WatchState

This tool primary goal is to sync your backends play state without relying on third party services, out of the box, this tool support Jellyfin, Plex and Emby media servers.

Updates

2024-06-23

WE are happy to announce that the WebUI is ready for wider usage and we are planning to release it in the next few months. We are actively working on it to improve it. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please let us know. We feel it's almost future complete for the things that we want.

On another related news, we have added new environment variable WS_API_AUTO "disabled by default" which can be used to automatically expose your API KEY/TOKEN. This is useful for users who are using the WebUI from many different browsers and want to automate the configuration process.

While the WebUI is included in the main project, it's a standalone feature and requires the API settings to be configured before it can be used. This environment variable can be enabled by setting WS_API_AUTO=true in ${WS_DATA_PATH}/config/.env.

Important

This environment variable is GREAT SECURITY RISK, and we strongly recommend not to use it if WatchState is exposed to the internet.

Refer to NEWS for old updates.

Features

• WebUI.
• Sync backends play state (from many to many).
• Backup your backends play state into portable format.
• Receive Webhook events from media backends.
• Find un-matched or mis-matched items.
• Search your backend for title or item id.
• Display and filter your play state. Can be exported as yaml or json.
• Check if your media servers reporting same data via the parity command.
• Track your watch progress via webhooks.

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Install

create your compose.yaml with the following content:

services:
    watchstate:
        image: ghcr.io/arabcoders/watchstate:latest
        # To change the user/group id associated with the tool change the following line.
        user: "${UID:-1000}:${GID:-1000}"
        container_name: watchstate
        restart: unless-stopped
        ports:
            - "8080:8080" # The port which will serve WebUI + API + Webhooks
        volumes:
            - ./data:/config:rw # mount current directory to container /config directory.

Create directory called data next to the compose.yaml file. After creating your docker compose file, start the container.

$ mkdir -p ./data && docker-compose pull && docker-compose up -d

Important

It's really important to match the user: to the owner of the data directory, the container is rootless, as such it will crash if it's unable to write to the data directory. It's really not recommended to run containers as root, but if you fail to run the container you can try setting the user: "0:0" if that works it means you have permissions issues. refer to FAQ to troubleshoot the problem.

Note

For Unraid users You can install the Community Applications plugin, and search for watchstate it comes preconfigured. Otherwise, to manually install it, you need to add value to the Extra Parameters section in advanced tab/view. add the following value --user 99:100. This has to happen before you start the container, otherwise it will have the old user id, and you then have to run the following command from terminal chown -R 99:100 /mnt/user/appdata/watchstate.

Note

To use this container with podman set compose.yaml user to 0:0. it will appear to be working as root inside the container, but it will be mapped to the user in which the command was run under.

Management via WebUI

After starting the container, you can access the WebUI by visiting http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

At the start you won't see anything as the WebUI is decoupled from the WatchState and need to be configured to be able to access the API. In the top right corner, you will see a cogwheel icon, click on it and then Configure the connection settings.

As shown in the screenshot, to get your API Token, run the following command

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console system:apikey 

Copy the random string in dark yellow, into the API Token field Make sure to set the API URL or click the current page URL link. If everything is set, then the Status field will turn green. and Status: OK will be shown, and the reset of the navbar will show up. Which hopefully means everything is ok.

To add a backend, click on the Backends link in the navbar, then + button. as showing in the following screenshot

Fill the required information, if you get a green notification, then the backend is added successfully. If you get a red/yellow notification, Then most likely incorrect information was provided. You can check the message in the notification itself to know what went wrong. Or check the logs page, Most likely an error has been logged to a file named app.YYYYMMDD.log.

If everything went ok, you should see the backend shows up in the same page. You can then go to the Tasks page and click on Qeueu Task, for first time import we recommand letting the task run in the background, as it might take a while to import all the data.

Once you have done all for your backends, You should go back again to Tasks page and enable the Import and Export tasks. This will make sure your data is always in sync. To enable/disable the task, simply click on the slider next to the task name if it's green then it's enabled, if it's gray then it's disabled.

Once that is done, you can let the tool do its job, and you can start using the tool to track your play state.

Management via CLI.

Adding backend

After starting the container you should start adding your backends and to do so run the following command:

Note

to get your plex token, please visit this plex page to know how to extract your plex token. For jellyfin & emby. Go to Dashboard > Advanced > API keys > then create new api keys.

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console config:add

This command is interactive and will ask you for some questions to add your backend.

Managing backend

To edit backend settings run

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console config:manage -s backend_name

Importing play state.

What does Import or what does the command state:import means in context of watchstate?

Import means, pulling data from the backends into the database while attempting to normalize the state.

To import your current play state from backends that have import enabled, run the following command:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console state:import -v

This command will pull your play state from all your backends. To import from specific backends use the [-s, --select-backend] flag. For example,

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console state:import -v -s home_plex -s home_jellyfin 

Note

Now that you have imported your current play state enable the import task by using the following command

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console system:env -k WS_CRON_IMPORT -e true

Supported import methods

Out of the box, we support the following import methods:

• Scheduled Tasks. Cron jobs that pull data from backends on a schedule.
• On demand. Pull data from backends on demand. By running the state:import command manually
• Webhooks. Receive events from backends and update the database accordingly.

Note

Even if all your backends support webhooks, you should keep import task enabled. This help keep healthy relationship. and pick up any missed events.

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Exporting play state

What does export or what does the command state:export means in context of watchstate?

Export means, sending data back to backends, while trying to minimize the network traffic. To export your current play state to backends that have export enabled, run the following command:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console state:export -v

This command will export your current play state to all of your export enabled backends. To export to specific backends use the [-s, --select-backend]flag. For example,

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console state:export -v -s home_plex -s home_jellyfin 

Note

Now that you have exported your current play state, enable the export task by using the following command

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console system:env -k WS_CRON_EXPORT -e true

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FAQ

Take look at this frequently asked questions page. to know more about this tool and how to enable webhook support and answers to many questions.

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Social channels

If you have short or quick questions, or just want to chat with other users, feel free to join my discord server. keep in mind it's solo project, as such it might take me a bit of time to reply to questions.

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Donate

If you feel like donating and appreciate my work, you can do so by donating to children charity. For example Make-A-Wish. I Personally don't need the money, but I do appreciate the gesture.