New WebStreams Plugin

[softworkz 5065]

7 hours ago, horstepipe said:

looks like webstreams currently only uses thetvdb as metadata provider for tvshows? At least I'm seeing some shows where some metadata is available on themoviedb and imdb, but not on thetvdb.
Are more options planned or an option to choose the providers by oneself?

Metadata retrieval has been broken by a server update in November 2024. Before it has worked with the default provider settings (like when you create a new library).

The next update will restore this behavior.

But the next step (which had always been planned) is to allow metadata provider customization for each stream source separately. It's not only about provider selection but also language selection. It doesn't make sense when German TV shows or movies are getting their titles replaced with English ones, for example.

[softworkz 5065]

7 hours ago, horstepipe said:

looks like with this new featue some new options in the episode view are needed.
We will have lots of shows where all episodes are listed in one season as info from metadata providers is missing. So at the moment it is very hard to scroll through hundreds of episodes e.g. on Android. 

Luke had accidentally dropped some important behavior in this regard which caused all non-categorized episodes to be assigned to Season 1, which makes no sense and can even cause incorrect metadata to be assigned to episodes.

The next update will restore this. It will create an "All Episodes" folder for uncategorized episodes and it will also try to identify episode numbers by the episode name.

[softworkz 5065]

7 hours ago, horstepipe said:

@softworkz
wondering, why is there that limit?

"The maximum number of top-level sources is 4 and must not be exceeded"

That's another part that is not working as intended yet.

Currently, you see WebStreams at the library level and when you open that, there's another WebStreams folder which contains the content.

This second level shouldn't actually exist (it didn't, that's a regression). Without that additional level, the actual meaning of the "Top-Level" option becomes clear:

It means to show a stream source (with that option enabled) like a normal library - at the same level. And that's why it is limited to 4 (the top-level view is not meant to have a large number of items).

[horstepipe 422]

16 hours ago, softworkz said:

Luke had accidentally dropped some important behavior in this regard which caused all non-categorized episodes to be assigned to Season 1, which makes no sense and can even cause incorrect metadata to be assigned to episodes.

The next update will restore this. It will create an "All Episodes" folder for uncategorized episodes and it will also try to identify episode numbers by the episode name.

Thanks, but nevertheless less we will need that option for the „all episodes“ folder then.

Edited September 15, 2025 by horstepipe

[sundevil67 28]

Is there an ETA for a production version of MacOS server version 4.9.1.27? I'm only seeing it as a BETA download at the moment.

[Luke 42077]

11 minutes ago, sundevil67 said:

Is there an ETA for a production version of MacOS server version 4.9.1.27? I'm only seeing it as a BETA download at the moment.

It should be soon. Thanks.

[zofiel 1]

I'm having the folllowing error:

 

The request was canceled due to the configured HttpClient.Timeout of 10 seconds elapsing.

I have an huge list, but I tried to limit to 10, 100 and the problem persist

 

the list with Diaspacharr works fine

embyserver.txt

[horstepipe 422]

On 9/14/2025 at 4:14 PM, horstepipe said:

@Luke
looks like with this new featue some new options in the episode view are needed.
We will have lots of shows where all episodes are listed in one season as info from metadata providers is missing. So at the moment it is very hard to scroll through hundreds of episodes e.g. on Android. 

I see two options, providing both would be ideal:
1) Add a sort order option with sort reverse by release date
2) On Android: press FF to skip pages, long press FF to go to the end of the list

BR

do you agree @Luke ?

[softworkz 5065]

10 hours ago, zofiel said:

I'm having the folllowing error:

 

The request was canceled due to the configured HttpClient.Timeout of 10 seconds elapsing.

I have an huge list, but I tried to limit to 10, 100 and the problem persist

It's the connection timeout, not a timeout for the actual download, but in the next update it is increased to 30s.

[softworkz 5065]

On 9/15/2025 at 4:34 PM, horstepipe said:

On 9/14/2025 at 11:50 PM, softworkz said:

Luke had accidentally dropped some important behavior in this regard which caused all non-categorized episodes to be assigned to Season 1, which makes no sense and can even cause incorrect metadata to be assigned to episodes.

The next update will restore this. It will create an "All Episodes" folder for uncategorized episodes and it will also try to identify episode numbers by the episode name.

Thanks, but nevertheless less we will need that option for the „all episodes“ folder then.

In the next update, it won't be an "All Episodes" folder anymore but rather an "Unsorted Episodes" folder which only contains those which couldn't be categorized. You'll also be able to sort them manually and automatic categorization will work better than it does now.

[PatZy 1]

Great work @softworkz!

One more question: is it just me or is it normal that partially watched content is not regarded as such? It does not remember where I stopped watching and the file is always marked as completely watched when I stop playback (even if I set content to movies for example).

[softworkz 5065]

2 hours ago, PatZy said:

Great work @softworkz!

One more question: is it just me or is it normal that partially watched content is not regarded as such? It does not remember where I stopped watching and the file is always marked as completely watched when I stop playback (even if I set content to movies for example).

Right, I see the same. The reason is probably that the items do not have a known runtime up.front. The runtime gets known though on first playback. I hope we will be able to use that (media-source level) runtime to determine that it actually makes sense to save the playback position (when it's not an infinite/live stream).

@Luke?

[ryzen5000 17]

I have a few questions about the Web Streams Plugin.

I selected the option for the movie and tv folders to be displayed top level, but they are visible only inside the Web Streams folder as subfolders still. Is there a configuration setting to fix this?

For Movies,  I left default settings besides the settings I mentioned already for Movies and to select it as a movie library, they are appearing as library items which is great. But can there be backdrops added to the movies?

The TV shows I added are still scanning and its been several hours for only 2438 TV Series, while the 46783 Movies scanned very fast, in just a few minutes I saw nice movie posters.

The Tv series also are only displaying as individual episodes and there is no metadata images from the TVDB. Is there additional configuration that is required for them to get posters and look like regular library items?

 

 

Edited September 18, 2025 by ryzen5000
typo

[Luke 42077]

1 hour ago, ryzen5000 said:

I have a few questions about the Web Streams Plugin.

I selected the option for the movie and tv folders to be displayed top level, but they are visible only inside the Web Streams folder as subfolders still. Is there a configuration setting to fix this?

For Movies,  I left default settings besides the settings I mentioned already for Movies and to select it as a movie library, they are appearing as library items which is great. But can there be backdrops added to the movies?

The TV shows I added are still scanning and its been several hours for only 2438 TV Series, while the 46783 Movies scanned very fast, in just a few minutes I saw nice movie posters.

The Tv series also are only displaying as individual episodes and there is no metadata images from the TVDB. Is there additional configuration that is required for them to get posters and look like regular library items?

 

 

HI there, can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

[ryzen5000 17]

Yes, I can provide images of the series folders missing, the subfolders appear when I selected the option for them to be displayed at top level. The settings I used for series

Is there something I need to configure differently?

[softworkz 5065]

14 hours ago, ryzen5000 said:

I selected the option for the movie and tv folders to be displayed top level, but they are visible only inside the Web Streams folder as subfolders still. Is there a configuration setting to fix this?

This is broken and requires a fix to the server.

 

14 hours ago, ryzen5000 said:

For Movies,  I left default settings besides the settings I mentioned already for Movies and to select it as a movie library, they are appearing as library items which is great. But can there be backdrops added to the movies?

The TV shows I added are still scanning and its been several hours for only 2438 TV Series, while the 46783 Movies scanned very fast, in just a few minutes I saw nice movie posters.

The Tv series also are only displaying as individual episodes and there is no metadata images from the TVDB. Is there additional configuration that is required for them to get posters and look like regular library items?

All broken but already fixed in an update to the plugin.

[stplatt 8]

On 9/13/2025 at 11:46 AM, softworkz said:

This is a synonym for non-legal content. We do not endorse nor planning to support any such services.

Eh, I can see why you might say that but not really. Take a look at m3u-editor, dispatcharr, and tuliprox. All 3 of these are legitimate self-hosted applications that can output streams via XC. Could the streams be non-legal? Sure. But they could also be from legitimate sources.

[softworkz 5065]

18 hours ago, stplatt said:

Eh, I can see why you might say that but not really. Take a look at m3u-editor, dispatcharr, and tuliprox. All 3 of these are legitimate self-hosted applications that can output streams via XC. Could the streams be non-legal? Sure. But they could also be from legitimate sources.

From a logical point of view, this is surely right. But it's a matter of politics, not logic, and in this regard, some subjects exist which are so toxic that that any arguing is pointless.

[ryzen5000 17]

"All broken but already fixed in an update to the plugin."

I will wait for the release of the new version then. My settings must be correct because I tested by setting a limit to 50 series from m3u and it created some of the series folders at the very bottom of the list while others at the top remain just as episodes still. When allowing the whole m3u to with no limits It creates only 2 series folders. But there is backdrops on the tv series that did show up.

 

[softworkz 5065]

53 minutes ago, ryzen5000 said:

I will wait for the release of the new version then

Yea, that's what I was hinting at - it would just be wasted energy..

[horstepipe 422]

wondering, why is there no "Apply Grouping" for TV shows content type? There are lots of duplicates in German media libraries.

BR

[horstepipe 422]

or did I get the functionality wrong of that feature? Isn't it to remove/merge duplicates from different m3us?

[softworkz 5065]

2 hours ago, horstepipe said:

wondering, why is there no "Apply Grouping" for TV shows content type? There are lots of duplicates in German media libraries.

In this case, the grouping is not available because it is used internally for grouping into Series > Seasons > Episodes

 

2 hours ago, horstepipe said:

or did I get the functionality wrong of that feature? Isn't it to remove/merge duplicates from different m3us?

No. Different m3us are always treated separate and independent from others.

The grouping allows you to create subfolders. For example, when you would choose Genre and Country as group fields, you would see a folder for your source with the name you gave it at the top. Entering that folder,  you would see a collection of genre folders (only genres that are present in your streams list) and entering a genre folder gives you a list of countries for which items exist that are having that genre. Entering a country folder will show you all streams having that genre and that country

 

[gillmacca01 211]

my supplier only supplies 1 connect per m3u, so I have 2 m3u's which are identical.

Currently for live tv I have one tagged as IPTV1 and the other IPTV2. Then using parental control allow user one access to IPTV1 only, and user 2 access IPTV2 only.

Is there anything currently built into the plugin to handle this sort of thing, or can you suggest something?

[softworkz 5065]

46 minutes ago, gillmacca01 said:

I have 2 m3u's which are identical.

I don't quite get it. When they are identical, how can you "have 2"? Do they have different stream URLs?

48 minutes ago, gillmacca01 said:

Is there anything currently built into the plugin to handle this sort of thing, or can you suggest something?

You could set it up twice - like "MyStreams - User1" and "MyStreams - User2" 

Then you might be able to do the same parental rating restriction thing.

For each stream source, you can choose a parental rating, but there will be a change to it in the next update of the plugin.