url>/api/v1/users/<userId>/progress/<contentId>

Example response:

{
  "userId": "user-abc",
  "contentId": "episode-42",
  "position": 1234
}

List all watched content for a user

curl https://<your-instance-url>/api/v1/users/<userId>/progress

Returns a list of all content items the user has watched with their last recorded positions.

Using the CLI

# Create a Valkey instance
osc create valkey-io-valkey continuestore

# Get the Valkey instance details to find the host and port
osc describe valkey-io-valkey continuestore

# Create the Continue Watching Service
osc create eyevinn-continue-watching-api mywatchtracker \
  -o RedisHost="<external-ip>" \
  -o RedisPort="<external-port>"

Resources

⚠️ **GitHub.com Fallback** ⚠️