Add-on repositories: Difference between revisions

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== Addons.xml ==
== Addons.xml ==
XBMC expects to fetch a master xml file that contains the information for each add-on inside the repo. This file is named addons.xml - it can be placed external to the main repository of add-on files if you wish. This file merely encapsulates the other addon.xml files in an <addons> tag. See below for the basic structure:
Kodi expects to fetch a master xml file that contains the information for each add-on inside the repo. This file is named addons.xml - it can be placed external to the main repository of add-on files if you wish. This file merely encapsulates the other addon.xml files in an <addons> tag. See below for the basic structure:
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml" enclose="div">
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml" enclose="div">
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
Line 49: Line 49:


== Repository Add-on ==
== Repository Add-on ==
Repositories are distributed just like any other add-on. In order for you to browse one in XBMC, you'll need to [[Add-ons for Kodi (Developement)|create an add-on]] and install it. The repository addon extends the xbmc.addon.repository extension point, so in addition to the general XML structure and icons required for an icon, you'll need an 'extension' block as follows:
Repositories are distributed just like any other add-on. In order for you to browse one in Kodi, you'll need to [[Add-ons for Kodi (Developement)|create an add-on]] and install it. The repository addon extends the xbmc.addon.repository extension point, so in addition to the general XML structure and icons required for an icon, you'll need an 'extension' block as follows:
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml" enclose="div">
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml" enclose="div">
   <extension point="xbmc.addon.repository"
   <extension point="xbmc.addon.repository"
               name="Official Kodi.tv Add-on Repository">
               name="Official Kodi.tv Add-on Repository">
     <info compressed="true">http://mirrors.xbmc.org/addons/dharma-pre/addons.xml</info>
     <info compressed="true">http://mirrors.kodi.tv/addons/dharma-pre/addons.xml</info>
     <checksum>http://mirrors.xbmc.org/addons/dharma-pre/addons.xml.md5</checksum>
     <checksum>http://mirrors.kodi.tv/addons/dharma-pre/addons.xml.md5</checksum>
     <datadir zip="true">http://mirrors.xbmc.org/addons/dharma-pre</datadir>
     <datadir zip="true">http://mirrors.kodi.tv/addons/dharma-pre</datadir>
   </extension>
   </extension>
</syntaxhighlight>
</syntaxhighlight>

Revision as of 00:24, 13 May 2015

Home icon grey.png   ▶ Development ▶ Add-on development ▶ Add-on repositories

Beginning with Dharma, Kodi includes an interface to browse remote repositories where add-ons can be retrieved. The model is similar to the way many current Linux distributions work, whereby there is a "main" repository that is the default, and additional ones may be added by the user. The Official Add-on Repository is included with Kodi by default and is maintained by the Kodi team.

After you have created your repository, consider adding it to the 3rd party add-on repositories list.

Ingredients for a Repository

Repositories were created with the idea that they should be simple and easy enough to setup for anyone interested. The basic requirements are as follows:

  • An HTTP server. Any should work.
  • Some add-ons.
  • A master xml file. This file contains metadata about all available add-ons.
  • A checksum of the above file.
  • A repository add-on for distribution. This allows you to share your repository with others.

Directory Structure

 addon.id
    addon.id-x.y.z.zip
    changelog-x.y.z.txt
    fanart.jpg
    icon.png
 addon2.id
    addon2.id-x.y.z.zip
    changelog-x.y.z.txt
    fanart.jpg
    icon.png
  • addon.id should be the same as the addon's id, which is expected to be unique.
  • x.y.z is the addon's version, the same should be listed in its version attribute.

Addons.xml

Kodi expects to fetch a master xml file that contains the information for each add-on inside the repo. This file is named addons.xml - it can be placed external to the main repository of add-on files if you wish. This file merely encapsulates the other addon.xml files in an <addons> tag. See below for the basic structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<addons>
  <addon
    id="sample.addon1"
    ...
  </addon>

  <addon
    id="sample.addon2"
    ...
  </addon>
</addons>

Repository Add-on

Repositories are distributed just like any other add-on. In order for you to browse one in Kodi, you'll need to create an add-on and install it. The repository addon extends the xbmc.addon.repository extension point, so in addition to the general XML structure and icons required for an icon, you'll need an 'extension' block as follows:

  <extension point="xbmc.addon.repository"
              name="Official Kodi.tv Add-on Repository">
    <info compressed="true">http://mirrors.kodi.tv/addons/dharma-pre/addons.xml</info>
    <checksum>http://mirrors.kodi.tv/addons/dharma-pre/addons.xml.md5</checksum>
    <datadir zip="true">http://mirrors.kodi.tv/addons/dharma-pre</datadir>
  </extension>

info

URL to the main xml file, compressed="true" parameter specifies whether or not the xml should be fetched with compression (gzip) enabled.

checksum

An MD5 checksum file of the main xml file. If present, Kodi verifies the addons.xml file against this MD5. This is the mechanism that Kodi uses to decide whether we need to fetch the full XML file to verify whether updates are required. If the MD5 file has changed we fetch the full info file. If not, we don't. Thus, in order for automatic updates to work, you must ensure that you have the checksum file in place.

datadir

URL to the root directory that contains the addons (i.e. the directory holding the addon.id subdirectories). If the zip attribute is set to true, then Kodi downloads addons via /datadir/addon.id/addon.id-x.y.z.zip. If zip is set to false, then Kodi assumes that each addon.id directory simply contains the addon itself, i.e. /datadir/addon.id/files for addon. Online repositories should always have zip set to true, both for efficiency of download and for the protection that .zip offers by way of verifying the download (i.e. can we unzip it).

See also

Development: