List of built-in functions

Python development Add-on development Skinning

Built-in scripting

List of built-in functions

Skins can use built-in functions with the <onclick> or <onfocus> tag. Scripts can call built-in functions with xbmc.executebuiltin(function, block).

The latest up-to-date list of built-in functions can be found in the source code files in [1].

In addition to the following list, for most <onclick> and <onfocus> button actions in the skin you can also use the functions from Keyboard.xml.

Example:
<onclick>VolumeUp</onclick>
<onclick>VolumeDown</onclick>

You can use parameters with all media windows, as can be seen here:

• Opening Windows and Dialogs

List of functions

Function	Description	Version
Action(action[,window])	Executes an action (same as in keymap) for the given window or the active window if the parameter window is omitted. The parameter window can either be the window's id, or in the case of a standard window, the window's name. See here for a list of window names, and their respective ids.
ActivateScreensaver	Starts the screensaver	v13 Addition
ActivateWindow(window[,dir,return])	Opens the given window. The parameter window can either be the window's id, or in the case of a standard window, the window's name. See here for a list of window names, and their respective ids. If, furthermore, the window is Music, Video, Pictures, or Program files, then the optional dir parameter specifies which folder Kodi should default to once the window is opened. This must be a source as specified in sources.xml, or a subfolder of a valid source. For some windows (MusicLibrary and VideoLibrary), the return parameter may be specified, which indicates that Kodi should use this folder as the "root" of the level, and thus the "parent directory" action from within this folder will return the user to where they were prior to the window activating.
ActivateWindowAndFocus(id1, id2,item1, id3,item2)	Activate window with id1, first focus control id2 and then focus control id3. if either of the controls is a container, you can specify which item to focus (else, set it to 0).	v12 Addition
Addon.Default.OpenSettings	Open a settings dialog for the default addon of the given type
Addon.Default.Set	Open a select dialog to allow choosing the default addon of the given type
Addon.OpenSettings(id)	Open a settings dialog for the addon of the given id
AlarmClock(name,command,time[,silent,loop])	Pops up a dialog asking for the length of time for the alarm (unless the parameter time is specified), and starts a timer. When the timer runs out, it'll execute the built-in command (the parameter command) if it is specified, otherwise it'll pop up an alarm notice. Add silent to hide the alarm notification. Add loop for the alarm to execute the command each time the specified time interval expires.
AllowIdleShutdown	Allow the system to shutdown on idle.	v12 Addition
CancelAlarm(name[,silent])	Cancel a running alarm. Set silent to true to hide the alarm notification.
CECActivateSource	Wake up playing device via a CEC peripheral	v13 Addition
CECStandby	Put playing device on standby via a CEC peripheral	v13 Addition
CECToggleState	Toggle state of playing device via a CEC peripheral	v13 Addition
CleanLibrary(database)	This funtion will perform a number of 'cleanup' tasks on your video database and can be run if you have moved, deleted or renamed files. Takes either "video" or "music" as a parameter to begin cleaning the corresponding database.
ClearProperty(key[,id])	Clears a window property for the current focused window/dialog(key), or the specified window (key,id).
Container.NextSortMethod	Change to the next sort method.
Container.NextViewMode	Select the next view mode.
Container.PreviousSortMethod	Change to the previous sort method.
Container.PreviousViewMode	Select the previous view mode.
Container.Refresh	Refresh current listing.
Container.SetSortMethod(id)	Change to the specified sort method. (For list of ID's see List of sort methods below)
Container.SetViewMode(id)	Set the current view mode (list, icons etc.) to the given container id.
Container.SortDirection	Toggle the sort direction.
Container.Update	Update current listing. Send Container.Update(path,replace) to reset the path history.
Control.Message(id,message,[windowid])	Sends a given message to a control in a given window (or active window if omitted). Messages can be movedown, moveup, pagedown, pageup, click.
Control.Move(id,offset)	Will make a Container with the "id" specified in the command move focus by "offset".
Control.SetFocus(id,position)	Will make a list with the "id" specified in the command gain focus at "position" number in its list. Alias SetFocus(id,position)
Dialog.Close(dialog[,force])	Close a dialog. Set force to true to bypass animations. Use (all,true) to close all opened dialogs at once.
EjectTray()	Either opens or closes the DVD tray, depending on its current state
exportlibrary(music,false,filepath)	The music library will be exported to a single file stored at filepath location.
exportlibrary(video,true,thumbs,overwrite,actorthumbs)	The video library is exported to multiple files with the given options. Here thumbs, overwrite and actorthumbs are boolean values (true or false).
Extract	Extracts a specified archive to an optionally specified 'absolute' path.
Help	This help message (??? probably broken)
Hibernate	Hibernate (S4) the System
InhibitIdleShutdown(true/false)	Prevent the system to shutdown on idle.	v12 Addition
LIRC.Send(command)	Sends a command to LIRC, syntax is the lirc protocol without the newline. Example: LIRC.Send(SEND_ONCE Onkyo_RC-453S2 volup)
LIRC.Start	Adds Kodi as a LIRC client.
LIRC.Stop	Removes Kodi as a LIRC client.
LoadProfile(profilename,[prompt])	Load the specified profile. If prompt is not specified, and a password would be required for the requested profile, this command will silently fail. If promp' is specified and a password is required, a password dialog will be shown.
Mastermode	Runs Kodi in master mode
Minimize	Minimizes Kodi
Mute	Mutes (or unmutes) the volume.
NextChannelGroup	Navigate to the next PVR channel group (in DialogPVRChannelsOSD.xml)	v13 Addition
NextStereoMode	Changes the stereo mode of the GUI to the next available mode.	v13 Addition
Notification(header,message[,time,image])	Will display a notification dialog with the specified header and message, in addition you can set the length of time it displays in milliseconds and a icon image.
NotifyAll	Notify all connected clients	v13 Addition
PageDown	Send a page down event to the pagecontrol with given id.
PageUp	Send a page up event to the pagecontrol with given id.
PlayDVD	Will play the inserted CD or DVD media from the DVD-ROM drive.
PlayerControl(command)	Allows control of music and videos. The command may be one of Play, Stop, Forward, Rewind, Next, Previous, BigSkipForward, BigSkipBackward, SmallSkipForward, SmallSkipBackward, Random, RandomOn, RandomOff, Repeat, RepeatOne, RepeatAll, RepeatOff, Partymode(music) or Partymode(video) or Partymode(path to .xsp file), and Record. Play will either pause, resume, or stop ffwding or rewinding. Random toggles random playback and Repeat cycles through the repeat modes (these both take an optional second parameter, Notify, that notifies the user of the new state). Partymode(music/video) toggles the appropriate partymode, defaults to music if no parameter is given, besides the default music or video partymode you can also pass a path to a custom smartplaylist (.xsp) as parameter.
Playlist.Clear	Clear the current playlist
Playlist.PlayOffset	Start playing from a particular offset in the playlist
PlayMedia(media[,isdir][,1],[playoffset=xx])	Plays the media. This can be a playlist, music, or video file, directory, plugin or an Url. The optional parameter ",isdir" can be used for playing a directory. ",1" will start a video in a preview window, instead of fullscreen. If media is a playlist, you can use playoffset=xx where xx is the position to start playback from.
PlayWith()	Play the selected item with the specified player core.
Powerdown	Powerdown system
PreviousChannelGroup	Navigate to the previous PVR channel group (in DialogPVRChannelsOSD.xml)	v13 Addition
PreviousStereoMode	Changes the stereo mode of the GUI to the previous available mode.	v13 Addition
PVR.SearchMissingChannelIcons	Will start a search for missing channel icons	v16 Addition
Quit	Quits Kodi
Reboot	Cold reboots the system (power cycle)
RecursiveSlideShow(dir)	Run a slideshow from the specified directory, including all subdirs
RefreshRSS	Reload RSS feeds from RSSFeeds.xml
ReloadSkin()	Reloads the current skin – useful for Skinners to use after they upload modified skin files (saves power cycling)
ReplaceWindow(window,dir)	Replaces the current window with the given window. This is the same as ActivateWindow() but it doesn't update the window history list, so when you go back from the new window it will not return to the previous window, rather will return to the previous window's previous window.
ReplaceWindowAndFocus(id1, id2,item1, id3,item2)	Replace window with id1, first focus control id2 and then focus control id3. if either of the controls is a container, you can specify which item to focus (else, set it to 0).	v13 Addition
Reset	Reset the system (same as reboot)
Resolution	Change Kodi's Resolution.
RestartApp	Restarts Kodi (only implemented under Windows and Linux)
RipCD	Will rip the inserted CD from the DVD-ROM drive.
RunAddon(id)	Runs the specified plugin/script
RunAppleScript(script[,args]*)	Run the specified AppleScript command
RunPlugin(plugin)	Runs the plugin. Full path must be specified. Does not work for folder plugins
RunScript(script[,args]*)	Runs the python script. You must specify the full path to the script. If the script is an add-on, you can also execute it using its add-on id. As of 2007/02/24, all extra parameters are passed to the script as arguments and can be accessed by python using sys.argv
Seek(seconds)	Seeks to the specified relative amount of seconds within the current playing media. A negative value will seek backward and a positive value forward.	v15 Addition
SendClick(windowid,id)	Sends a click to a control in a given window (or active window if omitted).
SetFocus(id,position)	Will make a container with the "id" specified in the command gain focus at "position" number in its list. Alias SetFocus(id,position)
SetGUILanguage	Set GUI Language	v13 Addition
SetProperty(key,value[,id])	Sets a window property for the current window (key,value), or the specified window (key,value,id).
SetStereoMode	Changes the stereo mode of the GUI. Params can be: toggle, next, previous, select, tomono or any of the supported stereomodes (off, split_vertical, split_horizontal, row_interleaved, hardware_based, anaglyph_cyan_red, anaglyph_green_magenta, monoscopic)	v13 Addition
settingslevelchange	Toggles the visible settings (in SettingsCategory.xml) between 'basic', 'standard', 'advanced and 'expert'	v13 Addition
SetVolume(percent[,showvolumebar])	Sets the volume to the percentage specified. Optionally, show the Volume Dialog in Kodi when setting the volume.
ShowPicture(picture)	Show a picture by its file path/url.	v13 Addition
ShutDown	Trigger default Shutdown action defined in System Settings
Skin.Reset(setting)	Resets the skin setting ?setting?. If ?setting? is a bool setting (i.e. set via SetBool or ToggleSetting) then the setting is reset to false. If ?setting? is a string (Set via SetString, SetImage, or SetPath) then it is set to empty.
Skin.ResetSettings	Resets all the above skin settings to their defaults (toggles all set to false, strings all set to empty.)
Skin.SetAddon(string,type)	Pops up a select dialog and allows the user to select an add-on of the given type to be used elsewhere in the skin via the info tag Skin.String(string). The most common types are xbmc.addon.video, xbmc.addon.audio, xbmc.addon.image and xbmc.addon.executable.
Skin.SetBool(setting)	Sets the skin setting ?setting? to true, for use with the conditional visibility tags containing Skin.HasSetting(setting). The settings are saved per-skin in settings.xml just like all the other Kodi settings.
Skin.SetFile(string,mask,folderpath)	" minus quotes. If the folderpath parameter is set the file browser will start in that folder.
Skin.SetImage(string[,value,path])	Pops up a file browser and allows the user to select an image file to be used in an image control elsewhere in the skin via the info tag Skin.String(string). If the value parameter is specified, then the file browser dialog does not pop up, and the image path is set directly. the path option allows you to open the file browser in the specified folder.
Skin.SetLargeImage(string[,value])	Pops up a file browser and allows the user to select an large image file to be used in an image control else where in the skin via the info tag Skin.String(string). If the value parameter is specified, then the file browser dialog does not pop up, and the image path is set directly.
Skin.SetNumeric(numeric[,value])	Pops up a keyboard dialog and allows the user to input a numerical.
Skin.SetPath(string[,value])	Pops up a folder browser and allows the user to select a folder of images to be used in a multi image control else where in the skin via the info tag Skin.String(string). If the value parameter is specified, then the file browser dialog does not pop up, and the path is set directly.
Skin.SetString(string[,value])	Pops up a keyboard dialog and allows the user to input a string which can be used in a label control elsewhere in the skin via the info tag Skin.String(string). If the value parameter is specified, then the keyboard dialog does not pop up, and the string is set directly.
Skin.Theme	Cycles the skin theme. Skin.theme(-1) will go backwards.
Skin.ToggleDebug	Toggles skin debug info on/off
Skin.ToggleSetting(setting)	Toggles the skin setting ?setting? for use with conditional visibility tags containing Skin.HasSetting(setting).
SlideShow(dir [,recursive, [not]random])	Starts a slideshow of pictures in the folder dir. Optional parameters are "recursive", and "random" or "notrandom" parameters. The "recursive" parameter starts a recursive slideshow, adding images from sub-folders. The "random" and "notrandom" parameters override the Randomize setting found in the pictures media window.
StartAndroidActivity(package,[intent,dataType,dataURI])	Launch an Android native app with the given package name. Optional parms (in order): intent, dataType, dataURI.	v13 Addition
StartPVRManager	(Re)Starts the PVR manager	v12 Addition
StereoModeToMono	Toggle the stereoscopic mode to 2D.	v13 Addition
StopPVRManager	Stops the PVR manager	v12 Addition
StopScript(id)	Stop the script by ID or path, if running	v12 Addition
Suspend	Suspends (S3 / S1 depending on bios setting) the System
System.Exec	Execute shell commands.
System.ExecWait	Execute shell commands and freezes Kodi until shell is closed.
System.LogOff	Log off current user.
TakeScreenshot	Takes a Screenshot
ToggleDebug	Enables/disables debug mode	v12 Addition
ToggleDirtyRegionVisualization	makes dirty regions visible for debugging proposes.	v16 Addition
ToggleDPMS	Toggle DPMS mode manually
ToggleStereoMode	Toggle the stereoscopic mode of the GUI (on/off).	v13 Addition
UnloadSkin()	Unloads the current skin
UpdateAddonRepos	Triggers a forced update of enabled add-on repositories.
UpdateLibrary(database,[path])	Takes either "video" or "music" as a parameter to begin updating the corresponding database. For "video" you can additionally specify a specific path to be scanned.
UpdateLocalAddons	Triggers a scan of local add-on directories.
VideoLibrary.Search	Brings up a search dialog which will search the library
WakeOnLan(mac)	Sends the wake-up packet to the broadcast address for the specified MAC address (Format: FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF or FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF).
Weather.LocationNext	Switch to next weather location
Weather.LocationPrevious	Switch to previous weather location
Weather.LocationSet	Switch to given weather location (parameter can be 1-3)
Weather.Refresh	Force weather data refresh

Removed functions

• LastFM.Love - Removed in v13 Gotham
• LastFM.Ban - Removed in v13 Gotham
• LCD.Suspend - Removed in v13 Gotham
• LCD.Resume - Removed in v13 Gotham

List of sort methods

These ID's can be used with the Container.SetSortMethod(id) function as listed here:

ID	Description
1	Name
2	Date
3	Size
4	File
5	Path
6	DriveType
7	Title
8	TrackNumber
9	Time
10	Artist
11	Album
12	AlbumType
13	Genre
14	Country
15	Year
16	Rating
17	Votes
18	Top250
19	ProgramCount
20	PlaylistOrder
21	EpisodeNumber
22	Season
23	NumberOfEpisodes
24	NumberOfWatchedEpisodes
25	TvShowStatus
26	TvShowTitle
27	SortTitle
28	ProductionCode
29	MPAA
30	VideoResolution
31	VideoCodec
32	VideoAspectRatio
33	AudioChannels
34	AudioCodec
35	AudioLanguage
36	SubtitleLanguage
37	Studio
38	DateAdded
39	LastPlayed
40	Playcount
41	Listeners
42	Bitrate
43	Random
44	Channel
45	ChannelNumber
46	DateTaken

See also

• Action IDs