Get Libraries

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A Plex server can have many different libraries setup for various media. You can easily retrieve the information about all libraries that are available on a Plex server using this API command.

URL

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

Parameters

Name	Description
ip_address	The IP address of the Plex Media server.
plex_token	The Plex token.

Return Status

HTTP Code	Description
200	Success - The request was successful.
401	Unauthorized - The Plex token provided was not valid.

Response

XML string value that lists the libraries that have been created on the Plex server. An example of the XML returned from the request is shown below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<MediaContainer size="4" allowSync="0" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1638961228" title1="Plex Library">
    <Directory allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/movie-fanart.jpg" composite="/library/sections/2/composite/1640879224" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/movie.png" key="2" type="movie" title="Movies" agent="com.plexapp.agents.imdb" scanner="Plex Movie Scanner" language="en" uuid="493a64e7-b541-4667-b050-d702beebf2f6" updatedAt="1595491662" createdAt="1419621957" scannedAt="1640879224" content="1" directory="1" contentChangedAt="87188911" hidden="0">
        <Location id="9" path="M:\Media\Movies" />
    </Directory>
    <Directory allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/show-fanart.jpg" composite="/library/sections/4/composite/1640879304" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/show.png" key="4" type="show" title="TV Shows" agent="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb" scanner="Plex Series Scanner" language="en" uuid="3bbbe6f7-628f-4983-ae5d-7c05779c4c28" updatedAt="1595493250" createdAt="1419642504" scannedAt="1640879304" content="1" directory="1" contentChangedAt="5613493" hidden="0">
        <Location id="11" path="M:\Media\TV Shows" />
    </Directory>
    <Directory allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/artist-fanart.jpg" composite="/library/sections/8/composite/1640879225" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/artist.png" key="8" type="artist" title="Music" agent="tv.plex.agents.music" scanner="Plex Music" language="en" uuid="b6031749-2969-4027-afee-64172b72b77d" updatedAt="1598392667" createdAt="1430573735" scannedAt="1640879225" content="1" directory="1" contentChangedAt="59913170" hidden="0">
        <Location id="16" path="M:\Media\Music" />
    </Directory>
    <Directory allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/photo-fanart.jpg" composite="/library/sections/1/composite/1640879303" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/photo.png" key="1" type="photo" title="Photos" agent="com.plexapp.agents.none" scanner="Plex Photo Scanner" language="xn" uuid="fc948ea9-3fad-45e2-99ef-b461b2d746d2" updatedAt="1600821139" createdAt="1419611117" scannedAt="1640879303" enableAutoPhotoTags="0" content="1" directory="1" contentChangedAt="115673999" hidden="0">
        <Location id="10" path="M:\Media\Pictures" />
    </Directory>
</MediaContainer>

The XML returned provides a list of the libraries 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 libraries on the server.

MediaContainer Attributes
Attribute	Description
size	The number of libraries.
allowSync	1 - allow syncing content. 0 - don't allow syncing content.
identifier	The type of item.
mediaTagPrefix	Prefix for the media tag.
mediaTagVersion	Media tag version. Note: This could be a date and time value.
title1	The title of the library. Note: This appears to be internally created, and can't be changed by the server owner.

Within the MediaContainer there are one or more Directory child elements. Each Directory element represents one library on the Plex server.

Directory Attributes
Attribute	Description
allowSync	1 - allow the items in the to be synced. 0 - do not allow the items in the library to be synced.
art	The background artwork used to represent the library.
composite	The composite image associated with the library.
filters	1 - allow library filters. 0 - do no allow library filters.
refreshing	1 - the library is refreshing the metadata. 0 - the library is not refreshing the metadata.
thumb	The thumbnail for the library.
key	The relative URL of the information for the library.
type	The type of item represented by this `Directory` element.
title	The name of the library.
agent	The agent used to set the metadata for the items in the library.
scanner	The name of the scanner used to scan the library.
language	The two-character language for the library.
uuid	Unique identifier for the library.
updatedAt	The date and time the library was updated in the library.
createdAt	The date and time when the library was created.
scannedAt	The date and time when the library was last scanned.
content	Unknown.
directory	Unknown.
contentChangedAt	The date and time when the library content was last changed.
hidden	1 - the library is hidden. 0 - the library is not hidden.

Within each of the Directory elements can be one or more Location child elements. These child elements specify the folder path of the files associated with each library.

The attributes of the Location elements are:

Location Attributes
Attribute	Description
id	Unique integer value used as the location identifier.
path	The full path to the folder containing the files for the library. This value was specified when the library was added to the Plex server.

Remarks

The Plex authentication token used to make the request will determine what libraries are returned.

If the token used is for a non-administrative user, then the libraries returned will only include the libraries the user can access. Libraries that the user cannot access will not be returned in the XML response.

When using a device Plex token, all libraries will be returned because libraries cannot be restricted for a device, only for users.

Examples

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

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

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/?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

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