GitHub release CI Codecov status License: MIT Contributors

script.module.inputstreamhelper is a simple Kodi module that makes life easier for add-on developers relying on InputStream based add-ons and DRM playback.

• Displays informative dialogs if required InputStream components are unavailable
• Checks if HLS is supported in inputstream.adaptive
• Automatically installs Widevine CDM on supported platforms (optional)
  • Keeps Widevine CDM up-to-date with the latest version available (Kodi 18 and higher)
  • Checks for missing depending libraries by parsing the output from ldd (Linux)

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""InputStream Helper Demo"""
import sys
import inputstreamhelper
import xbmc
import xbmcgui
import xbmcplugin
PROTOCOL = 'mpd'
DRM = 'com.widevine.alpha'
STREAM_URL = 'https://demo.unified-streaming.com/k8s/features/stable/video/tears-of-steel/tears-of-steel-dash-widevine.ism/.mpd'
MIME_TYPE = 'application/dash+xml'
LICENSE_URL = 'https://widevine-proxy.appspot.com/proxy'
KODI_VERSION_MAJOR = int(xbmc.getInfoLabel('System.BuildVersion').split('.')[0])
def run(addon_url):
 """Run InputStream Helper Demo"""
 # Play video
 if addon_url.endswith('/play'):
 is_helper = inputstreamhelper.Helper(PROTOCOL, drm=DRM)
 if is_helper.check_inputstream():
 play_item = xbmcgui.ListItem(path=STREAM_URL)
 play_item.setContentLookup(False)
 play_item.setMimeType(MIME_TYPE)
 if KODI_VERSION_MAJOR >= 19:
 play_item.setProperty('inputstream', is_helper.inputstream_addon)
 else:
 play_item.setProperty('inputstreamaddon', is_helper.inputstream_addon)
 play_item.setProperty('inputstream.adaptive.manifest_type', PROTOCOL)
 play_item.setProperty('inputstream.adaptive.license_type', DRM)
 play_item.setProperty('inputstream.adaptive.license_key', LICENSE_URL + '||R{SSM}|')
 xbmcplugin.setResolvedUrl(int(sys.argv[1]), True, play_item)
 # Setup menu item
 else:
 xbmcplugin.setContent(int(sys.argv[1]), 'videos')
 list_item = xbmcgui.ListItem(label='InputStream Helper Demo')
 list_item.setInfo('video', {})
 list_item.setProperty('IsPlayable', 'true')
 url = addon_url + '/play'
 xbmcplugin.addDirectoryItem(int(sys.argv[1]), url, list_item)
 xbmcplugin.endOfDirectory(int(sys.argv[1]))
if __name__ == '__main__':
 run(sys.argv[0])

The Helper class takes two arguments: protocol (the media streaming protocol) and the optional argument 'drm'.

It is recommended to not add your InputStream add-on as a dependency in addon.xml. It can cause confusion with users not being able to install your add-on because the InputStream add-on is disabled. InputStream Helper addresses issues such as these and helps the user to install/enable required InputStream components.

• mpd -- MPEG-DASH
• ism -- Microsoft Smooth Streaming
• hls -- HTTP Live Streaming from Apple
• rtmp -- Real-Time Messaging Protocol

• widevine
• com.widevine.alpha

Please report any issues or bug reports on the GitHub Issues page.

This module is licensed under the The MIT License. Please see the LICENSE.txt file for details.

• Fix removing older Widevine CDM backups (@mediaminister)

• Fix Widevine CDM installation on 32-bit Windows (@mediaminister)

• Fix Widevine CDM installation on ARM hardware (@mediaminister)

• Fix Widevine CDM installation on Windows, Linux and Macintosh (@mediaminister)
• Add support for LG webOS (@Uukrull)

• Get rid of distutils dependency (@horstle, @emilsvennesson)
• Option to get Widevine from lacros image (@horstle)
• Remove support for Python 2 and pre-Matrix Kodi versions (@horstle)

• Performance improvements on Linux ARM (@horstle)
• This will be the last release for Python 2 i.e. Kodi 18 (Leia) and below. The next release will require Python 3 and Kodi 19 (Matrix) or higher.

• Initial support for AARCH64 Linux (@horstle)
• Initial support for AARCH64 Macs (@mediaminister)
• New option to install a specific version on most platforms (@horstle)

• Fix automatic submission of release (@mediaminister)
• Update German translation (@tweimer)
• Fix update_frequency setting (@horstle)
• Fix install_from (@horstle)
• Improve/Fix Widevine extraction from Chrome OS images (@horstle)

• Update Croatian translation (@dsardelic, @muzena)
• Replace deprecated LooseVersion (@mediaminister, @MarkusVolk)
• Fix http_get decode error (@archtur)
• Option to install Widevine from specified source (@horstle)

• Simplify Widevine CDM installation on ARM hardware (@horstle, @mediaminister)
• Update Chrome OS ARM hardware id's (@mediaminister)
• Update Japanese and Korean translations (@Thunderbird2086)

• Further improve Widevine CDM installation on ARM hardware (@horstle)

• Improve Widevine CDM installation on ARM hardware (@mediaminister)
• Postpone Widevine CDM updates when user rejects (@horstle)

• Improve Widevine CDM installation on ARM hardware (@mediaminister)

• Fix Widevine CDM installation on ARM hardware (@mediaminister)

• Temporary fix for Widevine CDM installation on ARM hardware (@mediaminister)
• Fix Widevine CDM installation on 32-bit Linux (@mediaminister)

• Update Chrome OS ARM hardware id's (@mediaminister)

• Fix incorrect ARM HWIDs: PHASER and PHASER360 (@dagwieers)
• Added Hebrew translations (@haggaie)
• Updated Dutch, Japanese and Korean translations (@michaelarnauts, @Thunderbird2086)

• Extract Widevine CDM directly from Chrome OS, minimizing disk space usage and eliminating the need for root access (@horstle)
• Improve progress dialog while extracting Widevine CDM on ARM devices (@horstle, @mediaminister)
• Support resuming interrupted downloads on unreliable internet connections (@horstle, @mediaminister)
• Reshape InputStream Helper information dialog (@horstle, @dagwieers)
• Updated Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and Swedish translations (@dagwieers, @horstle, @mediaminister, @tweimer, @Twilight0, @frodo19, @tmihai20, @vlmaksime, @roliverosc, @Sopor)

• Fix hardlink on Windows (@BarmonHammer)
• Fix support for unicode chars in paths (@mediaminister)
• Show remaining time during Widevine installation on ARM devices (@horstle)

• Compatibility fixes for Kodi 19 Matrix "pre-release" builds (@mediaminister)
• Optimize Widevine CDM detection (@dagwieers)
• Minor fixes for Widevine installation on ARM devices (@dagwieers @mediaminister @horstle)

• Added Spanish and Romanian translations (@roliverosc, @tmihai20)
• Added support for Kodi 19 Matrix "pre-release" builds (@mediaminister)
• Fix Widevine backups when using an external drive (@horstle)
• Various fixes for Widevine installation on ARM devices (@horstle)

• Added option to restore a previously installed Widevine version (@horstle)
• Improve progress bar when extracting Widevine on ARM devices (@dagwieers)
• Improve Widevine library version detection (@dagwieers, @mediaminister)
• Improve InputStream Helper information (@dagwieers, @mediaminister)
• Increase download reliability for Chrome OS on ARM devices (@horstle, @RolfWojtech)
• Added Japanese, Korean, Croatian and Hungarian translations (@Thunderbird2086, @arvvoid, @frodo19)
• Updated existing translations (@dnicolaas, @Sopor, @tweimer, @horstle, @mediaminister)
• Various small bugfixes for Widevine installation on ARM devices (@dagwieers, @mediaminister, @Twilight0, @janhicken)

• French translation (@brunoduc)
• Updated translations (@vlmaksime, @dagwieers, @pinoelefante, @horstle, @Twilight0, @emilsvennesson)
• Ensure Kodi 19 compatibility (@mediaminister)
• Configurable temporary download directory for devices with limited space (@horstle)
• Configurable Widevine CDM update frequency (@horstle)
• Fix add-on settings crashes when InputStream Adaptive is missing (@mediaminister)
• Improve unicode character support (@mediaminister)

• Move release history to readme file (@mediaminister)
• Clean up coverage/codecov config (@dagwieers)
• Add InputStream Helper Information to settings page (@horstle, @dagwieers)
• Make sure addon.xml meets all requirements (@mediaminister)
• Simplify add-on entry point to speed up loading time (@mediaminister)
• Unicode fix for os.walk (@mediaminister)
• Revert "Fix ARM processing in unittest locally" (@mediaminister)
• Fix unresponsive Kodi when opening add-on information pane (@dagwieers, @mediaminister)
• Add-on structure improvements (@dagwieers)

• Follow kodi-addon-checker recommended code changes (@mediaminister)
• Implement api using runscript (@mediaminister)
• Fix ARM processing in unittest locally (@dagwieers)
• Add more project information (@dagwieers)
• More coverage improvements (@dagwieers)

• Use local url variable (@mediaminister)
• Directly use Kodi CDM directory (@mediaminister)
• Implement settings menu and API (@dagwieers)
• Add integration tests (@dagwieers)
• Add a progress dialog for extraction on ARM (@dagwieers)
• Fix crash when using platform.system() (@dagwieers)
• Fix a python error (@mediaminister)
• Remove legacy Widevine CDM support (@dagwieers)
• Replace requests/urllib3 with urllib/urllib2 (@dagwieers)
• Various unicode fixes (@mediaminister)
• Add proxy support (@dagwieers)
• Add setting to disable inputstreamhelper (@horstle, @JohnPlayerSpecial2018)
• Check Widevine support before all checks (@vlmaksime)
• Support 64-bit kernel with 32-bit userspace (@mrfixit2001)
• Dutch translation (@mediaminister, @basrieter)
• German translation (@flubshi)
• Greek translation (@Twilight0)
• Italian translation (@pinoelefante)
• Russian translation (@vlmaksime)
• Swedish translation (@emilsvennesson)

• Auto install inputstream.adaptive (@mediaminister)
• Fix latest Widevine version detection (@dagwieers)
• Check for Widevine updates on new release (@mediaminister)

• python2_3 compability (@mediaminister, @Rechi)
• Option to disable inputstreamhelper in settings.xml
• calculate disk space on the tmp folder (@dawez)
• Support for Unicode paths in Windows (@WallyCZ)
• Italian translation (@pinoelefante)
• Dutch translation (@dnicolaas)
• Greek translation (@Twilight0)
• Russian translation (@vlmaksime)

• Load loop if it's a kernel module (@mkreisl)
• Fix legacy Widevine CDM update detection
• inputstream_addon is now a public variable
• Notify user that ARM64 needs 32-bit userspace
• Improve logging
• Cosmetics

• Fix OSMC arm architecture detection
• Fix ldd permissions error

• check_inputstream() return fix

• Bug fix: module left xbmcaddon class in memory
• Keep Widevine CDM up-to-date with the latest version available (Kodi 18 and higher)
• Check for missing depending libraries by parsing the output from ldd
• Use older Widevine binaries on Kodi Krypton (fixes nss/nspr dependency issues)

• Fix ARM download on systems with sudo (OSMC etc)
• Actually bump version in addon.xml, unlike v0.2.3...

• Make sure Kodi and Widevine CDM binary architecture matches
• Minor wording changes/fixes

• Fixes for widevine download when using 64-bit Kodi (@gismo112, @asciidisco)

• Update German translation (@asciidisco)
• Improve root permissions acquisition

• Automatic Widevine CDM download on ARM devices
• Display Widevine EULA during installation procedure
• German translation (thanks to asciidisco)
• New, smaller and less ugly generic icon
• Better exception handling
• Code cleanup

• Initial release