grm/spotcast

Home assistant custom component to start Spotify playback on an idle chromecast device

Spotcast

Home Assistant custom component to start Spotify playback on an idle chromecast device. As of version 2.8.0 it also supports playback on Spotify Connect devices (thanks to @kleinc80) which means that you can target your automation for chromecast as well as connect devices.

This component is not meant to be a full Spotify chromecast media_player but only serves to start the playback. Controlling the chromcast device and the Spotify playback after the initial start is done in their respective components. Becasue starting playback using the API requires more powerful token the username and password used for browser login is used.

Used by https://github.com/custom-cards/spotify-card.

Community post: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/spotcast-custom-component-to-start-playback-on-an-idle-chromecast-device/114232

Important

Release 2.8.0 now supports Spotify connect devices (thanks to @kleinc80). And no, Sonos would still require extra integration, send one to me and I'll integrate it.

Release 2.9.0 transfer_playback removed! Now supports possibility to "Transfer Playback" even when there is nothing currently playing.

Release 3.0.0 New method for obtaining access token from Spotify. Please read Configuration for new instruction.

Installation

This component is easiest installed using HACS

Manual

Copy all files from custom_components/spotcast/ to custom_components/spotcast/ inside your config Home Assistant directory.

Configuration

Obtaining sp_dc and sp_key cookies

Spotcast uses two cookies to authenticate against Spotify in order to have access to the required services.

To obtain the cookies:

• Using Chrome

• Open url chrome://settings/cookies/detail?site=spotify.com
• If no cookies appear go to https://open.spotify.com and sign-in
• Copy content from sp_dc and sp_key cookies

• Using another browser

• Use a browser extension like "Export cookies" and look for sp_dc and sp_key cookies

or

• Open a new Incognito window at https://accounts.spotify.com/en/login?continue=https:%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2F
• Open Developer Tools in your browser (might require developer menu to be enabled in some browsers)
• Login to Spotify.
• Search/Filter for get_access_token in Developer tools under Network.
• Under cookies for the request save the values for sp_dc and sp_key.
• Close the window without logging out (Otherwise the cookies are made invalid).

• Alternatively you can use a browser plugin like "Export cookies".

Single account

Add the following to your config

spotcast:
  sp_dc: !secret sp_dc
  sp_key: !secret sp_key

Multiple accounts

Add accounts dict to the configuration and populate with a list of accounts to be able to initiate playback using diffferent accounts than the default.

spotcast:
  sp_dc: !secret primary_sp_dc
  sp_key: !secret primary_sp_key
  accounts:
    niklas:
      sp_dc: !secret niklas_sp_dc
      sp_key: !secret niklas_sp_key
    ming:
      sp_dc: !secret ming_sp_dc
      sp_key: !secret ming_sp_key

Call the service

start playback on a device with default account

{
	"device_name" : "Kök",
	"uri" : "spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DX3yvAYDslnv8",
	"random_song": true
}

where

• device_name is the friendly name of the Chromecast
• uri is the spotify uri, supports all uris including track (limit to one track)
• random_song optional parameter that starts the playback at a random position in the playlist
• repeat optional parameter that repeats the playlist/track
• shuffle optional parameter to set shuffle mode for playback.
• offset optional paramter to set offset mode for playback. 0 is the first song.

optionally you can specify the entity_id of an existing home assistant chromecast mediaplayer like:

{
	"entity_id" : "media_player.vardagsrum",
	"uri" : "spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DX3yvAYDslnv8"
}

transfer current playback for the account

Omitting uri will transfer the playback to the specified device.

{
	"device_name" : "Högtalare uppe"
}

Use the parameter force_playback to continue the user's playback even if nothing is currently playing.

{
	"device_name" : "MultiRoom",
	"force_playback" : true
}

where

• device_name is the friendly name of the Chromecast
• force_playback (optional) true or false, true to continue the user's playback even if nothing is currently playing

start playback on a device with non default account

{
    "account":"niklas",
	"device_name" : "Kök",
	"uri" : "spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DX3yvAYDslnv8"
}

where

• account is the name of account key in the accounts dictionary in the configuration
• device_name is the friendly name of the Chromecast
• uri is the spotify uri, supports all uris including track (limit to one track)

Use the sensor

The sensor has the discovered chromecasts as both json and since v.2.1 as an array of objects. Add the following to the sensor section of the configuration:

sensor:
    - platform: spotcast

Sensor name

sensor.chromecast_devices

Attributes

devices_json: [{"name": "Kök", "cast_type": "audio", "model_name": "Google Home", "uuid": "xxxxx", "manufacturer": "Google Inc."}, {"name": "Högtalare uppe", "cast_type": "group", "model_name": "Google Cast Group", "uuid": "xxxx", "manufacturer": "Google Inc."}, {"name": "Vardagsrum", "cast_type": "cast", "model_name": "HK Citation 300", "uuid": "xxxx", "manufacturer": "Harman Kardon"}]

last_update: 2019-05-01T15:27:49.828553+02:00

friendly_name: Chromecast Devices

Known issues

It has been reported that updating the sensor takes more than 10s sometimes.

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License

Apache 2.0