pgsql-jellyfin/docs/STARTUP_CONFIG_COMPARISON.md

Comparison: Before vs After

Before (Old Behavior)

Generated startup.json

{
  "_comment": "Jellyfin Startup Configuration",
  "Paths": {
    "DataDir": null,
    "ConfigDir": null,
    "CacheDir": null,
    "LogDir": null,
    "TempDir": null,
    "WebDir": null
  },
  "Examples": {
    "Linux": { "DataDir": "/var/lib/jellyfin", ... },
    "Windows": { "DataDir": "C:\\ProgramData\\Jellyfin", ... }
  }
}

Problems:

• ❌ All values are null
• ❌ Users must manually edit
• ❌ Examples section clutters the config
• ❌ Not immediately usable

---

After (New Behavior)

On Windows

{
  "_comment": "Jellyfin Startup Configuration - Windows defaults - using C:/ProgramData/jellyfin",
  "_note": "These paths will be used unless overridden by environment variables or command-line arguments",
  "_priority": "Command-line args > Environment variables > This file > Built-in defaults",
  "Paths": {
    "DataDir": "C:/ProgramData/jellyfin",
    "ConfigDir": "C:/ProgramData/jellyfin",
    "CacheDir": "C:/ProgramData/jellyfin/cache",
    "LogDir": "C:/ProgramData/jellyfin/log",
    "TempDir": "C:/Users/AppData/Local/Temp/jellyfin",
    "WebDir": "C:/ProgramData/jellyfin/web"
  }
}

On Linux

{
  "_comment": "Jellyfin Startup Configuration - Linux defaults - following Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS)",
  "_note": "These paths will be used unless overridden by environment variables or command-line arguments",
  "_priority": "Command-line args > Environment variables > This file > Built-in defaults",
  "Paths": {
    "DataDir": "/var/lib/jellyfin",
    "ConfigDir": "/etc/jellyfin",
    "CacheDir": "/var/cache/jellyfin",
    "LogDir": "/var/log/jellyfin",
    "TempDir": "/var/tmp/jellyfin",
    "WebDir": "/usr/share/jellyfin/web"
  }
}

Benefits:

• ✅ Immediately usable values
• ✅ OS-appropriate paths
• ✅ Clear, focused configuration
• ✅ Helpful comments explaining behavior

---

Console Output Comparison

Before

Created default startup configuration at: ./startup.json
You can customize this file to set default paths for Jellyfin.

After (Windows)

Created default startup configuration at: E:\Jellyfin\startup.json
Using Windows defaults - using C:/ProgramData/jellyfin
You can customize this file to set different paths for Jellyfin.

After (Linux)

Created default startup configuration at: /opt/jellyfin/startup.json
Using Linux defaults - following Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS)
You can customize this file to set different paths for Jellyfin.

---

User Experience

Before

1. User starts Jellyfin
2. Gets startup.json with null values
3. Confused - what should I put here?
4. Searches documentation
5. Manually edits file
6. Restarts Jellyfin

After

1. User starts Jellyfin
2. Gets OS-appropriate startup.json automatically
3. ✅ Works immediately with sensible defaults
4. Optional: Can customize if needed

---

Summary

Aspect	Before	After
Default values	null	OS-specific paths
Ready to use	❌ No	✅ Yes
User confusion	High	Low
Manual editing	Required	Optional
Platform awareness	None	Full
Documentation needed	External	Built-in comments

Improvement: Users can now run Jellyfin immediately without editing configuration files! 🎉