Tutorial and example repository for setting up a GitHub-hosted Kodi repo.
This repo is cloned from https://github.com/drinfernoo/repository.example
The only difference this README file with some extra documentation.
For an example of a repo created using this method, see https://www.github.com/peno64/repository.peno64/
In following text, the root folder is the folder where the python script _repo_generator.py is located.
BASIC - How to setup for hosting on GitHub Pages
In order to follow this tutorial, first use this repository as a template for a new repository, and then clone your newly created repository locally. For the simplest file manager source URL, it is recommended to name your newly created repository as YOUR_USERNAME_HERE.github.io.
Creating your repository add-on
First, you'll need to edit the addon.xml file within the repo/repository.example folder with your chosen add-on ID, a version number, and your username (or whatever you'd like) for provider, as seen on line 2:
<addon id="ADDON_ID_HERE" name="REPO_NAME_HERE" version="VERSION_NUMBER_HERE" provider-name="YOUR_USERNAME_HERE">You also need to replace YOUR_USERNAME_HERE, REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE, and BRANCH_NAME_HERE with your GitHub username, this repository's name, and the name of the branch (it's recommended to use the default branch, ususally master or main) respectively, as seen on lines 4-8:
<dir>
<info compressed="false">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/BRANCH_NAME_HERE/repo/zips/addons.xml</info>
<checksum>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/BRANCH_NAME_HERE/repo/zips/addons.xml.md5</checksum>
<datadir zip="true">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/BRANCH_NAME_HERE/repo/zips/</datadir>
</dir>You should also change the summary and description of your repository, as seen on lines 11-12:
<summary>REPO_NAME_HERE</summary>
<description>DESCRIPTION OF YOUR REPO HERE</description>While not required, it is also recommended to replace icon.png and fanart.jpg in the repo/repository.example folder with art relevant to your repository or the add-ons contained within. icon.png should be 512x512 px, and fanart.jpg should be 1920x1080 px, or a similar ratio.
Finally, rename the repo/repository.example folder to match whatever add-on ID you chose earlier.
Adding add-ons to your repository
To build the repository, first place the add-on source folders for whichever add-ons you'd like to be contained in your Kodi repo inside either folder repo, krypton, leia or matrix. See further to determine which of those folders to use. For ease of updating included add-ons, the recommended method of doing this is via Git Submodules, which are supported by many Git clients, as well as the Git terminal. If you choose not to use submodules, you'll need to simply copy the source folders directly into the needed folders.
Same add-ons to all versions (default)
Place your add-on source folders in the repo folder of this repository.
Different add-ons to different versions (advanced)
Place your add-on source folders into a folder named after the version of Kodi you wish to serve from it, instead of repo. For example, leia for a Leia-focused repo, or matrix for a Matrix-focused one. In order for your repository to be able to differentiate which add-ons to serve, you'll need to add a new dir section to your addon.xml, that defines which versions should be served.
For example, to serve Leia only:
<dir minversion="18.0.0" maxversion="18.9.9">
<info compressed="false">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME_HERE/leia/zips/addons.xml</info>
<checksum>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME_HERE/leia/zips/addons.xml.md5</checksum>
<datadir zip="true">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME_HERE/leia/zips/</datadir>
</dir>And for Matrix and up:
<dir minversion="19.0.0">
<info compressed="false">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME_HERE/matrix/zips/addons.xml</info>
<checksum>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME_HERE/matrix/zips/addons.xml.md5</checksum>
<datadir zip="true">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME_HERE/matrix/zips/</datadir>
</dir>The _repo_generator.py script included in this repository will build .zip files for each included add-on, as well as generating the necessary addons.xml and addons.xml.md5 files, so that Kodi can infer the contents of the repo. It is designed to handle multiple versions of Kodi (for example, to serve different add-ons to Leia than are served to Matrix), and single repositories that serve the same add-ons to all Kodi versions.
So simply run _repo_generator.py. This will create the .zips of all of the desired add-ons, and place them in a folder called zips, along with the generated addons.xml and addons.xml.md5.
Make your repository zip installable inside Kodi
Copy the zip file of your repository, located at repo/zips/ADDON_ID_HERE/ADDON_ID_HERE-VERSION_NUMBER_HERE.zip,
and paste it into the root folder.
Edit the link inside index.html to reflect your add-on's filename, as seen on line 1:
<a href="ADDON_ID_HERE-VERSION_NUMBER_HERE.zip">ADDON_ID_HERE-VERSION_NUMBER_HERE.zip</a>Upload the changes to github
git add .
git commit -m "comment"
git push -u origin master
After committing and pushing these changes to your repo, go to the "Settings" section for this repository on GitHub. In the first box, labeled "Repository name", change your repository's name. Generally, GitHub Pages repositories are named YOUR_USERNAME_HERE.github.io, but it can be whatever you'd like.
Next, scroll down to the "GitHub Pages" section, choose the default branch (or whichever you chose when modifying your addon.xml) as the source, and click "Save".
After that, you should be all done!
If you named this repository YOUR_USERNAME_HERE.github.io (as recommended), your file manager source will be:
https://YOUR_USERNAME_HERE.github.io/
If you named it something else, it will be:
https://YOUR_USERNAME_HERE.github.io/REPOSITORY_NAME_HERE/
ADVANCED - How to set up for hosting without GitHub Pages
If you want to host your Kodi repo on a different host besides GitHub Pages, simply download this repository as a .zip, and unzip it, rather than using it as a template. Continue to follow the rest of the setup procedure, except for the setting up of GitHub Pages. The only differences will be in your addon.xml file, as it will need to reference your host, rather than GitHub:
<dir>
<info compressed="false">https://YOUR_HOST_URL_HERE/repo/zips/addons.xml</info>
<checksum>https://YOUR_HOST_URL_HERE/repo/zips/addons.xml.md5</checksum>
<datadir zip="true">https://YOUR_HOST_URL_HERE/repo/zips/</datadir>
</dir>And upload the contents of this repository to your host. It is very important that YOUR_HOST_URL_HERE is the URL to the root folder of this repository.
After doing so, your file manager source will be:
https://YOUR_HOST_URL_HERE/
Afterwards, updating addons in this repository
The root folder is the folder where the python script _repo_generator.py is located and subfolder repo exists.
There are two cases:
- An addon is updated
- An addon is added
An addon is updated
The addon sources are in folder repo (or leia, matrix). Make the needed changes to the addon and don't forget to increment the version number in addon.xml
An addon is added
The addon sources are in folder repo (or leia, matrix). Put the new addon there.
Since a new addon is added to the repo, the repo must also update.
To force that, goto folder repo/ADDON_ID_HERE. Edit addon.xml and increase the version number.
Edit in the root file index.html and change the version numbers here also. Note that this must be done two times.
After the changes are made to the addon/repo
Remove folder zips in folders repo, leia, matrix.
Run python script _repo_generator.py
Remove file ADDON_ID_HERE-VERSION_NUMBER_HERE.zip in the root folder.
Copy zip file repo/zips/ADDON_ID_HERE/ADDON_ID_HERE-VERSION_NUMBER_HERE.zip to the root folder.
Upload the changes to github
git add .
git commit -m "comment"
git push -u origin master