Installed .NET 8 SDK (per-user, winget needed admin elevation this
machine doesn't have) and restored the real MediaBrowser.Server.Core /
MediaBrowser.Common packages, then fixed everything the compiler and
a bit of reflection surfaced:
- PlaybackProgressEventArgs/PlaybackStopEventArgs are in
MediaBrowser.Controller.Library, not ...Session
- IAuthorizationContext/AuthorizationInfo are in MediaBrowser.Controller.Net
- Item/user/session ids (SessionInfo.Id/UserId, BaseItemDto.Id) are plain
string on this SDK version, not Guid - Party/PartyMember updated
accordingly (Party.Id stays a Guid; it's minted by this plugin, not Emby)
- Reading the calling user needed an extra step:
IAuthorizationContext.GetAuthorizationInfo(Request).UserId is a `long`
(internal row id); .User.Id is the one matching SessionInfo.UserId,
but it's a Guid so it's reformatted with .ToString("N")
docs/architecture.md's "Assumptions to verify" now reflects what was
actually confirmed vs. what's still only compile-checked (HTTP status
codes, content-type headers, the JS auth header format, the dashboard
config page) pending a run against a real server.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
88 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
88 lines
3.6 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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Builds clean (0 errors, 0 warnings) against the real `MediaBrowser.Server.Core`
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/ `MediaBrowser.Common` 4.9.1.90 assemblies from NuGet. Not yet installed or
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run against an actual Emby Server — a few things (auth header format, HTTP
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status codes, the dashboard settings page rendering) are only compile-checked
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so far, not runtime-verified. See
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[docs/architecture.md](docs/architecture.md#assumptions-to-verify) for
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exactly what was wrong on the first guess, what was fixed, and what's still
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open.
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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) 8.0 to build (installed
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per-user under `%USERPROFILE%\.dotnet` in this environment, since the
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machine-wide winget install needed admin elevation that wasn't available —
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see git history if you need to redo this on another machine)
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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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- [x] 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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