Kodi is a media-center program that organizes and plays video, music, photographs, radio streams, and other media on a television or computer. It can turn folders on internal disks, removable storage, and network shares into a poster-based library. Kodi stores artwork, descriptions, watched status, and navigation data; it does not include a film catalogue, provide a streaming subscription, or copy every source file into its own folder.
Files before library
Kodi separates file access from library organization. A source tells Kodi where media lives. The user then assigns a content type, chooses a metadata scraper, and starts a scan. Files view can open a playable video without any metadata, while the Movies and TV Shows libraries contain only items that the scan identified.
That distinction explains why adding a folder does not always create posters. A source marked as Movies will not correctly interpret an episode collection, and a source with no assigned content remains a browsable folder. UPnP shares have another restriction: it can browse and play them, but it cannot use them to build its local video library. A normal network file protocol is needed when library scanning matters.
Names drive matches
The scraper relies on folder and file names. A movie title followed by its release year gives Kodi a better identity than a short filename copied from a download. Television episodes also need recognizable season and episode markers. The file may play perfectly when the name is wrong, yet the scan can skip it or attach the poster and plot of a different work.
Unmatched items appear in the event log after a library update. Correct the name at the storage location, remove an incorrect library entry if necessary, and scan again. Editing the displayed title alone does not repair the filename that a later clean-and-rescan operation will read.
Scrapers hold metadata
A scraper converts a file identity into artwork, cast data, plot text, and other library fields. Its language, preferred ratings, and naming assumptions can be configured for a source. Individual titles can also receive manual information or local metadata files when an automated match is not suitable.
Changing a scraper has a consequential prompt. Refreshing all information can remove the source’s existing library records and fetch them again, which may replace chosen artwork or manual edits. Declining the refresh preserves current records and uses the new scraper for later additions. Export library data before a broad refresh, especially when the collection has many corrected matches.
Playback paths
Kodi plays the original media through the route assigned to its source. A network share therefore depends on its server, credentials, address, and protocol every time playback starts. A library poster can remain visible after the share goes offline because the metadata sits locally, but selecting it will not recover a missing file.
Hardware decoding can reduce processor load for supported video, though a driver or codec mismatch may cause a black screen, color errors, or unstable seeking. Disabling hardware acceleration for the affected codec is a useful test, not a universal improvement. Audio output also needs the correct channel layout and passthrough setting; enabling passthrough for a receiver that cannot decode the selected format can produce silence.
Add-ons change Kodi
Add-ons can supply skins, subtitle services, metadata scrapers, remote controls, and access to online services. Repositories can update installed add-ons, so installing one creates an ongoing software source rather than a single static file. An add-on can stop working when its remote service changes even though Kodi and local playback remain functional.
Install only the repositories and add-ons that are needed. An unfamiliar add-on can request network access, change menus, or depend on content whose distribution rights are unclear. Removing it later does not necessarily restore every setting it changed, and abandoned repositories can leave components that no longer receive fixes.
Profiles share hardware
Kodi profiles can separate libraries, watched status, media sources, and interface choices for different people. They still run within the same Kodi installation and use the same machine resources. A profile lock controls access through Kodi’s interface, but it is not disk encryption and does not protect the underlying media files from another account with filesystem access.
A large initial scan downloads substantial metadata and artwork while reading every source. Let it finish before judging missing titles or performance. Interrupting it leaves a partly populated library, and running another clean operation too early can remove entries whose storage was only temporarily unavailable.
