/GoogleHomeKodi

Control kodi via Google Home / Assistant

Primary LanguageJavaScript

Control Kodi through your Google Home / Google Assistant

What it can do

Follow these steps to easily control your kodi using simple voice commands with your Google Home or Google assistant:

Play a movie:

"Hey Google, kodi play [movie name]" --> will search for the given movie name and play it.

Search and play a youtube video:

"Hey Google youtube [youtube title]" --> will search a youtube video, and play the first video.

Play the next unwatched episode:

"Hey Google, kodi play tv show [tv show name]" --> will search for the given tv show and play the next unwatched episode.

Play a specific episode:

"Hey Google, kodi play [tv show name] season 3 episode 1" --> will search for the given tv show and play season 3 episode 1.

Play a random episode for a tv show:

"Hey Google, kodi shuffle [tv show name]" --> will search for the given tv show and play a random episode.

Pause / Resume kodi:

"Hey Google, pause kodi"

Stop kodi:

"Hey Google, stop kodi"

Mute kodi:

"Hey Google, mute/unmute kodi"

Set volume:

"Hey Google, set kodi volume to 60"

Seek forward:

"Hey Google, kodi jump 30 seconds"

Play PVR channel:

"Hey Google, switch kodi to BBC channel" or "Hey Google, switch kodi to channel 10"

Turn on TV:

"Hey Google, switch to kodi" --> will turn on the TV and switch to Kodi's HDMI input

Shutdown Kodi:

"Hey Google, kodi shutdown"

Scan library:

"Hey Google, kodi scan library" --> Will start a full library scan

How to setup

Disclaimer: Use on your own risk and choose complex username & password in the below steps.

A) Enable webserver access in kodi

  1. In Kodi, go to Settings >> Web server
  2. Set Allow remote contorl via HTTP to On
  3. Choose a port number (e.g. 8080)
  4. Choose a username and password (Important!)
  5. Configure your router to forward the port your selected to your kodi device
  6. Find your external IP address (i.e. Google 'what's my ip?')

B) Set up a webserver in Glitch to control your kodi

  1. Go to Glitch.com and sign in with your github user
  2. Create a new Glitch project and under advance settings choose Import from GitHub
  3. Enter this project OmerTu/GoogleHomeKodi
  4. Change Glitch project settings to private (under share > Make private)
  5. Edit the .env file in your Glitch project with the following settings:
KODI_IP="YOUR_EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS"
KODI_PORT="YOUR_KODI_PORT"
KODI_USER="YOUR_KODI_USER_NAME"
KODI_PASSWORD="YOUR_KODI_PASSWORD"
AUTH_TOKEN="YOUR_CONNECTION_PASSWORD"

YOUR_CONNECTION_PASSWORD can be anything you want.

  1. Check your Glitch server address by choosing 'Show Live' on the top left. A new tab with your server will open. Note your server address in the address bar.

B.2) [OPTIONAL] Set up a local webserver to control your kodi

As an alternative to (B), it's possible to run a local node.js server in stead of running it on Glitch.com. The benifit of this is that you don't need to expose your kodi Api. Additional using the hodi-hosts.config.js file, you can set up and control multiple kodi installations.

  1. After cloning the repo, create a copy of the kodi-hosts.config.js.dist file and rename it to kodi-hosts.config.js.
  2. Edit the file and make sure the kodiConfig and globalConfig sections match your environment.
  3. You should now be able to start the node server by running: node server.js.

Here is a systemd init config. To run it as a daemon. On a debian dist save it as /etc/systemd/system/kodiassistant.service.

Don't forget to run: sudo systemctl enable sudo systemctl enable kodiassistant.service to start the deamon on startup.

[Unit]
Description=Node.js Google Home Kodi Interface

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/GoogleHomeKodi/server.js
# Required on some systems
WorkingDirectory=/opt/GoogleHomeKodi
Restart=always
# Restart service after 10 seconds if node service crashes
RestartSec=10
# Output to syslog
StandardOutput=syslog
StandardError=syslog
SyslogIdentifier=nodejs-example

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

C) Set up IFTTT with your Google Home

  1. Go to IFTTT

  2. Create a new applet: if This then That

  3. For This choose: Google Assistance

    1. Choose Say a phrase with a text ingredient
    2. In What do you want to say? enter something like:

    Kodi play $

    1. In What do you want the Assistant to say in response? enter something like:

    ok playing $ movie

  4. For That choose: Maker Webhooks

    1. Choose Make a web request
    2. In URL enter:

    YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playmovie?q= {{TextField}}

    For example, if your glitch server address is 'green-icecream.glitch.me', your should enter:

    https://green-icecream.glitch.me/playmovie?q= {{TextField}}

    1. Method: POST
    2. Content Type: application/json
    3. Body:

    {"token":"YOUR_CONNECTION_PASSWORD"}

Now every time you say "Hey Google, Kodi play movie bla bla", it should play bla bla on your kodi.

Note: If your external IP changes, this will stop working (consider getting a static IP address)

Setting up other actions:

For Tv show support - Next unwatched episode, follow all the steps in C, except these changes:

  • Choose a different phrase (e.g. "Kodi play an episode of $")
  • Use this URL:

    YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playtvshow?q= {{TextField}}

For Tv show support - Specific episode, follow all the steps in C, except these changes:

  • Choose "Say a phrase with both a number and a text ingredient" in step 3
  • Choose a different phrase (e.g. "Kodi play $ episode #").

For this to work, when you talk to your GoogleHome, the $ part must be in the format of "[TV_SHOW_NAME] season [SEASON_NUMBER]". Meaning the word "Season" has to be said, the tv show name must be said before it and the season number must be said after it (i.e. "okay google kodi play bla season 4 episode 1")

  • Use this URL:

    YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playepisode?q= {{TextField}}&e= {{NumberField}}

To pause or resume kodi follow the instructions in C, except these changes:

  • Choose "Say a simple phrase" in step 3
  • Use this URL:

    YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpause

To Stop kodi, follow the same instructions as pause but use this URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/stop

To Mute kodi, follow the same instructions as pause but use this URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/mute

To Set Volume on kodi use "Say a phrase with a number" and the URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/volume?q={{NumberField}}

To Seek forward the play by x seconds use "Say a phrase with a number" and the URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/seekforward?q={{NumberField}}

For PVR TV support - Set channel by name, follow all the steps in C, except these changes:

  • Choose a different phrase (e.g. "switch kodi to $ channel")
  • Use this URL:

    YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpvrchannelbyname?q={{TextField}}

For PVR TV support - Set channel by number, use "Say a phrase with a number" and the URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpvrchannelbynumber?q={{NumberField}}

Full table with available actions

Type of phrase phrase url
Say a phrase with a text ingredient Kodi play $ YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playmovie?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient Kodi play an episode of $ YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playtvshow?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with both a number and a text ingredient Kodi play $ episode # YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playepisode?q={{TextField}}&e= {{NumberField}}
Say a simple phrase Kodi pause YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpause
Say a simple phrase Kodi stop YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/stop
Say a simple phrase Kodi mute YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/mute
Say a phrase with a number Kodi set volume # YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/volume?q={{NumberField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient switch kodi to $ channel YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpvrchannelbyname?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a number switch kodi to channel number # YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpvrchannelbynumber?q={{NumberField}}
Say a simple phrase Kodi shutdown YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/shutdown
Say a phrase with a text ingredient Kodi shuffle $ YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/shuffleepisode?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient Kodi youtube play $ YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playyoutube?q={{TextField}}
Say a simple phrase Kodi scan library YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/scanlibrary
Say a phrase with a number Kodi jump # seconds YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/seekforward?q={{NumberField}}

To Turn on the TV and switch to Kodi's HDMI input

  • This requires Kodi 17 (Krypton) and above

  • This also requires that both your kodi device and TV support CEC commands

  • You need to install this script.json-cec add-on: Download and move it to your kodi device and then in Kodi choose Settings>Add-ons>Install from zip file > choose the zip your just downloaded.

  • Finally you can use this in 2 ways:

    • Add another command: follow the same instructions as pause but use this URL:

    YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/activatetv

    • Add the following line to your .env file (see step B-5 above) and kodi will automaticly turn on the tv and switch the HDMI input everytime your trigger the main playing actions (play a move / tv show / episode / pvr channel)

    ACTIVATE_TV="true"

How to update to the latest version

  1. Go to Glitch.com and sign in with your github user
  2. Select your Glitch project and under advance settings choose Import from GitHub
  3. Enter this project OmerTu/GoogleHomeKodi

Troubleshooting

If your can't preform a simple action like pausing a video, try to narrow down to problem:

  1. While a video is being played in Kodi, try pausing it by entering this in your browser:

http://YOUR_INTERNAL_KODI_IP:PORT/jsonrpc?request={"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"Player.playpause","params":{"playerid":1}}

If you get prompt to enter username and password choose the ones you set in Kodi (step A above). If that doesn't work, you probably have a problem with your kodi setup.

  1. If that works, try pausing a video using your external IP:

http://YOUR_EXTERNAL_IP:PORT/jsonrpc?request={"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"Player.playpause","params":{"playerid":1}}

If that doesn't work you probably have a problem with your router configuration.

  1. If it does work, there might be something wrong in your glich or IFTTT settings.

Credits

Thanks for everyone who contributed to this projects: p0psicles, Keljian and Lunatixz

I also used some code from these 3 projects: MarvinSchenkel/HomeyKodi Jephuff/kodi-rpc joshjowen/script.json-cec

And this wonderful website makes setting this up super easy - Glitch

Made by Omer Turgeman

I hope you find this helpful! If you'd like, you can give me a cup of coffee :)

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