@ctrl/plex

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

Install

npm install @ctrl/plex
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Docs

https://ctrl-plex.vercel.app

Use

Create a plex connection

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

const account = await new MyPlexAccount('http://localhost:32400', 'username', 'password').connect();
const resource = await account.resource('<SERVERNAME>');
const plex = await resource.connect();
const library = await plex.library();
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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 });
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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' });
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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]);
}
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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();
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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
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Claim server and setup test content (once)

npm run claim-server && npm run add-media
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Run tests

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

npm run test-cleanup
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Running tests locally (mostly for myself)

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

start plex container for testing

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
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Pull latest plex container if needed

docker pull lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest
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bootstrap plex server with test media

NODE_OPTIONS="--loader ts-node/esm" node scripts/bootstraptest.ts --no-docker --server-name=orbstack --password=$PLEX_PASSWORD --username=$PLEX_USERNAME
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