Get All Movies

A library, such as movies or TV shows, can contain many items. This API command will return all movies for a specific library that is available on the Plex server.

URL

GET http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/{id}/all?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}&includeGuids={include_guids}&limit={limit}&{filter}

Parameters

Return Status

Response

XML string value that lists the all the movies in the library. An example of the XML returned from the request is shown below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <MediaContainer size="217" allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/movie-fanart.jpg" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="2" librarySectionTitle="Movies" librarySectionUUID="493a64e7-b541-4667-b050-d702beebf2f6" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1641342384" sortAsc="1" thumb="/:/resources/movie.png" title1="Movies" title2="All Movies" viewGroup="movie" viewMode="131624">
    <Video ratingKey="65547" key="/library/metadata/65547" guid="com.plexapp.agents.imdb://tt0103639?lang=en" studio="Walt Disney Pictures" type="movie" title="Aladdin" contentRating="G" summary="Princess Jasmine grows tired of being forced to remain in the palace, so she sneaks out into the marketplace, in disguise, where she meets street-urchin Aladdin.  The couple falls in love, although Jasmine may only marry a prince.  After being thrown in jail, Aladdin becomes embroiled in a plot to find a mysterious lamp, with which the evil Jafar hopes to rule the land." rating="9.5" audienceRating="9.2" skipCount="1" year="1992" tagline="Wish granted!" thumb="/library/metadata/65547/thumb/1607616868" art="/library/metadata/65547/art/1607616868" duration="5423772" originallyAvailableAt="1992-11-25" addedAt="1450147195" updatedAt="1607616868" audienceRatingImage="rottentomatoes://image.rating.upright" chapterSource="mixed" ratingImage="rottentomatoes://image.rating.ripe">
        <Media id="73681" duration="5423772" bitrate="2412" videoProfile="high">
            <Part id="73812" key="/library/parts/73812/1450141780/file.mkv" duration="5423772" file="M:\Media\Movies\Aladdin (1992)\Aladdin (1992) [480p h.264][AAC AC3].mkv" size="1639520577" container="mkv" videoProfile="high" />
        </Media>
        <Genre tag="Animation" />
        <Genre tag="Adventure" />
        <Director tag="Ron Clements" />
        <Director tag="John Musker" />
        <Writer tag="Ted Elliott" />
        <Writer tag="Terry Rossio" />
        <Country tag="USA" />
        <Collection tag="Disney" />
        <Role tag="Scott Weinger" />
        <Role tag="Robin Williams" />
        <Role tag="Linda Larkin" />
    </Video>
    ...
</MediaContainer>

The XML returned provides a list of the all movies in a library that are available on the Plex server. The root is the MediaContainer element. This element contains a few attributes that provide overall information about the movies on the server.

Within the MediaContainer there are one or more Video child elements. Each Video element represents one movie available on the Plex server.

Within the Video there are one or more Media child elements. Each Media element represents one media file of the movie available on the Plex server.

If there are two media files associated with the movie, such as a 1080p and 480p version, then there would be two Media child elements in the Video element.

Within the Media there are one or more Part child elements. Each Part element represents one part of the movie. If the movie has been added to the Plex server as a multi-part movie, then each of those parts will be represented by one Part child element.

Also within the Video element there are multiple additional child elements that provide more details about the movie. These child elements include Genre, Director, Writer, Country, Collection, and Role.

Within each of these child elements is a single tag attribute that provides the information for the element. There could be multiple of the same child element within the Video, such as multiple directors or writers.

If the include_guids parameter was specified with the value of 1, then there would be a Guid element for each online metadata service associated with the item.

Remarks

The limit can be used to specify the number of items to return in the response.

To reduce the number of items returned, you can filter the API response to only return items that meet a specific criteria.

For more information, check out the Filter page.

Examples

curl -X GET http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/{id}/all?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}

import requests
plex_url = http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/{id}/all?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}
response = requests.get(plex_url)
print(response.text)

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/{id}/all?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}' -Method 'GET'
Write-Output $response

Script examples

Below are a list of post and articles that provide an example that use this API endpoint:

• How to Stop Plex from Changing Movie Posters
• How to Download Movie Posters from Your Plex Server
• How to Download Movies from Your Plex Server