List of built-in functions

Python development Add-on development Skinning

Built-in scripting

List of built-in functions

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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

Add-on built-in's

Function	Description	Version
Addon.Default.OpenSettings(extensionpoint)	Open a settings dialog for the default addon of the given type (extensionpoint)
Addon.Default.Set(extensionpoint)	Open a select dialog to allow choosing the default addon of the given type (extensionpoint)
Addon.OpenSettings(id)	Open a settings dialog for the addon of the given id
EnableAddon(id)	Enables the specified plugin/script	v19 addition
InstallAddon(id)	Will install the addon with the given id.
InstallFromZip	Opens the "Install from zip"-dialog if "Unknown sources" is enabled. Prompts the warning message if not.
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 add-on id of the script. As of 2007/02/24, all extra parameters are passed to the script as arguments and can be accessed by python using sys.argv
StopScript(id)	Stop the script by ID or path, if running	v12 Addition
UpdateAddonRepos	Triggers a forced update of enabled add-on repositories.
UpdateLocalAddons	Triggers a scan of local add-on directories.

Android built-in's

Function	Description	Version
StartAndroidActivity(package,[intent,dataType,dataURI])	Launch an Android native app with the given package name. Optional parms (in order): intent, dataType, dataURI. example: StartAndroidActivity(com.android.chrome,android.intent.action.VIEW,,http://kodi.tv/)	v13 Addition

Application built-in's

Function	Description	Version
Extract(archive_url[, destination])	Extracts a specified archive to an optionally specified 'absolute' path.
Mute	Mutes (or unmutes) the volume.
NotifyAll(sender, data [, json])	Notify all connected clients	v13 Addition
SetVolume(percent[,showvolumebar])	Sets the volume to the percentage specified. Optionally, show the Volume Dialog in Kodi when setting the volume.
ToggleDebug	Enables/disables debug mode	v12 Addition
ToggleDPMS	Toggle DPMS (VESA Display Power Management Signaling) mode manually
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).

CEC built-in's

Function	Description	Version
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

EPG built-in's

Function	Description	Version
PVR.EpgGridControl(command)	supported commands: firstprogramme (jump to the first programme) / currentprogramme (jump to the current programme) / lastprogramme (jump to the last programme) / selectdate (jump to the selected date & time) / +XX (jump XX hours forward) / -XX (jump XX hours back) / firstchannel (jump to the first channel) / playingchannel (jump to the currently playing channel) / lastchannel (jump to the last channel) / previousgroup (switch the epg to the previous group) / nextgroup (switch the epg to the next group) / selectgroup (select a group)	v19 Addition

GUI built-in's

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 Action IDs for a list of available actions.
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 Window IDs 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
AlarmClock(name,command,[time,silent,loop])	Pops up a dialog asking for the length of time (mm:ss) 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. If defining the last optional parameters (silent and loop) both have to be defined for any to take effect. The parameter "time" accepts an integer value (in minutes) or a timestring in the format "hh:mm:ss" or "mm min".
CancelAlarm(name[,silent])	Cancel a running alarm. Set silent to true to hide the alarm notification.
ClearProperty(key[,id])	Clears a window property for the current focused window/dialog(key), or the specified window (key,id).
Dialog.Close(dialog[,force])	Close a dialog. Set force to true to bypass animations. Use (all,true) to close all opened dialogs at once.
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.
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
RefreshRSS	Reload RSS feeds from RSSFeeds.xml
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
Resolution	Change Kodi's Resolution.
SetGUILanguage(value)	Set GUI Language, 'value' is the language file to use. SetGUILanguage(resource.language.de_de)	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
TakeScreenshot([filenameandpath,sync])	Takes a Screenshot. You can optionally specify the filename (including the path). Note: only .png files are supported. Add "sync" parameter to run synchronously (slow).
ToggleDirtyRegionVisualization	makes dirty regions visible for debugging proposes.	v16 Addition
ToggleStereoMode	Toggle the stereoscopic mode of the GUI (on/off).	v13 Addition

GUI container built-in's

Function	Description	Version
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])
Container.SetViewMode(id)	Set the current view mode (list, icons etc.) to the given container id.
Container.SetSortDirection	Toggle the sort direction.
Container.Update	Update current listing. Send Container.Update(path,replace) to reset the path history.

GUI control built-in's

Function	Description	Version
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[,absolute])	Will make a list with the "id" specified in the command gain focus at "position" number in its list. Set absolute to focus the first listitem of a container instead of the first visible listitem. Alias SetFocus(id,position)
PageDown	Send a page down event to the pagecontrol with given id.
PageUp	Send a page up event to the pagecontrol with given id.
SendClick(windowid,id)	Sends a click to a control in a given window (or active window if omitted).
SetFocus(id,position[,absolute])	Will make a list with the "id" specified in the command gain focus at "position" number in its list. Set absolute to focus the first listitem of a container instead of the first visible listitem. Alias Control.SetFocus(id,position)

Library built-in's

Function	Description	Version
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.
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).
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.
VideoLibrary.Search	Brings up a search dialog which will search the library

Optical container built-in's

Function	Description	Version
EjectTray()	Either opens or closes the DVD tray, depending on its current state
RipCD	Will rip the inserted CD from the DVD-ROM drive.

Picture built-in's

Function	Description	Version
RecursiveSlideShow(dir)	Run a slideshow from the specified directory, including all subdirs
ShowPicture(picture)	Show a picture by its file path/url.	v13 Addition
SlideShow(dir[,recursive][,[not]random][,pause][,beginslide="/path/to/start/slide.jpg"])	Starts a slideshow of pictures in the folder dir. Optional parameters are 'recursive', 'random' or 'notrandom', 'pause' and 'beginslide="/path/to/some/image.jpg"' 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. The "pause" parameter will start the slideshow paused. "beginslide" will start the slideshow with the specified image.

Player built-in's

Function	Description	Version
PlayDisc(param)	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, FrameAdvance(#), TempoUp, TempoDown, Tempo(value), Random, RandomOn, RandomOff, Repeat, RepeatOne, RepeatAll, RepeatOff, Partymode(music) or Partymode(video) or Partymode(path to .xsp file) or Reset. 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. Reset only applies to games and will reset the currently playing game.
PlayerResolutionSelect	Select a different resolution	v18
Playlist.Clear	Clear the current playlist
Playlist.PlayOffset	Start playing from a particular offset in the playlist
PlayMedia(mediaPath[,isdir][,1][,playoffset=xx][,resume][,noresume][,playlist_type_hint=x])	Plays the media. This can be a playlist, music, or video file, directory, plugin or a url. The optional parameter ",isdir" can be used for playing a directory. ",1" will start the media without switching to fullscreen. If media is a playlist, you can use playoffset=xx where xx is the position to start playback from. Set "resume" to force resuming. Set "noresume" to force not resuming. Note: Following parameters are available from Kodi v20. If media is a playlist (e.g. STRM), you can set the type of playlist with "playlist_type_hint=x" where x can be 0 for music playlist or 1 for video playlist, if not set will be used music playlist.
PlayWith()	Play the selected item with the specified player core.
QueueMedia()	Queues the given 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 the media without switching to fullscreen. If media is a playlist\, you can use playoffset=xx where xx is the position to start playback from. @param[in] media URL of media to queue. @param[in] isdir Set "isdir" if media is a directory (optional). @param[in] 1 Set "1" to start playback without switching to fullscreen (optional). @param[in] resume Set "resume" to force resuming (optional). @param[in] noresume Set "noresume" to force not resuming (optional). @param[in] playeroffset Set "playoffset=<offset>" to start playback from a given position in a playlist (optional). @param[in] playnext Set "playnext" to play the media right after the currently playing item, if player is currently playing. If player is not playing, append media to current playlist (optional).
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

Profile built-in's

Function	Description	Version
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
System.LogOff	Log off current user.

PVR built-in's

Function	Description	Version
PVR.SearchMissingChannelIcons	Will start a search for missing channel icons	v16 Addition
PVR.ToggleRecordPlayingChannel	Will toggle recording on playing channel, if any	v18
PVR.SeekPercentage	Performs a seek to the given percentage in timeshift buffer, if timeshifting is supported

Skin built-in's

Function	Description	Version
ReloadSkin()	Reloads the current skin – useful for Skinners to use after they upload modified skin files (saves power cycling)
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.SelectBool(header, label1|setting1, label2|setting2)	Pops up select dialog to select between multiple skin setting options. Skin.SelectBool(424, 31411|RecentWidget, 31412|RandomWidget, 31413|InProgressWidget)
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, xbmc.addon.executable and kodi.gameclient.
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)	Pops up a folder browser and allows the user to select a file off the hard-disk to be used else where in the skin via the info tag Skin.String(string). If the mask parameter is specified, then the file browser will only search for the extension specified (.avi,.mp3,.m3u,.png,.bmp,etc.,etc.). To use multiple extensions separate them using "|" (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.SetNumeric(numeric[,value])	Pops up a keyboard dialog and allows the user to input a numerical.
Skin.SetPath(string[,folderpath])	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 folderpath parameter is set the file browser will start in that folder.
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(1)	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).
UnloadSkin()	Unloads the current skin

System built-in's

Function	Description	Version
ActivateScreensaver	Starts the screensaver	v13 Addition
Hibernate	Hibernate (S4) the System
InhibitIdleShutdown(true/false)	Prevent the system to shutdown on idle.	v12 Addition
InhibitScreensaver(true/false)	Prevent activation of the screensaver.	v19 Addition
Minimize	Minimizes Kodi
Powerdown	Powerdown system
Quit	Quits Kodi
Reboot	Cold reboots the system (power cycle)
Reset	Reset the system (same as reboot)
RestartApp	Restarts Kodi (only implemented under Windows and Linux)
ShutDown	Trigger default Shutdown action defined in System Settings
Suspend	Suspends (S3 / S1 depending on bios setting) the System
System.Exec(exec)	Execute shell commands. The full path to the script has to be placed inside the parentheses.
System.ExecWait(exec)	Execute shell commands and freezes Kodi until shell is closed. As well as for "System.Exec(exec)", the full path to the script has to be placed inside the parentheses.

Weather built-in's

Function	Description	Version
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
• AllowIdleShutdown
• Help
• LIRC.Send(command)
• LIRC.Start
• LIRC.Stop
• StartPVRManager
• StereoModeToMono
• StopPVRManager

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	ArtistThenYear
12	Album
13	AlbumType
14	Genre
15	Country
16	Year
17	Rating
18	UserRating
19	Votes
20	Top250
21	ProgramCount
22	PlaylistOrder
23	EpisodeNumber
24	Season
25	NumberOfEpisodes
26	NumberOfWatchedEpisodes
27	TvShowStatus
28	TvShowTitle
29	SortTitle
30	ProductionCode
31	MPAA
32	VideoResolution
33	VideoCodec
34	VideoAspectRatio
35	AudioChannels
36	AudioCodec
37	AudioLanguage
38	SubtitleLanguage
39	Studio
40	DateAdded
41	LastPlayed
42	Playcount
43	Listeners
44	Bitrate
45	Random
46	Channel
47	ChannelNumber
48	DateTaken
49	Relevance
50	InstallDate
51	LastUpdated
52	LastUsed
53	ClientChannelOrder
54	TotalDiscs
55	OriginalDate
56	BPM

See also

• Action IDs