# Queue Manager The `QueueManager` allows you to manage a playlist of media items in Shaka Player, handling automatic progression, repeat modes, and preloading of adjacent items to minimize transition latency. It is automatically created and associated with a `shaka.Player` instance — you do not need to instantiate it directly. #### Basic Usage Retrieve the `QueueManager` from a player instance and insert items to play: ```js async function initPlayer() { const video = document.getElementById('video'); const player = new shaka.Player(); await player.attach(video); const queueManager = player.getQueueManager(); // Insert one or more items into the queue queueManager.insertItems([ { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/video1/dash.mpd' }, { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/video2/dash.mpd' }, { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/video3/dash.mpd' }, ]); // Start playback from the first item await queueManager.playItem(0); } ``` Each item in the queue is a `QueueItem` object. At minimum it requires a `manifestUri`, but it also accepts optional fields: ```js { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/video.mpd', // Required startTime: 30, // Optional: start offset in seconds mimeType: 'application/dash+xml', // Optional: hint for the player config: { /* shaka.extern.PlayerConfiguration */ }, // Optional: per-item config preloadManager: null, // Optional: pre-built PreloadManager extraText: [...], // Optional: additional text tracks extraThumbnail: [...], // Optional: additional thumbnail tracks extraChapter: [...], // Optional: additional chapter tracks metadata: { /* shaka.extern.QueueItemMetadata */ }, // Optional: display metadata } ``` #### Navigating the Queue You can jump to any item by index, and inspect the current state of the queue at any time: ```js // Play the third item (zero-based index) await queueManager.playItem(2); // Get the currently playing item const currentItem = queueManager.getCurrentItem(); console.log('Now playing:', currentItem.manifestUri); // Get the current index const index = queueManager.getCurrentItemIndex(); // Get a snapshot of all items in the queue const allItems = queueManager.getItems(); console.log(`Queue has ${allItems.length} items`); ``` `playItem` throws a `shaka.util.Error` with code `QUEUE_INDEX_OUT_OF_BOUNDS` if the provided index is out of range. #### Repeat Modes The `QueueManager` supports three repeat modes, configured via `queueManager.configure()`: ```js queueManager.configure({ repeatMode: shaka.config.RepeatMode.ALL, // Repeat the whole queue }); ``` | Mode | Behaviour | |---|---| | `shaka.config.RepeatMode.OFF` | Playback stops after the last item. | | `shaka.config.RepeatMode.SINGLE` | The current item loops indefinitely. | | `shaka.config.RepeatMode.ALL` | The queue loops back to the first item after the last. | The default mode is `OFF`. #### Preloading Adjacent Items To reduce the transition delay between items, the `QueueManager` can automatically preload the next item as the current one approaches its end, and optionally preserve a preload of the previous item in case the user seeks back. ```js queueManager.configure({ repeatMode: shaka.config.RepeatMode.ALL, // Start preloading the next item when this many seconds remain in the current one preloadNextUrlWindow: 30, // Save a preload of the previous item when advancing forward preloadPrevItem: true, }); ``` When `preloadNextUrlWindow` is set to a positive value, the manager listens to the playback position and triggers a `player.preload()` call automatically. You do not need to manage this yourself. If `preloadPrevItem` is `true`, navigating to the next item will internally call `player.unloadAndSavePreload()` on the current one, so going back is faster. This only works when the player is in `MEDIA_SOURCE` load mode. #### Listening to Queue Events The `QueueManager` extends `FakeEventTarget` and dispatches events you can subscribe to: ```js queueManager.addEventListener('currentitemchanged', () => { const item = queueManager.getCurrentItem(); console.log('Now playing:', item.manifestUri); }); queueManager.addEventListener('itemsinserted', () => { console.log('Items added. Queue length:', queueManager.getItems().length); }); queueManager.addEventListener('itemsremoved', () => { console.log('Queue cleared.'); }); ``` | Event | Fired when | |---|---| | `currentitemchanged` | `playItem()` is called with a different index than the current one. | | `itemsinserted` | `insertItems()` is called. | | `itemsremoved` | `removeAllItems()` is called. | #### Adding Extra Tracks per Item Each `QueueItem` can carry additional text, thumbnail, or chapter tracks that are added to the player automatically once streaming begins: ```js queueManager.insertItems([ { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/video.mpd', extraText: [ { uri: 'https://example.com/subtitles-en.vtt', language: 'en', kind: 'subtitle', mime: 'text/vtt', }, ], extraThumbnail: [ 'https://example.com/thumbnails.vtt', ], extraChapter: [ { uri: 'https://example.com/chapters-en.vtt', language: 'en', mime: 'text/vtt', }, ], }, ]); ``` All extra tracks for a given item are added in parallel after the `streaming` event fires, so they do not block initial playback. #### Item Metadata Each `QueueItem` accepts an optional `metadata` field of type `shaka.extern.QueueItemMetadata`. It has two well-known properties — `title` and `poster` — and supports any additional arbitrary properties your application needs (they are not type-checked by Shaka). ```js queueManager.insertItems([ { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/video.mpd', metadata: { title: 'My Awesome Video', poster: 'https://example.com/poster.jpg', // Any extra application-level data is allowed: description: 'An optional description for your UI', durationSeconds: 3600, }, }, ]); ``` You can read the metadata back from `getCurrentItem()` to drive your own UI (e.g. update a title bar or thumbnail while the item changes): ```js queueManager.addEventListener('currentitemchanged', () => { const item = queueManager.getCurrentItem(); if (item?.metadata) { document.getElementById('title').textContent = item.metadata.title ?? ''; document.getElementById('poster').src = item.metadata.poster ?? ''; } }); ``` Note: `metadata` is purely application-side data. Shaka Player does not read or use it internally. #### Per-item Player Configuration If different items in your queue require different player settings (e.g. different DRM configurations or ABR constraints), you can attach a `config` object to each `QueueItem`. The manager will call `player.resetConfiguration()` followed by `player.configure(item.config)` before loading that item: ```js queueManager.insertItems([ { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/clear.mpd', }, { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/protected.mpd', config: { drm: { servers: { 'com.widevine.alpha': 'https://example.com/license', }, }, }, }, ]); ``` #### Loading an M3U Playlist `loadFromM3uPlaylist()` lets you populate the queue from a remote M3U or M3U8 playlist in one call. The method fetches the file using the player's own networking engine (so request filters, credentials, and retry parameters all apply), parses every stream entry, and inserts the resulting items into the queue. ```js // Load a playlist and start playing the first channel immediately. await queueManager.loadFromM3uPlaylist( 'https://example.com/channels.m3u', /* playOnLoad= */ true, ); ``` The second argument, `playOnLoad`, is optional and defaults to `false`. When `true`, `playItem(0)` is called automatically once the items have been inserted. ```js // Load a playlist without starting playback — useful when you want to // inspect or filter the items before choosing which one to play. await queueManager.loadFromM3uPlaylist('https://example.com/channels.m3u'); const items = queueManager.getItems(); const newsIndex = items.findIndex( (item) => item.metadata?.groupTitle === 'News', ); if (newsIndex >= 0) { await queueManager.playItem(newsIndex); } ``` ##### EXTINF attributes and item metadata The parser supports the Extended M3U format (`#EXTM3U` / `#EXTINF`) with the `tvg-*` and `group-title` attributes commonly found in IPTV playlists. All attributes are copied into the item's `metadata` object **using their original hyphenated names** (e.g. `tvg-id`, `tvg-name`, `group-title`). Two standard `QueueItemMetadata` aliases are also set on top: | Playlist attribute | `metadata` property | Notes | |--------------------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------| | `tvg-name` | `tvg-name` + `title`| `title` falls back to the display name. | | `tvg-logo` | `tvg-logo` + `poster`| | | `tvg-id` | `tvg-id` | Also used for deduplication (see below). | | `tvg-language` | `tvg-language` | | | `tvg-country` | `tvg-country` | | | `tvg-url` | `tvg-url` | EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) feed URL. | | `group-title` | `group-title` | | | Display name | `displayTitle` | The text after the last comma in `#EXTINF`.| | *(any other)* | *(original name)* | Unknown attributes are preserved as-is. | A typical IPTV entry and the metadata it produces: ``` #EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="bbc1" tvg-name="BBC One" tvg-logo="https://example.com/bbc1.png" tvg-language="English" tvg-country="GB" group-title="Entertainment",BBC One HD https://example.com/bbc1/stream.m3u8 ``` ```js { manifestUri: 'https://example.com/bbc1/stream.m3u8', metadata: { // Standard QueueItemMetadata aliases title: 'BBC One', // from tvg-name poster: 'https://example.com/bbc1.png', // from tvg-logo // Raw attribute names, exactly as in the playlist 'tvg-id': 'bbc1', 'tvg-name': 'BBC One', 'tvg-logo': 'https://example.com/bbc1.png', 'tvg-language': 'English', 'tvg-country': 'GB', 'group-title': 'Entertainment', // Extra helper added by the parser displayTitle: 'BBC One HD', // raw text after the last comma }, } ``` You can use `metadata['group-title']` to build a channel-group UI, or `metadata['tvg-url']` to load EPG schedule data for the currently playing channel: ```js queueManager.addEventListener('currentitemchanged', () => { const item = queueManager.getCurrentItem(); if (item?.metadata) { titleEl.textContent = item.metadata.title ?? ''; posterEl.src = item.metadata.poster ?? ''; groupEl.textContent = item.metadata['group-title'] ?? ''; } }); ``` ##### Duplicate channel handling Channels that share the same `tvg-id` value are automatically deduplicated: only the first occurrence is kept, and subsequent entries with the same id are silently dropped. Channels without a `tvg-id` are always included regardless of whether their stream URL appears more than once. Note: `loadFromM3uPlaylist()` uses `RequestType.PLAYLIST` and the `manifest.retryParameters` from the current player configuration. If the playlist URL requires custom headers or credentials, configure them via a request filter before calling this method. #### Clearing the Queue To stop playback and remove all items from the queue: ```js await queueManager.removeAllItems(); ``` This unloads the player, destroys any active or pending `PreloadManager` instances, and resets the current index to `-1`.