Pluto TV script

Chris G · 2024-12-04T23:26:25+00:00

Here is my custom Pluto TV script for TVHeadand. It requires Streamlink and makes use of TVHeadends useful pipe options. It queries the Pluto TV API directly...

Chris G

I also have a Xumo script.
Does anyone want me to post that too?

luke

I can get the channels to show up, but nothing will play. I have streamlink installed. When I run in the terminal i get the message: [cli][info] Found matching plugin pluto for URL https://pluto.tv/live-tv/6793eaa4bc03978b9bc63db1
error: No playable streams found on this URL: https://pluto.tv/live-tv/6793eaa4bc03978b9bc63db1
does this script still work?

Chris G

I think I know what might be happening luke
You might live somewhere that doesn't get Pluto TV.
I got the same error when I tried to get Pluto TV for a different region.

So I updated the script to take an optional argument for an IP address.
Pluto TV trusts the x-forwarded-for header, so no need for a proxy or VPN.
Just pass a known static IP that is in the region for which channels you want.
For example, if I wanted to appear in the US, I could use Googles DNS IP (8.8.8.8)

#!/usr/bin/python
import requests
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
import socket
import io
import sys

# CONFIG #############################################################################################
SOCKET = "/config/epggrab/xmltv.sock"  # Path to your UNIX socket
######################################################################################################

if len(sys.argv) > 1:
    IP = sys.argv[1]
else:
    IP = None

now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
start_time = now - timedelta(
    minutes=now.minute % 30, seconds=now.second, microseconds=now.microsecond
)
stop_time = start_time + timedelta(hours=8)
epg_begin = start_time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S-00:00")
epg_end = stop_time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S-00:00")

if IP != None:
    headers={"X-Forwarded-For": IP}
else:
    headers={}

data = requests.get(
    f"https://api.pluto.tv/v2/channels?start={epg_begin}&stop={epg_end}", headers=headers
).json()

m3u = "#EXTM3U\n"
root = ET.Element("tv")
programmes = []

for channel in data:
    channel_element = ET.SubElement(root, "channel", id="pluto-" + channel["_id"])
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "display-name").text = channel["name"]
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "channel-number").text = str(channel["number"])
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "icon").text = channel.get("colorLogoPNG", {}).get(
        "path", ""
    )

    m3u += f'#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="{"pluto-" + channel["_id"]}" tvg-chno="{channel["number"]}" tvg-name="{channel["name"]}" tvg-logo="{channel.get("colorLogoPNG", {}).get("path", "")}",{channel["name"]}\n'
    if IP != None:
        m3u += f"pipe://streamlink --http-header 'x-forwarded-for={IP}' 'https://pluto.tv/live-tv/{channel['_id']}' best --stdout\n"
    else:
        m3u += f"pipe://streamlink 'https://pluto.tv/live-tv/{channel['_id']}' best --stdout\n"

    for programme in channel["timelines"]:
        programme_data = {
            "start": programme["start"],
            "stop": programme["stop"],
            "channel": "pluto-" + channel["_id"],
            "title": programme["title"],
            "episode": programme.get("episode", {}),
        }
        programmes.append(programme_data)

for programme in programmes:
    start_time = datetime.fromisoformat(programme["start"]).strftime(
        "%Y%m%d%H%M%S +0000"
    )
    stop_time = datetime.fromisoformat(programme["stop"]).strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S +0000")

    programme_element = ET.SubElement(
        root,
        "programme",
        start=start_time,
        stop=stop_time,
        channel=programme["channel"],
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "title").text = programme.get("title", "Untitled")
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "sub-title").text = programme["episode"].get(
        "name", ""
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "desc").text = programme["episode"].get(
        "description", ""
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "episode-num").text = (
        f'S{programme["episode"].get("season", 0)}E{programme["episode"].get("number", 0)}'
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "category").text = programme["episode"].get(
        "genre", ""
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "category").text = programme["episode"].get(
        "subGenre", ""
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "category").text = programme.get("category", "")

tree = ET.ElementTree(root)
ET.indent(tree, space="\t", level=0)

xml_bytes = io.BytesIO()
tree.write(xml_bytes, encoding="UTF-8", xml_declaration=True)

try:
    with socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
        s.connect(SOCKET)
        xml_bytes.seek(0)
        s.sendall(xml_bytes.read())
except:
    pass
    with open("pluto.xmltv", "wb") as file:
        tree.write(file, encoding="utf-8", xml_declaration=True)

print(m3u)

Set the URL on the network like this pipe:///storage/downloads/plutotv.py 8.8.8.8
Adding no option uses your real IP pipe:///storage/downloads/plutotv.py

Chris G

Still working for me.

gilesco

I believe the issue many will have is that the version of streamlink packaged with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and it's common relatives is 6.6.2-1, and doesn't appear to support pluto.tv.
You might be able to get around it with a later version installed via pip or pipx.

Barry

Hi Folks!

Need some help please: I am running the ‘third’ revision of Chris G’s script: his June 22, 2025 post, on a Raspberry Pi 5, Bookworm 64-bit.

The problems seems to be a permission error; latest from journalctl:
Jul 23 18:40:53 raspberrypi tvheadend[910]: spawn: Executing "/usr/bin/python3"
Jul 23 18:40:53 raspberrypi tvheadend[910]: spawn: /usr/bin/python3: can't open file '/home/barry/Scripts/PlutoTV.py': [Errno 13] Permission denied
Jul 23 18:40:53 raspberrypi tvheadend[910]: iptv: unknown playlist format for network 'Pluto'

So by that supposed to be using Python 3 instead of Python; first line of script corrected. (I’m supposing the ‘iptv’ error is because the script isn’t playing nice.)

Permissions for the script: did the chmod +x step. No change.

An original permission output:
barry@raspberrypi:~ $ chmod +rwx Scripts/PlutoTV.py
barry@raspberrypi:~ $ ls -halt Scripts/PlutoTV.py
-rwxr-xr-x 1 barry barry 4.0K Jul 22 14:49 Scripts/PlutoTV.py
OK, that didn’t work, everybody in the pool!
barry@raspberrypi:~ $ chmod 777 Scripts/PlutoTV.py
barry@raspberrypi:~ $ ls -halt Scripts/PlutoTV.py
-rwxrwxrwx 1 barry barry 4.0K Jul 22 14:49 Scripts/PlutoTV.py
Well, that didn’t work either.

Quite frankly I’m also not sure what’s triggering the database runs at 40 minutes past the hour: both user and sudo cron’s have yet to be activated (I checked).

I’m guessing it’s something really simple I have overlooked; thanks in advance for the help!

Barry

Hi Folks!
Updates to my previous post: did figure out the permissions issue. Also found the auto-run every hour is built-in – finally caught that detail on re-re-reading the posts.
Current problem is with the playlist format:
2025-07-27 19:15:44.925 spawn: Executing "/home/barry/Scripts/PlutoTV.py"
2025-07-27 19:15:45.172 iptv: unknown playlist format for network 'Pluto TV (IPTV)'

Part of the problem seems to be I don’t have something configured correctly to create/output the xmltv.sock file. It’s in /var/lib/tvheadend/epggrab but has a size of 0. There is no file using pluto. other than the script and two files in subdirs of /usr/lib/python3.
Thanks again!
Barry

Jack

I found a solution that is working for me to the unknown playlist format issue with the help of chat GPT.

Tvheadend does not accept quotes on the second line of a channel entry.
Like this:

pipe://streamlink 'https://pluto.tv/live-tv/51c75f7bb6f26ba1cd00002f' best --stdout

They must be:

pipe://streamlink https://pluto.tv/live-tv/51c75f7bb6f26ba1cd00002f best --stdout

also Tvheadend expects tvg-id (lower-case with a dash), not tvg-ID.

The script needed to have the playlist build lines changed to

    f'#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="pluto-{channel["_id"]}" tvg-chno="{channel["number"]}" '
    f'tvg-name="{channel["name"]}" tvg-logo="{channel.get("colorLogoPNG", {}).get("path", "")}",'
    f'{channel["name"]}\n'
)
m3u += (
    f"pipe://streamlink https://pluto.tv/live-tv/{channel['_id']} best --stdout\n"
)

So the complete updated script with the changes made need to be this:

import requests
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
import socket
import io

# CONFIG -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOCKET = "/config/epggrab/xmltv.sock"  # Path to your Tvheadend XMLTV UNIX socket
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)

# round the start time down to the nearest 30 min
start_time = now - timedelta(
    minutes=now.minute % 30, seconds=now.second, microseconds=now.microsecond
)
stop_time = start_time + timedelta(hours=8)
epg_begin = start_time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S-00:00")
epg_end = stop_time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S-00:00")

data = requests.get(
    f"https://api.pluto.tv/v2/channels?start={epg_begin}&stop={epg_end}"
).json()

m3u = "#EXTM3U\n"
root = ET.Element("tv")
programmes = []

for channel in data:
    # ----- XMLTV channel element -----
    chan_id = f"pluto-{channel['_id']}"
    channel_element = ET.SubElement(root, "channel", id=chan_id)
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "display-name").text = channel["name"]
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "channel-number").text = str(channel["number"])
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "icon").text = channel.get("colorLogoPNG", {}).get(
        "path", ""
    )

    # ----- M3U entry -----
    logo = channel.get("colorLogoPNG", {}).get("path", "")
    m3u += (
        f'#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="{chan_id}" '
        f'tvg-chno="{channel["number"]}" '
        f'tvg-name="{channel["name"]}" '
        f'tvg-logo="{logo}",'
        f'{channel["name"]}\n'
    )
    # NOTE: no quotes around URL
    m3u += (
        f"pipe://streamlink https://pluto.tv/live-tv/{channel['_id']} best --stdout\n"
    )

    # ----- Programme list -----
    for programme in channel.get("timelines", []):
        programmes.append(
            {
                "start": programme["start"],
                "stop": programme["stop"],
                "channel": chan_id,
                "title": programme.get("title", "Untitled"),
                "episode": programme.get("episode", {}),
            }
        )

# Build XMLTV EPG
for programme in programmes:
    start_str = datetime.fromisoformat(programme["start"]).strftime(
        "%Y%m%d%H%M%S +0000"
    )
    stop_str = datetime.fromisoformat(programme["stop"]).strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S +0000")

    p = ET.SubElement(
        root,
        "programme",
        start=start_str,
        stop=stop_str,
        channel=programme["channel"],
    )
    ep = programme["episode"]
    ET.SubElement(p, "title").text = programme["title"]
    ET.SubElement(p, "sub-title").text = ep.get("name", "")
    ET.SubElement(p, "desc").text = ep.get("description", "")
    ET.SubElement(p, "episode-num").text = f"S{ep.get('season', 0)}E{ep.get('number', 0)}"
    ET.SubElement(p, "category").text = ep.get("genre", "")
    ET.SubElement(p, "category").text = ep.get("subGenre", "")
    ET.SubElement(p, "category").text = programme.get("category", "")

tree = ET.ElementTree(root)
ET.indent(tree, space="\t", level=0)

# Send EPG to Tvheadend’s XMLTV socket
xml_bytes = io.BytesIO()
tree.write(xml_bytes, encoding="UTF-8", xml_declaration=True)
try:
    with socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
        s.connect(SOCKET)
        xml_bytes.seek(0)
        s.sendall(xml_bytes.read())
except Exception:
    # You can uncomment these lines for debugging
    # with open("pluto.xmltv", "wb") as f:
    #     tree.write(f, encoding="utf-8", xml_declaration=True)
    pass

# Print the playlist to stdout — Tvheadend reads this
print(m3u, end="")

Hopefully this can help someone out

Barry

Jack
THANK YOU! I will check this out and get back to you.
Barry

Chris G

The latest version is this one:

#!/usr/bin/python
import requests
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
import socket
import io
import sys

# CONFIG #############################################################################################
SOCKET = "/config/epggrab/xmltv.sock"  # Path to your UNIX socket
######################################################################################################

if len(sys.argv) > 1:
    IP = sys.argv[1]
else:
    IP = None

now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
start_time = now - timedelta(
    minutes=now.minute % 30, seconds=now.second, microseconds=now.microsecond
)
stop_time = start_time + timedelta(hours=8)
epg_begin = start_time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S-00:00")
epg_end = stop_time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S-00:00")

if IP != None:
    headers={"X-Forwarded-For": IP}
else:
    headers={}

data = requests.get(
    f"https://api.pluto.tv/v2/channels?start={epg_begin}&stop={epg_end}", headers=headers
).json()

m3u = "#EXTM3U\n"
root = ET.Element("tv")
programmes = []

for channel in data:
    channel_element = ET.SubElement(root, "channel", id="pluto-" + channel["_id"])
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "display-name").text = channel["name"]
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "channel-number").text = str(channel["number"])
    ET.SubElement(channel_element, "icon").text = channel.get("colorLogoPNG", {}).get(
        "path", ""
    )

    m3u += f'#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="{"pluto-" + channel["_id"]}" tvg-chno="{channel["number"]}" tvg-name="{channel["name"]}" tvg-logo="{channel.get("colorLogoPNG", {}).get("path", "")}",{channel["name"]}\n'
    if IP != None:
        m3u += f"pipe://streamlink --http-header 'x-forwarded-for={IP}' 'https://pluto.tv/live-tv/{channel['_id']}' best --stdout\n"
    else:
        m3u += f"pipe://streamlink 'https://pluto.tv/live-tv/{channel['_id']}' best --stdout\n"

    for programme in channel["timelines"]:
        programme_data = {
            "start": programme["start"],
            "stop": programme["stop"],
            "channel": "pluto-" + channel["_id"],
            "title": programme["title"],
            "episode": programme.get("episode", {}),
        }
        programmes.append(programme_data)

for programme in programmes:
    start_time = datetime.fromisoformat(programme["start"]).strftime(
        "%Y%m%d%H%M%S +0000"
    )
    stop_time = datetime.fromisoformat(programme["stop"]).strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S +0000")

    programme_element = ET.SubElement(
        root,
        "programme",
        start=start_time,
        stop=stop_time,
        channel=programme["channel"],
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "title").text = programme.get("title", "Untitled")
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "sub-title").text = programme["episode"].get(
        "name", ""
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "desc").text = programme["episode"].get(
        "description", ""
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "episode-num").text = (
        f'S{programme["episode"].get("season", 0)}E{programme["episode"].get("number", 0)}'
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "category").text = programme["episode"].get(
        "genre", ""
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "category").text = programme["episode"].get(
        "subGenre", ""
    )
    ET.SubElement(programme_element, "category").text = programme.get("category", "")

tree = ET.ElementTree(root)
ET.indent(tree, space="\t", level=0)

xml_bytes = io.BytesIO()
tree.write(xml_bytes, encoding="UTF-8", xml_declaration=True)

try:
    with socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
        s.connect(SOCKET)
        xml_bytes.seek(0)
        s.sendall(xml_bytes.read())
except:
    pass
    with open("pluto.xmltv", "wb") as file:
        tree.write(file, encoding="utf-8", xml_declaration=True)

print(m3u)

It works on a Ubuntu host running the Linuxserver.io Alpine based docker image.
From memory, the quotes are needed on my system.
The EPG maps fine too.

Barry

Hi Chris!
Thanks for the reply! FWIW I've found sometimes a single or double quote is required and sometimes not. (I'm talking in general, not specifically the Pluto script.)

Things that are different on my side:

I'm not using the Linuxserver.io image (not even sure what that is)
I have capitals in the script's title -- easier for me to read but Jack's post indicates TVHeadend wants all lower case

For some reason I can't find the original SD cards for the project so looks like I"m staring from scratch. May not be a bad thing!

Barry

Barry Before I look too stupid I finally dug further into this "Linuxserver.io Alpine" thing. What I had looked at previously seemed unnecessarily complicated. ...This time looked at the RPi Imager and found an option for Alpine Linux; will play with that and see if why things aren't working for me.

And "staring from scratch" s/b "starting from scratch".

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