Bonus: Live Events — Event Channel Managarr¶

Repository: Dispatcharr-Event-Channel-Managarr-Plugin

Goal¶

Automatically toggle the visibility of existing event-style channels (PPV, sports, F1, fight nights) based on EPG data and channel name patterns. The plugin hides channels that currently have no event and shows ones that do, using a prioritized rule list.

Warning

The plugin does not create new channels from keywords. The channels must already exist in your lineup, typically from event-style M3U entries.

Back up your database first

Channel visibility changes and bulk EPG removal cannot be undone. Back up the Dispatcharr database before running any actions.

Plugin Flow¶

flowchart TD
    A["Save settings<br/>Profile and Hide Rules order"] --> B["Validate"]
    B --> C["Save Schedule"]
    C --> D["Dry Run<br/>CSV with reason and hide_rule"]
    D --> E{"Reasons match<br/>your expectations?"}
    E -->|no| F["Reorder Hide Rules<br/>or adjust regex"]
    F --> D
    E -->|yes| G["Run Now<br/>apply visibility"]
    G --> H["Remove EPG from Hidden<br/>optional cleanup"]
    H --> Z(["Event channels self-toggling<br/>on each scheduled run"])

Configuration Options¶

Timezone for scheduled runs.
Channel Profile Names (required, comma-separated for multiple profiles).
Channel Groups to narrow scope.
Name Source: Channel_Name or Stream_Name for rule matching.
Channel Name Event Timezone: Default US/Eastern. Used when extracting times from channel names that include a clock value.
Event Duration: How long an event keeps a channel visible after its start time (default 3 hours).
Manage Dummy EPG: Default false. When enabled, the plugin can attach or detach dummy EPG entries on hidden channels for cleaner guide rendering.
Hide Rules Priority: Ordered, comma-separated list. Default:
```
[InactiveRegex],[BlankName],[WrongDayOfWeek],[NoEventPattern],
[EmptyPlaceholder],[PastDate:0],[FutureDate:2],[UndatedAge:2],
[ShortDescription],[ShortChannelName]
```
Other available rules: [NoEPG], [NumberOnly], [PastDate:days:Xh] and [FutureDate:days] (inline parameters), [UndatedAge:days].
Regex: Channel Names to Ignore / Mark Channel as Inactive / Force Visible Channels.
Duplicate Handling Strategy: lowest_number / highest_number / longest_name, plus a Keep Duplicate Channels override.
Past Date Grace Period (Hours): Default 4.
Auto-Remove EPG on Hide: Default true.
Rate Limiting: None / Low / Medium / High.
Scheduled Run Times (HHMM, comma-separated) and Enable Scheduled CSV Export.

Action Sequence¶

Save settings and the required Channel Profile name(s).
Run 🔎 Validate to confirm profile names, group names, and regex patterns parse correctly.
Adjust Hide Rules Priority if the default order does not fit your event channels.
Click 💾 Save Schedule to save settings and activate any scheduled run times.
Run 👁️ Dry Run and review the reason and hide_rule columns to confirm the right channels would be hidden or shown.
Run ▶️ Run Now to apply visibility changes immediately.
Optionally run 🧹 Remove EPG from Hidden to keep the guide clean.
Use 🩺 Check Scheduler to verify scheduled runs are registered, 🧼 Cleanup Orphaned Tasks to clear stale Celery entries, and 🗑️ Clear CSV Exports to remove old preview files.

Important Notes¶

Each scan covers all channels in the profile — visible and hidden — so a channel that picks up a new event will be re-shown automatically on the next run.
The first matching rule in the priority list wins. Subsequent rules are not evaluated for that channel.
The Force Visible regex always wins over hide rules. Useful for keeping news, weather, or always-on channels visible.
Date extraction supports many formats (Nov 8 16:00, 12/25/2024, start:2024-12-25 20:00:00, ISO formats, ordinal dates, and more). The grace period prevents premature hiding of events that run past midnight.