Updated the stream switching mechanism in the proxy server to ensure that the `stream_id` is persisted correctly and that the requesting worker waits for confirmation from the owning worker in multi-worker deployments. Improved error handling for stream switch failures, returning appropriate HTTP status codes (502/504) based on the confirmation status. Additionally, refined the metadata update process to handle cases where the requested URL is already in use, ensuring a successful response without unnecessary operations. This change addresses issues with stale metadata and enhances the robustness of the stream switching feature. (Fixes#1412)
Add end-to-end catch-up support for XC clients and native apps: provider
proxy with failover and per-viewer session pooling, REST session minting
for tokenless playback URLs, catch-up admin stats, combined connection
stats, and Stats UI with dedicated cards plus websocket updates.
Includes Redis namespace consolidation under timeshift:* (dropping legacy
timeshift_ id prefixes), dedicated catch-up stop by session_id, and
cleaner channel/client metadata split for stats keys.
Closes#133
Refactor tests for VOD provider failover logic to improve clarity and remove unnecessary components. Introduce new tests for order candidates and ensure no database access occurs during processing.
Refactor content relation retrieval to use a single DB query for active relations, improving efficiency. Update return values to include candidates for failover handling.
Implemented VOD failover logic to iterate over all active M3U relations, selecting the first account with spare capacity instead of relying on a single highest-priority relation. This change enhances reliability by allowing for provider failover in case of account saturation.
- Enhanced the live proxy to release geventpool DB connections more effectively across various paths.
- Implemented `close_old_connections()` in `stream_ts()`, `generate_stream_url()`, `get_stream_info_for_switch()`, `get_alternate_streams()`, `get_connections_left()`, and the cleanup process in `StreamGenerator`, ensuring that clients do not hold onto pool slots unnecessarily during streaming operations.
- Improved the handling of channel shutdown delays to ensure they reset correctly upon client reconnections, preventing premature shutdowns.
- Implemented logic to cancel pending shutdowns when clients reconnect, ensuring proper resource management and preventing client disconnect issues across uWSGI workers.
- Enhanced logging for shutdown processes and client management to provide clearer insights during channel operations.
- Added calls to `close_old_connections()` in `stream_vod()` and `build_vod_stats_data()` to prevent connection leaks during long-lived streaming responses and background stats refreshes.
- Improved connection handling in various components to ensure proper resource cleanup and prevent blocking issues.
- Improved database connection management by ensuring `close_old_connections()` is called in various methods to prevent connection leaks.
- Updated event dispatching to run asynchronously in gevent, preventing blocking during live-proxy and streaming paths.
- Improved channel teardown process to prevent lingering upstream connections and ensure proper resource cleanup.
- Enhanced client management by implementing checks for ghost clients and ensuring accurate client disconnection handling.
- Updated logging to provide clearer insights during channel initialization and teardown, including handling of unavailable channels.
- Refined stream manager behavior to manage ownership transitions more effectively and prevent blocking during shutdown.
- Improved handling of channel teardown to prevent client reconnect issues across uWSGI workers, ensuring proper resource cleanup and ownership management.
- Added functionality to clear all client entries from Redis for a channel, enhancing client management during shutdown.
- Updated logging and response mechanisms to inform clients of channel availability during teardown,.
- Enhanced stream manager behavior to ensure upstream connections are properly managed during ownership transitions.
- Enhanced the `stop_channel` method to prevent blocking during teardown by logging stop events asynchronously.
- Updated stream buffer behavior to ignore late writes during shutdown, improving resource management.
Implements all four points from the latest review, plus hardening from a
pre-submission audit pass.
1. Access control: timeshift_proxy now enforces
network_access_allowed(request, "STREAMS", user) — same key and placement
as the live XC stream endpoint.
2. Catch-up failover: the proxy walks the channel's catch-up streams in
channelstream order (get_channel_catchup_streams), mirroring live
playback. Each attempt carries its own provider context: account
credentials, provider stream id, reported server_info timezone (the
UTC->provider conversion is recomputed per attempt), user-agent, and the
per-account URL-format cache. The first streamable response wins; if all
providers fail the last failure is returned.
Ban-safety is per account: a decisive auth/ban-class failure (401/403/406)
marks the account and skips its remaining streams (e.g. FHD/HD variants of
the same channel) instead of hammering a banning provider, while other
accounts — different hosts — are still tried. Streams from disabled M3U
accounts are excluded, same as live dispatch. Redirects stay enabled on
purpose (XC providers legitimately 302 to load-balanced streaming nodes);
the 3xx decisive branch is kept as defense-in-depth and documented as such.
3. apps/proxy/live_proxy/views.py restored byte-identical to upstream — the
leftover channel-id wrapper from the removed provider-stream-id fallback
is gone (zero-line diff).
4. Single remaining setting relocated: xmltv_prev_days_override now lives in
proxy_settings (backend default in get_proxy_settings, consumed by the
XMLTV prev_days resolution). The timeshift_settings group,
TIMESHIFT_DEFAULTS, get_timeshift_settings, the Settings → Timeshift form
and tab are all removed; the field appears under Settings → Proxy Settings
(0 = auto-detect, capped at 30).
Audit hardening in the same pass:
- Updated the proxy-settings defaults unit test for the new key (would have
failed CI otherwise).
- Migration backfills use schema_editor.connection instead of the global
connection (multi-database correctness).
- CHANGELOG and module docstring brought in line with the final architecture
(PATH-first cascade, failover, setting under Proxy Settings).
- Tests grown to 69 backend tests: failover success/exhaustion/skip
semantics, decisive-account skip vs soft-failure retry, per-stream
timezone conversion (different zones per provider), 406/connection-error
cascade paths, stream-limit and no-eligible-stream outcomes,
network-gate 403, server_info strict-UTC guarantee, EPG duration window
resolution, and DB-backed coverage of xc_password auth, user_level access
and the failover stream ordering (catch-up-only, active accounts,
channelstream order). The format-cache test now runs on an isolated
locmem cache.
- Introduced `dispatcharr_user_agent`, `dispatcharr_dvr_user_agent`, and `dispatcharr_http_headers` functions in `core.utils` to standardize User-Agent strings and HTTP headers for outbound requests.
- Updated various components, including `LogoViewSet`, `EPGSourceViewSet`, and VOD proxy views, to utilize the new header functions, ensuring consistent User-Agent usage across the application.
- Enhanced the handling of Schedules Direct API requests by including proper User-Agent headers, addressing previous API compliance issues.
- http_streamer.py: restore HTTPStreamReader to its upstream form and keep
only the find_ts_sync() addition. The response=/extra_headers=/
strip_ts_preamble= extensions had no remaining callers since the timeshift
view moved to direct iter_content streaming (delta shrinks from +235/-83
lines to +28).
- Unify the catchup_days semantics everywhere: a channel's archive depth is
MAX(catchup_days) over its CATCH-UP streams only. The SQL rollup now uses
a FILTER (WHERE s.is_catchup) aggregate and the ChannelStream signal uses
the same MAX aggregation (it previously took the first stream by order,
and the rollup aggregated over all streams including non-catchup ones).
- Migration backfill: also accept the lowercase 'true' that ->> extraction
yields for JSON booleans.
- get_channel_catchup_info(): drop the tv_archive_duration key — its only
caller never used it.
- Document why timeshift termination fails closed when Redis is unavailable
(denying the new stream is what protects the provider connection limit),
and update the stale stop-key comment (5 s cadence, not 100 chunks).
- Improved logging in the Stream model for better debugging of profile evaluations.
- Introduced a new method `_stream_assignment_is_reusable` in the Channel model to determine if existing stream assignments can be reused, enhancing efficiency.
- Updated the release logic in `release_profile_slot` to utilize stored credential keys, reducing unnecessary database lookups.
- Simplified error handling in the `get_stream_info_for_switch` function to ensure proper stream release on exceptions.
- Enhanced tests for connection pool management and error handling in the ServerGroupsTable component to improve reliability and user feedback.
- Eliminated redundant extraction of provider usernames from stream URLs in both ChannelStatus and VOD stats data functions, simplifying the codebase.
- Updated frontend components to reflect the removal of provider username display, streamlining the UI.
- Enhanced overall readability and maintainability of the code by reducing complexity in handling stream URLs.
- Renamed `_clear_stream_assignment_keys` to `_release_stale_stream_assignment` for clarity and updated its logic to release pool counters.
- Introduced new functions for managing credential slots during profile switches, enhancing the handling of shared connection limits across server groups.
- Removed the `max_streams` field from the `ServerGroup` model and updated related components to reflect this change, simplifying the server group management.
- Updated frontend components to integrate server group management, allowing for dynamic creation and editing of server groups.
- Enhanced error handling in stream URL generation to provide more informative feedback on connection issues.
- Added tests for stale assignment release and credential management during profile switches.
Store credential Redis keys at reserve so release works when the profile row is deleted. Return reserve failure reasons to avoid fingerprint DB queries on logging paths. Document unlimited profile bypass in pool logic and Server Group UI.
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
Issue: When `process_movie_batch` / `process_series_batch`
(apps/vod/tasks.py) creates duplicate vod_movie / vod_episode records
during a refresh, existing M3U*Relation rows get repointed to the new
records. The old UUIDs that external players (Emby / Jellyfin /
ChannelsDVR) cached in `.strm` URLs are left orphaned, and the proxy
404s on every subsequent request — even though the same request
already carries a stable `stream_id` that uniquely identifies a live
relation.
This patch makes `_get_content_and_relation` use a soft UUID lookup
and, if it misses, fall back to resolving content via
`M3UMovieRelation.stream_id` / `M3UEpisodeRelation.stream_id`. The
fallback respects the strictest match first: when
`preferred_m3u_account_id` is also present, that account is queried
first; otherwise the highest-priority active relation matching the
stream_id wins (same ordering the existing relation-selection logic
uses).
This is read-side graceful degradation, complementary to the
write-side root fix proposed in closed#973 (re-use the relation's
existing movie/series during refresh rather than rematching by TMDB
ID). The two PRs together would fully resolve#961: #973 prevents new
orphaning, this PR makes any URL that ships a stream_id survive past
orphaning. URLs without a stream_id (e.g. XC-compat
`/movie/<user>/<pass>/<id>.mkv`) are NOT covered by this patch — they
need the root fix.
Series-UUID lookups (`/proxy/vod/series/<UUID>`) are left UUID-only by
design — players cache episode and movie URLs, not series URLs. Same
pattern can be added as a follow-up if needed.
Tests: 7 new mock-based regression tests covering both branches,
verified against `:dev`. UUID-first happy path is unchanged
(M3U*Relation table never queried when the UUID resolves).
Related: #961 (open), closed#973 (root fix abandoned for inactivity).
- Channel resolution: resolve by Channel.id first (what the XC API emits
to clients), fall back to provider stream_id for backward compatibility.
Fixes 404 on all timeshift requests from XC clients.
- Stream management: timeshift is now a first-class citizen alongside live
and VOD in the stream-limits system. get_user_active_connections()
detects type='timeshift', attempt_stream_termination() sets a Redis
stop key (same pattern as VOD), and the timeshift view calls
check_user_stream_limits() before connecting upstream. The stream
generator checks the stop key every 100 chunks. Fixes infinite retry
loops on max_connections=1 providers for live→timeshift and
timeshift→timeshift transitions.
- Streaming: replaced HTTPStreamReader thread+pipe with direct
iter_content+yield (same pattern as VOD proxy). The pipe approach
deadlocked under gevent because the reader thread's select() competed
with the greenlet's pipe read for hub scheduling. Throughput went
from ~74 B/s to 13+ MB/s.
- TS preamble: peek now strips pre-sync bytes (PHP warnings, BOM) before
prepending to the stream, preventing corrupt TS output.
- Credential safety: _redact_url() now truncates to scheme://host/...
to avoid leaking XC path-based credentials in logs.
- Tests: updated 5 tests that referenced the removed HTTPStreamReader.
21/21 timeshift tests pass.
- Migration: fixed SyntaxWarning for unescaped regex in 0038.
Adds native catch-up/timeshift replay for Xtream Codes providers through
the same HTTPStreamReader transport pipeline as live TV.
Timeshift proxy (apps/timeshift/):
- URL cascade: 3 candidate timestamp formats per provider, per-account
format cache for fast-forward seek performance
- MPEG-TS preamble stripping (shared with HTTPStreamReader)
- Stats integration: timeshift viewers appear on /stats with TIMESHIFT badge
- Auth via hmac.compare_digest on XC password
Catchup detection — denormalized for zero-cost output queries:
- Stream.is_catchup + Stream.catchup_days populated at XC import time
- Channel.has_catchup + Channel.catchup_days + Channel.catchup_provider_stream_id
rolled up via ChannelStream post_save signal (UI path) and explicit SQL
after bulk_create (import path)
- _xc_channel_entry() reads denormalized fields instead of per-channel
custom_properties JSON introspection (eliminates N+1 queries)
- Migration 0038 backfills existing data via raw SQL
XC API enhancements:
- server_info.timezone + start/end + time_now use configured timezone
(triple consistency rule — fixes wrong-programme-plays bug)
- Dynamic has_archive flag + auto prev_days for catch-up channels
- XMLTV timestamps rewritten to local timezone for catch-up clients
HTTPStreamReader extended (apps/proxy/live_proxy/input/http_streamer.py):
- 1 MB pipe buffer via fcntl F_SETPIPE_SZ (eliminates producer/consumer
ping-pong that halved throughput)
- Pre-opened response= for URL cascade workflows
- strip_ts_preamble= for XC servers emitting PHP warnings before TS
- find_ts_sync() as shared utility
- Builds on upstream O_NONBLOCK + select() write loop
Provider stream_id lookup order:
- stream_xc() and xc_get_epg() try internal Channel.id first, fall back
to provider stream_id only when needed (avoids unconditional query on
every request)
Also includes:
- VOD provider cascade in stream_vod() — iterates all M3U relations by
priority when first provider is at capacity
- Defensive null-safety: custom_sid: None → "" in get_live_streams,
get_vod_streams, get_vod_info, get_series_info (fixes iPlayTV crash on
JSON null for string fields)
- Timeshift settings UI (timezone selector, debug toggle)
- StreamConnectionCard violet TIMESHIFT badge
- Orphan cleanup skips timeshift_* virtual channels
Drop auto-fingerprint migration and restore per-profile selection for live/VOD.
Enforce shared limits on reserve using login-scoped group counters, and add
Server Groups UI for manual account assignment per maintainer feedback (#1137).
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
