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Smart Playlist Integration

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Rouzax edited this page Feb 18, 2026 · 2 revisions

Smart Playlist Integration

Smart playlists are one of Kodi's most powerful features, and EasyTV fully integrates with them. This unlocks endless filtering possibilities — watch only comedies, only shows from the 2000s, only highly-rated movies, or any combination you can imagine.

What Are Smart Playlists?

Smart playlists are dynamic filters that automatically include content matching your criteria. Unlike regular playlists where you manually add items, smart playlists update themselves as your library changes.

Examples:

  • "All Comedy Shows" — Automatically includes any show tagged as Comedy
  • "Movies from the 90s" — Includes movies released 1990-1999
  • "Recently Added" — Shows content added in the last 30 days

How EasyTV Uses Smart Playlists

EasyTV can filter content using smart playlists in three places:

Location Filter Type Settings Path
TV Show Filter Which shows appear in EasyTV Settings → Shows → Show Filter
Movie Filter Which movies appear in random playlists Settings → Random Playlist → Content Options
Auto-Created Playlists EasyTV exports for other addons Settings → Advanced → Background Service

Filtering TV Shows

Setting Up Show Filtering

  1. Go to Settings → Shows → Show Filter
  2. Enable Use only selected shows
  3. Set Selection method to Use a smart playlist
  4. Choose Ask each time or Use default:
    • Ask each time — EasyTV prompts you to pick a playlist when you launch
    • Use default — Uses the same playlist every time
  5. If using default, click Choose playlist file... to select your .xsp file

What Gets Filtered

When a TV show smart playlist is active:

  • Browse Mode shows only shows matching the playlist
  • Random Playlist only picks episodes from matching shows
  • All other settings (duration filter, premieres, etc.) still apply on top

Creating a TV Show Playlist

In Kodi:

  1. Go to Videos → TV Shows
  2. Open the sidebar menu (usually left arrow)
  3. Select New smart playlist...
  4. Set Playlist type to TV Shows
  5. Add your rules (see Creating Rules below)
  6. Save the playlist

Filtering Movies

Setting Up Movie Filtering

  1. Go to Settings → Random Playlist → Content Options
  2. Make sure Playlist content includes movies
  3. Click Filter movies by playlist...
  4. Select a movie smart playlist

What Gets Filtered

When a movie smart playlist is active:

  • Only movies matching the playlist can appear in random playlists
  • Other movie settings (selection, partials, etc.) still apply

Creating a Movie Playlist

In Kodi:

  1. Go to Videos → Movies
  2. Open the sidebar menu
  3. Select New smart playlist...
  4. Set Playlist type to Movies
  5. Add your rules
  6. Save the playlist

Creating Rules

Smart playlists use rules to filter content. Each rule has three parts:

Part Description Example
Field What to check Genre, Year, Rating, Studio
Operator How to compare is, contains, greater than
Value What to match "Comedy", "2020", "7"

Common Fields

For TV Shows

Field Description Example Use
Genre Content genre Comedy, Drama, Documentary
Year Release year Shows from a specific era
Rating Content rating TV-14, TV-MA
Studio Production studio HBO, Netflix originals
Tag Custom tags you've added "Favorites", "Kids OK"
Actor Cast members Shows with specific actors
Title Show name Contains certain words
Path File location Shows from specific folders
Date added When added to library Recently added content
Status Continuing/Ended Only active shows

For Movies

Field Description Example Use
Genre Content genre Action, Horror, Documentary
Year Release year Specific decade
Rating User rating (1-10) Highly rated only
MPAA Content rating PG, PG-13, R
Studio Production studio Marvel, Pixar
Director Film director Favorite directors
Tag Custom tags "Date Night", "Family"
Runtime Length in minutes Under 2 hours
Set Collection membership Part of a franchise

Operators

Operator Description Example
is Exact match Genre is "Comedy"
is not Exclude exact match Genre is not "Horror"
contains Partial match Title contains "Star"
does not contain Exclude partial Title does not contain "Part"
starts with Begins with text Title starts with "The"
ends with Ends with text Title ends with "2"
greater than Numeric comparison Year greater than 1999
less than Numeric comparison Runtime less than 120
in the last Date-based Date added in the last 30 days
true / false Boolean fields Has trailer is true

Combining Rules

You can combine multiple rules:

Combination Effect
And Content must match ALL rules
Or Content must match ANY rule

Example: "Comedy AND Year > 2010" = Only comedies from 2011 onward

Playlist File Format

Smart playlists are XML files with the .xsp extension. Here's the structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<smartplaylist type="tvshows">
    <name>My Playlist Name</name>
    <match>all</match>
    <rule field="genre" operator="is">
        <value>Comedy</value>
    </rule>
</smartplaylist>

Key Elements

Element Description
type "tvshows" or "movies"
name Display name in Kodi
match "all" (AND logic) or "one" (OR logic)
rule Individual filter rule
order Optional sorting

Multiple Values

A single rule can have multiple values (OR within the rule):

<rule field="genre" operator="is">
    <value>Comedy</value>
    <value>Sitcom</value>
</rule>

This matches shows that are Comedy OR Sitcom.

Playlist Location

Kodi stores smart playlists in:

special://profile/playlists/video/

Actual paths:

  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Kodi\userdata\playlists\video\
  • Linux: ~/.kodi/userdata/playlists/video/
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Kodi/userdata/playlists/video/
  • LibreELEC/OSMC: /storage/.kodi/userdata/playlists/video/

You can:

  • Create playlists in Kodi's UI (saved automatically)
  • Copy .xsp files directly to this folder
  • Edit .xsp files with a text editor

Apply Show Filter to Smart Playlists

If you use a show filter (Settings → Shows → Show Filter) and also generate auto-created smart playlists, you can connect them: enable Apply show filter to smart playlists in Settings → Advanced → Background Service. When enabled, only shows matching your filter will appear in the auto-created Episode and TVShow playlists. This is especially useful when combined with the Power User Pattern of using the main addon as a service and clones as entry points. (Added in v1.2.4)

Combining with EasyTV Settings

Smart playlists are just one layer of filtering. EasyTV applies additional filters on top:

Your Library
    ↓
Smart Playlist Filter (if enabled)
    ↓
Duration Filter (if enabled)
    ↓
Premiere Settings (series/season premieres)
    ↓
Episode Selection (unwatched/watched/both)
    ↓
Final Result

Example Combinations

Goal Smart Playlist EasyTV Settings
Short comedy episodes Genre: Comedy Duration max: 30 min
New drama only Genre: Drama Premieres: On, Watched: Off
90s movies, no horror Year: 1990-1999, Genre ≠ Horror Movie selection: Any
Highly-rated unwatched Rating > 7 Selection: Unwatched only
Kids content under 25 min Tag: "Kids OK" Duration max: 25 min

Power User Scenarios

Scenario 1: Multiple "Channels"

Create different EasyTV experiences using clones:

Clone Smart Playlist Use Case
EasyTV Comedy Comedy shows only Light entertainment
EasyTV Drama Drama + Thriller Serious viewing
EasyTV Kids Kids-tagged content Family friendly

Scenario 2: Seasonal Watching

Create playlists for different moods:

Season Smart Playlist
Halloween Genre: Horror, Thriller
Christmas Tag: "Holiday"
Summer Genre: Comedy, Adventure

Scenario 3: Catch-Up Queue

Smart playlist: "Date added in last 14 days"

  • Always watch your newest content first
  • Combines with EasyTV's partial prioritization

Scenario 4: Quality Filter

Smart playlist: "User rating > 7"

  • Only watch content you've rated highly
  • Great for rewatching favorites

Troubleshooting Playlists

Playlist Not Appearing

  • Ensure the .xsp file is in the correct folder
  • Check the file extension is .xsp (not .xsp.txt)
  • Verify the type attribute matches what you're filtering (tvshows/movies)
  • Restart Kodi after adding new playlists

No Content Matches

  • Test the playlist in Kodi's library first (Videos → Playlists)
  • Check if rules are too restrictive
  • Verify your library has content matching the criteria
  • Look for typos in genre names or values

Wrong Content Type

EasyTV checks playlist type:

  • TV show filter requires type="tvshows"
  • Movie filter requires type="movies"

Using the wrong type will result in errors.

Related Pages

EasyTV — No scrolling. No deciding. Just watching.

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