niavasha/plex-mcp-server

Plex MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI assistants with comprehensive access to your Plex Media Server. Query your libraries, get viewing statistics, and manage your media through natural language interactions.

🎬 What is this?

This MCP server transforms your Plex Media Server into an AI-queryable database. Ask your AI assistant questions like:

• "What movies have I watched recently?"
• "Show me my viewing statistics for the past month"
• "What's the most popular content on my server?"
• "Find action movies in my library"
• "What's on my continue watching list?"

✨ Features

📚 Library Management

• Browse all Plex libraries
• Search across movies, TV shows, music, and more
• Get detailed metadata for any media item

📊 Tautulli-Style Analytics

• Comprehensive viewing statistics
• User activity tracking
• Popular content analysis
• Watch history with progress tracking
• Library usage metrics

🎯 Smart Querying

• Recently watched content
• Fully watched movies/shows
• Continue watching (On Deck)
• Recently added media

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Plex Media Server (any recent version)
• Plex Token (How to get your token)
• MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, etc.)

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/niavasha/plex-mcp-server.git
cd plex-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

Configuration

1. Get your Plex token (see instructions below)

2. Create environment file:

# Copy the example environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Edit with your details
PLEX_URL=http://localhost:32400
PLEX_TOKEN=your_plex_token_here

3. Configure your MCP client:

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., Claude Desktop):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "plex": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/plex-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PLEX_URL": "http://localhost:32400",
        "PLEX_TOKEN": "your_plex_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Usage

Once configured, you can ask your AI assistant:

🎬 "What movies did I watch last week?"
📺 "Show me my most popular TV shows this month"
📊 "Give me viewing statistics for the past 30 days"
🔍 "Search for Christopher Nolan movies in my library"
▶️ "What's on my continue watching list?"
📚 "List all my Plex libraries"

🛠️ Available Functions

🔑 Getting Your Plex Token

1. Open Plex Web App in your browser
2. Navigate to Settings → Account → Privacy
3. Click "Show Advanced" at the bottom
4. Copy your Plex Token

Alternative method:

• Visit: http://YOUR_PLEX_IP:32400/web/index.html#!/settings/account
• Look for the "Plex Token" field

📁 Project Structure

plex-mcp-server/
├── src/
│   └── index.ts          # Main MCP server implementation
├── build/                # Compiled JavaScript output
├── package.json          # Node.js dependencies and scripts
├── tsconfig.json         # TypeScript configuration
├── .env.example          # Environment variables template
├── README.md             # This file
└── LICENSE               # MIT License

🔧 Development

Scripts

# Development mode with auto-reload
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Start production server
npm start

# Run tests (if implemented)
npm test

Building from Source

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/niavasha/plex-mcp-server.git
cd plex-mcp-server
npm install

# Development
npm run dev

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Development Guidelines

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Connection refused:

• Verify your Plex server is running
• Check the PLEX_URL in your .env file
• Ensure the port (usually 32400) is correct

Authentication errors:

• Verify your Plex token is correct
• Check token permissions in Plex settings
• Ensure token hasn't expired

Empty responses:

• Some features require Plex Pass
• Check if your libraries are accessible
• Verify media has been scanned and is available

MCP client issues:

• Ensure the path to build/index.js is correct
• Check that Node.js is in your system PATH
• Verify environment variables are set in client config

Getting Help

• 📝 Open an issue
• 💬 Check existing discussions
• 📖 Review the MCP documentation

📋 Requirements

• Node.js 18.0.0 or higher
• Plex Media Server (any recent version)
• Network access between MCP server and Plex server
• Valid Plex token with appropriate permissions

🔒 Security Notes

• Keep your Plex token secure - never commit it to version control
• Use environment variables for sensitive configuration
• Run on trusted networks - the server communicates directly with Plex
• Regular token rotation - consider refreshing tokens periodically

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Anthropic for the Model Context Protocol
• Plex for the amazing media server
• Tautulli for analytics inspiration
• The open-source community for various libraries and tools

🔗 Related Projects

• Model Context Protocol - The standard this server implements
• Claude Desktop - Popular MCP client
• Tautulli - Plex monitoring and analytics
• PlexAPI - Python Plex API library

Built with ❤️ for the Plex and AI community