> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/euzu/tuliprox/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# M3U playlist setup

> Configure an M3U provider as an input, integrate EPG, and publish an M3U output.

M3U is the universal playlist format supported by virtually every IPTV provider and media player. This guide shows you how to load M3U playlists, attach EPG sources and publish processed playlists to clients.

## Step 1: Define an M3U input

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add the input to source.yml">
    ```yaml source.yml theme={null}
    inputs:
      - type: m3u
        name: my_m3u_provider
        url: http://provider.example/playlist.m3u
    ```

    Use `file://` to load a local playlist file:

    ```yaml source.yml theme={null}
    inputs:
      - type: m3u
        name: local_list
        url: file:///home/tuliprox/playlists/channels.m3u
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a source and target">
    Wire the input to a target and set the output type to `m3u`:

    ```yaml source.yml theme={null}
    templates:
      - name: ALL_CHAN
        value: 'Group ~ ".*"'
    inputs:
      - type: m3u
        name: my_m3u_provider
        url: http://provider.example/playlist.m3u
    sources:
      - inputs:
          - my_m3u_provider
        targets:
          - name: all_channels
            output:
              - type: m3u
            filter: "!ALL_CHAN!"
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure api-proxy.yml">
    ```yaml api-proxy.yml theme={null}
    server:
      - name: default
        protocol: http
        host: 192.168.1.41
        port: 8901
        timezone: Europe/Berlin
        message: Welcome to tuliprox
    user:
      - target: all_channels
        credentials:
          - username: user1
            password: secret
            proxy: redirect
            server: default
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

The M3U playlist is then available at:

```text theme={null}
http://host:port/get.php?username=user1&password=secret
```

Or using the REST-friendly alias:

```text theme={null}
http://host:port/m3u?username=user1&password=secret
```

## EPG (XMLTV) integration

Attach one or more EPG sources to the input using the `epg` block:

```yaml source.yml theme={null}
inputs:
  - type: m3u
    name: my_m3u_provider
    url: http://provider.example/playlist.m3u
    epg:
      sources:
        - url: http://provider.example/epg.xml
          priority: -1
        - url: auto
          priority: -2
          logo_override: true
      smart_match:
        enabled: true
        fuzzy_matching: true
        match_threshold: 80
        best_match_threshold: 99
```

`url: auto` tells tuliprox to use the EPG URL embedded in the M3U playlist itself, if present.

Clients retrieve the EPG at:

```text theme={null}
http://host:port/xmltv.php?username=user1&password=secret
```

## M3U output options

| Field                 | Description                                 |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `filename`            | Custom filename for the generated M3U file  |
| `include_type_in_url` | Append the content type to stream URLs      |
| `mask_redirect_url`   | Mask the provider URL in redirect responses |
| `filter`              | Additional per-output filter expression     |

Example:

```yaml theme={null}
output:
  - type: m3u
    filename: my_channels.m3u
    include_type_in_url: true
```

## Batch M3U sources

Use `m3u_batch` to load many provider URLs from a CSV file:

```yaml source.yml theme={null}
inputs:
  - type: m3u_batch
    name: batch_providers
    url: batch://providers.csv
```

The CSV file must have these columns:

| Column            | Description                                 |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `url`             | Provider playlist URL                       |
| `max_connections` | Maximum concurrent connections              |
| `priority`        | Failover priority (lower = higher priority) |

Alternatively, use an `m3u` input with a `batch://` URL — tuliprox treats it the same as `m3u_batch`.

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Playlist is empty after update">
    Verify the URL is reachable from the tuliprox host:

    ```bash theme={null}
    curl -I "http://provider.example/playlist.m3u"
    ```

    For `file://` URLs confirm the path exists and tuliprox has read permission.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="EPG not populating">
    EPG matching depends on the `tvg-id` attribute in the M3U entries matching
    channel IDs in the XMLTV data. Enable `smart_match` with `fuzzy_matching`
    to handle minor name differences.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Groups or channel names look wrong">
    M3U attribute parsing reads `group-title` and `tvg-name` from `#EXTINF` lines.
    Check the raw playlist to confirm those attributes are present. Use the
    rename and mapping features to normalise names after import.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Client requests timeout on large playlists">
    For very large playlists consider enabling `disk_based_processing: true`
    in `config.yml` to reduce peak memory usage during updates.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>