diff --git a/backend/main.py b/backend/main.py
index 4af0cb3..f67da50 100644
--- a/backend/main.py
+++ b/backend/main.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from flask import Flask, request, Response, send_from_directory, jsonify
+import os
 import requests
 from flask_cors import CORS
 import urllib.parse
@@ -114,6 +115,14 @@ def favicon():
 def stream_video():
     # Note: <video> tags perform GET. To support your POST requirement, 
     # we handle the URL via JSON post or URL params.
+    debug_param = os.getenv('STREAM_DEBUG', '').strip().lower()
+    debug_enabled = debug_param in ('1', 'true', 'yes', 'on')
+    cookie_param = os.getenv('STREAM_FORWARD_COOKIES', '').strip().lower()
+    forward_cookies = cookie_param in ('1', 'true', 'yes', 'on')
+    def dbg(message):
+        if debug_enabled:
+            app.logger.info("[stream_video] %s", message)
+
     video_url = ""
     if request.method == 'POST':
         video_url = request.json.get('url')
@@ -123,6 +132,8 @@ def stream_video():
     if not video_url:
         return jsonify({"error": "No URL provided"}), 400
 
+    dbg(f"method={request.method} url={video_url}")
+
     def is_hls(url):
         return '.m3u8' in urllib.parse.urlparse(url).path
 
@@ -155,26 +166,52 @@ def stream_video():
         path = urllib.parse.urlparse(url).path.lower()
         return any(path.endswith(ext) for ext in ('.mp4', '.m4v', '.m4s', '.ts', '.webm', '.mov'))
 
-    def proxy_response(target_url, content_type_override=None):
+    def build_upstream_headers(referer):
+        headers = {
+            'User-Agent': request.headers.get('User-Agent'),
+            'Accept': request.headers.get('Accept'),
+            'Accept-Language': request.headers.get('Accept-Language'),
+            'Accept-Encoding': request.headers.get('Accept-Encoding'),
+            'Referer': referer,
+            'Origin': referer,
+        }
+
+        # Pass through fetch metadata and client hints when present
+        for key in (
+            'Sec-Fetch-Mode', 'Sec-Fetch-Site', 'Sec-Fetch-Dest', 'Sec-Fetch-User',
+            'Sec-CH-UA', 'Sec-CH-UA-Mobile', 'Sec-CH-UA-Platform', 'DNT'
+        ):
+            if key in request.headers:
+                headers[key] = request.headers[key]
+
+        if forward_cookies and 'Cookie' in request.headers:
+            headers['Cookie'] = request.headers['Cookie']
+            dbg("forwarding cookies")
+
+        # Remove keys with None values
+        return {k: v for k, v in headers.items() if v}
+
+    def proxy_response(target_url, content_type_override=None, referer_override=None):
         # Extract the base domain to spoof the referer
-        referer_override = request.args.get('referer')
+        request_referer = request.args.get('referer')
         if referer_override:
             referer = referer_override
+        elif request_referer:
+            referer = request_referer
         else:
             parsed_uri = urllib.parse.urlparse(target_url)
             referer = f"{parsed_uri.scheme}://{parsed_uri.netloc}/"
+        dbg(f"proxy_response target={target_url} referer={referer}")
 
-        safe_request_headers = {
-            'User-Agent': request.headers.get('User-Agent'),
-            'Referer': referer,  # Vital for bypassing CDN blocks
-            'Origin': referer
-        }
+        safe_request_headers = build_upstream_headers(referer)
 
         # Pass through Range headers so the browser can 'sniff' the video
         if 'Range' in request.headers:
             safe_request_headers['Range'] = request.headers['Range']
 
         resp = session.get(target_url, headers=safe_request_headers, stream=True, timeout=30, allow_redirects=True)
+        if debug_enabled:
+            dbg(f"upstream status={resp.status_code} content_type={resp.headers.get('Content-Type')} content_length={resp.headers.get('Content-Length')}")
 
         hop_by_hop = {
             'connection', 'keep-alive', 'proxy-authenticate', 'proxy-authorization',
@@ -201,6 +238,7 @@ def stream_video():
 
         if content_type_override:
             forwarded_headers.append(('Content-Type', content_type_override))
+            dbg(f"content_type_override={content_type_override}")
 
         if request.method == 'HEAD':
             resp.close()
@@ -217,10 +255,12 @@ def stream_video():
         return Response(generate(), status=resp.status_code, headers=forwarded_headers)
 
     def proxy_hls_playlist(playlist_url, referer_hint=None):
-        headers = {
-            'User-Agent': request.headers.get('User-Agent', 'Mozilla/5.0'),
-            'Accept': request.headers.get('Accept', '*/*')
-        }
+        dbg(f"proxy_hls_playlist url={playlist_url} referer_hint={referer_hint}")
+        headers = build_upstream_headers(referer_hint or "")
+        if 'User-Agent' not in headers:
+            headers['User-Agent'] = 'Mozilla/5.0'
+        if 'Accept' not in headers:
+            headers['Accept'] = '*/*'
         resp = session.get(playlist_url, headers=headers, timeout=30)
         resp.raise_for_status()
         base_url = resp.url
@@ -256,6 +296,7 @@ def stream_video():
 
     if is_hls(video_url):
         try:
+            dbg("detected input as hls")
             referer_hint = request.args.get('referer')
             if not referer_hint:
                 parsed = urllib.parse.urlparse(video_url)
@@ -266,6 +307,7 @@ def stream_video():
 
     if is_direct_media(video_url):
         try:
+            dbg("detected input as direct media")
             return proxy_response(video_url)
         except Exception as e:
             return jsonify({"error": str(e)}), 500
@@ -273,22 +315,20 @@ def stream_video():
     try:
         # Configure yt-dlp options
         ydl_opts = {
-            # 'format': 'best[protocol*=m3u8]/best[ext=mp4]/best',
+            # Prefer HLS when available to enable chunked streaming in the browser.
+            'format': 'best[protocol*=m3u8]/best[ext=mp4]/best',
             'format_sort': ['res', 'fps', 'vcodec:avc1', 'acodec:aac'],
             'quiet': False,
             'no_warnings': False,
-            'socket_timeout': 30,
-            'retries': 3,
-            'fragment_retries': 3,
             'http_headers': {
                 'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36'
             },
-            'skip_unavailable_fragments': True
         }
         
         with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
             # Extract the info
             info = ydl.extract_info(video_url, download=False)
+            dbg(f"yt_dlp extractor={info.get('extractor')} protocol={info.get('protocol')}")
             
             # Try to get the URL from the info dict (works for progressive downloads)
             stream_url = info.get('url')
@@ -311,17 +351,22 @@ def stream_video():
             if not referer_hint:
                 parsed = urllib.parse.urlparse(video_url)
                 referer_hint = f"{parsed.scheme}://{parsed.netloc}/"
+            dbg(f"resolved stream_url={stream_url} referer_hint={referer_hint}")
 
             if protocol and 'm3u8' in protocol:
+                dbg("protocol indicates hls")
                 return proxy_hls_playlist(stream_url, referer_hint)
 
             if is_hls(stream_url):
+                dbg("stream_url is hls")
                 return proxy_hls_playlist(stream_url, referer_hint)
 
             if is_dash(stream_url):
-                return proxy_response(stream_url, content_type_override='application/dash+xml')
+                dbg("stream_url is dash")
+                return proxy_response(stream_url, content_type_override='application/dash+xml', referer_override=referer_hint)
 
-            return proxy_response(stream_url)
+            dbg("stream_url is direct media")
+            return proxy_response(stream_url, referer_override=referer_hint)
     except Exception as e:
         return jsonify({"error": str(e)}), 500
 
diff --git a/frontend/app.js b/frontend/app.js
index d1d5af5..2273899 100644
--- a/frontend/app.js
+++ b/frontend/app.js
@@ -240,7 +240,14 @@ async function openPlayer(url) {
     const video = document.getElementById('player');
 
     // 1. Define isHls (the missing piece!)
-    const streamUrl = `/api/stream?url=${encodeURIComponent(url)}`;
+    let refererParam = '';
+    try {
+        const origin = new URL(url).origin;
+        refererParam = `&referer=${encodeURIComponent(origin + '/')}`;
+    } catch (err) {
+        refererParam = '';
+    }
+    const streamUrl = `/api/stream?url=${encodeURIComponent(url)}${refererParam}`;
     let isHls = /\.m3u8($|\?)/i.test(url);
 
     // 2. Cleanup existing player instance to prevent aborted bindings