Latest revision as of 07:09, 13 April 2026

Movies

Introduction

NFO Contents
	NFO Main Page Creating NFO files; Combination NFO; Metadata NFO Albums; Artists; Episodes; Movies; Music Videos; TV Shows; ; Movie Sets NFO; Parsing NFO; Templates and Samples; See also: Artwork; Databases; Import-export library; Return to: Music Library Portal; Video Library Portal;

NFO files to be scraped into the movie library are relatively simple and require only a single nfo file per title.

nfo Name and Location

Regardless of what settings you have set for the source and scraper, Kodi will always search for and scan the nfo file first where available.

There are two naming schemes for movie nfo files. Both are explained and Kodi recommends using the <VideoFileName>.nfo format.

<VideoFileName>.nfo

NFO Files are named the same as the video file except with the .nfo extension.
We recommend using this filename format to name nfo files.

movie.nfo

Kodi may also scan nfo files named movie.nfo. To use this name, the setting Movies are in separate folders that match the movie title must be Enabled in the Set Content Screen

If the above setting is not enabled, Kodi will ignore the movie.nfo. If the <VideoFileName>.nfo file is available, Kodi will scan this one instead, otherwise an online scrape will be performed if a valid scraper is set for the Source.
If you use movie.nfo and later Export your library to Separate Files, Kodi will still create the nfo file in the <VideoFileName>.nfo format and two nfo files will exist. If a Refresh or rescan is run in future, and the above setting is still enabled, the <VideoFileName>.nfo file will be ignored in favour of movie.nfo, which means any changes you may have made to the library entry (play counts, watched status etc) will not be re-scanned back into the library.
We recommend using the <VideoFileName>.nfo format for nfo files to avoid the above traps.

The below image details naming and location for Single File, DVD and Bluray movies:

Example of correct use of Movie Folder with artwork, nfo file, trailer and theme.
Take note of file naming and location.

nfo Tags

The following table lists available XML tags. ^[1]

The "Required" column indicates whether a tag can be optionally added or ommitted when creating the nfo to suit your purpose. The less tags used, the less information added to the library.

NFO (xml) Tag	Required	Multiple	Notes
<movie></movie>	Yes	No	The top level parent tag for the nfo file. All other tags must be contained within these two tags
<title></title>	Yes	No	The title for the movie
<originaltitle></originaltitle>	No	No	Displays the original title of the movie. For example, if the scraper is set to german language and the scraped movie in german is "Der mit dem Wolf tanzt" the original title will be "Dances with Wolves"
<sorttitle></sorttitle>	No	No	Allows alternate title sort without modifying movie title. Not displayed in any library listing. See: Sort Title
<ratings> <rating name="" max="10" default=""> <value></value> <votes></votes> </rating> </ratings>	No	No	default="true" default="false" Only one rating can be set as default="true", additional ratings must be set as default="false" or omit the default attribute name="identifier". Do not use "default". Examples of identifier include... <rating name="imdb" max="10"> <rating name="trakt" max="10"> <rating name="themoviedb" max="10"> <rating name="metacritic" max="10"> <rating name="tomatometerallcritics" max="10"> <rating name="tomatometerallaudience" max="10"> Example of complete entry... <rating name="themoviedb" max="10" default="true"> <rating name="imdb" max="10" default="false"> or <rating name="themoviedb" max="10">
<userrating></userrating>	No	No	Personal rating set by the user
<top250></top250>	No	No	Ranking in IMDB Top 250 movies
<outline></outline>			Should be short, will be displayed on a single line (scraped from IMDB only)
<plot></plot>			Can contain more information on multiple lines, will be wrapped
<tagline></tagline>	No	No	Short movie slogan. "The true story of a real fake" is the tagline for "Catch me if you can"
<runtime></runtime>	No	No	Minutes only. If ommitted, Kodi will add runtime upon scanning
<thumb aspect="" preview=""></thumb>	No	Yes	Path to available Movie Posters. Not needed when using local artwork Example use of aspect="" <thumb aspect="banner" <thumb aspect="clearart" <thumb aspect="clearlogo" <thumb aspect="discart" <thumb aspect="keyart" <thumb aspect="landscape" <thumb aspect="poster"
<fanart> <thumb preview=""></thumb> </fanart>	No	Yes^	Path to available movie fanart. ^ Multiple <thumb> entries allowed between the <fanart></fanart> tags
<mpaa></mpaa>	No	No	Country specific mpaa rating system. Check with skin author which prefix is required to diplay your country certification flags
<playcount></playcount>	No	No	Number of times movie has been played. See... Import-Export
<lastplayed></lastplayed>	No	No	Date last played as yyyy-mm-dd
<id></id>	No	No	The default ID. Do not use. This is a Kodi generated tag. See next item.
<uniqueid type="" default=""></uniqueid>	Yes	Yes	The ID from the scraper site. type="" Identifier of the ID. Do not use "default". Examples of identifier include... <uniqueid type="imdb" <uniqueid type="tvdb" <uniqueid type="tmdb" For non-scraped items, use simple values like "home", "sport", "doco" etc The value can be alpha-numeric eg tt3480556 for imdb, 286668 for tmdb, home001 for home movies, etc default="true" default="false" Only one uniqueID can be set as default="true", additional uniqueID's must be set as default="false" or ommit the default attribute Example of complete entry... <uniqueid type="tmdb" default="true"> <uniqueid type="imdb" default="false"> or <uniqueid type="imdb">
<genre></genre>	No	Yes	Movie genre.
<tag></tag>	No	Yes	Library Tags. See...Video library tags
<set> <name></name> <overview></overview> </set>	No	No	Movie set tags The <overview> tag allows a short summary of the movie set. It can be displayed by some skins. See... Movie sets
<country></country>	No	Yes	Country of origin
<credits></credits>	No	Yes	Field for writers.
<director></director>	No	Yes	Movie Director
<premiered></premiered>	No	No	Release date of movie. Format as yyyy-mm-dd
<year></year>	No	No	Release Year. Note: Kodi v17: Tag deprecated, use <premiered> tag instead. Note: Kodi v20: Use <premiered> tag only.
<status></status>	No	No	Not used
<code></code>	No	No	Not used
<aired></aired>	No	No	Not used
<studio></studio>	No	Yes	Production studio
<trailer></trailer>	No	No	Local or online path to movie trailer Do not add local path to trailer. Kodi will automatically scan for local trailers. See... Trailers
<fileinfo> <streamdetails> <video> <codec></codec> <aspect></aspect> <width></width> <height></height> <durationinseconds></durationinseconds> <stereomode></stereomode> <hdrtype></hdrtype> </video> <audio> <codec></codec> <language></language> <channels></channels> </audio> <subtitle> <language></language> </subtitle> </streamdetails> </fileinfo>	No	Yes	For a full list of values, see the next section "Values" below. Multiple entries of <audio> and <subtitles> accepted In v17 and prior, Kodi would overwrite these values on first play of the file. In v18 that process was removed and values in these tags will remain.^[2]
<actor> <name></name> <role></role> <order></order> <thumb></thumb> </actor>	No	Yes	The <order> tag determines where in the list the actor will appear. 0 = first in the list
<showlink></showlink>	No	No	Connect movie to TV Show. Use the TV Show <title></title> name.
<resume> <position></position> <total></total> </resume>	No	No	Movie resume point in Seconds See... Import-Export
<dateadded></dateadded>	No	No	mTime of the playable video file. Can be altered in advancedsettings.xml See... Advancedsettings.xml#videolibrary
<originallanguage></originallanguage>	No	No	Main spoken language of the movie (import: ISO 639-1, 639-2, BCP 47 or English language name. export: BCP 47) example uses: <originallanguage>fr</originallanguage> <originallanguage>fr-CA</originallanguage> <originallanguage>French</originallanguage> Added in Kodi v22

Values

Possible values for tags.

fileinfo

Kodi reads details the streams contained in the video file. These values are added to the database. Some values match a predetermined list (eg codec) while others are free form (eg width/height).

The current predetermined list for the <fileinfo></fileinfo> child tags can be found on Github...

[1]

video

<codec></codec>

<aspect></aspect>

<stereomode></stereomode>

<hdrtype></hdrtype>

audio

<codec></codec>

<language></language>
Use 3-letter language code

<channels></channels>

subtitle

<language></language>
Use 3-letter language code

References

Return to top

[1] ttps://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/master/xbmc/video/VideoInfoTag.cpp

[2] ttps://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/16342

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 168: / Line 168: @@
          <durationinseconds></durationinseconds>
          <stereomode></stereomode>
+        <hdrtype></hdrtype>
        </video>
        <audio>
@@ Line 179: / Line 180: @@
      </streamdetails>
   </fileinfo>
-|| No || Yes || Multiple entries of <audio> and <subtitles> accepted<br>
+|| No || Yes || For a full list of values, see the next section "Values" below.
+Multiple entries of <audio> and <subtitles> accepted<br>
 In v17 and prior, {{kodi}} would overwrite these values on first play of the file.<br>
-In v18 that process was removed and values in these tags will remain.<ref>https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/16342</ref>
+In v18 that process was removed and values in these tags will remain.<ref>https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/16342</ref><br><br>
 |-
 |
@@ Line 202: / Line 204: @@
 |-
 |<dateadded></dateadded> || No || No || mTime of the playable video file. Can be altered in advancedsettings.xml<br>See... '''[[Advancedsettings.xml#videolibrary]]'''
+|-
+|<originallanguage></originallanguage> || No || No || Main spoken language of the movie (import: ISO 639-1, 639-2, BCP 47 or English language name. export: BCP 47)<br>
+example uses:<br>
+:<originallanguage>fr</originallanguage>
+:<originallanguage>fr-CA</originallanguage>
+:<originallanguage>French</originallanguage>
+Added in Kodi v22
 |}
+= Values =
+Possible values for tags.
+== fileinfo ==
+{{kodi}} reads details the streams contained in the video file. These values are added to the database. Some values match a predetermined list (eg codec) while others are free form (eg width/height).
+The current predetermined list for the <code><fileinfo></fileinfo></code> child tags can be found on Github...
+{{Github_link|[https://github.com/XBMC/xbmc/blob/master/xbmc/GUIInfoManager.cpp]}}
+=== video ===
+<code><codec></codec></code>
+{{collapse top}}
+iv2
+av1
+avc1
+div2
+div3
+divx
+divx 4
+dx50
+flv
+h264
+microsoft
+mp42
+mp43
+mp4v
+mpeg1video
+mpeg2video
+mpg4
+rv40
+svq1
+svq3
+theora
+vp6f
+wmv2
+wmv3
+wvc1
+xvid
+{{collapse bottom}}
+<code><aspect></aspect></code>
+{{collapse top}}
+.00
+.19
+.33
+.37
+.66
+.78
+.85
+.00
+.20
+.35
+.40
+.55
+.76
+{{collapse bottom}}
+<code><stereomode></stereomode></code>
+{{collapse top}}
+mono
+split_vertical
+split_horizontal
+row_interleaved
+anaglyph_cyan_red
+anaglyph_green_magenta
+{{collapse bottom}}
+<code><hdrtype></hdrtype></code>
+{{collapse top}}
+empty = SDR
+hdr10
+dolbyvision
+hlg
+{{collapse bottom}}
+=== audio ===
+<code><codec></codec></code>
+{{collapse top}}
+aac
+aac_lc
+he_aac
+he_aac_v2
+aac_ssr
+aac_ltp
+ac3
+cook
+dca
+dtshd_hra
+dtshd_ma
+dtshd_ma_x
+dtshd_ma_x_imax
+eac3
+eac3_ddp_atmos
+mp1
+mp2
+mp3
+pcm_s16be
+pcm_s16le
+pcm_u8
+truehd
+truehd_atmos
+vorbis
+wmapro
+wmav2
+{{collapse bottom}}
+<code><language></language></code><br/>
+Use 3-letter language code
+<code><channels></channels></code>
+{{collapse top}}
+{{collapse bottom}}
+=== subtitle ===
+<code><language></language></code><br/>
+Use 3-letter language code

NFO files/Movies: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 07:09, 13 April 2026

Contents

Introduction

nfo Name and Location

nfo Tags

Values

fileinfo

video

audio

subtitle

References

Navigation menu

NFO files/Movies: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 07:09, 13 April 2026

Introduction

nfo Name and Location

nfo Tags

Values

fileinfo

video

audio

subtitle

References

Navigation menu

Search