Segment Editor - Kodi Addon

A Kodi service addon that lets you edit EDL and Matroska chapter.xml segment files while watching videos.

Features

• Full segment management: add, edit, and delete segments during playback.
• Multiple input methods:
  • Quick add using marked start/end points.
  • Add at the current playback time with a user-set duration.
  • Manual entry of start and end times.
• File format support:
  • EDL (Edit Decision List) format (.edl).
  • Matroska chapter XML (*-chapters.xml, *_chapters.xml, chapters.xml).
  • Embedded chapter import: if a Matroska/WebM container has embedded chapters, the editor can import them on first edit (requires mkvextract on PATH).
  • Automatic detection prefers chapters.xml over .edl files.
• Playback control: pause/resume, precision seek (-30s / -10s / -5s / -1s / +1s / +5s / +10s / +30s), jump-to-time.
• Time marking: mark start and end points for precise segment creation, with validation that prevents invalid combinations.
• Visual indicators: segments marked (Nested) if fully contained within another segment, (Overlapping) if partially overlapping.
• Label management: configurable predefined labels with a custom-label escape hatch.
• Keyboard shortcuts: Space, S, E, D, Enter, ESC.
• Real-time updates: current time and pause state are pushed through xbmc.Player callbacks.
• Auto-sort: segments are automatically sorted by start time.

Installation

1. Copy the service.segmenteditor folder to your Kodi addons directory and restart Kodi, or
2. Install the Skippy repo and install Segment Editor from there.

Compatibility

Tested on Kodi Omega 21.2 and v22 Piers Alpha 2 across:

Platform	Status
Android (Nvidia Shield)	Tested
Linux (CoreELEC)	Tested
Windows 11	Tested

Opening the editor

See USAGE.md for the full walk-through of the keyboard shortcut, remote-control key mapping via the Keymap Editor addon, and the JSON-RPC / NotifyAll approach for scripting from SSH or other addons.

Quick reference:

• Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + a configurable key (default CTRL+E). The keymap file under userdata/keymaps/keymap.xml is generated and kept in sync by the service.

• JSON-RPC:

  {"jsonrpc":"2.0",
   "method":"JSONRPC.NotifyAll",
   "params":{"sender":"service.segmenteditor",
             "message":"open_segment_editor"},
   "id":1}

Using the editor

See USAGE.md for a detailed description of the interface, every button, the keyboard shortcuts, and a worked workflow example. The short version:

1. Seek to where you want a segment to start.
2. Click Set as Start (or press S).
3. Seek to where you want it to end.
4. Click Set as End (or press E).
5. Click Create and pick a label.
6. Click Save when you're done, then Exit.

Time format

Times can be entered either as HH:MM:SS.mmm (for example 00:01:30.500) or as plain seconds (for example 90.5). Negative values are rejected.

File formats

EDL

start_seconds    end_seconds    action_type

Example:

0.0    30.0    4
120.5  150.2   4

Chapter XML

Matroska-style chapter XML files are supported with the following naming conventions (preferred first):

• {videoname}-chapters.xml
• {videoname}_chapters.xml
• {videoname}-chapter.xml
• {videoname}_chapter.xml
• chapters.xml (in the same directory as the video)

When both a chapter XML and an EDL exist, the chapter XML is preferred.

Settings

• Predefined Segment Labels: comma-separated labels that appear in the label dropdown when adding/editing segments.
• Save Format:
  • Auto Detect: uses the format of existing files, or EDL if none exist.
  • EDL Only: always save as .edl.
  • Chapter XML Only: always save as -chapters.xml.
  • Both Formats: save to both EDL and XML simultaneously.
• Action Mapping: comma-separated action:label pairs for the EDL third column (e.g. 4:Segment,5:Intro,6:Ad).
• Add rw permissions to saved files: off by default; when enabled, additively grants group/other read+write on local saves.
• Enable Full-Screen Dark Overlay: darkens the entire video behind the editor dialog.

Notes

• Segments are automatically sorted by start time.
• The editor can be opened while video is playing; playback continues in the background.
• Marked start/end times persist until a segment is added (they're used as defaults for the next segment).
• Validation prevents invalid start/end combinations.
• An "unsaved changes" warning appears when exiting with pending edits.

Troubleshooting

• Editor doesn't open: make sure a video is currently playing.
• Changes not saving: check file permissions on the video directory.
• No segments showing: the video may not have a segment file yet - use Add / Create to create one.
• Embedded chapter import skipped: install mkvmerge/mkvextract so mkvextract is on PATH.

Based on Skippy addon

This addon uses code patterns and segment parsing logic from the Skippy addon for consistency.