JBuildr--nubix/README.md

Nubix

Play Xbox Cloud Gaming online on your jailbroken PS5.

An unofficial, open-source client for Xbox Cloud Gaming on jailbroken PS5 consoles. It runs as a homebrew app (ELF payload) started from the websrv Homebrew Launcher and streams cloud games to your TV with a DualSense as the controller.

Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft or Sony. "Xbox", "Xbox Cloud Gaming" and "Game Pass" are trademarks of Microsoft; "PlayStation" and "PS5" are trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment. They are used here only to describe what this software works with. Read Disclaimer before you sign in.

Status

Area	State
Microsoft sign-in (code + QR, no browser on the console)	✅ works on PS5
Cloud library (Game Pass, owned, free-to-play), filters, box art	✅ works on PS5
Queue / waiting for a server	✅ works on PS5
Cloud streaming (video, audio, controller, rumble)	✅ works on PS5
Remote play of your own Xbox console (xHome)	⚠️ implemented, not tested
Native PS5 title / home-screen tile	❌ not supported (start it from the websrv launcher)

Video is decoded in software (FFmpeg). If the picture stutters, set the resolution to 720p.

Requirements

• A jailbroken PS5 that can run ELF payloads (elfldr on port 9021) and the websrv Homebrew Launcher.
• A Microsoft account with a Game Pass plan that includes cloud gaming (Essential, Premium or Ultimate, depending on your region), or access to the free, ad-supported cloud offering.
• A wired connection or good 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
• A protective DNS that blocks Sony's servers (see below).

Before you go online: protective DNS

Do this before your jailbroken PS5 connects to the internet for the first time. A jailbroken console must never reach Sony's servers: it could download a system update (which can remove the jailbreak for good) and it reports to Sony. Nubix itself needs the internet, so you cannot simply cut the connection. Instead, point the PS5 at a DNS server that only lets through what you allow.

The included DNS server: tools/sony_dns.py

tools/sony_dns.py (Python 3.8+, no extra packages) works in allowlist mode:

• Everything is blocked by default.
• Allowed are only the domains Nubix needs for Xbox Cloud Gaming: login.microsoftonline.com, login.live.com, xboxlive.com, displaycatalog.mp.microsoft.com, store-images.s-microsoft.com and stun.l.google.com (each with its subdomains).
• Sony / PlayStation domains are always blocked, even if you allow them by mistake: playstation.com, playstation.net, playstation.org, sonyentertainmentnetwork.com, scea.com, sbdnpd.com, ribob01.net.
• If you want the PS5 to reach anything else, add the domain to tools/allowlist.txt (one per line). You are responsible for every domain you add.

Run it on a PC in the same network as the PS5:

python tools\sony_dns.py          (Windows, terminal opened with "Run as administrator")
sudo python3 tools/sony_dns.py    (macOS / Linux)

It prints the IP address to enter on the PS5. On Windows, allow Python through the firewall for private networks when asked, otherwise the PS5's queries never arrive. The PC has to stay on while the PS5 is online, so give it a fixed IP in your router.

Useful options:

• --log-all shows every query the PS5 makes (ALLOW / BLOCK), so you can see what to add.
• --allow example.com allows a domain without editing the file.
• --map host=IP answers a name with a fixed address, for example if your jailbreak method redirects manuals.playstation.net to your own exploit host. This works even for Sony names.
• --upstream 9.9.9.9 uses another upstream DNS (default 1.1.1.1).

On the PS5

Settings → Network → Settings → Set Up Internet Connection → your connection → Advanced Settings → DNS Settings: Manual → Primary DNS = the IP shown by the script, Secondary DNS = the same IP (a public DNS as secondary would bypass the protection). Never sign in to PSN on the jailbroken console and ignore any update prompt. The PS5's own "Test Internet Connection" will report a PSN failure with this setup; that is expected.

Using your own DNS server instead

With Pi-hole, AdGuard Home or NextDNS you can do the same: block all Sony domains listed above (with subdomains) and ideally allow only the Nubix domains. Do not use generic PS5 blocklists that also block CDNs such as akamai.net, akamaiedge.net, akadns.net, edgekey.net or edgesuite.net, and do not set the DNS to 127.0.0.2: Nubix would no longer be able to sign in, load your library or stream.

Installation

1. Download nubix-v<version>-websrv.zip (e.g. nubix-v0.3.0-websrv.zip) from the releases page.
2. Unzip it and copy the nubix folder to /data/homebrew/ on the PS5 (FTP, or a USB drive under /mnt/usb0/homebrew/). You should end up with /data/homebrew/nubix/{eboot.elf, homebrew.js, sce_sys/icon0.png, assets/}.
3. Start websrv, open the Homebrew Launcher (the launcher PKG on the PS5, or http://<ps5-ip>:8080 from a phone or PC) and start Nubix. Start (verbose log) writes a detailed log for troubleshooting.

To update, replace the folder. Your sign-in and settings are kept in /data/nubix/.

First start

The app shows a code and a QR code. Open https://www.microsoft.com/link on your phone or PC (or scan the QR code), enter the code and sign in. The app then stores a refresh token, so you only do this once.

Library tabs: Cloud library, My consoles, Settings (switch with L1/R1). △ cycles the filter: All games, Game Pass, Owned and Free to play.

Controls

The PS5 system keeps the PS and Create buttons to itself, so the app never sees them.

DualSense	Xbox controller
✕ / ○ / □ / △	A / B / X / Y
L1 / R1, L2 / R2, L3 / R3	LB / RB, LT / RT, LS / RS
Options	Menu
Touchpad click	View
Hold Options + touchpad for 1 s	Stream menu (resume, Xbox button, statistics, refresh video, disconnect)

In the menus: ✕ = select, ○ = back, L1/R1 = switch tabs, △ = filter.

Settings

• Stream resolution: 720p, 1080p, 1080p (high quality). 720p decodes fastest.
• Maximum bitrate: 5–20 Mbps. Lower it on Wi-Fi or if the picture stutters.
• Server region: automatic or one of the regions Xbox offers your account.
• Free-to-play fallback: retry with the ad-supported offering when a title is not in your plan.
• Extra stick deadzone, stream statistics, sign out.

Network behaviour

Nubix talks to the same Microsoft services as the Xbox web player, and paces itself (src/core/ratelimit.*):

• at most 5 requests per second per Microsoft host;
• on HTTP 429 it waits for Retry-After (or backs off 2 → 120 s) and only repeats read-only requests;
• at most 4 cloud session starts per 5 minutes;
• the library is cached for 6 hours and box art permanently (/data/nubix/cache/); △ on My consoles reloads the console list.

Troubleshooting

• Log: /data/nubix/log.txt (also viewable at http://<ps5-ip>:8080/fs/data/nubix/log.txt). Start with Start (verbose log) for more detail.
• Stutter or growing delay: 720p and/or a lower bitrate; prefer a wired connection.
• "No cloud gaming access": your account has no plan with cloud gaming in your region.
• Sign-in, library or box art fail only with the protective DNS: start tools/sony_dns.py --log-all and look for BLOCK lines while Nubix loads; please report them so the built-in list can be fixed.
• Close other running homebrew before starting Nubix (websrv can crash otherwise).

Privacy and security

• Your password never reaches the app: sign-in uses Microsoft's device-code flow.
• The refresh token is stored unencrypted in /data/nubix/config.json. Anyone with file access to the console (for example an open FTP payload on your network) can copy it. Do not leave FTP running on untrusted networks. Settings → Sign out deletes it; you can also sign out of all devices in your Microsoft account's security settings.
• The app only contacts Microsoft services (sign-in, Xbox Live, cloud gaming, Microsoft Store catalog) plus Google's public STUN server (stun.l.google.com) to find its public address for WebRTC.

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial, non-commercial hobby project. Microsoft does not authorise third-party clients. Using unofficial clients may violate the Microsoft Services Agreement and Xbox terms of use, and running homebrew may violate Sony's terms. Your account or console could be restricted. Use it at your own risk, ideally first with a Microsoft account you could afford to lose. The software is provided without any warranty (see LICENSE). Do not use it to circumvent paywalls, regional restrictions or copy protection; it only streams what your own account is entitled to.

Building from source

Release builds are made by GitHub Actions: pushing a tag vX.Y.Z (matching the version in CMakeLists.txt) runs .github/workflows/release.yml, which builds the PS5 zip and the corresponding-source archive and attaches both to the GitHub release. Every push also builds and tests the host version on macOS (.github/workflows/ci.yml).

To build locally: Docker is required for the PS5 build; the host build (macOS/Linux) is for development and testing.

# host (macOS): brew install cmake pkg-config sdl2 sdl2_ttf ffmpeg opus openssl@3
scripts/build-deps.sh host && scripts/build-host.sh --test   # host app, xc-cli, unit tests
scripts/build-deps.sh ps5  && scripts/build-ps5.sh           # build-ps5/nubix.elf + dist/nubix/
PS5_HOST=<ip> scripts/deploy.sh install|run|log              # FTP install, send to elfldr, fetch log

Developer tools:

• nubix --selftest brings up every subsystem headless (SDL_VIDEODRIVER=dummy SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dummy) and exits 0 on success.
• xc-cli (host) drives the services without UI: login, status, titles, consoles, play <titleId>, stream cloud <titleId> [seconds].
• Protocol implementation: src/core/ (sign-in, catalog, session API, input/message protocol) and src/stream/ (WebRTC, RTP/RTCP, decoding, session state machine).

Credits

Nubix stands on the shoulders of the projects that documented the Xbox cloud streaming protocol: green-nx, GreenOvercast, Greenlight, xbox-xcloud-player, xal-node, XStreaming, green-vita, and on the PS5 homebrew work of ps5-payload-dev (SDK, websrv, SDL2 port) and ProsperoLight.

License

GPL-3.0-only (see LICENSE). Parts of the code are derived from green-nx (GPL-3.0) and GreenOvercast (MPL-2.0); the affected files say so in their headers. Third-party components, their licenses and copyright notices: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.

Source code for binary releases. Every release zip is accompanied on the same release page by nubix-v<version>-corresponding-source.tar.xz, which contains the complete corresponding source of everything linked into eboot.elf (built with scripts/make-source-bundle.sh). See SOURCE.txt in the zip for exact component versions.