Control mpv using a web browser

This project allows you to control mpv running on the same or on a different machine using a web browser.

Screenshot

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remote_mpv.py is a web server that needs to be started on the same machine as mpv itself. Once started, it can be accessed from any device on a local network to control mpv.

It has been tested on Linux and Windows.

Getting started

You need to start mpv with the input-ipc-server option. It is used for communication with mpv and is required to control it. For example, on Linux, start mpv as follows:

On Windows, replace /tmp/mpvsocket with \\.\pipe\mpvsocket.

mpv --input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket <file>

The next step is to run remote_mpv.py.

Clone the repository or download a zip archive.

You probably have Python installed. If not, install it.

If your python executable is named python3, you can run the web server using the following command:

The same path that you passed to the input-ipc-server option when starting mpv must be passed to remote_mpv.py as --ipc-path.

If the path is not provided, the default one will be used. Run python3 remote_mpv.py -h to check the default.

python3 remote_mpv.py --ipc-path /tmp/mpvsocket

The web server is now running. The URL that you need to open in a browser to control mpv will be printed to your terminal. By default, it can only be accessed from localhost, that is the same machine on which it is running. This prevents accidental exposure on an untrusted network.

To listen on all interfaces, run the following command:

Make sure to run it only on a trusted network.

python3 remote_mpv.py --ipc-path /tmp/mpvsocket --address 0.0.0.0

Watch a demo

demo.mp4

Using in combination with umpv

You probably want to have a single mpv instance running at the same time. Otherwise, multiple mpv instances will try to bind to the same socket, which will cause errors. umpv allows you to do exactly that.

If you want to use umpv together with this project, you need to pass the same IPC path to remote_mpv.py that used internally by umpv.

For example, on Linux you can use umpv as follows:

# Open a file using umpv and create .umpv socket in the current working directory
UMPV_SOCKET_DIR=$(pwd) umpv <file>

# Start server and pass the socket created above
python3 remote_mpv.py --ipc-path .umpv

To use umpv and remote_mpv.py on Windows, run the following commands:

python umpv <file>

# On Windows, you need to pass \\.\pipe\umpv
python remote_mpv.py --ipc-path \\.\pipe\umpv

Using with SMPlayer

If you are using SMPlayer instead of mpv directly, you still can control your media player using a browser.

You need to adjust the options that SMPlayer passes to mpv when starting it. You need to add the input-ipc-server option, which will be used to send commands to mpv.

1. Open the SMPlayer Preferences by pressing Ctrl+P. Go to Advanced → mpv and edit the Options field by adding the input-ipc-server option:

   Replace <user> with your username.

   --input-ipc-server=/home/<user>/mpvsocket
   

   

2. Make sure to open a video file for testing purposes.

3. You need to start remote_mpv.py by passing the same IPC path that you added to SMPlayer settings:

   Run the command below only in a trusted network. The server will be accessible over LAN.

   python3 remote_mpv.py --ipc-path /home/<user>/mpvsocket --address 0.0.0.0
   

You can now open the link printed in your terminal to control SMPlayer from this device or another device on the same local network.

You can try to configure the other GUI frontends in a similar way.

Comparison with simple-mpv-webui

In contrast to simple-mpv-webui, the UI is usable on a PC, not just on a phone. Additionally, you do not need to deal with LuaSocket, which is a native dependency and may not be available depending on the mpv build you are using.

There are fewer features than in simple-mpv-webui. I only added things that I find useful. Watch a demo to see what is available. If a feature is missing, keep using simple-mpv-webui or send me a PR to add it.

Using with curl

You can send JSON requests to the server started by remote_mpv.py using curl. This can sometimes be useful. See examples below.

To pause playback, run:

curl --json '{"pause": true}' http://127.0.0.1:7271/property

To get the current value of a property:

curl http://127.0.0.1:7271/property/pause

Switch to the second playlist entry:

curl --json '{"cmd": "playlist-play-index", "args": [1]}' http://127.0.0.1:7271/command

Increase current playback speed:

curl --json '{"cmd": "multiply", "args": ["speed", 1.1]}' http://127.0.0.1:7271/command

Seek forward 10 seconds:

curl --json '{"cmd": "seek", "args": [10]}' http://127.0.0.1:7271/command