Htsp » History » Revision 121
Revision 120 (Jaroslav Kysela, 2015-05-29 22:04) → Revision 121/163 (Jaroslav Kysela, 2015-05-29 22:07)
h1. Home Tv Streaming Protocol (HTSP) - Version 21
h2. General
HTSP is a TCP based protocol primarily intended for streaming of live TV and related meta data such as channels, group of channels (called tags in HTSP) and electronic program guide (EPG) information.
The transmission and reception of a channel over HTSP is referred to as a subscription. A single HTSP session can handle as many concurrent subscriptions as the bandwidth and CPU permits.
The HTSP server in tvheadend has a payload-aware scheduler for prioritizing more important packets (such as I-frames) before less important ones (such as B-frames). This makes HTSP suitable for long-distance transmissions and/or paths with non-perfect delivery.
(It has been tested with a server in Stockholm and the client in Berlin).
For information about the HTSP wire format please read [[htsmsgbinary|HTSMSG binary format]]
If you're looking to develop a new client, there are several existing client implementations from which you might be able to gain knowledge:
* "XBMC":https://github.com/opdenkamp/xbmc/tree/master/xbmc/pvrclients/tvheadend
* "Showtime":https://github.com/andoma/showtime/tree/master/src/backend/htsp
* "TVHGuide":https://github.com/john-tornblom/TVHGuide
* "PyHTSP":https://github.com/adamsutton/tvheadend/tree/master/lib/py/tvh/htsp.py (This is a demo client and is WIP, it has limited functionality).
----
h2. Protocol Changes
h3. v17..v18
* added addTimerecEntry, deleteTimerecEntry methods
* added timerecEntryAdd, timerecEntryUpdate, timerecEntryDelete server-to-client methods
* extended addAutorecEntry method
** added start/startWindow/name fields
** added owner/creator fields
** obsoleted creator field
* extended dvrEntryAdd, dvrEntryUpdate
** added timerecId field
** added owner/creator fields
* extended addAutorecEntry, deleteAutorecEntry methods
** added start/startWindow fields
** obsoleted approxTime
** added name/owner/creator fields
* extended autorecEntryAdd, autorecEntryUpdate server-to-client methods
** fields like for addAutorecEntry
* extended getTag method
** added tagIndex field
h3. v16..v17
* extended subscriptionStart server-to-client method
** added meta field
* changed H264 meta data handling (codec meta data are in the meta field only in start message)
* VORBIS and AAC codecs have codec specific meta data in the meta field in start message
* changed subscribe method
** the normts is always active and the parameter is ignored
h3. v15..v16
* added getProfiles, getDvrConfigs methods
* removed getCodecs methods
* extended subscribe method
** add profile field
h3. v14..v15
* extended channelAdd, channelUpdate server-to-client methods
** the channelIcon URL can be relative 'imagecache/%d' or '/imagecache/%d'
* extended getChannel method
** the channelIcon URL can be relative 'imagecache/%d' or '/imagecache/%d'
h3. v13..v14
* added getChannel method
h3. v12..v13
* added addAutorecEntry method
* added deleteAutorecEntry method
* added autorecEntryAdd, autorecEntryUpdate, autorecEntryDelete server-to-client methods
* extended channelAdd server-to-client method
** added channelNumberMinor (for {major}.{minor} channel numbers)
* extended dvrEntryAdd and dvrEntryUpdate server-to-client methods
** added eventId, autorecId, startExtra, stopExtra, retention, priority, contentType fields
* extended addDvrEntry method
** added retention
* extended updateDvrEntry method
** added retention, priority
* extended epgQuery method
** added minduration, maxduration
* added subscriptionGrace server-to-client method
h3. v11..v12
* added subscriptionFilterStream method
* added getDvrCutpoints method
h3. v10..v11
* added audio_type in the subscriptionStart server-to-client method
* added getCodecs method
h2. Communication
This communication is currently implemented by using htsmsg's. All strings are encoded as UTF-8.
There are two distinct ways for communication within HTSP.
Apart from this there is a number of messages that needs to be exchanged during login, see the login section below.
h3. RPC communication
There is a normal RPC way of doing things. I.e. the client sends a request and the server responds with a reply. All the RPC methods are listed below as the 'Client to Server' methods. Apart from all message fields listed within each message type the client can add an additional field:
RPC request extra fields:
<pre>
seq int optional Sequence number. This field will be echoed back by the server in the reply.
username str optional Username, in combination with 'digest' this can be used to raise the privileges
for the session in combination with invocation of a method.
digest bin optional Used to raise privileges.
</pre>
The followings field should be used by the client to match the reply with the request.
All replies are guaranteed to arrive in the same order as the requests.
Even so, probably the best way to implement the request-reply client is by taking advantage of the 'seq' field.
RPC reply extra fields:
<pre>
seq int optional Sequence number. Same as in the request.
error str optional If present an error has occurred and the text describes the error.
noaccess int optional If present and set to '1' the user is prohibited from invoking the method due to
access restrictions.
</pre>
h3. Streaming communication
For streaming of live TV and various related messages the server will continuously push data to the client.
These messages are referred to as asynchronous messages and always have the 'method' field set and never have the 'seq' field set.
Also, the client can enable an additional asyncMetadata mode and by doing so it will be notified by the server when meta data changes. (EPG updates, creation of channels and tags, etc).
h3. Authentication
In Tvheadend, each method has an associated access restriction. Currently there is only one restriction (Streaming). However, this may change in the future.
Privileges for these restrictions may be granted in two ways: Username + Password and/or Source IP address.
Therefore it is possible to gain permissions to the system without entering a username and password.
While this is really useful it also complicates the authentication schema a bit.
Upon connect the initial privileges will be raised based on the source address.
Before any username / password based authentication has taken place the client must have
obtained a challenge (which stays fixed for the session). This is done via the 'hello' method.
In principle it's possible to use two different authentication idioms with HTSP.
Depending on how your application works one or another may be more suitable.
While they do not really differ from a protocol point of view it's worth mentioning a bit about them here:
h3. Initial login authentication
The client performs all of its authentication using the 'login' method.
It may choose to send:
* Username and password: Privileges will be raised based on these credentials.
* Username only: Privileges will be based on just the source address. The username will be used for various logging purposes.
* Nothing: Privileges will be based on just the source address.
If no privileges are granted after the login message has been received by the server (i.e. both network and username + password based)
the server will reply with 'noaccess' set to 1. A client that only employs initial login should honor this flag and ask the
user for a username + password and retry by using the 'authenticate' method. I.e. it should not send the 'login' method again.
h3. On-demand authentication
The client performs all of its authentication when it needs to.
When using this method, the client will check every RPC reply for the 'noaccess' field.
If it set to 1 it whould ask the user for username + password and retry the request but also
add 'username' and 'digest' to the original message. (See _RPC request extra fields_ above)
Typically it would not send a username or digest during login.
----
h2. Client to Server (RPC) methods
h3. hello
Used to identify the client toward the server and to get the session challenge used to
hash passwords into digests. The client can request a different version of the HTSP
protocol with this method. If no 'hello' message is sent the server assumes latest version
is to be used.
Client/Server should select lowest common version, if this is not possible connection should be terminated.
Request message fields:
<pre>
htspversion u32 required Client preferred HTSP version.
clientname str required Client software name.
clientversion str required Client software version.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
htspversion u32 required The server supports all versions of the protocol up to and including this number.
servername str required Server software name.
serverversion str required Server software version.
servercapability str[] required Server capabilities (Added in version 6)
challenge bin required 32 bytes randomized data used to generate authentication digests
webroot str optional Server HTTP webroot (Added in version 8)
Note: any access to TVH webserver should include this at start of URL path
</pre>
Note: possible values for servercapability[]:
<pre>
cwc Descrambling available
v4l Analogue TV available
linuxdvb Linux DVB API available
imagecache Image caching available
timeshift Timeshifting available (Added in version 9).
</pre>
h3. authenticate
This can be used to issue authentication without doing anything else.
If no privileges are gained it will return with 'noaccess' set to 1.
Request message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
noaccess u32 optional If set to 1, no privileges were granted.
</pre>
----
h3. getDiskSpace (Added in version 3)
Return diskspace status from Tvheadend's PVR storage
Request message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
freediskspace s64 required Bytes available.
totaldiskspace s64 required Total capacity.
</pre>
h3. getSysTime (Added in version 3)
Return system time on the server.
Request message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
time s64 required UNIX time.
timezone s32 required Minutes west of GMT.
</pre>
----
h3. enableAsyncMetadata
When this is enabled the client will get continuous updates from the server about added, update or deleted channels, tags, dvr and epg entries.
An interactive application that presents the user with information about these things should probably enable this and the implement the various server to client methods.
Request message fields:
<pre>
epg u32 optional Set to 1, to include EPG data in async, implied by epgMaxTime (Added in version 6).
lastUpdate s64 optional Only provide metadata that has changed since this time (Added in version 6).
epgMaxTime s64 optional Maximum time to return EPG data up to (Added in version 6)
language str optional RFC 2616 compatible language list (Added in version 6)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
Once the reply as been sent the initial data set will be provided, and then updates will arrive asynchronously after that. The initial data dump is sent using the following messages:
<pre>
tagAdd optional
channelAdd optional
tagUpdate optional
dvrEntryAdd optional
eventAdd optional (Added in version 6)
initialSyncComplete required
</pre>
----
h3. getChannel (Added in version 14)
Request information about the given channel.
Request message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 required Channel ID.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
see channelAdd
</pre>
----
h3. getEvent
Request information about the given event. An event typically corresponds to a program on a channel.
The language field in the request allows preference for languages to be requested for the various string fields.
Request message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 required Event ID.
language str optional RFC 2616 compatible language list (Added in version 6)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
see eventAdd
</pre>
h3. getEvents (Added in version 4)
Request information about a set of events. If no options are specified the entire EPG database will be returned.
Request message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 optional Event ID to begin from (Optional since version 6)
channelId u32 optional Channel ID to get data for (Added in version 6)
numFollowing u32 optional Number of events to add (Optional since version 6)
maxTime u64 optional Maximum time to return data up to (Added in version 6)
language str optional RFC 2616 compatible language list (Added in version 6)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
events msg[] required List of events, using response message fields from eventAdd
</pre>
h3. epgQuery (Added in version 4)
Query the EPG (event titles) and optionally restrict to channel/tag/content type.
Request message fields:
<pre>
query str required Title regular expression to search for
channelId u32 optional [[ChannelId]] to restrict search to
tagId u32 optional [[TagId]] to restrict search to
contentType u32 optional DVB content type to restrict search to
minduration u32 optional Minimal duration in seconds (Added in version 13)
maxduration u32 optional Maximal duration in seconds (Added in version 13)
language str optional RFC 2616 compatible language list for title (Added in version 6)
full u32 optional Output full event list rather than just IDs
</pre>
Reply message fields:
if full == 1
<pre>
events msg[] optional List of events, using response message fields from eventAdd
</pre>
else
<pre>
eventIds u32[] optional List of eventIds that match the query
</pre>
h3. getEpgObject
Get detailed EPG Object info.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required Object ID
type u32 optional Object type
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
TODO
</pre>
----
h3. getDvrConfigs (Added in version 16)
Return a list of DVR configurations.
Reply message fields:
<pre>
dvrconfigs msg[] optional Supported DVR configurations.
</pre>
Message fields:
<pre>
uuid str required DVR configuration ID
name str required DVR configuration Name
comment str required DVR configuration Comment
</pre>
h3. addDvrEntry (Added in version 4)
Create a new DVR entry. Either eventId or channelId, start and stop must be specified.
Request message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 optional Event ID (Optional since version 5).
channelId u32 optional Channel ID (Added in version 5)
start s64 optional Time to start recording (Added in version 5)
stop s64 optional Time to stop recording (Added in version 5)
retention u32 optional Retention time in days (Added in version 13)
creator str optional Name of the event creator (Added in version 5, obsoleted in version 18 - applications are not allowed to change credential)
priority u32 optional Recording priority (Added in version 5)
startExtra s64 optional Pre-recording buffer in minutes (Added in version 5)
stopExtra s64 optional Post-recording buffer in minutes (Added in version 5)
title str optional Recording title, if no eventId (Added in version 6)
description str optional Recording description, if no eventId (Added in version 5)
configName str optional DVR configuration name or UUID
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was added, 0 otherwise
id u32 optional ID of created DVR entry
error str optional English clear text of error message
</pre>
h3. updateDvrEntry (Added in version 5)
Update an existing DVR entry.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required DVR Entry ID
start s64 optional New start time
stop s64 optional New stop time
title str optional New entry title
description str optional New entry description (Added in version 6)
startExtra s64 optional New pre-record buffer (Added in version 6)
stopExtra s64 optional New post-record buffer (Added in version 6)
configName str optional New DVR configuration name or UUID
retention u32 optional Retention in days (Added in version 13)
priority u32 optional Recording priority (Added in version 13)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if update as successful, otherwise 0
error str optional Error message if update failed
</pre>
h3. cancelDvrEntry (Added in version 5)
Cancel an existing recording, but don't remove the entry from the database.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required dvrEnryId to delete
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success int required 1 if entry was cancelled
error str optional Error message if cancellation failed
</pre>
h3. deleteDvrEntry (Added in version 4)
Delete an existing DVR entry from the database.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required DVR Entry ID
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was removed
error str optional Error message if the delete fails
</pre>
h3. getDvrCutpoints (Added in version 12)
Get DVR cutpoints.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required DVR Entry ID
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
cutpoints msg[] optional List of cutpoint entries, if a file is found and has some valid data.
</pre>
Cutpoint fields:
<pre>
start u32 required Cut start time in ms.
end u32 required Cut end time in ms.
type u32 required Action type:
0=Cut, 1=Mute, 2=Scene,
3=Commercial break.
</pre>
---
h3. addAutorecEntry (Added in version 13)
Create a new Autorec DVR entry. Title must be specified.
Request message fields:
<pre>
title str required Title for the recordings.
directory str optional Forced directory name - missing or empty = auto (Added in version 19).
name str optional Name of this autorec entry (Added in version 18).
configName str optional DVR Configuration Name / UUID.
channelId u32 optional Channel ID.
minDuration u32 optional Minimal duration in seconds (0 = Any).
maxDuration u32 optional Maximal duration in seconds (0 = Any).
daysOfWeek u32 optional Bitmask - Days of week (0x01 = Monday, 0x40 = Sunday, 0x7f = Whole Week, 0 = Not set).
priority u32 optional Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set).
approxTime u32 optional Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60) (window +- 15 mintes) (Obsoleted from version 18).
start s32 optional Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60) for the start of the time window (including) (Added in version 18).
startWindow s32 optional Minutes from modnight (up to 24*60) for the end of the time window (including, cross-noon allowed) (Added in version 18).
startExtra s64 optional Extra start minutes (pre-time).
stopExtra s64 optional Extra stop minutes (post-time).
comment str optional User Comment.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was added, 0 otherwise
id str optional ID (string!) of created autorec DVR entry
error str optional English clear text of error message
</pre>
h3. deleteAutorecEntry (Added in version 13)
Delete an existing autorec DVR entry from the database.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id str required Autorec DVR Entry ID (string!)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was removed
error str optional Error message if the delete fails
</pre>
----
---
h3. addTimerecEntry (Added in version 18)
Create a new Timerec DVR entry. Title must be specified.
Request message fields:
<pre>
title str required Title for the recordings.
name str optional Name for this timerec entry.
configName str optional DVR Configuration Name / UUID.
channelId u32 required Channel ID.
daysOfWeek u32 optional Bitmask - Days of week (0x01 = Monday, 0x40 = Sunday, 0x7f = Whole Week, 0 = Not set).
priority u32 optional Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set).
start u32 required Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60) for the start of the time window (including)
stop u32 required Minutes from modnight (up to 24*60) for the end of the time window (including, cross-noon allowed)
retention u32 optional Retention in days.
comment str optional User Comment.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was added, 0 otherwise
id str optional ID (string!) of created timerec DVR entry
error str optional English clear text of error message
</pre>
h3. deleteTimerecEntry (Added in version 18)
Delete an existing timerec DVR entry from the database.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id str required Timerec DVR Entry ID (string!)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was removed
error str optional Error message if the delete fails
</pre>
----
h3. getTicket (Added in version 5)
Get a ticket to allow access to a channel or recording via HTTP
Request message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 optional Channel to gain access for
dvrId u32 optional DVR file to gain access for
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
path str required The full path for access URL (no scheme, host or port)
ticket str required The ticket to pass in the URL query string
</pre>
h3. subscribe
Request subscription to the given channel.
Request message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 required ID for channel.
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID. Selected by client. This value is not interpreted by the server in any form.
The value is used from now on in all messages related to the subscription.
weight u32 optional Weighting of this subscription (same as recording priority).
90khz u32 optional Request PTS/DTS in default 90kHz timebase, default is 1MHz (Added in version 7)
normts u32 optional Request PTS/DTS normalisation (Added in version 7)
Note: this will mean missing timestamps are added, first packet should be ~0 and will always be an i-frame.
Note: this is implied if timeshiftPeriod is enabled
Note: from version 17, this is always enabled and this parameter is ignored.
queueDepth u32 optional Change the default packet queue lengths, default 500000 bytes (Added in version 7)
Note: I-frame depth is 3*queueDepth, P-frame is 2*queueDepth and B-frame is queueDepth
timeshiftPeriod u32 optional The number of seconds to keep in the timeshift buffer (Added in version 9)
Note: this may be bounded by server configuration settings
profile str optional Select stream profile (Added in version 16).
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
90khz u32 optional Indicates 90khz timestamps will be used
normts u32 optional Indicates timestamps will be normalised (and fixed)
timeshiftPeriod u32 optional The actual timeshiftPeriod to be used
</pre>
h3. unsubscribe
Stop a subscription.
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionChangeWeight (Added in version 5)
Change the weight of an existing subscription
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
weight u32 optional The new subscription weight.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionSkip (Added in version 9)
Skip a timeshift enabled subscription. The response will be asynchronous subscriptionSkip().
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
absolute u32 optional The skip request is absolute
time u64 optional Specify skip using time (units are as for PTS)
size u64 optional Specify skip using size (Not currently used)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionSeek (Added in version 9)
Synonym for subscriptionSkip
h3. subscriptionSpeed (Added in version 9)
Set the playback speed for the subscription. The response will be asynchronous subscriptionSpeed().
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
speed u32 required Specify speed (0=pause, 100=1x fwd, -100=1x backward)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionLive (Added in version 9)
Return a timeshifted session to live. Reply will be asynchronous subscriptionSkip().
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionFilterStream (Added in version 12)
Enable or disable specified streams by index.
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
enable list[u32] optional Enable stream indexes
disable list[u32] optional Disable (filter out) stream indexes
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
---
h3. getProfiles (Added in version 16)
Return a list of stream profiles (configurations).
Reply message fields:
<pre>
profiles msg[] optional Supported profiles
</pre>
Message fields:
<pre>
uuid str required Profile ID
name str required Profile Name
comment str required Profile Comment
</pre>
h3. getCodecs (Added in version 11, Removed in version 16)
Return a list of encoders (codecs).
Reply message fields:
<pre>
encoders list[str] optional Supported encoders
</pre>
h3. fileOpen (Added in version 8)
Open a file within the Tvheadend file system. This is now the preferred method (in place of HTTP) for accessing recordings.
Accessing recordings via HTSP will overcome the limitations of standard HTTP streaming which cannot handle both skipping and growing files (i.e. in-progress recordings) at the same time.
Request message fields:
<pre>
file str required File path to open
</pre>
Valid file paths:
<pre>
/dvrfile/ID will open the file associated with DVR entry ID
/imagecache/ID will open the file associated with imagecache entry ID (Note: only works for HTSPv10+)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle used for further file operations
size u64 optional The size of the file in bytes
mtime u64 optional The last time the file was modified
</pre>
h3. fileRead (Added in version 8)
Read data from a file.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle used for further file operations
size u64 required The amount of data to read
offset u64 optional Offset into the file to read (default is current position)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
data bin required The data read from the file (size may be less than requested)
</pre>
h3. fileClose (Added in version 8)
Close an opened file.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle to be closed
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. fileStat (Added in version 8)
Get status of a file.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle to be stat'd
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
size u64 optional The size of the file in bytes
mtime u64 optional The last time the file was modified
</pre>
h3. fileSeek (Added in version 8)
Seek to position in a file.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle to be stat'd
offset u64 required The position to seek in the file
whence str required Where to seek relative to (default=SEEK_SET)
</pre>
Note: valid values for whence
<pre>
SEEK_SET Seek relative to start of file
SEEK_CUR Seek relative to current position in file
SEEK_END Seek relative (backwards) to end of file
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
offset u64 optional The new absolute position within the file
</pre>
h1. Server to Client methods
----
h3. channelAdd
A new channel has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 required ID of channel.
channelNumber u32 required Channel number, 0 means unconfigured.
channelNumberMinor u32 optional Minor channel number (Added in version 13).
channelName str required Name of channel.
channelIcon str optional URL to an icon representative for the channel
(For v8+ clients this could be a relative /imagecache/ID URL
intended to be fed to fileOpen() or HTTP server)
(For v15+ clients this could be a relative imagecache/ID URL
intended to be fed to fileOpen() or HTTP server)
eventId u32 optional ID of the current event on this channel.
nextEventId u32 optional ID of the next event on the channel.
tags u32[] optional Tags this channel is mapped to.
services msg[] optional List of available services (Added in version 5)
</pre>
Service fields:
<pre>
name str required Service name
type str required Service type
caid u32 optional Encryption CA ID
caname str optional Encryption CA name
</pre>
h3. channelUpdate
Same as channelAdd, but all fields (except channelId) are optional.
h3. channelDelete
A channel has been deleted on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 required ID of channel.
</pre>
----
h3. tagAdd
A new tag has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
tagId u32 required ID of tag.
tagName str required Name of tag.
tagIndex u32 optional Index value for sorting (default by from min to max) (Added in version 18).
tagIcon str optional URL to an icon representative for the channel.
tagTitledIcon u32 optional Icon includes a title
members u32[] optional Channel IDs of those that belong to the tag
</pre>
h3. tagUpdate
Same as tagAdd, but all fields (except tagId) are optional.
h3. tagDelete
A tag has been deleted from the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
tagId u32 required ID of tag.
</pre>
----
h3. dvrEntryAdd (Added in version 4)
A new recording has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required ID of dvrEntry.
channel u32 required Channel of dvrEntry.
start s64 required Time of when this entry was scheduled to start recording.
stop s64 required Time of when this entry was scheduled to stop recording.
startExtra s64 required Extra start time (pre-time) in minutes (Added in version 13).
stopExtra s64 required Extra stop time (post-time) in minutes (Added in version 13).
retention s64 required DVR Entry retention time in days.
priority u32 required Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set) (Added in version 13).
eventId u32 optional Associated EPG Event ID (Added in version 13).
autorecId str optional Associated Autorec UUID (Added in version 13).
timerecId str optional Associated Timerec UUID (Added in version 18).
contentType u32 optional Content Type (like in the DVB standard) (Added in version 13).
title str optional Title of recording
summary str optional Short description of the recording (Added in version 6).
description str optional Long description of the recording.
state str required Recording state
error str optional Plain english error description (e.g. "Aborted by user").
owner str optional Name of the entry owner (Added in version 18).
creator str optional Name of the entry creator (Added in version 18).
</pre>
TODO: recording states
h3. dvrEntryUpdate
Message fields:
<pre>
Same as dvrEntryAdd, but all fields (except id) are optional.
</pre>
h3. dvrEntryDelete (Added in version 4)
A recording has been deleted from the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required ID of recording to delete.
</pre>
----
h3. autorecEntryAdd (Added in version 13)
A new autorec recording has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
id str required ID (string!) of dvrAutorecEntry.
enabled u32 required If autorec entry is enabled (activated).
name str required Name of the autorec entry (Added in version 18).
minDuration u32 required Minimal duration in seconds (0 = Any).
maxDuration u32 required Maximal duration in seconds (0 = Any).
retention u32 required Retention time (in days).
daysOfWeek u32 required Bitmask - Days of week (0x01 = Monday, 0x40 = Sunday, 0x7f = Whole Week, 0 = Not set).
priority u32 required Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set).
approxTime u32 required Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60).
startExtra s64 required Extra start minutes (pre-time).
stopExtra s64 required Extra stop minutes (post-time).
title str optional Title.
channel u32 optional Channel ID.
owner str optional Owner of this autorec entry (Added in version 18).
creator str optional Creator of this autorec entry (Added in version 18).
</pre>
h3. autorecEntryUpdate (Added in version 13)
Message fields:
<pre>
Same as autorecEntryAdd but all fields (except id) are optional.
</pre>
h3. autorecEntryDelete (Added in version 13)
Message fields:
<pre>
id str required Autorec Entry ID (string!)
</pre>
----
h3. timerecEntryAdd (Added in version 18)
A new autorec recording has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
title str required Title for the recordings.
enabled u32 required Title for the recordings.
name str required Name for this timerec entry.
configName str required DVR Configuration Name / UUID.
channelId u32 required Channel ID.
daysOfWeek u32 optional Bitmask - Days of week (0x01 = Monday, 0x40 = Sunday, 0x7f = Whole Week, 0 = Not set).
priority u32 optional Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set).
start u32 required Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60) for the start of the time window (including)
stop u32 required Minutes from modnight (up to 24*60) for the end of the time window (including, cross-noon allowed)
retention u32 optional Retention in days.
comment str optional User Comment.
owner str optional Owner of this timerec entry.
creator str optional Creator of this timerec entry.
</pre>
h3. timerecEntryUpdate (Added in version 18)
Message fields:
<pre>
Same as timerecEntryAdd but all fields (except id) are optional.
</pre>
h3. timerecEntryDelete (Added in version 18)
Message fields:
<pre>
id str required Timerec Entry ID (string!)
</pre>
----
h3. eventAdd (Added in version 6)
Message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 required Event ID
channelId u32 required The channel this event is related to.
start u64 required Start time of event, UNIX time.
stop u64 required Ending time of event, UNIX time.
title str optional Title of event.
summary str optional Short description of the event (Added in version 6).
description str optional Long description of the event.
serieslinkId u32 optional Series Link ID (Added in version 6).
episodeId u32 optional Episode ID (Added in version 6).
seasonId u32 optional Season ID (Added in version 6).
brandId u32 optional Brand ID (Added in version 6).
contentType u32 optional DVB content code (Added in version 4, Modified in version 6*).
ageRating u32 optional Minimum age rating (Added in version 6).
starRating u32 optional Star rating (1-5) (Added in version 6).
firstAired s64 optional Original broadcast time, UNIX time (Added in version 6).
seasonNumber u32 optional Season number (Added in version 6).
seasonCount u32 optional Show season count (Added in version 6).
episodeNumber u32 optional Episode number (Added in version 6).
episodeCount u32 optional Season episode count (Added in version 6).
partNumber u32 optional Multi-part episode part number (Added in version 6).
partCount u32 optional Multi-part episode part count (Added in version 6).
episodeOnscreen str optional Textual representation of episode number (Added in version 6).
image str optional URL to a still capture from the episode (Added in version 6).
dvrId u32 optional ID of a recording (Added in version 5).
nextEventId u32 optional ID of next event on the same channel.
</pre>
* *contentType previously had the major DVB category in the bottom 4 bits,
however in v6 this has been changed to properly match DVB, so top 4 bits
as major category and bottom 4 bits has sub-category. Clients requesting
v5 or lower will get the old output.
h3. eventUpdate (Added in version 6)
Message fields:
<pre>
Same as eventAdd but all fields (except eventId) are optional.
</pre>
h3. eventDelete (Added in version 6)
Message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 required Event ID
</pre>
---
h3. initialSyncCompleted (Added in version 2)
Sent after all the initial metadata has been sent when session has been set to async mode.
Message fields:
<pre>
</pre>
----
h3. subscriptionStart
Asynchronous message output when a new subscription is successfully started.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
streams msg[] required Array of messages with stream information
sourceinfo msg optional Source information.
</pre>
Stream message fields:
<pre>
index u32 required Index for this stream
type str required Type of stream
meta bin optional Codec metadata (private data, libav - extradata) (Added in version 17)
language str optional Language for stream
Video components only:
width u32 optional Width of video in pixels
height u32 optional Height of video in pixels
aspect_num u32 optional Aspect ratio numerator (Added in version 5) *Can be incorrect and should not be relied upon*
aspect_den u32 optional Aspect ratio denonminator (Added in version 5) *Can be incorrect and should not be relied upon*
Audio components only:
audio_type u32 optional Audio type - 0=Normal; 1=Clean effects; 2=Hearing impaired; 3=Visually impaired commentary; 4-255=Reserved (Added in version 11)
channels u32 optional Number of audio channels (Added in version 5)
rate u32 optional Audio bitrate (Added in version 5)
Subtitle components only:
composition_id u32 optional ??? (Added in version 5)
ancillary_id u32 optional ??? (Added in version 5)
</pre>
Sourceinfo message fields:
<pre>
adapter str optional Adapter name
mux str optional Transponder name
network str optional Network name
provider str optional ???
service str optional Service name
</pre>
Video Stream types:
<pre>
MPEG2VIDEO MPEG2 video, meta field is present (configuration blocks)
H264 H264 video, meta field is present (configuration blocks)
HEVC HEVC video, meta field is present (configuration blocks)
</pre>
Audio Stream types:
<pre>
MPEG2AUDIO MPEG2 audio (MP2)
AC3 AC3 audio
AAC ADTS framed AAC (one AAC packet per ADTS frame), meta field is present (MPEG4 config)
EAC3 Enhanced AC3 audio
VORBIS Vorbis audio, meta field is present with the main vorbis header
</pre>
Subtitle Stream types:
<pre>
TELETEXT ???
DVBSUB ???
</pre>
h3. subscriptionGrace
Notifies client about the grace timeout (timeout for stream activation). It can be issues multiple times.
For example a configuration with satellite rotors requires more than 120 seconds to tune, so users
should be notified..
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
graceTimeout u32 required Grace timeout in seconds.
</pre>
h3. subscriptionStop
A subscription has been stopped.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
status str optional Error message if subscription stopped unexpectedly.
</pre>
h3. subscriptionSkip (Added version 9)
A subscription has been skipped.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
error u32 optional The last skip command caused an error.
absolute u32 optional Indicates the output is absolute (Note: should always be 1 at the moment)
time u64 optional The time the subscription has skipped to.
size u64 optional The position in the file we've skipped to (Note: not currently used).
</pre>
h3. subscriptionSpeed (Added version 9)
A subscription's playback speed has changed.
This can happen even without a speed request, should playback reach either end of the buffer.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
speed u32 required The new speed of the subscription
</pre>
h3. subscriptionStatus
Subscription status update.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
status str optional English clear text of error status. Absence of this field means that the status is OK.
</pre>
h3. queueStatus
The queueStatus message is sent every second during normal data delivery.
The transmit scheduler have different drop thresholds for different frame types.
If congestion occurs it will favor dropping B-frames before P-frames before I-frames.
All audio is recognized as I-frames.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
packets u32 required Number of data packets in queue.
bytes u32 required Number of bytes in queue.
delay u32 optional Estimated delay of queue (in µs).
Bdrops u32 required Number of B-frames dropped
Pdrops u32 required Number of P-frames dropped
Idrops u32 required Number of I-frames dropped
delay s64 required Delta between first and last DTS (Added in version 9)
</pre>
h3. signalStatus
The signalStatus message is sent every second during normal data delivery.
The optional fields may not have been implemented or may not be supported by the active adapter.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
feStatus str required Frontend status.
feSNR u32 optional Signal to noise ratio.
feSignal u32 optional Signal status percentage.
feBER u32 optional Bit error rate.
feUNC u32 optional Uncorrected blocks.
</pre>
h3. timeshiftStatus
Provide status every second about the timeshift buffer.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
full u32 required Indicates whether the buffer is full
shift s64 required Current position relative to live
start s64 optional PTS of the first frame in the buffer
end s64 optional PTS of the last frame in the buffer
</pre>
h3. muxpkt
Streaming data.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
frametype u32 required Type of frame as ASCII value: 'I', 'P', 'B'
stream u32 required Stream index. Corresponds to the streams reported in the subscriptionStart message.
dts s64 optional Decode Time Stamp in µs.
pts s64 optional Presentation Time Stamp in µs.
duration u32 required Duration of frame in µs.
payload bin required Actual frame data.
</pre>
h2. General
HTSP is a TCP based protocol primarily intended for streaming of live TV and related meta data such as channels, group of channels (called tags in HTSP) and electronic program guide (EPG) information.
The transmission and reception of a channel over HTSP is referred to as a subscription. A single HTSP session can handle as many concurrent subscriptions as the bandwidth and CPU permits.
The HTSP server in tvheadend has a payload-aware scheduler for prioritizing more important packets (such as I-frames) before less important ones (such as B-frames). This makes HTSP suitable for long-distance transmissions and/or paths with non-perfect delivery.
(It has been tested with a server in Stockholm and the client in Berlin).
For information about the HTSP wire format please read [[htsmsgbinary|HTSMSG binary format]]
If you're looking to develop a new client, there are several existing client implementations from which you might be able to gain knowledge:
* "XBMC":https://github.com/opdenkamp/xbmc/tree/master/xbmc/pvrclients/tvheadend
* "Showtime":https://github.com/andoma/showtime/tree/master/src/backend/htsp
* "TVHGuide":https://github.com/john-tornblom/TVHGuide
* "PyHTSP":https://github.com/adamsutton/tvheadend/tree/master/lib/py/tvh/htsp.py (This is a demo client and is WIP, it has limited functionality).
----
h2. Protocol Changes
h3. v17..v18
* added addTimerecEntry, deleteTimerecEntry methods
* added timerecEntryAdd, timerecEntryUpdate, timerecEntryDelete server-to-client methods
* extended addAutorecEntry method
** added start/startWindow/name fields
** added owner/creator fields
** obsoleted creator field
* extended dvrEntryAdd, dvrEntryUpdate
** added timerecId field
** added owner/creator fields
* extended addAutorecEntry, deleteAutorecEntry methods
** added start/startWindow fields
** obsoleted approxTime
** added name/owner/creator fields
* extended autorecEntryAdd, autorecEntryUpdate server-to-client methods
** fields like for addAutorecEntry
* extended getTag method
** added tagIndex field
h3. v16..v17
* extended subscriptionStart server-to-client method
** added meta field
* changed H264 meta data handling (codec meta data are in the meta field only in start message)
* VORBIS and AAC codecs have codec specific meta data in the meta field in start message
* changed subscribe method
** the normts is always active and the parameter is ignored
h3. v15..v16
* added getProfiles, getDvrConfigs methods
* removed getCodecs methods
* extended subscribe method
** add profile field
h3. v14..v15
* extended channelAdd, channelUpdate server-to-client methods
** the channelIcon URL can be relative 'imagecache/%d' or '/imagecache/%d'
* extended getChannel method
** the channelIcon URL can be relative 'imagecache/%d' or '/imagecache/%d'
h3. v13..v14
* added getChannel method
h3. v12..v13
* added addAutorecEntry method
* added deleteAutorecEntry method
* added autorecEntryAdd, autorecEntryUpdate, autorecEntryDelete server-to-client methods
* extended channelAdd server-to-client method
** added channelNumberMinor (for {major}.{minor} channel numbers)
* extended dvrEntryAdd and dvrEntryUpdate server-to-client methods
** added eventId, autorecId, startExtra, stopExtra, retention, priority, contentType fields
* extended addDvrEntry method
** added retention
* extended updateDvrEntry method
** added retention, priority
* extended epgQuery method
** added minduration, maxduration
* added subscriptionGrace server-to-client method
h3. v11..v12
* added subscriptionFilterStream method
* added getDvrCutpoints method
h3. v10..v11
* added audio_type in the subscriptionStart server-to-client method
* added getCodecs method
h2. Communication
This communication is currently implemented by using htsmsg's. All strings are encoded as UTF-8.
There are two distinct ways for communication within HTSP.
Apart from this there is a number of messages that needs to be exchanged during login, see the login section below.
h3. RPC communication
There is a normal RPC way of doing things. I.e. the client sends a request and the server responds with a reply. All the RPC methods are listed below as the 'Client to Server' methods. Apart from all message fields listed within each message type the client can add an additional field:
RPC request extra fields:
<pre>
seq int optional Sequence number. This field will be echoed back by the server in the reply.
username str optional Username, in combination with 'digest' this can be used to raise the privileges
for the session in combination with invocation of a method.
digest bin optional Used to raise privileges.
</pre>
The followings field should be used by the client to match the reply with the request.
All replies are guaranteed to arrive in the same order as the requests.
Even so, probably the best way to implement the request-reply client is by taking advantage of the 'seq' field.
RPC reply extra fields:
<pre>
seq int optional Sequence number. Same as in the request.
error str optional If present an error has occurred and the text describes the error.
noaccess int optional If present and set to '1' the user is prohibited from invoking the method due to
access restrictions.
</pre>
h3. Streaming communication
For streaming of live TV and various related messages the server will continuously push data to the client.
These messages are referred to as asynchronous messages and always have the 'method' field set and never have the 'seq' field set.
Also, the client can enable an additional asyncMetadata mode and by doing so it will be notified by the server when meta data changes. (EPG updates, creation of channels and tags, etc).
h3. Authentication
In Tvheadend, each method has an associated access restriction. Currently there is only one restriction (Streaming). However, this may change in the future.
Privileges for these restrictions may be granted in two ways: Username + Password and/or Source IP address.
Therefore it is possible to gain permissions to the system without entering a username and password.
While this is really useful it also complicates the authentication schema a bit.
Upon connect the initial privileges will be raised based on the source address.
Before any username / password based authentication has taken place the client must have
obtained a challenge (which stays fixed for the session). This is done via the 'hello' method.
In principle it's possible to use two different authentication idioms with HTSP.
Depending on how your application works one or another may be more suitable.
While they do not really differ from a protocol point of view it's worth mentioning a bit about them here:
h3. Initial login authentication
The client performs all of its authentication using the 'login' method.
It may choose to send:
* Username and password: Privileges will be raised based on these credentials.
* Username only: Privileges will be based on just the source address. The username will be used for various logging purposes.
* Nothing: Privileges will be based on just the source address.
If no privileges are granted after the login message has been received by the server (i.e. both network and username + password based)
the server will reply with 'noaccess' set to 1. A client that only employs initial login should honor this flag and ask the
user for a username + password and retry by using the 'authenticate' method. I.e. it should not send the 'login' method again.
h3. On-demand authentication
The client performs all of its authentication when it needs to.
When using this method, the client will check every RPC reply for the 'noaccess' field.
If it set to 1 it whould ask the user for username + password and retry the request but also
add 'username' and 'digest' to the original message. (See _RPC request extra fields_ above)
Typically it would not send a username or digest during login.
----
h2. Client to Server (RPC) methods
h3. hello
Used to identify the client toward the server and to get the session challenge used to
hash passwords into digests. The client can request a different version of the HTSP
protocol with this method. If no 'hello' message is sent the server assumes latest version
is to be used.
Client/Server should select lowest common version, if this is not possible connection should be terminated.
Request message fields:
<pre>
htspversion u32 required Client preferred HTSP version.
clientname str required Client software name.
clientversion str required Client software version.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
htspversion u32 required The server supports all versions of the protocol up to and including this number.
servername str required Server software name.
serverversion str required Server software version.
servercapability str[] required Server capabilities (Added in version 6)
challenge bin required 32 bytes randomized data used to generate authentication digests
webroot str optional Server HTTP webroot (Added in version 8)
Note: any access to TVH webserver should include this at start of URL path
</pre>
Note: possible values for servercapability[]:
<pre>
cwc Descrambling available
v4l Analogue TV available
linuxdvb Linux DVB API available
imagecache Image caching available
timeshift Timeshifting available (Added in version 9).
</pre>
h3. authenticate
This can be used to issue authentication without doing anything else.
If no privileges are gained it will return with 'noaccess' set to 1.
Request message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
noaccess u32 optional If set to 1, no privileges were granted.
</pre>
----
h3. getDiskSpace (Added in version 3)
Return diskspace status from Tvheadend's PVR storage
Request message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
freediskspace s64 required Bytes available.
totaldiskspace s64 required Total capacity.
</pre>
h3. getSysTime (Added in version 3)
Return system time on the server.
Request message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
time s64 required UNIX time.
timezone s32 required Minutes west of GMT.
</pre>
----
h3. enableAsyncMetadata
When this is enabled the client will get continuous updates from the server about added, update or deleted channels, tags, dvr and epg entries.
An interactive application that presents the user with information about these things should probably enable this and the implement the various server to client methods.
Request message fields:
<pre>
epg u32 optional Set to 1, to include EPG data in async, implied by epgMaxTime (Added in version 6).
lastUpdate s64 optional Only provide metadata that has changed since this time (Added in version 6).
epgMaxTime s64 optional Maximum time to return EPG data up to (Added in version 6)
language str optional RFC 2616 compatible language list (Added in version 6)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
Once the reply as been sent the initial data set will be provided, and then updates will arrive asynchronously after that. The initial data dump is sent using the following messages:
<pre>
tagAdd optional
channelAdd optional
tagUpdate optional
dvrEntryAdd optional
eventAdd optional (Added in version 6)
initialSyncComplete required
</pre>
----
h3. getChannel (Added in version 14)
Request information about the given channel.
Request message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 required Channel ID.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
see channelAdd
</pre>
----
h3. getEvent
Request information about the given event. An event typically corresponds to a program on a channel.
The language field in the request allows preference for languages to be requested for the various string fields.
Request message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 required Event ID.
language str optional RFC 2616 compatible language list (Added in version 6)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
see eventAdd
</pre>
h3. getEvents (Added in version 4)
Request information about a set of events. If no options are specified the entire EPG database will be returned.
Request message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 optional Event ID to begin from (Optional since version 6)
channelId u32 optional Channel ID to get data for (Added in version 6)
numFollowing u32 optional Number of events to add (Optional since version 6)
maxTime u64 optional Maximum time to return data up to (Added in version 6)
language str optional RFC 2616 compatible language list (Added in version 6)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
events msg[] required List of events, using response message fields from eventAdd
</pre>
h3. epgQuery (Added in version 4)
Query the EPG (event titles) and optionally restrict to channel/tag/content type.
Request message fields:
<pre>
query str required Title regular expression to search for
channelId u32 optional [[ChannelId]] to restrict search to
tagId u32 optional [[TagId]] to restrict search to
contentType u32 optional DVB content type to restrict search to
minduration u32 optional Minimal duration in seconds (Added in version 13)
maxduration u32 optional Maximal duration in seconds (Added in version 13)
language str optional RFC 2616 compatible language list for title (Added in version 6)
full u32 optional Output full event list rather than just IDs
</pre>
Reply message fields:
if full == 1
<pre>
events msg[] optional List of events, using response message fields from eventAdd
</pre>
else
<pre>
eventIds u32[] optional List of eventIds that match the query
</pre>
h3. getEpgObject
Get detailed EPG Object info.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required Object ID
type u32 optional Object type
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
TODO
</pre>
----
h3. getDvrConfigs (Added in version 16)
Return a list of DVR configurations.
Reply message fields:
<pre>
dvrconfigs msg[] optional Supported DVR configurations.
</pre>
Message fields:
<pre>
uuid str required DVR configuration ID
name str required DVR configuration Name
comment str required DVR configuration Comment
</pre>
h3. addDvrEntry (Added in version 4)
Create a new DVR entry. Either eventId or channelId, start and stop must be specified.
Request message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 optional Event ID (Optional since version 5).
channelId u32 optional Channel ID (Added in version 5)
start s64 optional Time to start recording (Added in version 5)
stop s64 optional Time to stop recording (Added in version 5)
retention u32 optional Retention time in days (Added in version 13)
creator str optional Name of the event creator (Added in version 5, obsoleted in version 18 - applications are not allowed to change credential)
priority u32 optional Recording priority (Added in version 5)
startExtra s64 optional Pre-recording buffer in minutes (Added in version 5)
stopExtra s64 optional Post-recording buffer in minutes (Added in version 5)
title str optional Recording title, if no eventId (Added in version 6)
description str optional Recording description, if no eventId (Added in version 5)
configName str optional DVR configuration name or UUID
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was added, 0 otherwise
id u32 optional ID of created DVR entry
error str optional English clear text of error message
</pre>
h3. updateDvrEntry (Added in version 5)
Update an existing DVR entry.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required DVR Entry ID
start s64 optional New start time
stop s64 optional New stop time
title str optional New entry title
description str optional New entry description (Added in version 6)
startExtra s64 optional New pre-record buffer (Added in version 6)
stopExtra s64 optional New post-record buffer (Added in version 6)
configName str optional New DVR configuration name or UUID
retention u32 optional Retention in days (Added in version 13)
priority u32 optional Recording priority (Added in version 13)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if update as successful, otherwise 0
error str optional Error message if update failed
</pre>
h3. cancelDvrEntry (Added in version 5)
Cancel an existing recording, but don't remove the entry from the database.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required dvrEnryId to delete
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success int required 1 if entry was cancelled
error str optional Error message if cancellation failed
</pre>
h3. deleteDvrEntry (Added in version 4)
Delete an existing DVR entry from the database.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required DVR Entry ID
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was removed
error str optional Error message if the delete fails
</pre>
h3. getDvrCutpoints (Added in version 12)
Get DVR cutpoints.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required DVR Entry ID
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
cutpoints msg[] optional List of cutpoint entries, if a file is found and has some valid data.
</pre>
Cutpoint fields:
<pre>
start u32 required Cut start time in ms.
end u32 required Cut end time in ms.
type u32 required Action type:
0=Cut, 1=Mute, 2=Scene,
3=Commercial break.
</pre>
---
h3. addAutorecEntry (Added in version 13)
Create a new Autorec DVR entry. Title must be specified.
Request message fields:
<pre>
title str required Title for the recordings.
directory str optional Forced directory name - missing or empty = auto (Added in version 19).
name str optional Name of this autorec entry (Added in version 18).
configName str optional DVR Configuration Name / UUID.
channelId u32 optional Channel ID.
minDuration u32 optional Minimal duration in seconds (0 = Any).
maxDuration u32 optional Maximal duration in seconds (0 = Any).
daysOfWeek u32 optional Bitmask - Days of week (0x01 = Monday, 0x40 = Sunday, 0x7f = Whole Week, 0 = Not set).
priority u32 optional Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set).
approxTime u32 optional Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60) (window +- 15 mintes) (Obsoleted from version 18).
start s32 optional Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60) for the start of the time window (including) (Added in version 18).
startWindow s32 optional Minutes from modnight (up to 24*60) for the end of the time window (including, cross-noon allowed) (Added in version 18).
startExtra s64 optional Extra start minutes (pre-time).
stopExtra s64 optional Extra stop minutes (post-time).
comment str optional User Comment.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was added, 0 otherwise
id str optional ID (string!) of created autorec DVR entry
error str optional English clear text of error message
</pre>
h3. deleteAutorecEntry (Added in version 13)
Delete an existing autorec DVR entry from the database.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id str required Autorec DVR Entry ID (string!)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was removed
error str optional Error message if the delete fails
</pre>
----
---
h3. addTimerecEntry (Added in version 18)
Create a new Timerec DVR entry. Title must be specified.
Request message fields:
<pre>
title str required Title for the recordings.
name str optional Name for this timerec entry.
configName str optional DVR Configuration Name / UUID.
channelId u32 required Channel ID.
daysOfWeek u32 optional Bitmask - Days of week (0x01 = Monday, 0x40 = Sunday, 0x7f = Whole Week, 0 = Not set).
priority u32 optional Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set).
start u32 required Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60) for the start of the time window (including)
stop u32 required Minutes from modnight (up to 24*60) for the end of the time window (including, cross-noon allowed)
retention u32 optional Retention in days.
comment str optional User Comment.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was added, 0 otherwise
id str optional ID (string!) of created timerec DVR entry
error str optional English clear text of error message
</pre>
h3. deleteTimerecEntry (Added in version 18)
Delete an existing timerec DVR entry from the database.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id str required Timerec DVR Entry ID (string!)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
success u32 required 1 if entry was removed
error str optional Error message if the delete fails
</pre>
----
h3. getTicket (Added in version 5)
Get a ticket to allow access to a channel or recording via HTTP
Request message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 optional Channel to gain access for
dvrId u32 optional DVR file to gain access for
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
path str required The full path for access URL (no scheme, host or port)
ticket str required The ticket to pass in the URL query string
</pre>
h3. subscribe
Request subscription to the given channel.
Request message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 required ID for channel.
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID. Selected by client. This value is not interpreted by the server in any form.
The value is used from now on in all messages related to the subscription.
weight u32 optional Weighting of this subscription (same as recording priority).
90khz u32 optional Request PTS/DTS in default 90kHz timebase, default is 1MHz (Added in version 7)
normts u32 optional Request PTS/DTS normalisation (Added in version 7)
Note: this will mean missing timestamps are added, first packet should be ~0 and will always be an i-frame.
Note: this is implied if timeshiftPeriod is enabled
Note: from version 17, this is always enabled and this parameter is ignored.
queueDepth u32 optional Change the default packet queue lengths, default 500000 bytes (Added in version 7)
Note: I-frame depth is 3*queueDepth, P-frame is 2*queueDepth and B-frame is queueDepth
timeshiftPeriod u32 optional The number of seconds to keep in the timeshift buffer (Added in version 9)
Note: this may be bounded by server configuration settings
profile str optional Select stream profile (Added in version 16).
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
90khz u32 optional Indicates 90khz timestamps will be used
normts u32 optional Indicates timestamps will be normalised (and fixed)
timeshiftPeriod u32 optional The actual timeshiftPeriod to be used
</pre>
h3. unsubscribe
Stop a subscription.
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionChangeWeight (Added in version 5)
Change the weight of an existing subscription
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
weight u32 optional The new subscription weight.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionSkip (Added in version 9)
Skip a timeshift enabled subscription. The response will be asynchronous subscriptionSkip().
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
absolute u32 optional The skip request is absolute
time u64 optional Specify skip using time (units are as for PTS)
size u64 optional Specify skip using size (Not currently used)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionSeek (Added in version 9)
Synonym for subscriptionSkip
h3. subscriptionSpeed (Added in version 9)
Set the playback speed for the subscription. The response will be asynchronous subscriptionSpeed().
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
speed u32 required Specify speed (0=pause, 100=1x fwd, -100=1x backward)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionLive (Added in version 9)
Return a timeshifted session to live. Reply will be asynchronous subscriptionSkip().
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. subscriptionFilterStream (Added in version 12)
Enable or disable specified streams by index.
Request message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
enable list[u32] optional Enable stream indexes
disable list[u32] optional Disable (filter out) stream indexes
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
---
h3. getProfiles (Added in version 16)
Return a list of stream profiles (configurations).
Reply message fields:
<pre>
profiles msg[] optional Supported profiles
</pre>
Message fields:
<pre>
uuid str required Profile ID
name str required Profile Name
comment str required Profile Comment
</pre>
h3. getCodecs (Added in version 11, Removed in version 16)
Return a list of encoders (codecs).
Reply message fields:
<pre>
encoders list[str] optional Supported encoders
</pre>
h3. fileOpen (Added in version 8)
Open a file within the Tvheadend file system. This is now the preferred method (in place of HTTP) for accessing recordings.
Accessing recordings via HTSP will overcome the limitations of standard HTTP streaming which cannot handle both skipping and growing files (i.e. in-progress recordings) at the same time.
Request message fields:
<pre>
file str required File path to open
</pre>
Valid file paths:
<pre>
/dvrfile/ID will open the file associated with DVR entry ID
/imagecache/ID will open the file associated with imagecache entry ID (Note: only works for HTSPv10+)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle used for further file operations
size u64 optional The size of the file in bytes
mtime u64 optional The last time the file was modified
</pre>
h3. fileRead (Added in version 8)
Read data from a file.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle used for further file operations
size u64 required The amount of data to read
offset u64 optional Offset into the file to read (default is current position)
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
data bin required The data read from the file (size may be less than requested)
</pre>
h3. fileClose (Added in version 8)
Close an opened file.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle to be closed
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
None
</pre>
h3. fileStat (Added in version 8)
Get status of a file.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle to be stat'd
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
size u64 optional The size of the file in bytes
mtime u64 optional The last time the file was modified
</pre>
h3. fileSeek (Added in version 8)
Seek to position in a file.
Request message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required The file handle to be stat'd
offset u64 required The position to seek in the file
whence str required Where to seek relative to (default=SEEK_SET)
</pre>
Note: valid values for whence
<pre>
SEEK_SET Seek relative to start of file
SEEK_CUR Seek relative to current position in file
SEEK_END Seek relative (backwards) to end of file
</pre>
Reply message fields:
<pre>
offset u64 optional The new absolute position within the file
</pre>
h1. Server to Client methods
----
h3. channelAdd
A new channel has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 required ID of channel.
channelNumber u32 required Channel number, 0 means unconfigured.
channelNumberMinor u32 optional Minor channel number (Added in version 13).
channelName str required Name of channel.
channelIcon str optional URL to an icon representative for the channel
(For v8+ clients this could be a relative /imagecache/ID URL
intended to be fed to fileOpen() or HTTP server)
(For v15+ clients this could be a relative imagecache/ID URL
intended to be fed to fileOpen() or HTTP server)
eventId u32 optional ID of the current event on this channel.
nextEventId u32 optional ID of the next event on the channel.
tags u32[] optional Tags this channel is mapped to.
services msg[] optional List of available services (Added in version 5)
</pre>
Service fields:
<pre>
name str required Service name
type str required Service type
caid u32 optional Encryption CA ID
caname str optional Encryption CA name
</pre>
h3. channelUpdate
Same as channelAdd, but all fields (except channelId) are optional.
h3. channelDelete
A channel has been deleted on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
channelId u32 required ID of channel.
</pre>
----
h3. tagAdd
A new tag has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
tagId u32 required ID of tag.
tagName str required Name of tag.
tagIndex u32 optional Index value for sorting (default by from min to max) (Added in version 18).
tagIcon str optional URL to an icon representative for the channel.
tagTitledIcon u32 optional Icon includes a title
members u32[] optional Channel IDs of those that belong to the tag
</pre>
h3. tagUpdate
Same as tagAdd, but all fields (except tagId) are optional.
h3. tagDelete
A tag has been deleted from the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
tagId u32 required ID of tag.
</pre>
----
h3. dvrEntryAdd (Added in version 4)
A new recording has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required ID of dvrEntry.
channel u32 required Channel of dvrEntry.
start s64 required Time of when this entry was scheduled to start recording.
stop s64 required Time of when this entry was scheduled to stop recording.
startExtra s64 required Extra start time (pre-time) in minutes (Added in version 13).
stopExtra s64 required Extra stop time (post-time) in minutes (Added in version 13).
retention s64 required DVR Entry retention time in days.
priority u32 required Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set) (Added in version 13).
eventId u32 optional Associated EPG Event ID (Added in version 13).
autorecId str optional Associated Autorec UUID (Added in version 13).
timerecId str optional Associated Timerec UUID (Added in version 18).
contentType u32 optional Content Type (like in the DVB standard) (Added in version 13).
title str optional Title of recording
summary str optional Short description of the recording (Added in version 6).
description str optional Long description of the recording.
state str required Recording state
error str optional Plain english error description (e.g. "Aborted by user").
owner str optional Name of the entry owner (Added in version 18).
creator str optional Name of the entry creator (Added in version 18).
</pre>
TODO: recording states
h3. dvrEntryUpdate
Message fields:
<pre>
Same as dvrEntryAdd, but all fields (except id) are optional.
</pre>
h3. dvrEntryDelete (Added in version 4)
A recording has been deleted from the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
id u32 required ID of recording to delete.
</pre>
----
h3. autorecEntryAdd (Added in version 13)
A new autorec recording has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
id str required ID (string!) of dvrAutorecEntry.
enabled u32 required If autorec entry is enabled (activated).
name str required Name of the autorec entry (Added in version 18).
minDuration u32 required Minimal duration in seconds (0 = Any).
maxDuration u32 required Maximal duration in seconds (0 = Any).
retention u32 required Retention time (in days).
daysOfWeek u32 required Bitmask - Days of week (0x01 = Monday, 0x40 = Sunday, 0x7f = Whole Week, 0 = Not set).
priority u32 required Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set).
approxTime u32 required Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60).
startExtra s64 required Extra start minutes (pre-time).
stopExtra s64 required Extra stop minutes (post-time).
title str optional Title.
channel u32 optional Channel ID.
owner str optional Owner of this autorec entry (Added in version 18).
creator str optional Creator of this autorec entry (Added in version 18).
</pre>
h3. autorecEntryUpdate (Added in version 13)
Message fields:
<pre>
Same as autorecEntryAdd but all fields (except id) are optional.
</pre>
h3. autorecEntryDelete (Added in version 13)
Message fields:
<pre>
id str required Autorec Entry ID (string!)
</pre>
----
h3. timerecEntryAdd (Added in version 18)
A new autorec recording has been created on the server.
Message fields:
<pre>
title str required Title for the recordings.
enabled u32 required Title for the recordings.
name str required Name for this timerec entry.
configName str required DVR Configuration Name / UUID.
channelId u32 required Channel ID.
daysOfWeek u32 optional Bitmask - Days of week (0x01 = Monday, 0x40 = Sunday, 0x7f = Whole Week, 0 = Not set).
priority u32 optional Priority (0 = Important, 1 = High, 2 = Normal, 3 = Low, 4 = Unimportant, 5 = Not set).
start u32 required Minutes from midnight (up to 24*60) for the start of the time window (including)
stop u32 required Minutes from modnight (up to 24*60) for the end of the time window (including, cross-noon allowed)
retention u32 optional Retention in days.
comment str optional User Comment.
owner str optional Owner of this timerec entry.
creator str optional Creator of this timerec entry.
</pre>
h3. timerecEntryUpdate (Added in version 18)
Message fields:
<pre>
Same as timerecEntryAdd but all fields (except id) are optional.
</pre>
h3. timerecEntryDelete (Added in version 18)
Message fields:
<pre>
id str required Timerec Entry ID (string!)
</pre>
----
h3. eventAdd (Added in version 6)
Message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 required Event ID
channelId u32 required The channel this event is related to.
start u64 required Start time of event, UNIX time.
stop u64 required Ending time of event, UNIX time.
title str optional Title of event.
summary str optional Short description of the event (Added in version 6).
description str optional Long description of the event.
serieslinkId u32 optional Series Link ID (Added in version 6).
episodeId u32 optional Episode ID (Added in version 6).
seasonId u32 optional Season ID (Added in version 6).
brandId u32 optional Brand ID (Added in version 6).
contentType u32 optional DVB content code (Added in version 4, Modified in version 6*).
ageRating u32 optional Minimum age rating (Added in version 6).
starRating u32 optional Star rating (1-5) (Added in version 6).
firstAired s64 optional Original broadcast time, UNIX time (Added in version 6).
seasonNumber u32 optional Season number (Added in version 6).
seasonCount u32 optional Show season count (Added in version 6).
episodeNumber u32 optional Episode number (Added in version 6).
episodeCount u32 optional Season episode count (Added in version 6).
partNumber u32 optional Multi-part episode part number (Added in version 6).
partCount u32 optional Multi-part episode part count (Added in version 6).
episodeOnscreen str optional Textual representation of episode number (Added in version 6).
image str optional URL to a still capture from the episode (Added in version 6).
dvrId u32 optional ID of a recording (Added in version 5).
nextEventId u32 optional ID of next event on the same channel.
</pre>
* *contentType previously had the major DVB category in the bottom 4 bits,
however in v6 this has been changed to properly match DVB, so top 4 bits
as major category and bottom 4 bits has sub-category. Clients requesting
v5 or lower will get the old output.
h3. eventUpdate (Added in version 6)
Message fields:
<pre>
Same as eventAdd but all fields (except eventId) are optional.
</pre>
h3. eventDelete (Added in version 6)
Message fields:
<pre>
eventId u32 required Event ID
</pre>
---
h3. initialSyncCompleted (Added in version 2)
Sent after all the initial metadata has been sent when session has been set to async mode.
Message fields:
<pre>
</pre>
----
h3. subscriptionStart
Asynchronous message output when a new subscription is successfully started.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
streams msg[] required Array of messages with stream information
sourceinfo msg optional Source information.
</pre>
Stream message fields:
<pre>
index u32 required Index for this stream
type str required Type of stream
meta bin optional Codec metadata (private data, libav - extradata) (Added in version 17)
language str optional Language for stream
Video components only:
width u32 optional Width of video in pixels
height u32 optional Height of video in pixels
aspect_num u32 optional Aspect ratio numerator (Added in version 5) *Can be incorrect and should not be relied upon*
aspect_den u32 optional Aspect ratio denonminator (Added in version 5) *Can be incorrect and should not be relied upon*
Audio components only:
audio_type u32 optional Audio type - 0=Normal; 1=Clean effects; 2=Hearing impaired; 3=Visually impaired commentary; 4-255=Reserved (Added in version 11)
channels u32 optional Number of audio channels (Added in version 5)
rate u32 optional Audio bitrate (Added in version 5)
Subtitle components only:
composition_id u32 optional ??? (Added in version 5)
ancillary_id u32 optional ??? (Added in version 5)
</pre>
Sourceinfo message fields:
<pre>
adapter str optional Adapter name
mux str optional Transponder name
network str optional Network name
provider str optional ???
service str optional Service name
</pre>
Video Stream types:
<pre>
MPEG2VIDEO MPEG2 video, meta field is present (configuration blocks)
H264 H264 video, meta field is present (configuration blocks)
HEVC HEVC video, meta field is present (configuration blocks)
</pre>
Audio Stream types:
<pre>
MPEG2AUDIO MPEG2 audio (MP2)
AC3 AC3 audio
AAC ADTS framed AAC (one AAC packet per ADTS frame), meta field is present (MPEG4 config)
EAC3 Enhanced AC3 audio
VORBIS Vorbis audio, meta field is present with the main vorbis header
</pre>
Subtitle Stream types:
<pre>
TELETEXT ???
DVBSUB ???
</pre>
h3. subscriptionGrace
Notifies client about the grace timeout (timeout for stream activation). It can be issues multiple times.
For example a configuration with satellite rotors requires more than 120 seconds to tune, so users
should be notified..
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
graceTimeout u32 required Grace timeout in seconds.
</pre>
h3. subscriptionStop
A subscription has been stopped.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
status str optional Error message if subscription stopped unexpectedly.
</pre>
h3. subscriptionSkip (Added version 9)
A subscription has been skipped.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
error u32 optional The last skip command caused an error.
absolute u32 optional Indicates the output is absolute (Note: should always be 1 at the moment)
time u64 optional The time the subscription has skipped to.
size u64 optional The position in the file we've skipped to (Note: not currently used).
</pre>
h3. subscriptionSpeed (Added version 9)
A subscription's playback speed has changed.
This can happen even without a speed request, should playback reach either end of the buffer.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
speed u32 required The new speed of the subscription
</pre>
h3. subscriptionStatus
Subscription status update.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
status str optional English clear text of error status. Absence of this field means that the status is OK.
</pre>
h3. queueStatus
The queueStatus message is sent every second during normal data delivery.
The transmit scheduler have different drop thresholds for different frame types.
If congestion occurs it will favor dropping B-frames before P-frames before I-frames.
All audio is recognized as I-frames.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
packets u32 required Number of data packets in queue.
bytes u32 required Number of bytes in queue.
delay u32 optional Estimated delay of queue (in µs).
Bdrops u32 required Number of B-frames dropped
Pdrops u32 required Number of P-frames dropped
Idrops u32 required Number of I-frames dropped
delay s64 required Delta between first and last DTS (Added in version 9)
</pre>
h3. signalStatus
The signalStatus message is sent every second during normal data delivery.
The optional fields may not have been implemented or may not be supported by the active adapter.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
feStatus str required Frontend status.
feSNR u32 optional Signal to noise ratio.
feSignal u32 optional Signal status percentage.
feBER u32 optional Bit error rate.
feUNC u32 optional Uncorrected blocks.
</pre>
h3. timeshiftStatus
Provide status every second about the timeshift buffer.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
full u32 required Indicates whether the buffer is full
shift s64 required Current position relative to live
start s64 optional PTS of the first frame in the buffer
end s64 optional PTS of the last frame in the buffer
</pre>
h3. muxpkt
Streaming data.
Message fields:
<pre>
subscriptionId u32 required Subscription ID.
frametype u32 required Type of frame as ASCII value: 'I', 'P', 'B'
stream u32 required Stream index. Corresponds to the streams reported in the subscriptionStart message.
dts s64 optional Decode Time Stamp in µs.
pts s64 optional Presentation Time Stamp in µs.
duration u32 required Duration of frame in µs.
payload bin required Actual frame data.
</pre>