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plexpy

Summary

Table of Contents

SDK Installation

Note

Python version upgrade policy

Once a Python version reaches its official end of life date, a 3-month grace period is provided for users to upgrade. Following this grace period, the minimum python version supported in the SDK will be updated.

The SDK can be installed with uv, pip, or poetry package managers.

uv

uv is a fast Python package installer and resolver, designed as a drop-in replacement for pip and pip-tools. It's recommended for its speed and modern Python tooling capabilities.

uv add plex-api-client

PIP

PIP is the default package installer for Python, enabling easy installation and management of packages from PyPI via the command line.

pip install plex-api-client

Poetry

Poetry is a modern tool that simplifies dependency management and package publishing by using a single pyproject.toml file to handle project metadata and dependencies.

poetry add plex-api-client

Shell and script usage with uv

You can use this SDK in a Python shell with uv and the uvx command that comes with it like so:

uvx --from plex-api-client python

It's also possible to write a standalone Python script without needing to set up a whole project like so:

#!/usr/bin/env -S uv run --script
# /// script
# requires-python = ">=3.9"
# dependencies = [
#     "plex-api-client",
# ]
# ///

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI

sdk = PlexAPI(
  # SDK arguments
)

# Rest of script here...

Once that is saved to a file, you can run it with uv run script.py where script.py can be replaced with the actual file name.

IDE Support

PyCharm

Generally, the SDK will work well with most IDEs out of the box. However, when using PyCharm, you can enjoy much better integration with Pydantic by installing an additional plugin.

SDK Example Usage

Example

# Synchronous Example
from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components, operations


with PlexAPI(
    accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
    client_identifier="abc123",
    product="Plex for Roku",
    version="2.4.1",
    platform="Roku",
    platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
    device="Roku 3",
    model="4200X",
    device_vendor="Roku",
    device_name="Living Room TV",
    marketplace="googlePlay",
    token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
) as plex_api:

    res = plex_api.transcoder.start_transcode_session(request=operations.StartTranscodeSessionRequest(
        transcode_type=components.TranscodeType.MUSIC,
        extension=operations.Extension.MPD,
        advanced_subtitles=components.AdvancedSubtitles.BURN,
        audio_boost=50,
        audio_channel_count=5,
        auto_adjust_quality=components.BoolInt.ONE,
        auto_adjust_subtitle=components.BoolInt.ONE,
        direct_play=components.BoolInt.ONE,
        direct_stream=components.BoolInt.ONE,
        direct_stream_audio=components.BoolInt.ONE,
        disable_resolution_rotation=components.BoolInt.ONE,
        has_mde=components.BoolInt.ONE,
        location=operations.StartTranscodeSessionQueryParamLocation.WAN,
        media_buffer_size=102400,
        media_index=0,
        music_bitrate=5000,
        offset=90.5,
        part_index=0,
        path="/library/metadata/151671",
        peak_bitrate=12000,
        photo_resolution="1080x1080",
        protocol=operations.StartTranscodeSessionQueryParamProtocol.DASH,
        seconds_per_segment=5,
        subtitle_size=50,
        video_bitrate=12000,
        video_quality=50,
        video_resolution="1080x1080",
        x_plex_client_profile_extra="add-limitation(scope=videoCodec&scopeName=*&type=upperBound&name=video.frameRate&value=60&replace=true)+append-transcode-target-codec(type=videoProfile&context=streaming&videoCodec=h264%2Chevc&audioCodec=aac&protocol=dash)",
        x_plex_client_profile_name="generic",
    ))

    assert res.response_stream is not None

    # Handle response
    print(res.response_stream)

The same SDK client can also be used to make asynchronous requests by importing asyncio.

# Asynchronous Example
import asyncio
from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components, operations

async def main():

    async with PlexAPI(
        accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
        client_identifier="abc123",
        product="Plex for Roku",
        version="2.4.1",
        platform="Roku",
        platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
        device="Roku 3",
        model="4200X",
        device_vendor="Roku",
        device_name="Living Room TV",
        marketplace="googlePlay",
        token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
    ) as plex_api:

        res = await plex_api.transcoder.start_transcode_session_async(request=operations.StartTranscodeSessionRequest(
            transcode_type=components.TranscodeType.MUSIC,
            extension=operations.Extension.MPD,
            advanced_subtitles=components.AdvancedSubtitles.BURN,
            audio_boost=50,
            audio_channel_count=5,
            auto_adjust_quality=components.BoolInt.ONE,
            auto_adjust_subtitle=components.BoolInt.ONE,
            direct_play=components.BoolInt.ONE,
            direct_stream=components.BoolInt.ONE,
            direct_stream_audio=components.BoolInt.ONE,
            disable_resolution_rotation=components.BoolInt.ONE,
            has_mde=components.BoolInt.ONE,
            location=operations.StartTranscodeSessionQueryParamLocation.WAN,
            media_buffer_size=102400,
            media_index=0,
            music_bitrate=5000,
            offset=90.5,
            part_index=0,
            path="/library/metadata/151671",
            peak_bitrate=12000,
            photo_resolution="1080x1080",
            protocol=operations.StartTranscodeSessionQueryParamProtocol.DASH,
            seconds_per_segment=5,
            subtitle_size=50,
            video_bitrate=12000,
            video_quality=50,
            video_resolution="1080x1080",
            x_plex_client_profile_extra="add-limitation(scope=videoCodec&scopeName=*&type=upperBound&name=video.frameRate&value=60&replace=true)+append-transcode-target-codec(type=videoProfile&context=streaming&videoCodec=h264%2Chevc&audioCodec=aac&protocol=dash)",
            x_plex_client_profile_name="generic",
        ))

        assert res.response_stream is not None

        # Handle response
        print(res.response_stream)

asyncio.run(main())

Available Resources and Operations

Available methods

activities

butler

collections

content

devices

download_queue

dv_rs

epg

events

general

hubs

library

library_collections

library_playlists

live_tv

log

play_queue

playlist

preferences

provider

rate

search

status

subscriptions

timeline

transcoder

ultra_blur

updater

File uploads

Certain SDK methods accept file objects as part of a request body or multi-part request. It is possible and typically recommended to upload files as a stream rather than reading the entire contents into memory. This avoids excessive memory consumption and potentially crashing with out-of-memory errors when working with very large files. The following example demonstrates how to attach a file stream to a request.

Tip

For endpoints that handle file uploads bytes arrays can also be used. However, using streams is recommended for large files.

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI


with PlexAPI(
    token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
) as plex_api:

    res = plex_api.log.write_log(request=open("example.file", "rb"))

    assert res is not None

    # Handle response
    print(res)

Retries

Some of the endpoints in this SDK support retries. If you use the SDK without any configuration, it will fall back to the default retry strategy provided by the API. However, the default retry strategy can be overridden on a per-operation basis, or across the entire SDK.

To change the default retry strategy for a single API call, simply provide a RetryConfig object to the call:

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components
from plex_api_client.utils import BackoffStrategy, RetryConfig


with PlexAPI(
    accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
    client_identifier="abc123",
    product="Plex for Roku",
    version="2.4.1",
    platform="Roku",
    platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
    device="Roku 3",
    model="4200X",
    device_vendor="Roku",
    device_name="Living Room TV",
    marketplace="googlePlay",
    token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
) as plex_api:

    res = plex_api.general.get_server_info(request={},
        RetryConfig("backoff", BackoffStrategy(1, 50, 1.1, 100), False))

    assert res.media_container_with_directory is not None

    # Handle response
    print(res.media_container_with_directory)

If you'd like to override the default retry strategy for all operations that support retries, you can use the retry_config optional parameter when initializing the SDK:

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components
from plex_api_client.utils import BackoffStrategy, RetryConfig


with PlexAPI(
    retry_config=RetryConfig("backoff", BackoffStrategy(1, 50, 1.1, 100), False),
    accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
    client_identifier="abc123",
    product="Plex for Roku",
    version="2.4.1",
    platform="Roku",
    platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
    device="Roku 3",
    model="4200X",
    device_vendor="Roku",
    device_name="Living Room TV",
    marketplace="googlePlay",
    token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
) as plex_api:

    res = plex_api.general.get_server_info(request={})

    assert res.media_container_with_directory is not None

    # Handle response
    print(res.media_container_with_directory)

Error Handling

PlexAPIError is the base class for all HTTP error responses. It has the following properties:

Property Type Description
err.message str Error message
err.status_code int HTTP response status code eg 404
err.headers httpx.Headers HTTP response headers
err.body str HTTP body. Can be empty string if no body is returned.
err.raw_response httpx.Response Raw HTTP response

Example

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components, errors


with PlexAPI(
    accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
    client_identifier="abc123",
    product="Plex for Roku",
    version="2.4.1",
    platform="Roku",
    platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
    device="Roku 3",
    model="4200X",
    device_vendor="Roku",
    device_name="Living Room TV",
    marketplace="googlePlay",
    token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
) as plex_api:
    res = None
    try:

        res = plex_api.general.get_server_info(request={})

        assert res.media_container_with_directory is not None

        # Handle response
        print(res.media_container_with_directory)


    except errors.PlexAPIError as e:
        # The base class for HTTP error responses
        print(e.message)
        print(e.status_code)
        print(e.body)
        print(e.headers)
        print(e.raw_response)

Error Classes

Primary error:

Less common errors (5)

Network errors:

Inherit from PlexAPIError:

  • ResponseValidationError: Type mismatch between the response data and the expected Pydantic model. Provides access to the Pydantic validation error via the cause attribute.

Server Selection

Select Server by Index

You can override the default server globally by passing a server index to the server_idx: int optional parameter when initializing the SDK client instance. The selected server will then be used as the default on the operations that use it. This table lists the indexes associated with the available servers:

# Server Variables Description
0 https://{IP-description}.{identifier}.plex.direct:{port} identifier
IP-description
port
1 {protocol}://{host}:{port} protocol
host
port
2 https://{full_server_url} server_url

If the selected server has variables, you may override its default values through the additional parameters made available in the SDK constructor:

Variable Parameter Default Description
identifier identifier: str "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef" The unique identifier of this particular PMS
IP-description ip_description: str "1-2-3-4" A - separated string of the IPv4 or IPv6 address components
port port: str "32400" The Port number configured on the PMS. Typically (32400).
If using a reverse proxy, this would be the port number configured on the proxy.
protocol protocol: str "http" The network protocol to use. Typically (http or https)
host host: str "localhost" The Host of the PMS.
If using on a local network, this is the internal IP address of the server hosting the PMS.
If using on an external network, this is the external IP address for your network, and requires port forwarding.
If using a reverse proxy, this would be the external DNS domain for your network, and requires the proxy handle port forwarding.
server_url server_url_global: str "http://localhost:32400" The full manual URL to access the PMS

Example

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components


with PlexAPI(
    server_idx=1,
    protocol="<value>"
    host="electric-excess.name"
    port="36393"
    accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
    client_identifier="abc123",
    product="Plex for Roku",
    version="2.4.1",
    platform="Roku",
    platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
    device="Roku 3",
    model="4200X",
    device_vendor="Roku",
    device_name="Living Room TV",
    marketplace="googlePlay",
    token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
) as plex_api:

    res = plex_api.general.get_server_info(request={})

    assert res.media_container_with_directory is not None

    # Handle response
    print(res.media_container_with_directory)

Override Server URL Per-Client

The default server can also be overridden globally by passing a URL to the server_url: str optional parameter when initializing the SDK client instance. For example:

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components


with PlexAPI(
    server_url="https://{full_server_url}",
    accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
    client_identifier="abc123",
    product="Plex for Roku",
    version="2.4.1",
    platform="Roku",
    platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
    device="Roku 3",
    model="4200X",
    device_vendor="Roku",
    device_name="Living Room TV",
    marketplace="googlePlay",
    token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
) as plex_api:

    res = plex_api.general.get_server_info(request={})

    assert res.media_container_with_directory is not None

    # Handle response
    print(res.media_container_with_directory)

Custom HTTP Client

The Python SDK makes API calls using the httpx HTTP library. In order to provide a convenient way to configure timeouts, cookies, proxies, custom headers, and other low-level configuration, you can initialize the SDK client with your own HTTP client instance. Depending on whether you are using the sync or async version of the SDK, you can pass an instance of HttpClient or AsyncHttpClient respectively, which are Protocol's ensuring that the client has the necessary methods to make API calls. This allows you to wrap the client with your own custom logic, such as adding custom headers, logging, or error handling, or you can just pass an instance of httpx.Client or httpx.AsyncClient directly.

For example, you could specify a header for every request that this sdk makes as follows:

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
import httpx

http_client = httpx.Client(headers={"x-custom-header": "someValue"})
s = PlexAPI(client=http_client)

or you could wrap the client with your own custom logic:

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.httpclient import AsyncHttpClient
import httpx

class CustomClient(AsyncHttpClient):
    client: AsyncHttpClient

    def __init__(self, client: AsyncHttpClient):
        self.client = client

    async def send(
        self,
        request: httpx.Request,
        *,
        stream: bool = False,
        auth: Union[
            httpx._types.AuthTypes, httpx._client.UseClientDefault, None
        ] = httpx.USE_CLIENT_DEFAULT,
        follow_redirects: Union[
            bool, httpx._client.UseClientDefault
        ] = httpx.USE_CLIENT_DEFAULT,
    ) -> httpx.Response:
        request.headers["Client-Level-Header"] = "added by client"

        return await self.client.send(
            request, stream=stream, auth=auth, follow_redirects=follow_redirects
        )

    def build_request(
        self,
        method: str,
        url: httpx._types.URLTypes,
        *,
        content: Optional[httpx._types.RequestContent] = None,
        data: Optional[httpx._types.RequestData] = None,
        files: Optional[httpx._types.RequestFiles] = None,
        json: Optional[Any] = None,
        params: Optional[httpx._types.QueryParamTypes] = None,
        headers: Optional[httpx._types.HeaderTypes] = None,
        cookies: Optional[httpx._types.CookieTypes] = None,
        timeout: Union[
            httpx._types.TimeoutTypes, httpx._client.UseClientDefault
        ] = httpx.USE_CLIENT_DEFAULT,
        extensions: Optional[httpx._types.RequestExtensions] = None,
    ) -> httpx.Request:
        return self.client.build_request(
            method,
            url,
            content=content,
            data=data,
            files=files,
            json=json,
            params=params,
            headers=headers,
            cookies=cookies,
            timeout=timeout,
            extensions=extensions,
        )

s = PlexAPI(async_client=CustomClient(httpx.AsyncClient()))

Authentication

Per-Client Security Schemes

This SDK supports the following security scheme globally:

Name Type Scheme
token apiKey API key

To authenticate with the API the token parameter must be set when initializing the SDK client instance. For example:

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components


with PlexAPI(
    token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
    accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
    client_identifier="abc123",
    product="Plex for Roku",
    version="2.4.1",
    platform="Roku",
    platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
    device="Roku 3",
    model="4200X",
    device_vendor="Roku",
    device_name="Living Room TV",
    marketplace="googlePlay",
) as plex_api:

    res = plex_api.general.get_server_info(request={})

    assert res.media_container_with_directory is not None

    # Handle response
    print(res.media_container_with_directory)

Resource Management

The PlexAPI class implements the context manager protocol and registers a finalizer function to close the underlying sync and async HTTPX clients it uses under the hood. This will close HTTP connections, release memory and free up other resources held by the SDK. In short-lived Python programs and notebooks that make a few SDK method calls, resource management may not be a concern. However, in longer-lived programs, it is beneficial to create a single SDK instance via a context manager and reuse it across the application.

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
from plex_api_client.models import components
def main():

    with PlexAPI(
        accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
        client_identifier="abc123",
        product="Plex for Roku",
        version="2.4.1",
        platform="Roku",
        platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
        device="Roku 3",
        model="4200X",
        device_vendor="Roku",
        device_name="Living Room TV",
        marketplace="googlePlay",
        token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
    ) as plex_api:
        # Rest of application here...


# Or when using async:
async def amain():

    async with PlexAPI(
        accepts=components.Accepts.APPLICATION_XML,
        client_identifier="abc123",
        product="Plex for Roku",
        version="2.4.1",
        platform="Roku",
        platform_version="4.3 build 1057",
        device="Roku 3",
        model="4200X",
        device_vendor="Roku",
        device_name="Living Room TV",
        marketplace="googlePlay",
        token="<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>",
    ) as plex_api:
        # Rest of application here...

Debugging

You can setup your SDK to emit debug logs for SDK requests and responses.

You can pass your own logger class directly into your SDK.

from plex_api_client import PlexAPI
import logging

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
s = PlexAPI(debug_logger=logging.getLogger("plex_api_client"))

Development

Maturity

This SDK is in beta, and there may be breaking changes between versions without a major version update. Therefore, we recommend pinning usage to a specific package version. This way, you can install the same version each time without breaking changes unless you are intentionally looking for the latest version.

Contributions

While we value open-source contributions to this SDK, this library is generated programmatically. Feel free to open a PR or a Github issue as a proof of concept and we'll do our best to include it in a future release!

SDK Created by Speakeasy

About

An open source Plex Media Server python SDK

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License

MIT license

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python - v0.31.1 - 2025-10-13 00:01:12 Latest
Oct 13, 2025
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