plex-media-server

Plex Media Server API — library management, media search, playback sessions, server status, and automation

Quality

63%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

Pending

No eval scenarios have been run

Securityby

Passed

No known issues

Optimize this skill with Tessl

npx tessl skill review --optimize ./plex-media-server/SKILL.md

Plex Media Server

Manage your Plex Media Server: scan libraries, search media, monitor playback sessions, and automate maintenance.

Authentication

All Plex API calls require an X-Plex-Token. Find yours:

Open Plex Web → any media item → Get Info → View XML → check URL for X-Plex-Token=
Or from the Plex claim: curl -s "https://plex.tv/api/v2/user" -H "X-Plex-Token: YOUR_TOKEN" | jq .

export PLEX_URL="http://localhost:32400"
export PLEX_TOKEN="YOUR_PLEX_TOKEN"

Server status

# Server identity
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/identity" | jq .

# Server capabilities
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/" | jq '.MediaContainer | {friendlyName, version, platform, updatedAt}'

# Server preferences
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/:/prefs" | jq '.MediaContainer.Setting[] | {id, value}'

Libraries

List libraries

curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/sections" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Directory[] | {key, title, type, agent, scanner}'

Scan library

# Scan specific library (use key from list)
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/sections/SECTION_KEY/refresh"

# Scan all libraries
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/sections/all/refresh"

# Force full metadata refresh
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/sections/SECTION_KEY/refresh?force=1"

Browse library contents

# List all items in a library section
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/sections/SECTION_KEY/all" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[] | {title, year, rating, addedAt}'

# Recently added
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/recentlyAdded" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[] | {title, type, year, addedAt}'

# On deck (continue watching)
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/onDeck" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[] | {title, grandparentTitle, viewOffset, duration}'

Search

# Search across all libraries
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/hubs/search?query=inception" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Hub[] | {type, size, Metadata: [.Metadata[]? | {title, year, type}]}'

# Search specific library
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/sections/SECTION_KEY/search?query=inception" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[] | {title, year, summary}'

Playback sessions

Currently playing

curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/status/sessions" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[]? | {
    title,
    user: .User.title,
    player: .Player.title,
    state: .Player.state,
    progress: ((.viewOffset / .duration * 100) | round),
    transcoding: (.TranscodeSession != null)
  }'

Playback history

curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/status/sessions/history/all" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[] | {title, viewedAt, accountID}'

Media info

Get item details

curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/metadata/RATING_KEY" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[0] | {title, year, summary, rating, Media: [.Media[] | {videoResolution, bitrate, container}]}'

Get TV show seasons and episodes

# Seasons of a show
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/metadata/SHOW_RATING_KEY/children" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[] | {title, index, leafCount}'

# Episodes of a season
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/metadata/SEASON_RATING_KEY/children" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Metadata[] | {title, index, duration}'

Maintenance

Optimize database

curl -s -X PUT -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/optimize"

Clean bundles (remove orphaned data)

curl -s -X PUT -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/clean/bundles"

Empty trash for a library

curl -s -X PUT -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/sections/SECTION_KEY/emptyTrash"

Analyze media (detect intros, credits)

# Analyze all items in a library
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  "$PLEX_URL/library/sections/SECTION_KEY/analyze"

Playback control

# Get list of available players
curl -s -H "X-Plex-Token: $PLEX_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "$PLEX_URL/clients" | \
  jq '.MediaContainer.Server[] | {name, address, port, machineIdentifier}'

Docker deployment

services:
  plex:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/Amsterdam
      - VERSION=docker
      - PLEX_CLAIM=claim-XXXXX  # From https://plex.tv/claim
    ports:
      - "32400:32400"
    volumes:
      - ./plex-config:/config
      - /path/to/movies:/movies
      - /path/to/tv:/tv
    restart: unless-stopped

Webhooks

Plex can send webhooks on playback events (requires Plex Pass):

Events: media.play, media.pause, media.resume, media.stop, media.scrobble, library.new, library.on.deck

Configure in Settings → Webhooks → Add Webhook URL.

Example: ntfy notification on new media

# Receive webhook and forward to ntfy (simple Flask/Node server)
# Plex sends POST with JSON payload containing event type and metadata
# Parse and forward:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $NTFY_TOKEN" \
     -H "Tags: movie_camera" \
     -d "New on Plex: $TITLE ($YEAR)" \
     "https://ntfy.example.com/plex"

Integration with Radarr/Sonarr

Trigger Plex library scan after Radarr/Sonarr imports:

Radarr: Settings → Connect → Add → Plex Media Server → enter host, port, token
Sonarr: Settings → Connect → Add → Plex Media Server → same config

This automatically scans the relevant library section after new media is imported.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
Library not showing new files	Trigger manual scan: `POST /library/sections/KEY/refresh`
Remote access not working	Check port 32400 forwarded, or use reverse proxy. Check Settings → Remote Access
Transcoding issues	Check hardware transcoding enabled. Verify `/dev/dri` mapped for Intel QSV
Slow library scan	Run `optimize` and `clean/bundles`. Check disk I/O
Metadata wrong	Force refresh: `PUT /library/metadata/KEY/refresh?force=1`
"Not authorized"	Token expired or wrong. Re-fetch from Plex Web UI
Database locked	Stop Plex, check for `com.plexapp.plugins.library.db-wal`, restart

Repository: ddnetters/homelab-agent-skills
Commit: 87d2278

Last updated: 23 days ago
Created: 23 days ago

Is this your skill?

If you maintain this skill, you can claim it as your own. Once claimed, you can manage eval scenarios, bundle related skills, attach documentation or rules, and ensure cross-agent compatibility.