Plex MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that bridges your Plex Media Server with AI assistants, enabling real-time contextual insights about your viewing experience.

Motivation

I wanted to experiment with MCP and thought it would be interesting to integrate my Plex movie-watching experience with an LLM. As someone who enjoys deep-diving into films, I often find myself wanting to understand plot points I may have missed or explore deeper context while watching. This project provides real-time context of my current viewing experience through subtitle analysis, allowing me to:

• Recap movies to the current playback position when I join mid-way
• Ask questions about plot developments, characters, and themes
• Deep-dive further into cinematic elements while actively watching
• Get contextual summaries based on what has actually happened on screen

By leveraging OpenSubtitles for real-time subtitle context, the LLM can understand exactly where I am in a film and provide relevant, spoiler-aware responses.

Architecture

This server is built with Laravel 12 and Laravel MCP, exposing functionality through both:

• Streamable HTTP - For web-based MCP clients
• Stdio - For local MCP client integration

MCP Tools

1. Get Active Sessions

Monitors current playback sessions on your Plex server, including:

• User details and device information
• Playback progress and timestamps
• Transcoding status
• Media quality metrics

2. Search Subtitles

Searches and retrieves subtitles from OpenSubtitles by:

• IMDb ID or title search
• Language filtering
• Optional time-based filtering (returns subtitles up to a specific minute)

MCP Prompts

What Have I Missed

An intelligent prompt that:

1. Detects your currently playing content
2. Retrieves subtitles up to your current playback position
3. Generates a concise, chronological summary of key plot points
4. Provides context-aware insights without spoilers

Features

• Real-time Session Monitoring - Track active playback across all devices
• Subtitle-based Context - Leverage OpenSubtitles for accurate content understanding
• Intelligent Summaries - AI-generated recaps based on actual dialogue and events
• Spoiler-safe - Only provides information up to your current viewing position
• Multi-client Support - Works with any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.)

Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Plex Media Server with authentication token
• OpenSubtitles API credentials

MCP Client Configuration

HTTP Streaming

Add to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "plex": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:8001/mcp/plex"
    }
  }
}

Stdio

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "plex": {
      "command": "make",
      "args": ["mcp/plex"]
    }
  }
}

Usage

Example Workflows

1. Catch up on a movie you joined late:

User: What have I missed in the movie?
Assistant: [Uses "What Have I Missed" prompt with subtitle context]

2. Deep-dive during viewing:

User: What's the significance of all the references to Alice in Wonderland and 'following the white rabbit'?
Assistant: [Uses subtitle search to understand context and provide spoiler-free analysis]

User: When does he learn kung fu?
Assistant: [Uses subtitle search to understand context and provide spoiler-free analysis]

3. Monitor your viewing sessions:

User: What am I currently watching?
Assistant: [Uses Get Active Sessions tool to show playback details]