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

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Step 1: Define an M3U input

1

Add the input to source.yml

source.yml
inputs:
  - type: m3u
    name: my_m3u_provider
    url: http://provider.example/playlist.m3u
Use file:// to load a local playlist file:
source.yml
inputs:
  - type: m3u
    name: local_list
    url: file:///home/tuliprox/playlists/channels.m3u
2

Create a source and target

Wire the input to a target and set the output type to m3u:
source.yml
templates:
  - name: ALL_CHAN
    value: 'Group ~ ".*"'
inputs:
  - type: m3u
    name: my_m3u_provider
    url: http://provider.example/playlist.m3u
sources:
  - inputs:
      - my_m3u_provider
    targets:
      - name: all_channels
        output:
          - type: m3u
        filter: "!ALL_CHAN!"
3

Configure api-proxy.yml

api-proxy.yml
server:
  - name: default
    protocol: http
    host: 192.168.1.41
    port: 8901
    timezone: Europe/Berlin
    message: Welcome to tuliprox
user:
  - target: all_channels
    credentials:
      - username: user1
        password: secret
        proxy: redirect
        server: default
The M3U playlist is then available at: 
http://host:port/get.php?username=user1&password=secret
Or using the REST-friendly alias: 
http://host:port/m3u?username=user1&password=secret

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EPG (XMLTV) integration

Attach one or more EPG sources to the input using the epg block:
source.yml
inputs:
  - type: m3u
    name: my_m3u_provider
    url: http://provider.example/playlist.m3u
    epg:
      sources:
        - url: http://provider.example/epg.xml
          priority: -1
        - url: auto
          priority: -2
          logo_override: true
      smart_match:
        enabled: true
        fuzzy_matching: true
        match_threshold: 80
        best_match_threshold: 99
url: auto tells tuliprox to use the EPG URL embedded in the M3U playlist itself, if present. Clients retrieve the EPG at: 
http://host:port/xmltv.php?username=user1&password=secret

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M3U output options

FieldDescription
filenameCustom filename for the generated M3U file
include_type_in_urlAppend the content type to stream URLs
mask_redirect_urlMask the provider URL in redirect responses
filterAdditional per-output filter expression
Example: 
output:
  - type: m3u
    filename: my_channels.m3u
    include_type_in_url: true

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Batch M3U sources

Use m3u_batch to load many provider URLs from a CSV file:
source.yml
inputs:
  - type: m3u_batch
    name: batch_providers
    url: batch://providers.csv
The CSV file must have these columns:
ColumnDescription
urlProvider playlist URL
max_connectionsMaximum concurrent connections
priorityFailover priority (lower = higher priority)
Alternatively, use an m3u input with a batch:// URL — tuliprox treats it the same as m3u_batch.

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Common issues

Verify the URL is reachable from the tuliprox host:
curl -I "http://provider.example/playlist.m3u"
For file:// URLs confirm the path exists and tuliprox has read permission.
EPG matching depends on the tvg-id attribute in the M3U entries matching channel IDs in the XMLTV data. Enable smart_match with fuzzy_matching to handle minor name differences.
M3U attribute parsing reads group-title and tvg-name from #EXTINF lines. Check the raw playlist to confirm those attributes are present. Use the rename and mapping features to normalise names after import.
For very large playlists consider enabling disk_based_processing: true in config.yml to reduce peak memory usage during updates.

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