M3U Bridge Documentation

1. Getting Started

M3U Bridge acts as an intelligent proxy and normalization layer between your authorized media sources (M3U or Xtream Codes) and your IPTV playback applications (such as TiviMate, IPTV Smarters, Apple TV, or Android TV apps).

2. Add a Source

From your tenant dashboard at app.m3ubridge.com, navigate to Sources and click Add Source. You can configure either an M3U playlist URL or an Xtream-compatible server endpoint. Upstream credentials are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM.

3. M3U Input

M3U Bridge supports standard M3U and M3U8 playlists (including EXTINF tags, tvg-id, tvg-name, tvg-logo, and group-title). The parser handles large multi-megabyte playlists with streaming chunking and periodic background synchronization.

4. Xtream-Compatible Input

If your upstream provider uses the Xtream Codes protocol, enter your server base URL, username, and password. M3U Bridge synchronizes live streams, VOD movies, TV series, and categories via the standard player_api.php protocol.

5. Generated Credentials

Instead of entering upstream server details in every player, create dedicated subscriber lines in your dashboard:

• Server URL: https://live.m3ubridge.com
• Username: Custom username generated per user/device
• Password: Secure password with Argon2id verification
• Max Connections: Concurrency limits enforced per subscriber

Your dashboard shows the exact URLs to paste into your player, built from the server address above and the generated username/password for each subscriber line:

• player_api.php — Xtream Codes authentication and API endpoint used by Xtream-compatible apps (e.g. TiviMate, IPTV Smarters) to list live streams, VOD, series, and categories.
• get.php — M3U playlist endpoint for players that only support the classic M3U/M3U8 format instead of the Xtream API.
• xmltv.php — XMLTV electronic program guide (EPG) endpoint, matched and normalized automatically by M3U Bridge.

6. EPG Matching

M3U Bridge automatically matches compatible channels with available licensed or customer-provided EPG data sources to resolve missing or inconsistent programme guide identifiers. The normalization engine supports managed schedules, customer XMLTV inputs, and future guide providers.

7. Metadata Enrichment

Movie and series titles are matched against The Movie Database (TMDB) to fetch high-resolution posters, backdrops, plot summaries, release years, cast, and episode listings without exposing your private infrastructure.

8. Gateway Modes

M3U Bridge supports both direct-redirect mode and protected technical relay mode depending on upstream server security constraints and credential shielding requirements. In protected mode, network traffic is transiently relayed to shield upstream credentials and maintain connectivity.

Protected Relay capacity and traffic allowances are defined separately from account and user limits and may evolve during Early Access.

9. Frequently Asked Questions