@ctrl/plex

A TypeScript Plex API client using ofetch based on pkkid/python-plexapi

Install

npm install @ctrl/plex

Docs

https://plex.ep.workers.dev

Use

Create a plex connection

import { MyPlexAccount } from '@ctrl/plex';

const account = await new MyPlexAccount({
  baseUrl: 'http://localhost:32400',
  // Use username and password based auth
  username: 'username',
  password: 'password',
  // OR Token based auth
  token: 'token',
}).connect();

// List all available servers (resources) attached to your account
const resources = await account.resources();

// Connect to a specific server by name
// You can find the server name in the Plex Web UI settings or by listing resources above
const resource = await account.resource('<SERVERNAME>');
const plex = await resource.connect();
const library = await plex.library();

// List all libraries (Movies, TV Shows, Music, etc.)
const sections = await library.sections();

Example 1: List all unwatched movies.

import { MovieSection } from '@ctrl/plex';

// Pass MovieSection generic because the section title doesn't imply a section type.
const section = await library.section<MovieSection>('Movies');
// Get an array of Movie objects
const results = await section.search({ unwatched: true });

Example 2: Search for a list of movies containing a title

const library = await plex.library();
const section = await library.section<MovieSection>('Movies');
const results = await section.search({ title: 'Rush Hour' });

Example 3: List all content containing a specific query

const results = await plex.search('Arnold');
// Each hub represents a single Hub (or category) in the PlexServer search (movie, actor, etc)
for (const hub of results) {
  // Log first result in each category
  console.log(hub?.Metadata?.[0]);
}

Example 4: List all episodes of a tv show.

import { ShowSection } from '@ctrl/plex';

// Pass ShowSection generic because the section title doesn't imply a section type.
const section = await library.section<ShowSection>('TV Shows');
// Get an array of Show objects
const results = await section.search({ title: 'Silicon Valley' });
const episodes = await results[0].episodes();

Example 5: Create a playlist from search results

import { Playlist } from '@ctrl/plex';

// Search for all movies with rating > 8
const topMovies = await section.search({ hasRating: true, sort: 'rating' });

// Create a new playlist
const bestMovies = await Playlist.create(plex, 'Best Movies', { items: topMovies });

Differences from python plex client

JS is a different language and some methods of the api were not possible. Chaining functions with requests must be awaited mostly individually. Constructors in JS don't typically make requests and accessing properties normally cannot make requests either.

Testing

Tests are run against a real instance of plex.

Setup test environment variables, create a plex account just for testing. Using a real account will break everything

export PLEX_USERNAME=email
export PLEX_PASSWORD=password

Setup test content (once)

pnpm run add-media

Run tests

pnpm test

Post testing, remove plex server from account. Warning this is destructive. Do not use this on a real plex account.

pnpm run test-cleanup

Running tests locally

Step 1

get a claim token from https://www.plex.tv/claim/ export PLEX_CLAIM_TOKEN=claim-token

Start plex container for testing. Replace /Users/scooper/gh/plex with the path to this repo's directory.

Step 2

Replace /Users/scooper/gh/plex with the path to this repo's directory.

docker run -d \
  --name=plex \
  --net=host \
  -h orbstack \
  -p 32400:32400/tcp \
  -p 32400:32400 \
  -p 1900:1900/udp \
  -p 5353:5353/udp \
  -p 8324:8324 \
  -p 32410:32410/udp \
  -p 32412:32412/udp \
  -p 32413:32413/udp \
  -p 32414:32414/udp \
  -p 32469:32469 \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=Etc/UTC \
  -e VERSION=docker \
  -e PLEX_CLAIM=$PLEX_CLAIM_TOKEN \
  -v /Users/scooper/gh/plex/plex/media/db:/config \
  -v /Users/scooper/gh/plex/plex/media/transcode:/transcode \
  -v /Users/scooper/gh/plex/plex/media:/data \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest

Pull latest plex container if needed

docker pull lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest

bootstrap plex server with test media. This assumes you have set the PLEX_PASSWORD and PLEX_USERNAME environment variables.

npx tsx scripts/bootstraptest.ts --no-docker --server-name=orbstack --password=$PLEX_PASSWORD --username=$PLEX_USERNAME