Usage ‐ SLM ‐ Bookmarked Programs ‐ Basic Selections - babsonnexus/stream-link-manager-for-channels GitHub Wiki

When you bookmark a Movie, TV Show, or Video, there is certain information that is stored in SLM that is used to generate Stream Links/Files and integrate with media player servers and clients. Some of that is visible to the user and can be edited, while others are hidden. Most of the key items are discussed in Selecting from Search Results, but are reviewed in more detail here and elsewhere. Still, it is worth noting that no matter the search or add method used, the options will remain the same. There are only slight differences by the object type.

For instance, a Movie will get you something like this:

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If we select a TV Show this time, it will have mildly expanded options:

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This is also true with a Video Group:

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Videos and Video Groups has some special considerations that are discussed on their own page, so we'll review the common elements between all these types here.

Core Information

First off, there are several key areas to highlight. All the types will have a Modify Program and a Program Details block. In other words, there is always a "parent" program and "details" underneath that program in a hierarchical relationship. Even a Movie has this situation where things like its Title, Release Year, and Bookmark Action are set at the parent, whereas the watched/unwatched Status and Release Date are meta information about that program. Each block also has its own Select Action dropdown per line. It should be noted that any edits you make, anything you want to delete, any metadata you want to import, or any other potential action are not undertaken until you make an appropriate selection under there and then click one of the Execute buttons. More details are available in the edit link above. That said, there are certain general details fields to consider.

Per movie, episode, or video, you can uncheck the Status to mark it as Watched. It is important to note that in SLM, the term Watched does not mean that you have ever seen the item. Marking something as Watched means that you are finished with it and do not want to generate a Stream Link/File for it. It is the equivalent of deleting an item from within a client like Channels DVR or Infuse. See Generating Stream Links/Files below to understand how these might be set. Per item, you also have a Stream Link Override option (called Video Link in a Video Group) that you might want to fill in if you have a direct link that cannot be generated or a Special Action situation like wanting to create a Stream File (.strm) instead of a Stream Link or making a SLM Stream.

Beyond these basic items, there are even more selections to consider:

  • Overrides at the program level are discussed here.
  • Overrides and other advanced selections at the details level are reviewed here.
  • Certain controls related to managing videos are covered here.

Aside from these, episode files can have a prefix added. This might be used alone or in conjunction with other file naming options.

Generating Stream Links/Files

With Movies and TV Shows, in order for a Stream Link/File to be generated, the item must first have an Unwatched status, and then be available on one of the Streaming Services that were selected and is "active" in Manage Providers. Videos are similar except a link must be added for them since they cannot be searched for among providers. No matter the type, Watched / Unwatched status applies even if you put in a link of your own to override whatever may or may not be generated.

Although it is not necessary, if you review the logs, you can generally see a successfully generated Stream Link appear as so:

    10 Buildings That Changed America (2013) assigned Stream Link: https://www.kanopy.com/product/10-buildings-changed-america

On the other hand, if a Stream Link could not be generated, a reason will be given:

    12 Angry Men (1957) assigned Stream Link: None due to 'Watched' status
    Amélie (2001) assigned Stream Link: None due to not found on your selected streaming services

You can also see the files themselves being created:

2025-12-09 15:26:41.019872:  INFO: Creating Stream Link/File file(s) for YouTube 999 - Watch Later (2025) | VIDEO ...
    Created: c:\Files\Media\Channels DVR\Imports\Videos\slm\YouTube 999 - Watch Later (2025)\Let's Play Dragon Quest VII #098 (Vogograd) - Pain Clothes (Channel HCBailly).strm
    Created: c:\Files\Media\Channels DVR\Imports\Videos\slm\YouTube 999 - Watch Later (2025)\Scientists still don't know the answer to this infamous question - Charles Wallace & Dan Kwartler (Channel TED-Ed).strm

This is especially important to note because anything with a Stream Link Override or Video Link will skip the generation step entirely and just create the file based upon that input. If you are using an Edition with an integration into a media player, during the Import Updates from... process, this program checks to see if a generated Stream Link/File file has been deleted. If it has been, it will be marked as Watched and will no longer generate a Stream Link/File in the future. This is why it is equally important for users to not modify or delete the files that are generated by this program. Doing so could make items become erroneously marked as Watched. Only this program should modify anything in the created slm directories.