add_to_playlist
Add items to an existing playlist
LABSCO SUMMARY
The filters Plex applies behind its UI become arguments, so 'quiet instrumental tracks I have never played' is one call.
The music filters are the distinctive part — bpmMin, musical_key, loudness_max, dynamic_range_min and acoustic_ratio_min sit next to the usual actor and year fields, and browse_library accepts the same set with sorting and an offset. Playlist creation has two conditions attached: create_playlist requires an initial item_key to succeed, and smart playlists are out of scope because of their filter requirements. Authentication runs as its own two-step flow, with check_auth_status polling a pin_id until the login completes.
What it is
A Plex Media Server client covering 22 tools, over libraries, playlists, collections, watch history and listening statistics.
What you get
- Filtering that goes past title and year: search_plex and browse_library both take genre, mood, musical_key, bpmMin and bpmMax, loudness, dynamic range, acoustic ratio, audio_format, resolution, content_rating, actor, director, writer, studio, duration, file size, rating and year ranges.
- Play history as a filter, not just a report: never_played, played_in_last_days, play_count_min and play_count_max, last_played_after and last_played_before narrow a search, while get_watch_history, get_on_deck and get_watched_status answer the question directly.
- Library navigation: browse_libraries lists what the server holds, get_recently_added covers new arrivals, get_collections and browse_collection walk collections, and get_library_stats reports storage use and file counts.
- Playlists built from what the search returned: list_playlists, browse_playlist with full track metadata, create_playlist, add_to_playlist and delete_playlist.
- Music-specific reads: get_listening_stats returns statistics and recommendations from play history over a time period, and discover_music takes a natural-language query with context.
- File-level detail through get_media_info — codecs, bitrates and file sizes for a specific item.
Requirements
A Plex Media Server you can reach and its address in PLEX_URL, plus a Plex account: authenticate_plex returns a login URL, check_auth_status retrieves the token once you have signed in, and clear_auth discards it.
Setup effort
One command, then sign in — npx -y @smithery/cli install @vyb1ng/plex-mcp --client claude, then approve the OAuth sign-in
USE CASES
01
Building a playlist from a tempo and a mood rather than from titles
Search on the music fields, then create the playlist with the first match and add the rest to it.
02
Working out what is filling the disk
Read the storage picture per library, list the largest files by filtering on file size, and check the codecs and bitrates behind the worst offenders.
03
Picking up the series you dropped two months ago
On Deck answers it directly; history and per-item watch status settle the cases where several people watched on the same server.
04
Finding the music in your own library you have never actually played
The play-count filters turn the library into a backlog, and the listening statistics say what the played half has in common.
22 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
authenticate_plex
Initiate Plex OAuth authentication flow to get user login URL
browse_collection
Browse content within a specific collection
browse_libraries
List all available Plex libraries (Movies, TV Shows, Music, etc.)
browse_library
Browse content within a specific Plex library with filtering and sorting options
browse_playlist
Browse and view the contents of a specific playlist with full track metadata
check_auth_status
Check if Plex authentication is complete and retrieve the auth token
clear_auth
Clear stored authentication credentials
create_playlist
Create a new regular playlist on the Plex server. Requires an initial item (item_key parameter) to be created successfully. Smart playlists are not supported due to their complex filter requirements.
delete_playlist
Delete an existing playlist
discover_music
Natural language music discovery with smart recommendations based on your preferences and library
get_collections
List all collections available on the Plex server
get_library_stats
Get comprehensive statistics about Plex libraries (storage usage, file counts, content breakdown, etc.)
get_listening_stats
Get detailed listening statistics and music recommendations based on play history and patterns
get_media_info
Get detailed technical information about media files (codecs, bitrates, file sizes, etc.)
get_on_deck
Get 'On Deck' items (continue watching) for users
get_recently_added
Get recently added content from Plex libraries
get_watch_history
Get playback history for the Plex server
get_watched_status
Check watch status and progress for specific content items
list_playlists
List all playlists on the Plex server
search_plex
Search for movies, TV shows, and other content in Plex libraries
validate_llm_response
Validate LLM response format and content against expected schemas for different prompt types
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
22 tools when we connected. Smart playlists are disabled because their filter logic is broken. authenticate_plex, check_auth_status and clear_auth handle login; playlist creation, editing and deletion are the only writes.
Requires
npx on PATH
Optional
PLEX_TOKEN in your environment
CONTEXT COST
Moderate Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 22 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
Claude Desktop — Smithery
TERMINAL
npx -y @smithery/cli install @vyb1ng/plex-mcp --client claudeMCP Clients
Claude Desktop — npx
CLAUDE DESKTOP — NPX · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"plex": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"plex-mcp"
],
"env": {
"PLEX_URL": "http://<YOUR_PLEX_SERVER>:32400"
}
}
}
}Claude Desktop — debug logging
CLAUDE DESKTOP — DEBUG LOGGING · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"plex": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"plex-mcp"
],
"env": {
"PLEX_URL": "http://<YOUR_PLEX_SERVER>:32400",
"MCP_HTTP_DEBUG": "true"
}
}
}
}
