Jellyfin Control

MCP Tools

Control Jellyfin media server and TV. Search content, resume playback, manage sessions, control TV power and apps. Supports Home Assistant and direct WebOS backends. One command to turn on TV, launch Jellyfin, and play content.

Install

openclaw skills install jellyfin-control

Jellyfin Control

A robust skill to control Jellyfin playback and TV power via CLI.

Features

🎯 One-Command Play: tv play "Breaking Bad" — turns on TV, launches Jellyfin, finds the next episode, and plays it.
Smart Resume: Automatically finds the next unplayed episode for series.
Resume Position: Resumes Movies/Episodes exactly where left off (with Seek fallback for LG WebOS/Tizen).
Device Discovery: Auto-detects controllable sessions (TVs, Phones, Web).
Remote Control: Full playback control (play, pause, stop, next, prev, volume, mute).
TV Power & Apps: Turn TV on/off, launch apps — works with or without Home Assistant.
Two TV Backends: Home Assistant integration or direct WebOS (LG TVs, no HA needed).
Android TV Support: Direct ADB backend for Chromecast w/ Google TV, Nvidia Shield, Fire TV, Mi Box — no HA needed.
Three connection modes: Home Assistant (any TV), direct WebOS (LG), direct ADB (Android TV/Fire TV).

Quick Start

Minimal setup (Jellyfin only, no TV control)

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "jellyfin-control": {
        "env": {
          "JF_URL": "http://YOUR_IP:8096",
          "JF_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
          "JF_USER": "your-username"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

With Home Assistant (recommended for TV control)

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "jellyfin-control": {
        "env": {
          "JF_URL": "http://192.168.1.50:8096",
          "JF_API_KEY": "your-jellyfin-api-key",
          "JF_USER": "victor",
          "HA_URL": "http://192.168.1.138:8123",
          "HA_TOKEN": "your-ha-long-lived-token",
          "HA_TV_ENTITY": "media_player.lg_webos_tv_oled48c34la",
          "TV_MAC": "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Direct WebOS (LG TV, no Home Assistant needed)

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "jellyfin-control": {
        "env": {
          "JF_URL": "http://192.168.1.50:8096",
          "JF_API_KEY": "your-jellyfin-api-key",
          "JF_USER": "victor",
          "TV_IP": "192.168.1.100",
          "TV_MAC": "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

First time with WebOS direct: The TV will show a pairing prompt. Accept it and save the TV_CLIENT_KEY the skill prints — add it to your env to skip the prompt next time.

Direct ADB (Android TV / Fire TV / Chromecast with Google TV, no HA needed)

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "jellyfin-control": {
        "env": {
          "JF_URL": "http://192.168.1.50:8096",
          "JF_API_KEY": "your-jellyfin-api-key",
          "JF_USER": "victor",
          "ADB_DEVICE": "192.168.1.100:5555",
          "TV_MAC": "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

First time with ADB: Enable Developer Options on your TV (Settings → About → tap Build Number 7 times), then enable Network/USB debugging. First connection will show "Allow debugging?" on the TV — accept it. Requires adb installed on the OpenClaw host (sudo apt install adb).

Environment Variables

Jellyfin (required)

Variable	Required	Description
`JF_URL`	Yes	Base URL of your Jellyfin server, e.g. `http://192.168.1.50:8096`
`JF_API_KEY`	Yes	API key from Jellyfin Dashboard → Advanced → API Keys
`JF_USER`	No	Username — used to resolve user ID for user-specific endpoints
`JF_USER_ID`	No	User ID directly — avoids needing to call `/Users`
`JF_PASS`	No	Password — only if authenticating by user session

TV Control (optional — choose one backend)

Variable	Backend	Description
`TV_BACKEND`	All	Force backend: `homeassistant`, `webos`, `androidtv`, or `auto`
`TV_PLATFORM`	HA	Force platform: `webos` or `androidtv` (auto-detected from entity)
`HA_URL`	HA	Home Assistant URL, e.g. `http://192.168.1.138:8123`
`HA_TOKEN`	HA	HA long-lived access token (Profile → Long-Lived Access Tokens)
`HA_TV_ENTITY`	HA	Entity ID of your TV, e.g. `media_player.lg_webos_tv_oled48c34la`
`TV_IP`	WebOS	LG TV IP address for direct WebOS SSAP connection
`TV_CLIENT_KEY`	WebOS	Pairing key (printed on first connection — save it!)
`ADB_DEVICE`	AndroidTV	TV address for ADB, e.g. `192.168.1.100:5555`
`TV_MAC`	All	TV MAC address for Wake-on-LAN (needed to turn on TV)
`TV_JELLYFIN_APP`	All	Override Jellyfin app ID (auto: `org.jellyfin.webos` / `org.jellyfin.androidtv`)
`TV_BOOT_DELAY`	All	Seconds to wait after TV wake (default: 10)
`TV_APP_DELAY`	All	Seconds to wait after launching Jellyfin (default: 8)

Auto-detection: If TV_BACKEND is auto (default):

HA_URL + HA_TOKEN + HA_TV_ENTITY set → Home Assistant backend
ADB_DEVICE set → direct ADB (Android TV)
TV_IP set → direct WebOS (LG)
Nothing set → TV commands disabled, Jellyfin-only mode

Usage

🎯 One-Command Play (the magic)

Turn on TV → launch Jellyfin → find next episode → play it. All in one command:

node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js tv play "Breaking Bad"
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js tv play "The Matrix"

The skill validates the content exists BEFORE turning on the TV (fail fast).

Resume / Play Smart

If TV and Jellyfin are already running:

node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js resume "Breaking Bad"
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js resume "Matrix" --device "Chromecast"

TV Control

node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js tv on           # Turn on (Wake-on-LAN)
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js tv off          # Turn off
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js tv launch       # Launch Jellyfin app
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js tv launch com.webos.app.hdmi1  # Launch specific app
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js tv apps         # List installed apps

Remote Control

node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js control pause
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js control play
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js control next
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js control vol 50

Search Content

node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js search "Star Wars"

Library Stats & Scan

node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js stats
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js scan            # requires admin API key

User History (requires admin API key)

node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js history
node skills/jellyfin-control/cli.js history jorge --days 7

Choosing a TV Backend

Feature	Home Assistant	Direct WebOS	Direct ADB (Android TV)	No Backend
TV brands	Any (via HA)	LG only	Android TV, Fire TV, CCwGTV	—
Turn on (WoL)	✅	✅	✅ (WoL or ADB wakeup)	—
Turn off	✅	✅	✅	—
Launch apps	✅	✅	✅	—
List apps	✅ (via HA logs)	✅ (direct output)	✅ (direct output)	—
Extra dependency	None	`npm install ws`	`apt install adb`	None
Setup complexity	Medium (need HA)	Low (TV IP + MAC)	Low (enable ADB on TV)	None
Jellyfin playback	✅	✅	✅	✅

Recommendation:

Already have Home Assistant? → Use HA backend (most versatile, any TV brand)
LG WebOS TV, no HA? → Use direct WebOS backend
Android TV / Fire TV / Chromecast with Google TV, no HA? → Use direct ADB backend
No smart TV control needed? → Skip TV config, resume works if Jellyfin app is already open

Security Notes

API keys only in openclaw.json env — never in workspace files, .env files, or markdown docs.
HA tokens are long-lived and powerful. Create a dedicated HA user with limited permissions if possible.
TV_CLIENT_KEY (WebOS) is sensitive — it allows full control of your TV. Treat it like a password.
ADB access grants full control of your Android TV. Ensure your network is secured — anyone on the same network could connect via ADB if debugging is enabled.
Admin operations (history, scan) require an admin-level Jellyfin API key and will fail gracefully with 403 if permissions are insufficient.

Architecture

lib/jellyfin.js — Jellyfin REST API (auth, search, sessions, playback control)
lib/tv.js — TV control abstraction (HA backend, WebOS backend, Wake-on-LAN)
cli.js — User-friendly CLI with all commands

Workflow: Agent says "Play Star Trek on TV"

Agent → cli.js tv play "Star Trek"
         │
         ├── 1. Search Jellyfin for "Star Trek" (fail fast)
         ├── 2. Find next unplayed episode
         ├── 3. Wake-on-LAN → TV turns on
         ├── 4. Wait 10s for boot
         ├── 5. Launch Jellyfin app (HA or WebOS)
         ├── 6. Wait 8s for session registration
         ├── 7. Find Jellyfin session (retry 3x)
         └── 8. Play episode on session

Jellyfin Control

Install

Jellyfin Control

Features

Quick Start

Minimal setup (Jellyfin only, no TV control)

With Home Assistant (recommended for TV control)

Direct WebOS (LG TV, no Home Assistant needed)

Direct ADB (Android TV / Fire TV / Chromecast with Google TV, no HA needed)

Environment Variables

Jellyfin (required)

TV Control (optional — choose one backend)

Usage

🎯 One-Command Play (the magic)

Resume / Play Smart

TV Control

Remote Control

Search Content

Library Stats & Scan

User History (requires admin API key)

Choosing a TV Backend

Security Notes

Architecture

Workflow: Agent says "Play Star Trek on TV"

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