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{{DevsHeader|'''XBMC Add-on development'''}}<br />
{{mininav|[[Development]]}}
[[File:Wiki logo.png|150px|link=|left]]
<section begin="intro" />This area contains information, tutorials, and links for creating add-ons (and plug-ins) for Kodi.<section end="intro" />


{{XBMC faq toc}}
{{-}}
This page summarizes the new addons system introduced in the Dharma release (v10) of XBMC.
----
{{huge|'''{{color|black|General}}'''}}
{| width="100%"
|- valign="top"
| width="16%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Nuvola apps kthememgr.png|link=About Add-ons}}
| width="17%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Administration.png|link=Add-on settings}}
| width="16%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Applications-development.png|link=Add-on structure|title=Add-on Structure}}
| width="17%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Tool-box-icon.png|link=Development Tools}}
| width="18%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Translation - Noun project 987.png|link=Language portal|title=Languages &amp; Translations}}
| width="16%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=60.jpg|link=Special protocol}}
|}


XBMC has introduced an addons system. This allows 3rd party developed enhancements to XBMC to be distributed to XBMC users direct from inside the XBMC interface.
----
{{huge|'''{{color|black|Add-on Types}}'''}}
{| width="100%"
|- valign="top"
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Nuvola apps kthememgr.png|link=Plugin sources}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Misc-Misc-Box-icon.png|link=Add-on_repositories|title=Repository add-ons}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Web-icon.png|link=Scrapers|title=Scraper add-ons}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Applications-development.png|link=Script sources|title=Scripts}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Administration.png|link=Script subtitles|title=Subtitle scripts}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Gnome-system-run.png|link=Service add-ons}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Weather_addon.png|link=Weather addons|title=Weather add-ons}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=UI_sounds.png|link=UI sounds add-ons}}
|}


The addons system is based on the plugin library [http://www.c-pluff.org c-pluff].
----
 
{{huge|'''{{color|black|Tutorials}}'''}}
You can find a more detailed Addon Developers Document at [http://code.google.com/p/xbmc-gpodder-integration/downloads/list XBMC Addon Developers Guide]  It builds on information found on this page and elsewhere.  The document is delivered as a PDF.
 
 
==Anatomy of an addon==
 
Each add-on is kept in it's own folder, and is described via an XML file named addon.xml.  In addition, some other files can also come with the add-on, namely icon.png, changelog.txt, and fanart.jpg.  These are all optional, though we encourage you to at least have icon.png.  All of these reside in the "root" of the folder that contains the add-on.  Additional data may be contained within a resources/ subfolder, such as language translations and descriptions of settings.
 
 
===Directory Name===
 
Your directory name should follow this convention2;
<addonType>[.<mediaType>].<yourPluginName>
 
The name parts are case sensitive and must be in lower case. The dot character separates each
name part – you can use further dot's to separate things in your plugin name if you wish,
alternatively you may use a hyphen (-). No other non-alphanumeric characters should be used.
The addonType is one from the following list
Addon Type Name Description
repository A repository definition file that allows users to add new repositories to
the XBMC addon manager. Media type is not required.
plugin A plugin script or module that adds to the functionality of XBMC.
Plugins appear under the relevant media section of the main home menu.
script A runnable program file that will appear in the Program section of the
main home menu.
skin An XBMC skin definition and its supporting script files. Media type is
not required.
The mediaType is not required in all cases. The following table describes the available
mediaTypes for the available addon types. Your addon may provide more than one mediaType if
you wish, whereby it will appear in more than one section. In most cases, however, a single
media type will suffice, and it may be preferable to have multiple addons each providing a single
media type rather than one addon that tries to do it all.


{| width="100%"
|- valign="top"
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=music-icon.png|link=HOW-TO:Audio_addon|title=Audio Tutorial}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=context-menu-icon.png|link=Context_Item_Add-ons|title=Context Item Tutorial}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Addons-icon.png|link=Audio-video_add-on_tutorial|title=General Add-on Tutorial}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Translation - Noun project 987.png|link=HOW-TO:HelloWorld_addon|title=Hello World Tutorial}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Screensaver-icon.png|link=HOW-TO:Screensaver_addon|title=Screensaver Tutorial}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=script-icon.png|link=HOW-TO:Script_addon|title=Script Tutorial}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Visualisation-icon.jpg|link=HOW-TO:Visualisation_addon|title=Visualisation Tutorial}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=video-icon.png|link=HOW-TO:Video_addon|title=Video Addon Tutorial}}
|}
----
{{huge|'''{{color|black|Advanced}}'''}}
{| width="100%"
|- valign="top"
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Unicode icon.jpg|link=Add-on unicode paths}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=501159.png‎‎|link=JSON-RPC API}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Book icon 1.png|link=Python_libraries|title=Kodi Python Libraries}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Boolean_operation_icon.jpg‎|link=List of boolean conditions}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Apps-Brackets-B-icon.png‎|link=List of built-in functions}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=shopping-list-generator-icon.png‎|link=InfoLabels|title=List of info labels}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Web-pdb-icon.png‎|link=Python_debugging|title=Python Debugging}}
| width="12.5%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Windowsicon.png‎‎|link=Window IDs|title=Window IDs}}
|}


{| class="wikitable" border="1"
----
! Addon !! Media Type Name!! Description
{{huge|'''{{color|black|Publishing}}'''}}
|-
{| width="100%"
| plugin || audio || A music addon that will appear in the main menu music
|- valign="top"
|-
| width="25%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Thumbs up font awesome.png‎|link=Add-on rules}}
| plugin || video || A video addon that will appear in the main menu video
| width="25%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Upload-128.png|link=Submitting Add-ons}}
|-
| width="25%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Thumbnail-symbol-transparent.png|link=Official_add-on_repository|title=Official Add-on Repository}}
| plugin || picture || A picture addon that will appear in the main menu picture
| width="25%" align="center" | {{Main page icon|image=Box_icon.png‎|link=Unofficial add-on repositories|title=Third-party Add-on Repositories}}
|-
| plugin || weather || A weather addon that will appear in the main menu weather
|-
| script || module || A script plugin that will not appear under a category or
within the Addons manager, but provides support for other
addons
|-
| script|| service || A script that will be run at either login or startup
|}
|}
----




See section on addon.xml for further information
[[Category:Add-on development|*]]
 
The plugin name is up to you, but beware that others haven't used it before you.
So for instance, if you are creating an addon that integrates the Gpodder software with XBMC
for audio podcasts you might name your directory;
plugin.audio.gpodder-xbmc3
If you are creating a screen scraper to present tv shows from MyGreatTv.com. It might be;
plugin.video.my-great-tv-com
A script to ping all your friends on twitter to tell them you are home might be called;
script.ping-twits-i-am-home
Having settled on your name create the directory under the .xbmc/addons directory.
 
==Directory structure==
 
Your directory contains all the resources needed to operate your addon. The directory must be
considered read-only and should not be used for storing intersession or transient data. Other
mechanisms are available to do that (more later.)
The directory must contain the follwing files and directories.
 
    addon.py
    addon.xml
    changelog.txt
    fanart.jpg
    icon.png
    LICENSE.txt
    /resources
        settings.xml
        /language
        /lib
        /media
 
Other files may be required to run your addon, if your addon becomes more complex.
It is also considered good practice to place various addon resources and support code modules in the /lib folder.
If those libs are more commonly used by different addons consider them to add as a separate script.module.foo
 
i.e. everything that shouldn't be in the root of your directory is considered a resource and should
be placed in that sub-directory or a sub-directory from /resources.
 
 
===File contents===
 
====addon.py====
 
This will contain your main addon python code. It may be named differently as you will define this python file in addon.xml as your main script file.
 
====addon.xml====
 
addon.xml tells XBMC;
• what the addon provides
• what the addon relies on to work
• what script to run when it is fired up (if it is meant to be started.)
 
====changelog.txt====
A text file that contains a description of each release change that you make to the system. This is
displayed in the XBMC addon installation/update system. Recommended format is to have it
sorted by version in descending order, with a simple description as to the major changes (new
functionality, big fixes etc,) in each version. (In the author's opinion, too many addons skip this
piece of information making it difficult for users to determine whether a particular problem that
they may have been having has been fixed or not.)
resources/settings.xml
An XML file that contains the current configuration for the addon. If your addon has
configurable items that are set by the user, put them here. This file drives what the user sees
when they click on Addon settings for your addon in the various places in XBMC that it can
appear. You need do no coding to utilise this functionality
 
====icon.png====
 
This used to to be displayed in various parts of XBMC.
In order to keep a coherent look and give the skinner a good idea how the icons of the add-ons look, we have defined the following rules:
 
* The icon size must be 256x256 pixels.
* File format is PNG.
* Background must be 100% solid. That doesn't mean one color, it also can be a gradient or a low contrast texture. Just make sure there is no transparency.
* Keep the logo as simple a possible, no exaggerated 3D effects or high contrast textures.
* Use a padding of at least 25px for your logo (not the background!). Excepted are large text logos (see icon for themoviedb.org).
* Keep text to a minimum. However, a text logo along with the graphical logo is recommended in order to easily recognize the addon.
* Don't mix logos with XBMC's logo, it's obvious that we're talking about XBMC here.
* Don't add borders or any overlays, that's the skinner's job. However, if borders are an element of your logo, make sure there is enough padding.
* It is suggested that a logo on a plain background (non-transparent) is best in many situations
(e.g. for addons that retrieve media from an online service, use that service's logo [as long as
you are free to do so]).
 
====fanart.jpg====
This helps to keep XBMC graphically rich when browsing and using addons.
Some simple guidelines:
* It should be 16:9 aspect ratio
* It is intended for the background, so should be simple and without text where reasonable.
* We recommend a 1280x720 JPG image.  It should certainly be no larger than 1920x1080.
* We recommend keeping it as small as is reasonable with respect to file-size.  Remember that hundreds of thousands of users are going to be downloading this.
 
====resources/settings.xml====
 
This contains the settings that will be available for your add-on. This file should be located in
    /resources/settings.xml
 
See following link for all programmable options [[Addon_Settings]]
 
====resource/language/====
 
LANGUAGE THINGS
 
Translation tools:
*[[Language_support]]
*[[Translation_System]]
*Convert .xml to .po https://github.com/alanwww1/xbmc-xml2po
*Check for .po files https://github.com/alanwww1/xbmc-checkpo
*Utility for keeping XBMC upstream language files and the language files hosted on transifex.com in sync. https://github.com/alanwww1/xbmc-txupdate
 
'''strings.po'''
 
{{frodo|raw=strings.xml will be deprecated after the release of Frodo. Frodo will still be back worths compatible with .xml}}
 
 
====resources/lib====
 
put any module definitions or third party software libraries into this directory
resources/data
Store any other static data structures your application requires here. Examples might be
XLT/XSD files or static XML files that contain lookup tables etc.
 
====resources/media====
 
store any static media (picture, audio, video etc.) files in this directory
Remember, the above is a recommended outline for your addon – if you need fewer or more
directories to organise your work, just change it. The only absolutely required file is;
 
 
 
 
==See also==
* [[Add-ons]]
* [[:Category:All add-ons]]
* [[3rd party add-on repositories]]
'''Development:'''
* [[Addon Settings]]
* [[Python development]]
* [[Skinning]]
* [[Add-on repositories]]
* [[Official add-on repository]]
 
[[Category:Add-ons]]
[[Category:Development]]

Latest revision as of 19:13, 9 December 2023