JSON STREAMS format - add-ons/service.iptv.manager GitHub Wiki

The JSON-STREAMS format is an alternative format for the M3U8 format (as used by Kodi's PVR IPTV Simple add-on) to list TV and Radio channels with all required metadata in JSON format.

JSON-STREAMS format

This is a draft for version 1 of the standard.

The JSON structure for the playlist is a list of dictionaries, with each dictionary consisting of the following information.

Attributes

Attribute	Required	Description
`name`	Yes	The display name of the channel.
`stream`	Yes	The `plugin://`-endpoint to call to play the live stream.
`id`	No	A unique id that maps to a key in the JSON-EPG.
`logo`	No	The logo for the channel. Defaults to the add-on logo.
`preset`	No	The channel's preferred number.
`group`	No	A (list of) group name(s). The name of the add-on is always added by IPTV Manager.
`radio`	No	Defines if this is a Radio channel. Defaults to `false`
`kodiprops`	No	A dictionary with `{ "key": "value" }` pairs to define optional #KODIPROPs.

More information

stream
This is the endpoint that will be called when the channel should play. If no live channel is available, an appropriate error should be shown instead.

Example: plugin://plugin.video.example/play/id/vualto_een_geo
id
This is only required when you also provide EPG data in the JSON-EPG structure. The EPG data will be linked to the channel with this id.
logo
This is the logo that visualy identifies the channel. When not provided, the logo defaults to the logo of your add-on

It can be one of the following:
- a relative path within your add-on path
- a special://-URI for a logo embedded in the add-on itself
- a resource://-URI for a logo embedded in a Resource add-on
- a URL to an online image (http:// or https://)
- an absolute path to a file
Example: special://home/addons/plugin.video.example/resources/logos/radio1.png
preset
This is the desired preset for this channel. The preset of a channel is only relevant in a regional context and therefore not very useful.
group
This is a list of group names this channel belongs to.

IPTV Manager will always add the add-on name as a group name, so you do not have to do this yourself.
radio
Set this to true in case this channel is a Radio channel. When not provided, the channel is a TV channel (and it will default to false).
kodiprops
This can be used to define additional #KODIPROP-lines that will be included in the generated M3U8-playlist. They can be used to give additional information to Kodi on how to play these URIs.

Example:
```
{
  "inputstream": "inputstream.ffmpegdirect",
  "inputstream.ffmpegdirect.is_realtime_stream": "true"
}
```

Example

{
  "version": 1,
  "streams": [
    {
      "id": "een.be",
      "name": "Eén",
      "stream": "plugin://plugin.video.example/play/id/vualto_een_geo",
      "logo": "https://example.com/logo/een.png",
      "group": "VRT TV"
    },
    {
      "id": "example.com",
      "name": "Example channel",
      "stream": "plugin://plugin.video.example/play/id/example",
      "logo": "https://example.com/logo/example.png",
      "kodiprops": {
        "inputstream": "inputstream.ffmpegdirect",
        "inputstream.ffmpegdirect.is_realtime_stream": "true"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "radio1.be",
      "name": "Radio 1",
      "stream": "http://icecast.vrtcdn.be/radio1-high.mp3",
      "logo": "special://home/addons/plugin.video.example/resources/logos/radio1.png",
      "group": "VRT Radio",
      "radio": true
    }
  ]
}

Useful references

The following links may help you understand the original M3U8 format and the kodi adaptations: