❱ Plex Assistant

Installation ｜ Configuration ｜ IFTTT/DialogFlow Setup ｜ Commands ｜ Help Translate

Plex Assistant is a Home Assistant component to allow Google Assistant to cast Plex media to Google cast and Plex devices with a bit of help from IFTTT or DialogFlow.

Example: "Hey Google, tell Plex to play The Walking Dead on the Downstairs TV."

You can use the component's service without IFTTT/DialogFlow as well to call the commands however you'd like. Visit the services tab in HA's Developer Tools to test it out.

Support Development

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Author's note

This is just a side project made to fill the absence of native Google Assistant support in Plex and because the Phlex/FlexTV projects aren't in working order at the moment (is it just me?). It has only been tested on my setup with first generation Chromecasts.

This project is not a priority as Plex could add Google Assistant support or FlexTV may become viable again at any time. That being said, I will be adding features and fixing issues until that time. As always, I both welcome and greatly appreciate pull requests.

Thank you for understanding.

Installation

Install by using one of the methods below:

Install with HACS: Search integrations for "Plex Assistant", select and hit install. Add the configuration (see below) to your configuration.yaml file.
Install Manually: Install this component by copying all of these files to /custom_components/plex_assistant/. Add the configuration (see below) to your configuration.yaml file.

Configuration

Add config to your configuration.yaml file.

Key	Default	Necessity	Description
url		Required	The full url to your Plex instance including port.
token		Required	Your Plex token. How to find your Plex token.
default_cast		Optional	The name of the cast device to use if none is specified.
language	'en'	Optional	Language code. See Below for supported Languages.
tts_errors	true	Optional	Will speak errors on the selected cast device. For example: when the specified media wasn't found.
aliases		Optional	Set alias names for your devices. Example below, set what you want to call it then it's actual name.

Supported Languages

Plex Assistant currently supports: English (en), Swedish (sv), and Dutch (nl). Help add translations.

Sample Config

plex_assistant:
  url: 'http://192.168.1.3:32400'
  token: 'tH1s1Sy0uRT0k3n'
  default_cast: 'Downstairs TV'
  language: 'en'
  tts_errors: true
  aliases:
    Downstairs TV: TV0565124
    Upstairs TV: Samsung_66585

You must restart after installation and configuration, you may want to setup IFTTT or DialogFlow with the instructions below before doing so.

IFTTT/DialogFlow-Setup

You can either use IFTTT or DialogFlow to trigger Plex Assistant. DialogFlow is more involved and finicky to setup than IFTTT and will add an extra response from the Google Assistant like: "Talking to the test version of Plex". It's advantages are quicker response and support for more languages as long as the translation has been made for Plex Assistant.

IFTTT Setup Guide

IFTTT Setup

In Home Assistant

Go to "Configuration" in your HA sidebar and select "Integrations"
Hit the add button and search for "IFTTT" and click configure.
Follow the on screen instructions.
Copy or save the URL that is displayed at the end, we'll need it later and it won't be shown again.
Click "Finish"

In IFTTT

Visit ifttt.com and sign up or sign in.

Click "Explore" in the top right, then hit the plus sign to make your own applet from scratch
Press the plus sign next to "If". Search for and select "Google Assistant"
Select "Say phrase with text ingredient"

Now you can select how you want to trigger this service, you can select up to 3 ways to invoke it. I use things like tell plex to $ or have plex $. The dollar sign will be the phrase sent to this component. See currently supported commands below). You can also set a response from the Google Assistant if you'd like. Hit "Create Trigger" to continue.

Press the plus sign next to "Then"
Search for and select "Webhooks", then select "Make a web request"
In the URL field enter the webhook URL HA provided you earlier
Select method "Post" and content type "application/json"
Then copy and paste the code below into the body field

{ "action": "call_service", "service": "plex_assistant.command", "command": "{{TextField}}" }

In Home Assistant

Finally, add the following automation to your Home Assistant configuration.yaml:

automation:
  - alias: Plex Assistant Automation
    trigger:
    - event_data:
        action: call_service
      event_type: ifttt_webhook_received
      platform: event
    condition:
      condition: template
      value_template: "{{ trigger.event.data.service == 'plex_assistant.command' }}"
    action:
    - data_template:
        command: "{{ trigger.event.data.command }}"
      service_template: '{{ trigger.event.data.service }}'

Either refresh your automations or restart after adding the automation.

DialogFlow Setup Guide

DialogFlow Setup

In Home Assistant

Go to "Configuration" in your HA sidebar and select "Integrations"
Hit the add button and search for "Dialogflow".
Copy or save the URL that is displayed, we'll need it later and it won't be shown again.
Click "Finish"

In DialogFlow

Visit https://dialogflow.com/ and sign up or sign in. Keep going until you get to the "Welcome to Dialogflow!" page with "Create Agent" in the sidebar.

Click on Create Agent and Type "Plex_Assistant" as the agent name and select "Create"
Now select "Fulfillment" in the sidebar and enable "Webhook"
Enter the "URL" Home Assistant provided us earlier, scroll down and click "Save"
Now select "Intents" in the sidebar and hit the "Create Intent" button.
Select "ADD PARAMETERS AND ACTION" and enter "Plex" as the action name.
Check the checkbox under "Required"
Under "Parameter Name" put "command", under "Entity" put "@sys.any", and under "Value" put "$command"
Now click "ADD TRAINING PHRASES"
Create a phrase and type in "command"
Then double click on the word "command" you just entered and select "@sys.any:command"
Scroll to the bottom and expand "Fulfillment" then click "ENABLE FULFILLMENT"
Turn on "Enable webhook call for this intent"
Expand "Responses" turn on “Set this intent as end of conversation”
At the top of the page enter "Plex" for the intent name and hit "Save"
On the right side of the page hit "Set-up Google Assistant integration"
Click the space under "Explicit invocation", select "Plex", then hit "Close"
Type "Plex" in "Implicit invocation", then click "Manage assistant app"
Click "Decide how your action is invoked"
Under "Display Name" type "Plex" then hit save in the top right (it may give an error, but thats okay).

In Home Assistant

Add the following to your configuration.yaml file

intent_script:
  Plex:
    speech:
      text: Command sent to Plex.
    action:
      - service_template: plex_assistant.command
        data_template:
          command: "{{command}}"

You can now trigger Plex Assistant by saying "Hey Google, tell plex to..." or "Hey Google, ask plex to..."

Restart after adding the above.

Commands

Fuzzy Matching

A show or movie's title and the Chromecast device used in your phrase are processed using a fuzzy search. Meaning it will select the closest match using your Plex media titles and available cast device names. "play walk in deed on the dawn tee" would become "Play The Walking Dead on the Downstairs TV.". This even works for partial matches. play Pets 2 will match The Secret Life of Pets 2.

You can say things like:

"play the latest episode of Breaking Bad on the Living Room TV"
"play unwatched breaking bad"
"play Breaking Bad"
"play Pets 2 on the Kitchen Chromecast"
"play ondeck"
"play ondeck movies"
"play season 1 episode 3 of The Simpsons"
"play first season second episode of Taskmaster on the Theater System"

Control Commands:

play
pause
stop
jump forward
jump back

Be sure to add the name of the device to control commands if it is not the default device. "stop downstairs tv".

I've tried to take into account many different ways that commands could be phrased. If you find a phrase that isn't working and you feel should be implemented, please make an issue.

Music isn't built in yet, only shows and movies at the moment.

Cast Device

If no cast device is specified the default_cast device set in config is used. A cast device will only be found if at the end of the command and when preceded with the word "on" or words "on the". Example: "play friends ON downstairs tv"

Translation

You can contribute to the translation/localization of this component by using the translation guide.

thefrenchmatt / plex_assistant

❱ Plex Assistant

Support Development

Author's note

Installation

Configuration

Supported Languages

IFTTT/DialogFlow-Setup

IFTTT Setup

In Home Assistant

In IFTTT

In Home Assistant

DialogFlow Setup

In Home Assistant

In DialogFlow

In Home Assistant

Commands

Fuzzy Matching

You can say things like:

Control Commands:

Cast Device

Translation

About

Languages