Manual Plugins Tab

Manual: The Plug-ins Tab

This page mirrors the in-app manual (the HELP tab in Setup). Words in capitals are labels you will see on screen.

Getting Started · Channels · Programming · Picture, Sound, Guide and Theme · Household, Library and System · Special and Virtual Channels · Using the Setup Screen · The Plug-ins Tab

9.1 Installing, Turning On/Off, and Removing Plugins

A lot of what this box can do — every special channel from SECTION 7, the remote control, weather and show-info lookups, even audio streaming features that need extra processing behind the scenes — comes from individual PLUGINS, listed on the PLUG-INS tab. Some come built in and turned on by default; you can add more yourself.

STEP 1: To add one, either click "INSTALL FROM ZIP…" and pick the file, or drop its folder into the plugins folder (click "OPEN PLUGINS FOLDER" to find it) and click "RESCAN".

Use the checkbox next to each plugin to turn it on or off, then click "SAVE CHANGES". Like most changes on this tab, turning a plugin on/off or adding a new one only takes effect after you restart the app.

NOTE: To remove a plugin you installed yourself, delete its folder from the plugins folder ("OPEN PLUGINS FOLDER") and click RESCAN. Plugins that came built in are different — if a future app update removes one, it cleans up after itself automatically the next time you restart. You don't need to do anything.

9.2 What a Plugin Is Allowed to Do

Some plugins need extra permissions — to talk to the internet, open another program, or run their own little web page. Each plugin lists exactly which of these it needs and why, right in the PLUG-INS tab. The first time you use a plugin like this (or after an update adds a new permission), you'll see a prompt to approve it before it can run.

CAUTION: Only install plugins from sources you trust. Approving a permission limits what a plugin is allowed to do — it doesn't guarantee the plugin only does good things with the access you give it.

If a plugin asks for approval again after an update, its permissions changed or it was renamed. Review the list and approve it again to keep using it.

Many plugins also run in their own separate, walled-off space instead of sharing the app's own — similar to how each tab in a web browser runs separately. That way, if one plugin crashes or misbehaves, it can't take the rest of the box down with it, and it's genuinely limited by your computer to only what it asked permission for.

9.3 Developer Diagnostics and Support Bundles

PLUGIN DEVELOPER DIAGNOSTICS shows main and renderer load state, registered extension points, declared capability activity, published services, recent bounded logs, and whether a restart is still needed.

EXPORT REDACTED SUPPORT BUNDLE writes that snapshot as JSON. Credential-shaped fields, authorization strings, URL credentials, and user-specific filesystem roots are removed first; your channel configuration and media inventory are not included.