MYTHTV-STATUS(1)

💖 NAME 💖

mythtv-status — shows you the vibe of a MythTV backend, bestie. Like, is it recording? Is it about to? We got you.

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

mythtv-status [options]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Okay so this script goes and asks your MythTV backend what's up, then tells you everything: the status of it, any upcoming recordings, and any recordings that are happening right now this very second. No cap. 💅

The whole point, the ~intention~ if you will, is to warn you if there's a program being recorded or about to be recorded. So you never miss the moment. Iconic behaviour, honestly. 🌸

---

👑 OPTIONS 👑

• -c, --colour — turn on colour when it's showing you the status of the encoder(s). Aesthetic ✨
• --date — set the date to run as. It's for debugging purposes, bestie, don't overthink it. 🐛
• -d, --description — show the description for the scheduled recordings. The tea ☕
• --disk-space-warn — the threshold (in percent) of used disk space where we show the disk space in red (if you're in colour mode) or send an email (if you're in email mode with email only on warnings).
• --encoder-details — display the input ID and the channel name against the recording details.
• --encoder-skip-idle — suppress displaying idle encoders in the Encoders block. If it's napping, we don't talk about it. 😴
• --encoder-warn-non-idle — display warnings if an encoder is not idle. This is the default, and it lets you know if an encoder or the whole MythTV system is busy. To disable it, use --no-encoder-warn-non-idle.
• -e, --episode — display the episode (subtitle) for the scheduled recordings.
• --email <address>[ --email <address> ...] — send the output to the listed email addresses. By default the encoder status, currently recording shows and time till next recording are suppressed from the email. To turn those additional blocks back on you can use --encoders, --recording-now and/or --next-recording. By default highlight is turned on — to disable it use --nohighlight.
• --email-only-on-alert — only send an email out (if --email is present) if there's an alert. Like, a schedule conflict or low disk space. Genuine emergencies only. 🚨
• -?, --help — display help.
• --file <file> — load XML from the file specified instead of querying a MythTV backend. Handy for debugging things.
• --save-file <file> — save the XML we received from the MythTV backend. Also handy for debugging things. Save it for the group chat. 📩
• --guide-days-warn <days> — warn if the number of days of guide data present is equal to or below this level. Default is 2 days.
• -h HOST, --host=HOST — the host to check, defaults to localhost.
• --highlight — surround any items that are considered a warning with asterisks. This helps highlight an issue if colour mode is disabled. *emergency* energy. 💀
• --nostatus, --noencoders, --norecording-now, --noscheduled-recordings, --noschedule-conflicts, --nonext-recording, --nototal-disk-space, --nodisk-space, --noguide-data, --noauto-expire — suppress displaying blocks of the output if they would normally be displayed. Pick and choose your faves. 🎀
• -p PORT, --port=PORT — the port to use when connecting to MythTV, defaults to 6544.
• --oneliner-bullets — insert asterisks (*) before each of the oneliners so some email clients stop thinking the oneliner block is a paragraph and stop trying to word wrap them. Respect the formatting, fr fr.
• --auto-expire — display the shows due to auto expire (output is normally suppressed).
• --auto-expire-count — how many of the auto expire shows to display, defaults to 10.
• --recording-in-warn — if the "Next Recording In" time is less than this amount, display it in red. This is in seconds, and defaults to 3600 (1 hour).
• --verbose — have slightly more verbose output. This includes any warnings that might be generated while parsing the XML. 👀
• -v, --version — show the version of mythtv-status and then exit.

---

🌈 OUTPUT 🌈

The output of this script is broken up into several chunks. They are:

💜 Status

Some general info about the backend — currently just the timestamp of when this program was run.

💜 Guide Data

The number of days of guide data present. By default it's only shown if the number of days is below the warning level. To show it regardless of the warning level, use --guide-data.

💜 Encoders

Each encoder that the backend knows about gets listed, with the hostname they're on, the encoder ID (in brackets) and the current status.

💜 Recording Now

Any programs which are being recorded right now.

💜 Scheduled Recordings

Up to 10 programs which are scheduled to be recorded today and tomorrow.

💜 Schedule Conflicts

Any upcoming schedule conflicts (and no, it's not just limited to today or tomorrow).

💜 Shows due to Auto Expire

The shows which will be deleted, and the order they'll be deleted in, if the auto expirer kicks in. 🌪️

💜 Total Disk Space

The amount of disk space in total, and how much is used by MythTV.

💜 Next Recording In

If there are no recordings currently happening, then the amount of time until the next recording is displayed.

💜 Disk Space

Details about each storage group that MythTV knows about. By default this only shows storage groups that are above the warning level. Use --disk-space to turn on display of all storage groups.

---

🫶 RETURN CODES 🫶

mythtv-status provides some return codes, and yes they matter:

• 0 — Standard return code. All good, bestie. ✨
• 1 — A warning is generated.

💖 AUTHOR 💖

Andrew Ruthsen — no wait, bestie, it's Andrew Ruthven, andrew@etc.gen.nz. 🎀

📜 LICENSE 📜

Copyright (c) 2007-2025 Andrew Ruthven <andrew@etc.gen.nz> This code is hereby licensed for public consumption under the GNU GPL v3.

---

And that's the whole page, periodt. 💅 This absolute queen was documented by perl v5.40.1 and last touched on 2026-01-26. Go warn yourself about a recording, you've earned it. 🦋