*** Version 1.1.0 Released 8/27/2023 ***:
This is a minor release that added a "Close" button to the
m3u8 URL overlay box that is injected into the browsed web pages.
About the Chrome m3u8 URL Sniffer extension:
Version: 1.1.0 - Author: SigmaFxDx Software
Web Site:
http://SigmaFxDx.com/m3u8Sniffer
(C) 2021 Richard Stam, SigmaFxDx Software
Published under the terms of the
CDDL
Introduction:
Most web sites that provide live video streaming services today use
m3u8 files to identify and access the video streams, as opposed to
recorded videos that would use a format like mp4. For example, I use
this extension mostly to identify video streams from live TV streaming
pages, and if they use m3u8 files for the stream, I can take that URL and
open it separately in another browser window or with other video
playing/recording programs like VLC, Kodi, or Jaksta Media Recorder. For
this introduction we will just look at how to view a web site's m3u8
links (if it has any) and then download them as a file or open them
for viewing in a separate browser window/tab, using another extension for
that.
Important Note: This extension will NOT help you access
videos from sites like YouTube or Netflix.
Also, you should be aware that although some m3u8 links are long-lasting,
others are more temporary and will expire after a set period of time (probably about 4 to 12
hours).
For this example let's look at the CBSN Live News web site. I chose this site because it is free for public access and behaves as would be expected for this type of site. Assuming the m3u8 sniffer extension's options for m3u8 Sniffing and URL Injection are set to ON (the default, see further down in this text for more on the extension options), let''s go ahead and open the CBSN Live News web site. Once the site is open and the video is playing you should see a link to the m3u8 file URL in a small box at the top of the window that overlays the web site page as shown in this image:
The CBSN Live News web site with the m3u8 URL
link showing at the top.
Once the m3u8 URL is showing you can use the small "Copy" button to copy it to the clipboard or click or right click the m3u8 link for additional options of what to do with it. The normal browser behavior when you click to open (navigate to) a URL that ends with the m3u8 extension is to download the file. Although there are valid use cases for doing that, most often you would either just want to copy the link to the clipboard or open it into a new browser window/tab for separate viewing; for that you will need to have a second chrome extension installed (no need for this extension to do everything, right?), so let's cover that now.
Using another extension to view m3u8 streams:
Often all you want to do with a m3u8 stream link is to open it for
viewing in its own browser window/tab. This allows you to view it full
size in the window, without all the additional content of the web site
(ads, popups, etc.), and use a familiar and consistent user interface
for all of them. Also, the m3u8 stream viewing extension you choose
probably has additional options like picture in picture or viewing with
text captions. So without going into too much detail, I'll just
say I currently use the
Play HLS (currently version 1.6)
which is quite simple and has worked
well for me (it also works well with the Brave Browser, my favorite
browser). If you have the Play HLS extension enabled, whenever a m3u8
stream link is clicked it will be opened in a new browser window/tab for
viewing, instead of offering to download the file. Note that the m3u8
Sniffer extension will not check for additional m3u8 stream links from
videos played in the context of other extensions.
Removing (Closing) the m3u8 URL overlay from the web page:
If you would like to remove (close) the m3u8 URL overlay from the web page you are viewing, you can click on the overlay's Close button (shown as "X"). This will hide the overlay box for the current page until you navigate to a new page or refresh the current page. You can also stop showing the m3u8 overlays for all visited web pages by setting the "URL Injection" option to "OFF" as described further below.
Opening the m3u8 Sniffer extension popup window:
To open the m3u8 Sniffer extension popup window click on the
extension's small 
icon at
the top of the browser window (to the right of the address bar). The
extension popup window looks like this:
View of the m3u8 Sniffer extension popup window.
The first thing to note is that this popup also shows the URLs for the first and last m3u8 streams found. The functionality of these m3u8 links in the popup is the same as for the m3u8 link displayed overlaying the source web page. It is interesting to note that the first m3u8 link found for a web site is probably the most important and long lasting one. These will often be named using the words "master", "index", or "chunklist" somewhere right before the ".m3u8" extension. Using these links will provide the best chance of working properly if copied and pasted into other programs. So if a site shows multiple m3u8 links you can investigate which one works best.
Using the options available on the m3u8 Sniffer
extension popup window:
All of the extension's options are set from the extension's popup window.
The "About / Help" button on the top opens the extension's "Options" page, which is just a shorter version of what you are currently reading here.
The "Refresh" button updates the data shown in the popup, this is NOT done automatically as new m3u8 stream links are found. The contents of the extension's popup window will remain unchanged until the "Refresh" button is clicked or some other option on the popup window is changed.First, aside from the extension specific options covered here, remember
that you can always completely disable the extension (without removing it)
from the Chrome Extensions Management page. Disabling extensions that you are
not actively using can improve Chrome's performance, memory use, and security.
The "URL Injection" option tells the extension if you want it to inject (show) the overlay box containing the found m3u8 stream link into the source web page. If this option is set to "off" no such code injection will occur and you will not see the overlay box at the top of the original web page. Note that if you turn off the m3u8 Sniffing option, this option will also be set to "off", and likewise when you set the m3u8 Sniffing option to "on". Turning this option "off" will not remove any URLs that have already been injected into web pages, for that you will need to refresh the corresponding web pages.
The "Copy First" button copies the link from the FIRST m3u8 stream found (as shown in the popup window) to the system's clipboard. This link is most likely the one that should give you best results if you plan on pasting it into another program.
The "Copy Last" button copies the link from the LAST m3u8 stream found (as shown in the popup window) to the system's clipboard. If the web site you are viewing uses multiple m3u8 stream URLs you can select using (copy) the last one found to see how it compares with the first URL, depending on how you are using it. Note that this link will be updated when you click the "Refresh" button or select other options from the popup window.
Lastly, the "Show m3u8 URL links for" options select whether the links shown in the popup are the first and last m3u8 stream links found from the current "Active" tab only, the current "Active" browser window only, or for "All" open browser windows. Note that the m3u8 Sniffing extension will collect the m3u8 stream links from ALL open browser tabs and windows simultaneously. The number shown in square brackets to the right of these options is just a sequential counter of m3u8 URLs found, it will continue counting up until all the browser tabs that use m3u8 links are closed. For normal use you will probably just want to leave this option set to "Active Tab".
That's about it for using the m3u8 Sniffing extension's options. Next I'll comment on a couple other chrome extensions and standalone programs I use to view and record m3u8 streams and video files.
Important Notice: Much of the video material streamed over the internet has Copyright protections. It is up to you to make sure you don't violate any corresponding copyrights. From my understanding the "fair use" provisions of copyright law allow this content to be downloaded for personal use at a later time, but in general any public showing or redistribution of the material would be a violation and subject to prosecution. If in doubt, consult your lawyer. :)
These chrome extension are functionally completely independent from the m3u8 Sniffer extension, but I use them often and have found them very useful, especially for viewing and recording m3u8 streams.
Play HLS: As mentioned above, this extension opens m3u8 video links for viewing in a new browser window or tab (depending on your browser settings) instead of using the browser default behavior of downloading the m3u8 file. This provides for a better viewing experience since it plays in the entire window and avoids any distractions from other elements on the web page (ads, popups, etc.). It works very well in combination with this m3u8 Sniffer extension.
Stream Recorder: This is a very simple to use video stream recording extension. It is very good at recognizing and recording video streams that many other video extensions don't find.
Video Download Helper: Another good extension for finding and downloading web video files and streams. It has a lot of options and a standalone companion application that provides additional functionality not possible with a browser extension alone.Other standalone programs I use for video
stream viewing and recording:
Jaksta Media Recorder: (not free, Windows and Mac only) This is the program I use for real-time and scheduled recording from m3u8 video streams and YouTube videos. The free trial can download unlimited YouTube videos, but for most other option you will need to purchase a license. The price is quite reasonable, in my opinion. The only hard part is to figure out how to use scheduled recordings for m3u8 stream links that expire; you need to find a way to automate getting fresh m3u8 stream links into the schedule (a separate project). A great program!
Kodi (free amd multi-platform): This is a great multimedia player and is my primary viewer for all locally stored recorded videos. It can also play streamed videos, but that is not its strength. It can be unreliable when accessing live m3u8 streams and you will probably need to increase the network connection timeout for it to work properly in this situation. Even so, if you want to use m3u8 links with Kodi the method I have used is to include the m3u8 link (all by itself is OK) inside a file with a ".strm" extension. You can have many such ".strm" files in a folder and then you open that folder from Kodi's Videos -> Files section. There may be better ways of doing this, but this has worked for me and I don't use it for this often so I haven't researched it further.Copyright, fair use, privacy, compatibility, disclaimer, and credits:
This software is free and open source, however I have included the following Copyright notice: (C) 2021 Richard Stam, SigmaFxDx Software, and it is released under the terms of the Common Development and Distribution License. Click the link for license FAQ.
Fair use: You are free to review the source code to see how it works and use applicable portions of the code in your own projects, especially if your application is not in direct competition with this product. Making a full copy of this software and redistributing it without following the terms of the license (even with minor changes, fixes, or enhancements) would be considered rotten behavior and a possible violation of the copyright and licensing laws.
Privacy: This extension does not collect or transmit any information of any kind to any server. However, if you visit the companion web site it would keep track of its network traffic, as is the case with most web sites. The web site also doesn't collect any other information.
Compatibility: This extension is currently developed as a Chrome only extension. However it should work with most Chromium based browsers (like Brave, my favorite browser) without problems. However, I do most of the testing with Chrome, so if you are are having trouble with other browsers, try it out with Chrome.
Disclaimer: The author/publisher of this software does not warrant the functions contained in the program will meet your requirements or that the operation of the program will be uninterrupted or error-free. In no event will the author/publisher or its distributors be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profit, lost savings, lost patience or other incidental or consequential damage.
Credits: Icons used in this project are made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com.
Release History and Changelog:
Conclusion: Congratulations! If you read all that you should be well on your way to some exciting m3u8 URL Sniffing and video streaming. Enjoy!
Contact:
If you have any comments or questions you can contact me at:
m3u8Sniffer <-at-> SigmaFxDx.com.
