Help

Quick reference for the admin UI, common terms, and source-specific notes.

Quick Start

  • Use Sources to enable providers, configure credentials, and run scrapes.
  • Use Channels to enable, disable, inspect, and resolve duplicates.
  • Use Feeds to build named M3U + EPG outputs for your players.
  • Use Settings to configure your server URL and Channels DVR address.

Links

Channel Terms

  • Active: channel still exists upstream (set by scraper).
  • Enabled: channel is included in your M3U / EPG output (set by you).
  • Dead: stream audit found this channel is not currently playable.
  • VOD: stream audit detected on-demand content instead of a live feed — excluded from output.

Feeds

  • The built-in Default feed includes all enabled channels.
  • Create custom feeds to filter by source, category, language, country, or Gracenote, pick events by sport, or pin hand-picked channels.
  • Each feed has its own stable /feeds/<slug>/m3u and /epg.xml — cached for fast delivery.
  • Channel numbers: the Default feed and the main /m3u playlists share one set of numbers (the ones on the Channels page), starting at the Default feed's starting number (5000 on fresh installs). Every other feed numbers its channels on its own from its own starting number. A locked number (🔒) is used in every feed and playlist. A feed's Source order numbers the sources you list first, then the rest by source name; it applies to every channel when you renumber the feed.
  • /m3u/gracenote feed variants are for Channels DVR guide matching via Gracenote.
  • Add to Channels DVR registers the feed directly in your DVR. Configure the DVR URL in Settings first.

Duplicates Helper

  • Finds channels with the same name across multiple sources.
  • Healthy channels are preferred over Dead or inactive ones.
  • Between healthy matches, a Gracenote ID wins, then fuller guide data, then source priority.
  • If every duplicate is unhealthy, the whole group is disabled.

Inspect & Stream Audit

  • Inspect tests a single channel's full resolve path — identifies dead manifests, VOD-only streams, and resolver failures. Also shows stream variant stats (resolution, bitrate, codecs).
  • Stream Audit checks linear channels by default. You can include scheduled events per run; future events may not have playable streams yet. The audit marks confirmed dead or unplayable channels inactive automatically.

Gracenote

  • Gracenote IDs link channels to Channels DVR's guide database for rich EPG matching.
  • Auto: scrapers fill IDs automatically when available (e.g. Pluto's native station IDs). Controlled by the toggle in Settings.
  • Manual: you set the ID — it is never overwritten by a scrape. Use the Gracenote Helper popup on any channel row in Channels.
  • Community Map: curated CSV mappings for sources that don't expose native IDs.
  • Set mode to Off on a channel to exclude it from Gracenote routing entirely.

Scraping

  • Scrape: refresh channels and EPG on the normal schedule.
  • Force Complete Refresh (Sources page): re-fetch channels and guides for every enabled source — use when things look stale or after a long outage.
  • Audit: health-check every stream for a source and automatically mark dead channels.
  • Sources run on their own schedule automatically. Use Configure to adjust frequency or set a clock-aligned start time.

Source Notes

  • Custom Channels: add a stream URL or a page (YouTube, Twitch, a web player). A page's stream is found fresh each time it plays.

Reports

  • Channel Changes — inferred "New", "Now Inactive", and "At Risk" channels from data FastChannels already stores.

Community Gracenote Map

Channels with curated community IDs. Applying sets the channel to Manual mode — it won't be overwritten by future scrapes.

Status legend
AppliedCommunity tmsid is already the active ID on this channel
AvailableNo Gracenote ID set, in auto mode — community tmsid can be applied
Has native IDChannel is in auto mode with a scraped ID that doesn't match the community tmsid
ManualChannel is in manual mode with a different tmsid than the community one
OffGracenote is disabled for this channel entirely
ChannelSourceIDStatus
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