diff --git a/src/plugin.ts b/src/plugin.ts
index d0d1156..7c64e69 100644
--- a/src/plugin.ts
+++ b/src/plugin.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,15 @@ import { franc } from 'franc-min';
 import { FileType, getSiblingFiles } from '@metazla/filename-tools';
 import type { PluginManifest, ProcessRequest, CallbackPayload } from './types.js';
 import { MetaCoreClient } from './meta-core-client.js';
+import { createWebDAVClient, WebDAVClient } from './webdav-client.js';
+
+// Initialize WebDAV client if WEBDAV_URL is set
+const webdavClient = createWebDAVClient();
+if (webdavClient) {
+    console.log('[subtitle] Using WebDAV for file access');
+} else {
+    console.log('[subtitle] Using direct filesystem access');
+}
 
 const fileType = new FileType();
 
@@ -38,6 +47,9 @@ export const manifest: PluginManifest = {
 };
 
 async function fileExists(path: string): Promise<boolean> {
+    if (webdavClient) {
+        return webdavClient.exists(path);
+    }
     try {
         await access(path);
         return true;
@@ -50,6 +62,10 @@ async function fileExists(path: string): Promise<boolean> {
  * Read first N bytes of a file
  */
 async function readFirstData(filePath: string, encoding: BufferEncoding = 'utf8', size = 1024): Promise<string> {
+    if (webdavClient) {
+        const buffer = await webdavClient.readBytes(filePath, 0, size - 1);
+        return buffer.toString(encoding);
+    }
     const handle = await open(filePath, 'r');
     try {
         const buffer = Buffer.alloc(size);
@@ -129,7 +145,8 @@ async function processSubtitleFile(
             console.debug(`[subtitle] Could not detect language for: ${filePath}`);
         }
 
-        console.log(`[subtitle] Processed subtitle file: ${filePath}`);
+        const mode = webdavClient ? 'WebDAV' : 'filesystem';
+        console.log(`[subtitle] Processed subtitle file: ${filePath} (${mode})`);
     } catch (error) {
         console.error(`[subtitle] Error processing subtitle file ${filePath}:`, error);
     }
diff --git a/src/webdav-client.ts b/src/webdav-client.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d4a2c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/webdav-client.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+/**
+ * WebDAV Client for Plugin File Access
+ *
+ * Provides HTTP-based file access to meta-sort's WebDAV endpoint.
+ * Replaces direct filesystem access for containerized plugins.
+ */
+
+export interface FileStats {
+    size: number;
+    mtime?: Date;
+}
+
+export class WebDAVClient {
+    private baseUrl: string;
+
+    constructor(baseUrl: string) {
+        // Remove trailing slash if present
+        this.baseUrl = baseUrl.replace(/\/$/, '');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Convert absolute file path to WebDAV URL
+     * Strips /files prefix and appends to base URL
+     */
+    toWebDAVUrl(filePath: string): string {
+        // filePath is like "/files/watch/movie.mkv"
+        // We need to convert to "http://meta-sort-dev/webdav/watch/movie.mkv"
+        let relativePath = filePath;
+
+        // Strip /files prefix if present
+        if (relativePath.startsWith('/files/')) {
+            relativePath = relativePath.substring(6); // Remove "/files"
+        } else if (relativePath.startsWith('/files')) {
+            relativePath = relativePath.substring(6);
+        }
+
+        // Ensure path starts with /
+        if (!relativePath.startsWith('/')) {
+            relativePath = '/' + relativePath;
+        }
+
+        return this.baseUrl + relativePath;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get file stats (size, mtime) via HTTP HEAD request
+     */
+    async stat(filePath: string): Promise<FileStats> {
+        const url = this.toWebDAVUrl(filePath);
+
+        const response = await fetch(url, { method: 'HEAD' });
+
+        if (!response.ok) {
+            throw new Error(`WebDAV HEAD failed for ${filePath}: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
+        }
+
+        const contentLength = response.headers.get('content-length');
+        const lastModified = response.headers.get('last-modified');
+
+        return {
+            size: contentLength ? parseInt(contentLength, 10) : 0,
+            mtime: lastModified ? new Date(lastModified) : undefined,
+        };
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Read first N bytes of a file (for language detection)
+     * Uses HTTP Range request
+     */
+    async readBytes(filePath: string, start: number, end: number): Promise<Buffer> {
+        const url = this.toWebDAVUrl(filePath);
+
+        const response = await fetch(url, {
+            method: 'GET',
+            headers: {
+                'Range': `bytes=${start}-${end}`,
+            },
+        });
+
+        if (!response.ok && response.status !== 206) {
+            throw new Error(`WebDAV Range GET failed for ${filePath}: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
+        }
+
+        const arrayBuffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
+        return Buffer.from(arrayBuffer);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Read entire file as buffer (for small files)
+     */
+    async readFile(filePath: string): Promise<Buffer> {
+        const url = this.toWebDAVUrl(filePath);
+
+        const response = await fetch(url, { method: 'GET' });
+
+        if (!response.ok) {
+            throw new Error(`WebDAV GET failed for ${filePath}: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
+        }
+
+        const arrayBuffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
+        return Buffer.from(arrayBuffer);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Check if file exists via HTTP HEAD
+     */
+    async exists(filePath: string): Promise<boolean> {
+        const url = this.toWebDAVUrl(filePath);
+
+        try {
+            const response = await fetch(url, { method: 'HEAD' });
+            return response.ok;
+        } catch {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * List directory contents via HTTP GET (returns JSON from nginx autoindex)
+     */
+    async readdir(dirPath: string): Promise<string[]> {
+        const url = this.toWebDAVUrl(dirPath);
+        const finalUrl = url.endsWith('/') ? url : url + '/';
+
+        const response = await fetch(finalUrl, {
+            method: 'GET',
+            headers: {
+                'Accept': 'application/json',
+            },
+        });
+
+        if (!response.ok) {
+            throw new Error(`WebDAV GET (dir) failed for ${dirPath}: ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`);
+        }
+
+        const entries = await response.json() as Array<{ name: string; type: string }>;
+        return entries.map(e => e.name);
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create a WebDAV client from environment variables
+ */
+export function createWebDAVClient(): WebDAVClient | null {
+    const webdavUrl = process.env.WEBDAV_URL;
+
+    if (!webdavUrl) {
+        console.warn('[webdav-client] WEBDAV_URL not set, WebDAV client unavailable');
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    return new WebDAVClient(webdavUrl);
+}