Recording's image update fails if it already has image from the EPG

Cutter

Hi,
I'm using this script to set the image of completed recordings. It worked well until I added images to EPG events. Then the EPG images were set as the recording's images, and API requests to set a new image did not seem to have an effect anymore. Replacing existing images of recordings works if the image is stored locally. It fails silently if the image comes from the EPG.

The EPG images that can't be replaced are URLs:
image "http://tv.epg.net/data/img/pl/654654.jpg"

The screenshots that can be replaced are image cache paths:
image "imagecache/382"

The command I'm using to request the API update:
tvhmeta --uuid "9c47a32436af2ab11996d092941e18b1" --artwork-url "file:///mnt/sda/user/recordings/Screenshot_Name.jpg" --fanart-url "" --force-refresh --debug --user user --password password

It responds with the following, whether it succeeds or fails:
2025-11-04 20:25:45,477:DEBUG:tvhmeta:464:Got args Namespace(host='localhost', port=9981, user='user', password='password', artwork_url='file:///mnt/sda/user/recordings/Screenshot_Name.jpg', fanart_url='', uuid='9c47a32436af2ab11996d092941e18b1', force_refresh=True, modules_movie=None, modules_tv=None, list_grabbers=None, list_grabber_capabilities=None, debug=True) and remaining_args [] 2025-11-04 20:25:45,477:DEBUG:tvhmeta:428:Remaining args dict = {} 2025-11-04 20:25:45,478:DEBUG:tvhmeta:70:grabber_args={} 2025-11-04 20:25:45,478:INFO:tvhmeta:163:Sending node=[{"uuid": "9c47a32436af2ab11996d092941e18b1", "image": "file:///mnt/sda/user/recordings/Screenshot_Name.jpg", "fanart_image": ""}] to http://localhost:9981/api/idnode/save 2025-11-04 20:25:45,485:DEBUG:tvhmeta:170:Received: {}

Any clue appreciated.

DeltaMikeCharlie

I see that you have recently raised a bug on GitHub for this.

tvheadend/tvheadend1992

I have also seen that you seem to use Kodi as your client.

https://tvheadend.org/d/8861-automatically-take-a-screenshot-to-illustrate-recordings/10

I would be interested to see if this this is a data update issue or a data display issue and at what point this issue occurs.

Some things to try:

Immediately after updating your inode, fetch it again and see if the image property has changed. You could also use something like /api/dvr/entry/grid_finished to check multiple recordings at one time.

Go into the TVH WebUI and see if the image has been updated. If not, does refreshing the browser page help?

Enable trace/debug logging in TVH for htsp and as you make the change, see if TVH sends an updated recording message to Kodi.

If no update message is sent to Kodi, then we have a TVH issue. If an update message is sent to Kodi, then we have a display issue. Try disabling and re-enabling the Kodi pve.hts addon or totally stopping and restarting Kodi and see if the updated image appears.

Cutter

The image property does not change in grid_finished after sending the update request. Kodi is then off, so there's no chance of it interfering. It does not change in the WebUI either.

I tried logging htsp messages but I don't see an update message even for recordings where the update works (when the existing image is not from the EPG), when Kodi is subscribed.

Should we discuss it further on the Github issue ?

DeltaMikeCharlie

Cutter The image property does not change in grid_finished after sending the update request.

This is a good clue. It suggests that TVH is not updating this property correctly.

Cutter Kodi is then off, so there's no chance of it interfering.

I don't think that Kodi could 'interfere' per se.

In order to see the new image, the new value needs to be 1) saved in TVH, 2) sent to the client and then 3) the client needs to display it. We seem to be failing at step 1).

DeltaMikeCharlie

Cutter Should we discuss it further on the Github issue ?

I have posted my findings on GitHub.

tvheadend/tvheadend1992

TL;DR - I works on my test system without a problem.