Plex HUE Control

Project inspired by the work done by [Nathan Paul] here (https://npaul.uk/2020/04/using-plex-and-hue-together/)

Instead of having hardcoded parameters, his code has been ammended to use .env variables, making it easier to change parameters.

Version History

• v1.0.0: Initial implementation of control.
• v1.1.0: Implementing use of sunset/sunrise to determine when to control the lights.
• v1.1.1: Fixing missing packages
• v1.2.0: Adding setting for trailershow before movies.
• v1.2.2: More details in logging
• v1.2.3: This is a security fix only. Updating modules, node version etc. No new features implemented. Solves CVE-2024-45296 issue.

Deployment

This will guide you throug the process of running Plex HUE Control on a Mac, using 10.15 Catalina.

Install required build tools

$ brew update
$ brew install node

Verify that Node.js is installed and working

$ node -v
v22.11.0

$ npm -v
10.9.0

Install PM2 - the Node.js process manager

$ npm i -g pm2

Clone Plex HUE Control from GitHub

The easiest is to clone into the user directory of the user running Plex Server e.g. /Users//github/plex-hue-control, but any non root directory should be fine.

git clone https://github.com/floydian-dk/plex-hue-control.git

Create the .env file

$ cp sample.env .env

CONFIGURATION

Open the .env file in your favorite text editor.

The following parameters are needed for the program to work:

• HUE_ADDRESS The IP address of your Philips HUE

• HUE_TOKEN The user token from your Philips HUE brick. To get a new token do the following: (Or read Philips official documentation here: https://developers.meethue.com/develop/get-started-2/)

1. In a web browser on your home network go to http:///debug/clip.html This will show you the CLIP API Debugger

2. In the following fields: URL: /api Message Body: {"devicetype":"plex_hue_control#[device] [name]"}

3. Click on "POST" If it works, it will generate an error message, that you need to press the link button on your Philips HUE.

4. Press the link button on your Philips HUE, then click on "POST" again. This will now provide you with the needed token. Copy this into the .env config file.

• LISTEN_PORT The network port this application will listen on. If you have a firewall between your Plex Server and the computer you are running plex-hue-control on, be sure to allow TCP trafic on this port. The default is port 8000. Be sure to select a port which is not used for other services.

Be sure to have configured the 3 scenes (star/resume, pause & stop) in your Philips HUE before you proceed.

To get the group and scene ID's use your previously obtained token and go to http:///debug/clip.html. In URL field type: /api//scenes Click on "GET". This will output a lot of data. In this search for the scene names and note down the group number, and the ID (this is found on line before the name).

• HUE_SCENE_PLAY This is the ID of the HUE lighting scene that should be started when you start (or resume) playing a movie/TV-Show.

• HUE_SCENE_PAUSE This is the ID of the HUE lighting scene that should be started when you pause playback of a movie/TV-Show.

• HUE_SCENE_STOP This is the ID of the HUE lighting scene that should be started when your movie/TV-Show finishes.

• HUE_SCENE_TRAILER This is the ID of the HUE lighting scene that should be started when the trailer show is starting, or you are watching clips.

• HUE_SCENE_GROUPID This is the lighting group ID for the the scenes - note that the scenes used should all be part of the same group of lights for this to work.

• HUE_SCENE_TRANSITION This is not used at the moment, so can be left empty. Transition times between scenes are currently hardcoded.

• PLAYER_ID1/PLAYER_ID2 This is the Plex PlayerID(s) that should activate your lights. Currently only two players are supported. To get this/these ID's you need to monitor the log output. See below.

• HOME_LATITUDE= Latitide of your home location - used to calculate sunset and sunrise. If left empty, lights will only be controlled if they are turned on when you start watching a Move/TV-Show.

• HOME_LONGITUDE= Longitude of your home location - used to calculate sunset and sunrise. If left empty, lights will only be controlled if they are turned on when you start watching a Move/TV-Show.

Build the app

$ npm install

Start Plex HUE Control

$ npm start

Plex HUE Control should now be running and listening on the configured port. You can do a simple test using curl

$ curl http://localhost:<port-number>

Monitor log output

$ pm2 logs

This will let you monitor the log output of Plex HUE Control.

Configuring Plex

In order to notify Plex HUE Control of actions made in Plex, we need to configure a Webhook in the Plex Server control panel.

1. In a browser navigate to your Plex Server and go to Settings -> Webhooks

2. Click on "Add Webhook"

3. Fill in the URL of the webhook e.g. http://:

If Plex HUE Control is running on the same machine as the Plex Server you can use localhost or 127.0.0.1 as the IP address. The Port Number is the port configured above.

4. Save the changes.

Getting Player ID's

Monitor the log output of PM2 and then start playing a movie on the device you want to control your lights. In the log output you will see the player ID followed by the action taken. Fill in this player ID in the .env file.

Then restart PM2

$ pm2 restart all

Check that light control is working

Ensure the lights you want to control are on - The Plex HUE Control checks these before taking any actions, to ensure that lights on not turned on during daytime.

Monitor the log output of PM2

Then start playing a movie on one of the configured devices, and you should see the lights change.

Update of Plex HUE Control

Run the following command inside the plex-hue-control directory

 git stash && git pull && npm install && pm2 restart all

Acknowledgments

• Thank you Nathan Paul for your work