Nicolas
66af05f259
Design: coordinate parties on top of Emby's existing session remote-control commands (SendPlaystateCommand) rather than building a new player. Each member keeps their own Emby app/controls; the server periodically corrects drift and mirrors pause/unpause against one reference member's reported position. - src/WatchParty: plugin skeleton (BasePlugin, IServerEntryPoint, IService/[Route] API, in-memory party store, drift-correction loop) - web/control-panel: plain HTML/JS/CSS companion page to create/join parties and resync, served by the plugin itself - docs/architecture.md: full design, sources consulted, and an explicit list of SDK details that still need verifying against a real build (no .NET SDK / Emby SDK assemblies available in this environment to compile against) Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
85 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
85 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# Watch Party for Emby
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An Emby Server plugin that lets a group of users on the same server watch the
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same title together. Nobody switches players: everyone keeps using their
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normal Emby app (web, mobile, TV, whatever), and the plugin nudges playback
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back in sync using the same remote-control commands Emby already uses for
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casting / "play on another device".
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See [docs/architecture.md](docs/architecture.md) for the full design,
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including which parts are solidly confirmed against Emby's SDK docs and which
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still need verification against your exact server build.
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## How it's meant to work
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1. You start playing a title in your normal Emby app.
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2. You open the Watch Party control panel (a small web page the plugin
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serves) and start a party. You get a 6-character join code.
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3. Friends open the control panel, sign in with their own Emby account, start
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playing the *same* title in their own Emby app, and enter the code to join.
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4. The server treats one member (the host, by default) as the reference
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position, and periodically nudges everyone else's session back in sync
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(seek correction, and mirroring pause/unpause) — see
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[docs/architecture.md](docs/architecture.md#sync-algorithm).
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The control panel is a companion page, not a video player — it never touches
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the actual video stream.
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## Status
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Early scaffold, not yet built or run against a real server. It's structured
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around Emby's documented plugin patterns (`BasePlugin<T>`, `IServerEntryPoint`,
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the `IService`/`[Route]` API style) and the confirmed
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`ISessionManager.SendPlaystateCommand` remote-control API, but several SDK
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details are marked `TODO(verify)` in the code — see
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[docs/architecture.md](docs/architecture.md#assumptions-to-verify) before
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expecting it to compile as-is.
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## Requirements
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- Emby Server (developed against 4.9.5.0; should work on nearby 4.9.x/4.8.x
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builds, but the plugin ABI does shift between versions)
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- [.NET SDK](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download) to build (not currently
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installed in this environment — `dotnet --version` came back empty)
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## Project layout
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```
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src/WatchParty/ the plugin itself (C#, netstandard2.0)
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Plugin.cs plugin registration + admin settings page
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Configuration/ plugin settings + the dashboard config page HTML
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Parties/ Party / PartyMember model + in-memory PartyManager
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Sync/ the drift-correction background loop
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Api/ REST endpoints + serving the control panel's static files
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web/control-panel/ the user-facing page (plain HTML/JS/CSS, no build step)
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docs/architecture.md full design doc
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```
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## Building
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```bash
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dotnet build src/WatchParty/WatchParty.csproj
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```
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To have a build drop the DLL straight into a local Emby Server's plugin
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folder, set `EMBY_PLUGINS_DIR` before building, e.g.:
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```bash
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EMBY_PLUGINS_DIR="C:/ProgramData/Emby-Server/programdata/plugins" dotnet build src/WatchParty/WatchParty.csproj
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```
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Adjust the path for however your server is installed (Windows service vs.
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portable install vs. Docker volume).
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## Roadmap
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- [x] Design doc + scaffold
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- [ ] Build against the real SDK, fix whatever the `TODO(verify)` spots got wrong
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- [ ] Try it against a real Emby Server + two clients
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- [ ] Live (WebSocket) updates in the control panel instead of polling
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- [ ] Optional text chat, reusing the same realtime channel
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- [ ] Per-party override of sync settings instead of only server-wide defaults
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## License
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MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
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