Plex Media Server

The Plex integration allows you to connect Home Assistant to a Plex Media Server. Once configured, actively streaming Plex Clients show up as Media Players and report playback status via a Sensor in Home Assistant. Media Players will allow you to control media playback and see the current playing item.

Support for playing music directly on linked Sonos speakers is available for users with an active Plex Pass subscription. More information here.

There is currently support for the following device types within Home Assistant:

• Sensor
• Media Player

If a Plex server has been claimed by a Plex account via the claim interface, Home Assistant will require authentication to connect.

Configuration

The Plex integration is set up via Configuration -> Integrations. During the configuration, you will be redirected to the Plex website to sign in with your Plex account. Once access is granted, Home Assistant will connect to the Plex server linked to the provided account. If multiple Plex servers are available on the account, you will be prompted to complete the configuration by selecting the desired server on the Integrations page. Upon completeion, Home Assistant will be displayed as an authorized device on the Plex Web interface under Settings -> Authorized Devices.

Integration Options

Several options are provided to adjust the behavior of media_player entities. These can be changed at Plex -> Options on the Integrations page.

Use episode art: Display TV episode art instead of TV show art.

Monitored users: A list of accounts with access to the Plex server. Only selected users will create media_player entities.

Ignore new managed/shared users: Enable to ignore new Plex accounts granted access to the server.

Ignore Plex Web clients: Do not create media_player entities for Plex Web clients.

Manual Configuration

Alternatively, you can manually configure a Plex server connection by selecting the “Configure Plex server manually” when configuring a Plex integration. This option is only available to users in “Advanced Mode”. This will allow you to specify the server connection options which will be validated before setup is completed. The available options are described below:

Host: The IP address or hostname of your Plex server. Optional if ‘Token’ is provided.

Port: The port of your Plex Server.

Use SSL: Use HTTPS to connect to Plex server.

Verify SSL certificate: Verify the SSL certificate of your Plex server. May be used if connecting with an IP or if using a self-signed certificate.

Token: A valid authorization token for your Plex server. If provided without ‘Host’, a connection URL will be retreived from Plex.

Sensor

The Plex sensor platform monitors activity on a given Plex Media Server. The sensor state provides the a count of users currently watching media from the Plex server. Clicking the sensor shows who is watching what media.

Media Player

The Plex media player platform will create Media Player entities for each connected client device. These entities will display media information, playback progress, and playback controls (if supported by the streaming device).

By default, the Plex integration will create Media Player entities for all local, managed, and shared users on the Plex server. To customize which users or client types to monitor, adjust the “Monitored users”, “Ignore new managed/shared users”, and “Ignore Plex Web clients” options described under Integration Options.

Service media_player.play_media

Plays a song, album, artist, playlist, TV show/season/episode, movie, or video on a connected client.

Required fields within the media_content_id payloads are marked as such, others are optional.

Music

Examples:

entity_id: media_player.plex_player
media_content_type: MUSIC
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Music", "artist_name": "Adele", "album_name": "25", "track_name": "Hello" }'

entity_id: media_player.plex_player
media_content_type: MUSIC
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Music", "artist_name": "Stevie Wonder", "shuffle": "1" }'

Playlist

Example:

entity_id: media_player.plex_player
media_content_type: PLAYLIST
media_content_id: '{ "playlist_name": "The Best of Disco", "shuffle": "1" }'

TV Episode

Examples:

entity_id: media_player.plex_player
media_content_type: EPISODE
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Adult TV", "show_name": "Rick and Morty", "season_number": 2, "episode_number": 5 }'

entity_id: media_player.plex_player
media_content_type: EPISODE
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Kid TV", "show_name": "Sesame Street", "shuffle": "1" }'

Movie

For movies it’s usually sufficient to provide the title. However, if the title you provide has multiple matches (such as with remakes), more search keys may be necessary. These optional keys can be included in the media_content_id JSON payload to restrict the search:

• unwatched: Restrict search to unwatched items only (True, False)
• actor: Restrict search for movies that include a specific actor
• collection: Restrict search within a named Plex collection (“Back to the Future”, “Indiana Jones”)
• contentRating: Restrict search to a specific content rating (“PG”, “R”)
• country: Restrict search to a specific country of origin
• decade: Restrict search to a specific decade (“1960”, “2010”)
• director: Restrict search to a specific director
• genre: Restrict search to a specific genre (“Animation”, “Drama”, “Sci-Fi”)
• resolution: Restrict search to a specific video resolution (480, 720, 1080, “4k”)
• year: Restrict search to a specific year

Examples:

entity_id: media_player.plex_player
media_content_type: movie
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Adult Movies", "title": "Blade" }'

entity_id: media_player.plex_player
media_content_type: movie
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Adult Movies", "title": "The Manchurian Candidate", year=1962 }'
# Would find the original instead of the 2004 remake

“Lazy” searches are also possible:

entity_id: media_player.plex_player
media_content_type: movie
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Adult Movies", "title": "die hard", year=1995 }'
# Would find the sequel, "Die Hard: With a Vengeance"

Compatibility

Sonos Playback

To play Plex music directly to Sonos speakers, the following requirements must be met:

1. Have an active Plex Pass subscription.
2. Remote access enabled for your Plex server.
3. Sonos speakers linked to your Plex account (Instructions).
4. Sonos integration configured.

Service plex.play_on_sonos

Examples:

entity_id: media_player.sonos_speaker
media_content_type: MUSIC
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Music", "artist_name": "Adele", "album_name": "25", "track_name": "Hello" }'

entity_id: media_player.sonos_speaker
media_content_type: MUSIC
media_content_id: '{ "library_name": "Music", "artist_name": "Stevie Wonder", "shuffle": "1" }'

Additional Services

Service plex.refresh_library

Refresh a Plex library to scan for new and updated media.

Service plex.scan_for_clients

Scan for new controllable Plex clients. This may be necessary in scripts or automations which control a Plex media_player entity, but where the underlying device must be turned on first.

Example script:

play_plex_on_tv:
  sequence:
    - service: media_player.select_source
      entity_id: media_player.smart_tv
      data:
        source: 'Plex'
    - wait_template: "{{ is_state('media_player.smart_tv', 'On') }}"
      timeout: '00:00:10'
    - service: plex.scan_for_clients
    - wait_template: "{{ not is_state('media_player.plex_smart_tv', 'unavailable') }}"
      timeout: '00:00:10'
      continue_on_timeout: false
    - service: media_player.play_media
      data:
        entity_id: media_player.plex_smart_tv
        media_content_id: '{"library_name": "Movies", "title": "Zoolander"}'
        media_content_type: movie

Notes

• The Plex integration supports multiple Plex servers. Additional connections can be configured under Configuration > Integrations.
• Movies must be located under the ‘Movies’ section in a Plex library to properly view the ‘playing’ state.