diff --git a/config/config.example.yml b/config/config.example.yml
index 06e53541..2273c839 100644
--- a/config/config.example.yml
+++ b/config/config.example.yml
@@ -59,16 +59,27 @@ db:
 ## for loading the video streams from YouTube servers.
 ##
 ## When this setting is commented out, Invidious companion is not used.
+## Otherwise, Invidious will proxy the requests to Invidious companion.
+## 
+## Note: multiple URL can be configured. In this case, invidious will
+## randomly pick one every time video data needs to be retrieved. This
+## URL is then kept in the video metadata cache to allow video playback
+## to work. Once said cache has expired, requesting that video's data
+## again will cause a new companion URL to be picked.
 ##
-## When this setting is configured, then Invidious will proxy the requests
-## to Invidious companion.
-## Or randomly choose one if multiple Invidious companion are configured.
+## The parameter private_url needs to be configured for the internal
+## communication between the companion and Invidious.
+## And public_url is the public URL from which companion is listening
+## to the requests from the user(s).
+## Both parameter can have identical URL when Invidious is hosted in
+## an internal network or at home.
 ##
 ## Accepted values: "http(s)://<IP-HOSTNAME>:<Port>"
 ## Default: <none>
 ##
 #invidious_companion:
-# - http://127.0.0.1:8282
+#  - private_url: "http://localhost:8282"
+#    public_url: "http://localhost:8282"
 
 ##
 ## API key for Invidious companion
diff --git a/src/invidious/config.cr b/src/invidious/config.cr
index 20268ed1..91622576 100644
--- a/src/invidious/config.cr
+++ b/src/invidious/config.cr
@@ -67,26 +67,14 @@ end
 class Config
   include YAML::Serializable
 
-  module URIArrayConverter
-    def self.to_yaml(values : Array(URI), yaml : YAML::Nodes::Builder)
-      yaml.sequence do
-        values.each { |v| yaml.scalar v.to_s }
-      end
-    end
+  class CompanionConfig
+    include YAML::Serializable
 
-    def self.from_yaml(ctx : YAML::ParseContext, node : YAML::Nodes::Node) : Array(URI)
-      if node.is_a?(YAML::Nodes::Sequence)
-        node.map do |child|
-          unless child.is_a?(YAML::Nodes::Scalar)
-            node.raise "Expected scalar, not #{child.class}"
-          end
+    @[YAML::Field(converter: Preferences::URIConverter)]
+    property private_url : URI = URI.parse("")
 
-          URI.parse(child.value)
-        end
-      else
-        node.raise "Expected sequence, not #{node.class}"
-      end
-    end
+    @[YAML::Field(converter: Preferences::URIConverter)]
+    property public_url : URI = URI.parse("")
   end
 
   # Number of threads to use for crawling videos from channels (for updating subscriptions)
@@ -174,8 +162,7 @@ class Config
   property po_token : String? = nil
 
   # Invidious companion
-  @[YAML::Field(converter: Config::URIArrayConverter)]
-  property invidious_companion : Array(URI) = [] of URI
+  property invidious_companion : Array(CompanionConfig) = [] of CompanionConfig
 
   # Invidious companion API key
   property invidious_companion_key : String = ""
diff --git a/src/invidious/routes/api/manifest.cr b/src/invidious/routes/api/manifest.cr
index 2892d1b4..b6c5cbf3 100644
--- a/src/invidious/routes/api/manifest.cr
+++ b/src/invidious/routes/api/manifest.cr
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 module Invidious::Routes::API::Manifest
   # /api/manifest/dash/id/:id
   def self.get_dash_video_id(env)
-    if !CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?
-      return error_template(403, "This endpoint is not permitted because it is handled by Invidious companion.")
-    end
-
     env.response.headers.add("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
     env.response.content_type = "application/dash+xml"
 
@@ -12,6 +8,11 @@ module Invidious::Routes::API::Manifest
     id = env.params.url["id"]
     region = env.params.query["region"]?
 
+    if !CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?
+      invidious_companion = CONFIG.invidious_companion.sample
+      return env.redirect "#{invidious_companion.public_url.to_s}/api/manifest/dash/id/#{id}?#{env.params.query}"
+    end
+
     # Since some implementations create playlists based on resolution regardless of different codecs,
     # we can opt to only add a source to a representation if it has a unique height within that representation
     unique_res = env.params.query["unique_res"]?.try { |q| (q == "true" || q == "1").to_unsafe }
diff --git a/src/invidious/routes/embed.cr b/src/invidious/routes/embed.cr
index df697001..d023f61e 100644
--- a/src/invidious/routes/embed.cr
+++ b/src/invidious/routes/embed.cr
@@ -201,11 +201,11 @@ module Invidious::Routes::Embed
       return env.redirect url
     end
 
-    if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
+    if companion_base_url = video.invidious_companion.try &.["baseUrl"].as_s
       env.response.headers["Content-Security-Policy"] =
         env.response.headers["Content-Security-Policy"]
-          .gsub("media-src", "media-src " + video.invidious_companion.not_nil!["baseUrl"].as_s)
-          .gsub("connect-src", "connect-src " + video.invidious_companion.not_nil!["baseUrl"].as_s)
+          .gsub("media-src", "media-src #{companion_base_url}")
+          .gsub("connect-src", "connect-src #{companion_base_url}")
     end
 
     rendered "embed"
diff --git a/src/invidious/routes/video_playback.cr b/src/invidious/routes/video_playback.cr
index 405e733b..bac79b5c 100644
--- a/src/invidious/routes/video_playback.cr
+++ b/src/invidious/routes/video_playback.cr
@@ -254,7 +254,8 @@ module Invidious::Routes::VideoPlayback
   # so we have a mechanism here to redirect to the latest version
   def self.latest_version(env)
     if !CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?
-      return error_template(403, "This endpoint is not permitted because it is handled by Invidious companion.")
+      invidious_companion = CONFIG.invidious_companion.sample
+      return env.redirect "#{invidious_companion.public_url.to_s}/latest_version?#{env.params.query}"
     end
 
     id = env.params.query["id"]?
diff --git a/src/invidious/routes/watch.cr b/src/invidious/routes/watch.cr
index b42ee12d..e9a076f3 100644
--- a/src/invidious/routes/watch.cr
+++ b/src/invidious/routes/watch.cr
@@ -190,11 +190,11 @@ module Invidious::Routes::Watch
       captions: video.captions
     )
 
-    if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
+    if companion_base_url = video.invidious_companion.try &.["baseUrl"].as_s
       env.response.headers["Content-Security-Policy"] =
         env.response.headers["Content-Security-Policy"]
-          .gsub("media-src", "media-src " + video.invidious_companion.not_nil!["baseUrl"].as_s)
-          .gsub("connect-src", "connect-src " + video.invidious_companion.not_nil!["baseUrl"].as_s)
+          .gsub("media-src", "media-src #{companion_base_url}")
+          .gsub("connect-src", "connect-src #{companion_base_url}")
     end
 
     templated "watch"
@@ -327,18 +327,16 @@ module Invidious::Routes::Watch
       env.params.query["label"] = URI.decode_www_form(label.as_s)
 
       return Invidious::Routes::API::V1::Videos.captions(env)
-    elsif itag = download_widget["itag"]?.try &.as_i
-      itag = itag.to_s
+    elsif itag = download_widget["itag"]?.try &.as_i.to_s
 
       # URL params specific to /latest_version
       env.params.query["id"] = video_id
-      env.params.query["itag"] = itag
       env.params.query["title"] = filename
       env.params.query["local"] = "true"
 
       if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
         video = get_video(video_id)
-        return env.redirect "#{video.invidious_companion.not_nil!["baseUrl"].as_s}/latest_version?id=#{video_id}&itag=#{itag}&local=true"
+        return env.redirect "#{video.invidious_companion["baseUrl"].as_s}/latest_version?#{env.params.query}"
       else
         return Invidious::Routes::VideoPlayback.latest_version(env)
       end
diff --git a/src/invidious/videos.cr b/src/invidious/videos.cr
index 7670e9a9..8cbbbf7a 100644
--- a/src/invidious/videos.cr
+++ b/src/invidious/videos.cr
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ struct Video
   end
 
   def invidious_companion : Hash(String, JSON::Any)?
-    info["invidiousCompanion"]?.try &.as_h
+    info["invidiousCompanion"]?.try &.as_h || {} of String => JSON::Any
   end
 
   # Macros defining getters/setters for various types of data
diff --git a/src/invidious/views/components/player.ecr b/src/invidious/views/components/player.ecr
index 46c00137..975a25be 100644
--- a/src/invidious/views/components/player.ecr
+++ b/src/invidious/views/components/player.ecr
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
                audio_streams.each_with_index do |fmt, i|
                 src_url  = "/latest_version?id=#{video.id}&itag=#{fmt["itag"]}"
                 src_url += "&local=true" if params.local
-                src_url = video.invidious_companion.not_nil!["baseUrl"].as_s + src_url if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
+                src_url = video.invidious_companion["baseUrl"].as_s + src_url if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
 
                 bitrate = fmt["bitrate"]
                 mimetype = HTML.escape(fmt["mimeType"].as_s)
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
         <% else %>
             <% if params.quality == "dash"
                src_url = "/api/manifest/dash/id/" + video.id + "?local=true&unique_res=1"
-               src_url = video.invidious_companion.not_nil!["baseUrl"].as_s + src_url if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
+               src_url = video.invidious_companion["baseUrl"].as_s + src_url if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
             %>
                 <source src="<%= src_url %>" type='application/dash+xml' label="dash">
             <% end %>
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
             fmt_stream.each_with_index do |fmt, i|
                 src_url  = "/latest_version?id=#{video.id}&itag=#{fmt["itag"]}"
                 src_url += "&local=true" if params.local
-                src_url = video.invidious_companion.not_nil!["baseUrl"].as_s + src_url if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
+                src_url = video.invidious_companion["baseUrl"].as_s + src_url if (!CONFIG.invidious_companion.empty?)
 
                 quality = fmt["quality"]
                 mimetype = HTML.escape(fmt["mimeType"].as_s)
diff --git a/src/invidious/yt_backend/youtube_api.cr b/src/invidious/yt_backend/youtube_api.cr
index 09f0936f..74f65449 100644
--- a/src/invidious/yt_backend/youtube_api.cr
+++ b/src/invidious/yt_backend/youtube_api.cr
@@ -685,7 +685,7 @@ module YoutubeAPI
   ) : Hash(String, JSON::Any)
     headers = HTTP::Headers{
       "Content-Type"  => "application/json; charset=UTF-8",
-      "Authorization" => "Bearer " + CONFIG.invidious_companion_key,
+      "Authorization" => "Bearer #{CONFIG.invidious_companion_key}",
     }
 
     # Logging
@@ -695,21 +695,20 @@ module YoutubeAPI
     # Send the POST request
 
     begin
-      response = make_client(CONFIG.invidious_companion.sample,
+      invidious_companion = CONFIG.invidious_companion.sample
+      response = make_client(invidious_companion.private_url,
         &.post(endpoint, headers: headers, body: data.to_json))
       body = response.body
       if (response.status_code != 200)
-        raise Exception.new("Error while communicating with Invidious companion: \
-                              status code: " + response.status_code.to_s + " and body: " + body)
+        raise Exception.new(
+          "Error while communicating with Invidious companion: \
+          status code: #{response.status_code} and body: #{body.dump}"
+        )
       end
     rescue ex
       raise InfoException.new("Error while communicating with Invidious companion: " + (ex.message || "no extra info found"))
     end
 
-    if body.nil?
-      raise InfoException.new("Error while communicating with Invidious companion: no response data.")
-    end
-
     # Convert result to Hash
     initial_data = JSON.parse(body).as_h