Describe the selection before opening the editor
A Kodi smart playlist queries items already in its library. It does not discover a new media source or provide programmes. State the selection in one sentence using metadata your own library actually contains. For example, a personal production library might need unwatched short demonstrations from a particular project tag, ordered by title.
List three expected matches and two near matches that should be excluded. Check that all five are already visible in the relevant Kodi library and that the fields required by the rule are populated. If the sample is absent from the library, stop here: changing query operators cannot repair an item that was never scanned into the database.
Choose the correct item class and rule logic
Open Videos > Playlists > New Smart Playlist for video, or Music > Playlists for music. Choose the item type that corresponds to the desired result. Kodi documents type-specific fields; its Mixed option concerns music and music videos rather than an arbitrary mixture of movies and episodes. Decide whether the output should contain movies, episodes, songs or another supported class before adding conditions.
Enter the smallest useful rule first and inspect its result. Add another condition only when it expresses a real requirement. All conditions and one-or-more conditions describe different boundaries. With a project tag and a duration limit, all conditions requires both; one-or-more can also include an unrelated short item. Check your negative examples instead of trusting a long result list that looks plausible.
Review order and limits after membership
Once membership is correct, choose the ordering and direction. Treat a result limit as a separate presentation decision. A limit can hide a correctly matched item below the cutoff, creating an apparent rule failure. Temporarily review the unrestricted result when diagnosing membership before restoring the intended limit.
Use field values drawn from the existing database where the editor permits browsing. This reduces avoidable spelling mismatches without proving that the original metadata is accurate. Keep the original requirement and sample set beside the playlist name. A meaningful title such as Project Demonstrations is easier to maintain than a list of operators embedded in the visible name.
Maintain the query as the library grows
Recheck the positive and negative samples after adding media or editing tags. A dynamic query responds to database changes, including mistakes; it is not a frozen editorial selection. If you need a fixed sequence approved for one event, distinguish that need from a rule-driven library view.
Record the installed Kodi version, selected type, logic, order and limit with the result review. Skin placement is a separate interface concern, so verify the playlist from its own listing before troubleshooting a customised home-screen link. The completed task is a reproducible query whose inclusions and exclusions you can explain, not a guarantee that every skin presents it identically.
Questions answered
Can a smart playlist include files Kodi has never scanned?
It queries library data. First verify that the expected items and metadata exist in the relevant library.
Does Mixed mean I can combine any video and music type?
No. The documented Mixed scope is music and music videos; choose the supported item type for the intended query.
Sources & further reading
Official references for the subjects discussed. Service terms and device software can change.