iptv/CONTRIBUTING.md

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Contributing Guide

Table of Contents

Feature Requests

If you have an idea how to improve the project create an issue with a detailed description of your idea.

Request a Channel

To request a channel, create an issue and complete all details requested. (IMPORTANT: the issue should contain a request for only one channel, otherwise it will be closed immediately). Understand that our community of volunteers will try to help you, but if a public link cannot be found, there is little we can do.

Report a Broken Stream

To report a broadcast that is not working, create an issue with a description of the channel (IMPORTANT: an issue should contain a report for only one channel, otherwise it will be closed immediately).

Add or Replace a Stream

If you would like to replace a broken stream or add a new one, please do the following:

  • make sure that the link you want to add works by using a program like VLC media player
  • check if the channel is working outside your country by using a vpn or use a service we highly recommend like streamtest.in
  • find out from which country the channel is being broadcasted. This information can usually be found on lyngsat.com or wikipedia.org. If you are unable to determine which country the channel belongs to, add the channel onto the channels/unsorted.m3u playlist
  • find the corresponding ISO_3166-2 code for the country
  • open the /channels folder and find the file that has the same code in its name and open it
  • if broken, find the broken link in this file and replace it with working one
  • if new, at the very end of this file add a link to the channel with a description
  • commit all changes and send a pull request

Add a Category to a channel

  • find the file that contains the channel. You can use a GitHub Search to do this
  • open the file
  • find the channel description
  • specify the appropriate category in the group-title attribute. A complete list of supported categories can be found here
  • commit all changes and send a pull request

Add a Country to a channel

  • make sure the channel is broadcast in the country. This information can usually be found in the channel description on Wikipedia
  • find the corresponding ISO_3166-2 code for the country
  • find the file that contains the channel. You can use a GitHub Search to do this.
  • open the file
  • find the channel in the list
  • paste the country code into tvg-country attribute of the channel description
  • commit all changes and send a pull request

If a channel is broadcasted in several countries at once, you can specify them all through a semicolon, like this:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-country="US;CA",CNN
http://example.com/cnn.m3u8

If a channel is broadcast for an entire region, you can use one of the supported region code to avoid listing all countries. In this case the channel will be added to the playlists of all countries from that region.

In case the channel is broadcast worldwide you can use the code INT:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-country="INT",CNN
http://example.com/cnn.m3u8

Add a Language to a Channel

  • find the file that contains the channel. You can use a GitHub Search to do this.
  • open the file
  • find the channel description
  • specify the appropriate language in the tvg-language attribute. The name of the language must comply with the ISO 639-3 standard.
  • commit all changes and send a pull request

If a channel is broadcasted in several languages at once, you can specify them all through a semicolon, like this:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-language="English;Chinese",CCTV
http://example.com/cctv.m3u8

Add an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) source

  • check which country the EPG is intended for
  • check that this source is not already listed in the playlist. To do this, find the country in this table and see if there is any other link. If not, continue.
  • find the corresponding ISO_3166-2 country code.
  • open the channels/ folder and find a file with the same name as the country code
  • in the header of the playlist, next to #EXTM3U, add an x-tvg-url attribute with a link to the EPG source

The result should be something like this:

#EXTM3U x-tvg-url="https://example.com/epg.xml.gz"

Setting up a channel to use an EPG

  • find out which country the channel belongs to. This information can usually be found on lyngsat.com or wikipedia.org

  • find the corresponding ISO_3166-2 country code

  • open the /channels folder and find the file that has the same code in its name and open it

  • check that the EPG source is specified in the file. To do this, just look at the header of the playlist. If the x-tvg-url attribute is present and has a link in it, everything is fine

  • open the file specified in the x-tvg-url

  • find the channel list in the file. Usually it looks like this:

    <tv>
      <channel id="cnn">
        <display-name>CNN</display-name>
      </channel>
      <channel id="nbc">
        <display-name>NBC</display-name>
      </channel>
      ...
    </tv>
    
  • find the channel you are interested in

  • copy the id and paste it into the tvg-id attribute of the channel description

  • copy the <display-name> tag value and paste it into the tvg-name attribute of the channel description. The result should be something like this:

    #EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="cnn" tvg-name="CNN",CNN
    http://example.com/cnn.m3u8
    
  • commit all changes and send a pull request

If you did everything right, then by opening a playlist in a player that supports EPG, you should see the program guide for all updated channels. In some cases, it may also be necessary to manually specify the EPG source in the player itself. Note: playlists are updated only once per 24 hours.

Sort channels from channels/unsorted.m3u

  • find out the full name of the channel and from which country it is being broadcasted. This information can usually be found on lyngsat.com or wikipedia.org
  • update the channel name if necessary
  • find the corresponding ISO_3166-2 code for the country
  • open the channels/ folder and find a file with the same name as the country code
  • at the very end of this file add a link to the channel with a description
  • commit all changes and send a pull request

Request Channel Removal

  • publish your DMCA notice somewhere
  • create an issue using this link and add a link to the DMCA notice in it

Make changes to README.md

  • open .readme/template.md
  • make the necessary changes
  • commit all changes and send a pull request

Make changes to this Guide

  • open .github/CONTRIBUTING.md
  • make the necessary changes
  • commit all changes and send a pull request

Channel Description Scheme

Channels should be added to playlists using the following template.

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="EPG_ID" tvg-name="EPG_NAME" tvg-country="COUNTRY" tvg-language="LANGUAGE" tvg-logo="LOGO_URL" group-title="CATEGORY",FULL_NAME STREAM_TIME_SHIFT (ALTERNATIVE_NAME) (STREAM_RESOLUTION) [STREAM_STATUS]
STREAM_URL
Attribute Description
EPG_ID Channel ID that is used to load EPG. Must match id from the EPG file specified in the playlist header. (optional)
EPG_NAME Channel name that is also sometimes used to load EPG. Must match <display-name> from the EPG file specified in the playlist header. (optional)
COUNTRY The code of the country in which the channel is broadcast. The code of the country must conform to the standard ISO_3166-2. If the channel is broadcast in several countries you can list them separated by a semicolon. You can also use one of these region codes. (optional)
LANGUAGE Channel language. The name of the language must conform to the standard ISO 639-3. If the channel is broadcast in several languages you can list them separated by a semicolon. (optional)
LOGO_URL The logo of the channel that will be displayed if the player supports it. (optional)
CATEGORY The category to which the channel belongs. The list of currently supported categories can be found here. (optional)
FULL_NAME Full name of the channel. It is recommended to use the name listed on lyngsat or wikipedia if possible. May contain any characters except plus sign, minus sign, round and square brackets.
STREAM_TIME_SHIFT Must be specified if the channel is broadcast with a shift in time relative to the main stream. Should only contain a number and a sign. (optional)
ALTERNATIVE_NAME Can be used to specify a short name or name in another language. May contain any characters except round and square brackets. (optional)
STREAM_RESOLUTION The maximum height of the frame with a "p" at the end. In case of VLC Player this information can be found in Window > Media Information... > Codec Details. (optional)
STREAM_STATUS Specified if the broadcast for some reason is interrupted or does not work in a particular application. May contain any characters except round and square brackets. (optional)
STREAM_URL Channel broadcast URL.

Example:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="example.ua" tvg-name="Example TV" tvg-language="Ukrainian;Russian" tvg-logo="https://i.imgur.com/bu12f89.png" group-title="Kids",Example TV +3 (Пример ТВ) (720p) [not 24/7]
https://example.com/playlist.m3u8

Also, if necessary, you can specify custom HTTP User-Agent or Referrer via the #EXTVLCOPT tag:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="exampletv.us" tvg-name="Example TV" tvg-language="English" tvg-logo="http://example.com/channel-logo.png" group-title="News",Example TV
#EXTVLCOPT:http-referrer=http://example.com/
#EXTVLCOPT:http-user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64)
http://example.com/stream.m3u8

Supported Region Codes

Code Description
AFR Africa
AMER Americas
APAC Asia-Pacific
ARAB Arab world
ASIA Asia
CARIB Caribbean
EMEA Europe, Middle East and Africa
EUR Europe
LATAM Latin America
MAGHRIB Maghrib
MENA Middle East and North Africa
MIDEAST Middle East
NORAM North America
NORD Nordics
OCE Oceania
SAS South Asia
SSA Sub-Saharan Africa
WAFR West Africa

Project Structure

  • .github/
    • ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
      • broken-stream.md: issue template for reporting a broken stream.
      • channel-request.md: template for channel request.
      • feature-request.md: template for feature request.
      • remove-channel.md: template for channel deletion request.
    • workflows/
      • auto-update.yml: contain actions that automatically updates all playlists every day.
    • CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md: rules you shouldn't break if you don't want to get banned.
  • .readme/
    • _categories.md: automatically generated list of all categories and their corresponding playlists.
    • _countries.md: automatically generated list of all countries and their corresponding playlists.
    • _languages.md: automatically generated list of all languages and their corresponding playlists.
    • config.json: config for the markdown-include package, which is used to compile everything into one README.md file.
    • preview.png: image displayed in the README.md.
    • template.md: template for README.md.
  • channels/
    • ad.m3u: country specific playlist.
    • ...
    • unsorted.m3u: playlist with channels not yet sorted.
  • scripts/
    • categories.json: list of supported categories.
    • format.js: used within GitHub Action to sort channels and remove duplicates from each playlist.
    • generate.js: used within GitHub Action to generate all additional playlists.
    • parser.js: contains functions for parsing playlists.
    • regions.json: list of supported region codes.
    • test.js: script for channel testing.
    • update-readme.js: used within GitHub Action to update the README.md file.
    • utils.js: contains functions that are used in other scripts.
  • CONTRIBUTING.md: file you are currently reading.
  • index.m3u: main playlist that contains links to all playlists in the channels/ folder.
  • README.md: project description generated from the contents of the .readme/ folder.