If you’re familiar with interpreting XML, you can gather information about your Plex Media Server. You might like to do this if you’re troubleshooting a problem or if you’re a developer.
Basic Information
You’ll Need Your Token
In a default setup, all of your requests to the Plex Media Server must be authenticated. In this case, that means that you need to include a valid authentication token when making requests.
Simply add your token as an X-Plex-Token parameter in the URL similar to this:
http://[PMS_IP_Address]:32400/library/sections?X-Plex-Token=YourTokenGoesHereRelated Page: Finding an authentication token / X-Plex-Token
Base Server Capabilities
Each Plex Media Server has a number of capabilities as regards transcoding and the libraries on the server. To see the base information, visit the following URL:
http://[PMS_IP_Address]:32400/?X-Plex-Token=YourTokenGoesHereExample:
<MediaContainer size="14" allowMediaDeletion="1" flashInstalled="1" friendlyName="PlexPMS"
machineIdentifier="62ad4ec510d34450a8d2a6ee04e195c515f65ddf" multiuser="1" myPlex="1" myPlexMappingState="mapped"
myPlexSigninState="ok" myPlexUsername="plexuser" platform="MacOSX" platformVersion="10.9.2" requestParametersInCookie="1"
silverlightInstalled="0" soundflowerInstalled="1" sync="1" transcoderActiveVideoSessions="0" transcoderAudio="1" transcoderVideo="1"
transcoderVideoBitrates="64,96,208,320,720,1500,2000,3000,4000,8000,10000,12000,20000"
transcoderVideoQualities="0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12" transcoderVideoResolutions="128,128,160,240,320,480,768,720,720,1080,1080,1080,1080"
updatedAt="1394559746" version="0.9.9.6.424-d1ab326" webkit="1">
<Directory count="1" key="butler" title="butler"/>
<Directory count="1" key="channels" title="channels"/>
<Directory count="1" key="clients" title="clients"/>
<Directory count="1" key="library" title="library"/>
<Directory count="2" key="music" title="music"/>
<Directory count="1" key="photos" title="photos"/>
<Directory count="1" key="playQueues" title="playQueues"/>
<Directory count="1" key="player" title="player"/>
<Directory count="1" key="playlists" title="playlists"/>
<Directory count="1" key="search" title="search"/>
<Directory count="1" key="servers" title="servers"/>
<Directory count="1" key="system" title="system"/>
<Directory count="1" key="transcode" title="transcode"/>
<Directory count="6" key="video" title="video"/>
</MediaContainer>Listing Defined Libraries
A list of libraries with details for each library is available:
http://[PMS_IP_Address]:32400/library/sections?X-Plex-Token=YourTokenGoesHereGives the following result:
<MediaContainer size="3" allowSync="0" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/"
mediaTagVersion="1390169701" title1="Plex Library">
<Directory allowSync="0" art="/:/resources/movie-fanart.jpg" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/movie.png"
key="29" type="movie" title="Movies" agent="com.plexapp.agents.imdb" scanner="Plex Movie Scanner"
language="en" uuid="07a4b132-a67b-477e-a245-585935d08c0b" updatedAt="1394559305" createdAt="1390438950">
<Location id="4" path="/Users/plexuser/Movies/Media/Movies"/>
</Directory>
<Directory allowSync="0" art="/:/resources/artist-fanart.jpg" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/artist.png"
key="31" type="artist" title="Music" agent="com.plexapp.agents.lastfm" scanner="Plex Music Scanner"
language="en" uuid="10254ef0-a0a4-481b-ad9c-46ab3db39d0b" updatedAt="1394039950"
createdAt="1390440566">
<Location id="7" path="/Users/plexuser/Movies/Media/Music"/>
</Directory>
<Directory allowSync="0" art="/:/resources/show-fanart.jpg" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/show.png"
key="30" type="show" title="Television" agent="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb" scanner="Plex Series Scanner"
language="en" uuid="540e7c98-5a92-4e8f-b255-9cca2870060c" updatedAt="1394482680"
createdAt="1390438925">
<Location id="3" path="/Users/plexuser/Movies/Media/TV Shows"/>
</Directory>
</MediaContainer>Each library has a key that identifies it within the database. For example, the “Movies” library above:
key="29" type="movie" title="Movies"…indicates that the key = 29, the type = movie and the title = Movies
Listing Library Contents
You can use the Section Key to further list the contents of the corresponding library. This may be useful if you’re investigating an issue. From the previous example, to list the Movies library contents:
http://[PMS_IP_Address]:32400/library/sections/29/all?X-Plex-Token=YourTokenGoesHere…which returns (truncated for brevity):
<MediaContainer size="16" allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/movie-fanart.jpg" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library"
librarySectionID="29" librarySectionUUID="07a4b132-a67b-477e-a245-585935d08c0b"
mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1387854996" thumb="/:/resources/movie.png"
title1="Movies" title2="All Movies" viewGroup="movie" viewMode="65592">
<Video ratingKey="56" key="/library/metadata/56" studio="Pixar" type="movie" title="A Bug's Life"
titleSort="Bug's Life" contentRating="G" summary="On behalf of "oppressed bugs everywhere," an inventive ant
named Flik hires a troupe of warrior bugs to defend his bustling colony from a horde of freeloading
grasshoppers led by the evil-minded Hopper." rating="6.3000001907348597" year="1998"
tagline="An epic of miniature proportions." thumb="/library/metadata/56/thumb/1394561225" art="/library/metadata/56/art/1394561225"
duration="9685" originallyAvailableAt="1998-11-14" addedAt="1394561211" updatedAt="1394561225">
<Media videoResolution="480" id="56" duration="9685" bitrate="1428" width="720" aspectRatio="1.85"
audioChannels="2" audioCodec="aac" videoCodec="h264" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="24p">
<Part id="64" key="/library/parts/64/file.mkv" duration="9685" file="/Users/plexuser/Movies/Media/Movies/A Bug's Life (1998).mkv"
size="1728497" container="mkv"/>
</Media>
<Genre tag="Comedy"/>
<Genre tag="Family"/>
<Writer tag="Don McEnery"/>
<Writer tag="Bob Shaw"/>
<Director tag="John Lasseter"/>
<Director tag="Andrew Stanton"/>
<Country tag="USA"/>
<Role tag="David Lander"/>
<Role tag="Joe Ranft"/><Role tag="Jack Angel"/>
</Video>
. . .Listing Details of an Item
Once you have listed the library contents, you can gather information about an individual item within a library. To do this:
- List the library
- Find the media item you’d like to inspect
- Find the item’s key
- List the details
For example, the following item has a key:
<Video ratingKey="1668" key="/library/metadata/1668"To inspect the exhaustive details for this item:
http://[PMS_IP_ADDRESS]:32400/library/metadata/1668?X-Plex-Token=YourTokenGoesHereWhich yields the following (truncated for brevity):
<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="29" librarySectionUUID="07a4b132-a67b-477e-a245-585935d08c0b" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1387854996">
<Video ratingKey="56" key="/library/metadata/56" studio="Pixar" type="movie" title="A Bug's Life"
titleSort="Bug's Life" contentRating="G" summary="On behalf of "oppressed bugs everywhere," an inventive ant
named Flik hires a troupe of warrior bugs to defend his bustling colony from a horde of freeloading
grasshoppers led by the evil-minded Hopper." rating="6.3000001907348597" year="1998"
tagline="An epic of miniature proportions." thumb="/library/metadata/56/thumb/1394561225" art="/library/metadata/56/art/1394561225"
duration="9685" originallyAvailableAt="1998-11-14" addedAt="1394561211" updatedAt="1394561225">
<Media videoResolution="480" id="56" duration="9685" bitrate="1428" width="720"
aspectRatio="1.85" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="aac" videoCodec="h264" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="24p">
<Part id="64" key="/library/parts/64/file.mkv" duration="9685" file="/Users/plexuser/Movies/Media/Movies/A Bug's Life (1998).mkv" size="1728497" container="mkv">
<Stream id="219" streamType="1" codec="h264" index="0" bitrate="1428" language="English" languageCode="eng"
anamorphic="1" bitDepth="8" cabac="1" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codecID="V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC" colorSpace="yuv"
duration="9676" frameRate="29.970" frameRateMode="cfr" hasScalingMatrix="0" headerStripping="1" level="30"
pixelAspectRatio="32:27" profile="main" refFrames="4" scanType="progressive" title="" width="720"/>
<Stream id="220" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="aac" index="1" channels="2" language="English" languageCode="eng"
codecID="A_AAC" duration="9685" profile="lc" samplingRate="48000" title=""/>
<Stream id="221" streamType="2" codec="dca" index="2" channels="6" bitrate="1509"
language="日本語 (にほんご／にっぽんご)" languageCode="jpn" bitDepth="24" bitrateMode="cbr" codecID="A_DTS"
duration="9685" samplingRate="48000" title=""/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Genre id="247" tag="Comedy"/>
<Genre id="248" tag="Family"/>
<Genre id="351" tag="Animation"/>
<Genre id="352" tag="Adventure Film"/>
<Writer id="356" tag="Don McEnery"/>
<Producer id="401" tag="Kevin Reher"/>
<Country id="253" tag="USA"/>
<Role id="359" tag="David Lander" role="Thumper"/>
<Role id="268" tag="Joe Ranft" role="Heimlich"/>
. . .
</Video>
</MediaContainer>Information in this view can be useful in a lot of situations. One particular situation where it comes in very handy is to verify what audio or subtitle streams Plex scanned in for the item. If you look at the <Stream> nodes, you’ll see several useful pieces of information:
<Stream id="221" streamType="2" codec="dca" index="2" channels="6" bitrate="1509" language="日本語 (にほんご／にっぽんご)"
languageCode="jpn" bitDepth="24" bitrateMode="cbr" codecID="A_DTS" duration="9685" samplingRate="48000" title=""/>- streamType: The type of media stream/track it is (1 = video, 2 = audio, 3 = subtitle)
- language: The display name for the language; typically associated with audio and subtitle streams
- languageCode: The 3-letter ISO-639-2/B language code; typically associated with audio and subtitle streams
Scanning and Refreshing Sections
Scan a Library
You can perform the same thing that occurs when you just press the Scan Library Files button in the Plex Web App, which is to scan for changes and then refresh metadata for any new items.
- Determine the Library ID to scan
- For example, the Movies library above has an ID=29
http://[PMS_IP_ADDRESS]:32400/library/sections/29/refresh?X-Plex-Token=YourTokenGoesHereRelated Page: Scanning vs Refreshing a Library
Refresh Metadata For an Entire Library
You can perform the same thing that occurs when you “Refresh All Metadata” a library in the Plex Web App, which is to scan for changes and then refresh the metadata for all items in the library, regardless of whether they already have metadata.
- Determine the Library ID to scan
- For example, the Movies library above has an ID=29
http://[PMS_IP_ADDRESS]:32400/library/sections/29/refresh?force=1&X-Plex-Token=YourTokenGoesHereRelated Page: Scanning vs Refreshing a Library
Partially Scan a Library
If the content location you have specified for a library has subdirectories, then it’s possible to specify a particular path to use for the action. This requires Plex Media Server version 1.20.0.3125 or newer. For instance, we saw earlier that the “Movies” library had /Users/plexuser/Movies/Media/Movies specified as the content location.
Now, imagine that the user has subdirectories under that for different resolution content (e.g. .../Media/Movies/720p and .../Media/Movies/1080p). It’s possible to tell the server to scan only a particular subdirectory.
- Determine the Library ID to scan
- For example, the Movies library above has an ID=29
- Know the path of the subdirectory of the content location you wish to scan
http://[PMS_IP_ADDRESS]:32400/library/sections/29/refresh?path=/Users/plexuser/Movies/Media/Movies/1080p&X-Plex-Token=YourTokenGoesHereTip!: If you’re using the URL in a script or app, you need to make sure that you “URL Encode” the path you specify first. If you’re using this in a browser address bar, then the browser will automatically do so for you.
Related Page: Scanning vs Refreshing a Library