FAQ¶
Which websites work?¶
Everything yt-dlp supports, over a thousand sites: YouTube, Twitch (VODs and live streams), Vimeo, Dailymotion, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Reddit, Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook videos, the media libraries of many public broadcasters (ARD, ZDF, arte, BBC iPlayer with cookies, …) and direct links to media files. DRM-protected services (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify) do not work and never will; yt-dlp does not bypass DRM.
Is this like casting with Chromecast?¶
Similar in effect, different in mechanism. Chromecast receives a stream from the sending device or a cloud service. SendToKodi only sends the link to Kodi; Kodi fetches the video itself, directly from the website. The sending device can go to sleep, playback continues, and Kodi's own player handles it, with its subtitle, audio and quality settings.
Does it play YouTube without ads?¶
Kodi plays the streams yt-dlp picks, which contain no ad breaks. SponsorBlock and similar are not integrated.
Is it free? Is there tracking?¶
SendToKodi is free and open source under the MIT license. The add-on talks to the website you send, to GitHub for yt-dlp and Deno updates, and to nothing else. The browser extension has its own privacy policy: no tracking, no server in between.
Which Kodi versions and platforms are supported?¶
Kodi 19 and newer, on every platform Kodi runs on: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android (including Android TV and Fire TV), LibreELEC and CoreELEC. The only restriction is the JavaScript runtime for YouTube: Deno needs a 64-bit system, so on a 32-bit Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 you need QuickJS.
Why isn't it in the official Kodi repository?¶
The official repository forbids add-ons that download and run code at runtime. SendToKodi has to update yt-dlp and Deno on its own, because yt-dlp needs updates every few weeks to keep up with the websites, and that is not possible through the official repository's release process. The SendToKodi repository gives you automatic updates anyway.
Do I need the browser extension?¶
No. The extension is the most convenient way to send links from a desktop browser, but Kore on Android, the Shortcut on iPhone and Mac, or any JSON-RPC call do the same. See Usage.
Can I queue several videos?¶
Yes. The browser extension has Add to Queue and the context menu entry Add to Kodi queue; clients use the
action=queue parameter. Playlist and channel URLs are also expanded into
Kodi's playlist.
Can I download videos instead of streaming them?¶
Yes, turn on Auto-download resolved media before playback in the settings. The file is downloaded to the configured folder first and then played from disk. See Downloading instead of streaming.
How do I log in to a website?¶
Export your browser's cookies for that site and point the add-on to the file with --cookies in a
yt-dlp config file. For a single request, credentials can also be passed as
yt-dlp options.
Something stopped working that worked yesterday¶
Update yt-dlp (Settings → yt-dlp → Update yt-dlp now), and switch to the Nightly channel if the stable release doesn't help yet. Websites change, yt-dlp follows, the add-on follows yt-dlp. See Troubleshooting.
How do I contribute?¶
Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub. Development explains the setup and the tests.