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The reliable way to connect Jellyfin to Home Assistant is a two-layer setup: add Jellyfin as a Home Assistant integration to monitor media sessions and browse content, then add each TV, streaming box, speaker, light, blind, and sensor through its own Home Assistant integration. Home Assistant does not create one universal connection that controls every smart device.
With that architecture, you can start Jellyfin playback, dim lights, close blinds, pause for a doorbell alert, restore the room afterward, and control compatible devices from dashboards or voice assistants.
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How Jellyfin, Home Assistant, and your devices fit together
These systems have different jobs:
- Jellyfin server: stores and streams your movies, shows, and music.
- Jellyfin client: the app running on a TV, streaming box, phone, computer, or speaker.
- Home Assistant: coordinates media sessions with your smart-home devices.
- Playback device: the TV or streaming player that actually runs the Jellyfin app.
- Smart-home devices: lights, blinds, sensors, switches, speakers, and voice assistants.
Jellyfin server
├── Jellyfin Android TV client
├── Jellyfin Apple TV client
├── Jellyfin Roku client
└── Jellyfin web client
│
Home Assistant
│
lights, blinds, sensors, dashboards, voice assistantsHome Assistant generally controls the client or its media session—not the video file directly. The built-in Jellyfin integration reports what is playing and provides Jellyfin-related media actions. Native integrations for Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Android TV, LG webOS, or Samsung TV handle device-specific jobs such as power, inputs, app launching, and remote commands.
Home Assistant’s current documentation lists Jellyfin Server 10.6.4 and later as tested. See the Jellyfin integration documentation for compatibility changes.
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What you need
- A working Jellyfin server with at least one configured user and media library. Jellyfin’s setup wizard covers administrator setup and library creation.
- Home Assistant with network access to the Jellyfin server.
- Jellyfin clients installed and signed in on the TVs or streaming devices you want to use.
- Network access from Home Assistant to locally controlled devices.
- Stable IP addresses or DHCP reservations for TVs, streaming boxes, and other fixed devices.
- Correct firewall and VLAN rules. Discovery may also require mDNS or other multicast traffic to cross network segments.
If Home Assistant can reach Jellyfin only from a browser on your computer, that is not enough. The Home Assistant host itself must resolve and reach the server URL.
Add Jellyfin to Home Assistant
- Open Home Assistant.
- Go to Settings → Devices & services.
- Select Add Integration.
- Search for Jellyfin.
- Enter the complete Jellyfin URL, including the protocol and any port or webroot.
- Enter the Jellyfin username and password.
- Finish setup.
Examples of valid URL formats include:
https://media.example.com
http://10.1.1.100:8096
http://home.example.com/jellyfinThe documented built-in setup asks for a URL, username, and password. It does not require manually entering an API key. If you use a reverse proxy, make sure its base URL, TLS configuration, ordinary HTTP forwarding, and WebSocket forwarding are correct. Jellyfin’s networking documentation explains reverse proxies and base URLs.
Verify the integration
After setup, open the Jellyfin integration card under Settings → Devices & services. Start playback in a signed-in Jellyfin client. Home Assistant should then create a media-player entity for the active Jellyfin session.
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The integration can expose playback state, title, artist or album data, duration, position, and controls such as play, pause, stop, seek, volume, and mute. The exact capabilities depend on the client. Jellyfin is also available as a Home Assistant media source, although the documented media-browser support is limited to music, movie, and TV-show libraries.
Audio codec setting
The integration includes an Audio Codec option with AAC, MP3, Vorbis, and WMA choices. This primarily affects audio playback compatibility; it is not a universal video-transcoding setting.
Add the playback devices separately
Install and sign in to the Jellyfin client on every target TV or streamer, then add that hardware to Home Assistant using its native integration.
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Chromecast and Google Cast
The Google Cast integration can discover devices automatically when mDNS works. If discovery fails, configure the device manually by IP address.
Cast playback requires media reachable over HTTP or HTTPS. The documented path does not play directly from SMB or DLNA shares. Chromecast devices may also fail to resolve private local names because they commonly use Google DNS rather than the DNS server supplied by DHCP. An IP address or correctly resolvable hostname may work where a private .local name does not.
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For Jellyfin, the most dependable approach is usually to run the Jellyfin app on Google TV or Chromecast with Google TV and let the Jellyfin integration track the session. Use Cast directly only when the media URL is reachable by the Cast receiver and the format is compatible.
Android TV, Google TV, and Fire TV
The Android Debug Bridge integration can launch applications, send navigation commands, control playback, and send key events. You must enable ADB debugging, enter the device IP address, and approve Home Assistant on the device the first time. Home Assistant recommends trying its built-in Python ADB implementation before using a separate ADB server.
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Android TV applications do not all expose the same media API. A TV can therefore be controllable while the Jellyfin app reports incomplete title, position, or playback data.
Apple TV
Install Jellyfin on Apple TV, sign in, and add the Apple TV through Home Assistant’s Apple TV integration. It can provide media-player, remote, and keyboard-related entities, along with power, remote, and app controls.
Use the Apple TV entity for device-level control and the Jellyfin entity for Jellyfin session information where available. Do not assume every Jellyfin title can be launched through an Apple TV deep link; documented deep-link examples apply to particular applications and supported sources.
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The Roku integration supports Roku players and Roku televisions. Devices may be discovered automatically or added by host/IP address. Local control may require enabling the TV or player’s network-control setting.
Roku app launching and direct URL playback depend on Roku APIs and application support. Its PlayOnRoku path has format and application limitations, so do not assume that every Jellyfin title can be launched or controlled this way. The Roku integration controls Roku devices, not arbitrary Roku smart-home products.
LG webOS
The LG webOS integration supports compatible LG TVs running webOS 2.0 or later. Enable LG Connect Apps in the TV’s network settings.
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Use it for power, volume, input selection, notifications, and available source launching. Treat the Jellyfin app as a separate client: whether Home Assistant can launch or control it depends on the TV model and the app’s exposed behavior.
Samsung Smart TV
The Samsung Smart TV integration supports known Tizen models from 2016 onward and compatible models with supported WebSocket or REST APIs. It can expose power, volume, source selection, playback, media information, and remote commands, subject to model and firmware support.
Use Samsung’s entity for TV-level control and the Jellyfin entity for playback-session information. These are complementary integrations, not duplicates.
Test playback and identify the right entities
- Start a movie, episode, or song in a Jellyfin client.
- Open Developer tools → States.
- Search for entities containing “jellyfin” or inspect the Jellyfin integration device page.
- Confirm the state changes to
playingand that title, duration, and position appear when supported. - Test play, pause, stop, seek, and volume from the entity controls.
- Rename devices and entities using clear names such as
jellyfin_living_room,jellyfin_bedroom, andremote_jellyfin_living_room.
If a client is idle or disconnected, it may not produce the active session entity you expect. The entity also may not expose every control available on another platform.
Start Jellyfin media from Home Assistant
Home Assistant’s standard media_player.play_media action can start a Jellyfin item when the client supports the required media type and identifier:
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target:
entity_id: media_player.jellyfin_living_room
data:
media_content_id: YOUR_JELLYFIN_ITEM_ID
media_content_type: movieFor an episode queued after the current item:
action: media_player.play_media
target:
entity_id: media_player.jellyfin_living_room
data:
media_content_id: YOUR_EPISODE_ID
media_content_type: episode
enqueue: nextThe IDs above are placeholders. Obtain real IDs through Home Assistant’s media browser, the UI action editor, an action trace, or the relevant entity data. Current documented enqueue values are next and add. If omitted, the current queue is replaced.
For supported clients, the Jellyfin integration also provides the jellyfin.play_media_shuffle action. Remote entities may support navigation commands, but the command set is client-dependent:
action: remote.send_command
target:
entity_id: remote.jellyfin_living_room
data:
delay_secs: 1.5
command:
- MoveRight
- MoveRight
- MoveDown
- SelectCreate a cinema-mode automation
Use the Jellyfin session as the trigger and ordinary Home Assistant integrations for the room:
alias: Cinema mode when Jellyfin starts
mode: restart
triggers:
- trigger: state
entity_id: media_player.jellyfin_living_room
to: playing
conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: input_boolean.cinema_mode
state: "on"
actions:
- action: light.turn_on
target:
entity_id: light.living_room
data:
brightness_pct: 12
transition: 2
- action: cover.close_cover
target:
entity_id: cover.living_room_blinds
- action: media_player.volume_set
target:
entity_id: media_player.living_room_tv
data:
volume_level: 0.25Replace every example entity with your own IDs. A TV integration is often the better target for volume and input control, while the Jellyfin entity is the better trigger for actual Jellyfin playback.
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Restore the room afterward
Create a second automation that handles paused, idle, off, and unavailable, then restores lights and blinds. Add a short for: duration or delay before acting. Clients can briefly report idle or unavailable during buffering, startup, transcoding, or a temporary network interruption.
Pause for a doorbell or security alert
Use a doorbell, camera, alarm, or occupancy sensor as the trigger and target the active Jellyfin media player:
alias: Pause Jellyfin for doorbell
mode: restart
triggers:
- trigger: state
entity_id: binary_sensor.front_doorbell
to: "on"
actions:
- action: media_player.media_pause
target:
entity_id: media_player.jellyfin_living_roomFor several rooms, target a group of media players or create a script called “Pause all media.”
Add lights, blinds, speakers, and sensors
Home Assistant does not discover every bulb, blind, sensor, or speaker through Jellyfin. Add each device through its own integration, then use Jellyfin state as the trigger or condition. This separation is useful: you can replace a TV without rewriting your lighting integration, or change from Wi-Fi bulbs to Zigbee lights without changing Jellyfin.
For new smart-home hardware, prioritize devices with strong Home Assistant support rather than relying only on Alexa or Google Home compatibility. Zigbee or Thread devices may also require a compatible coordinator; that hardware is unrelated to the Jellyfin integration itself.
Voice control: useful, but not full Jellyfin search
Home Assistant Assist can provide local voice control where your voice setup supports it. Google Assistant and Alexa can expose compatible Home Assistant entities, but account linking, cloud services, and plan requirements vary. See Home Assistant’s Alexa Devices documentation and Google’s third-party device setup.
Voice assistants may reliably handle commands such as play, pause, volume, or “start movie night” when the relevant media player or script is exposed. That does not guarantee natural-language search of a Jellyfin library or playback of any arbitrary title.
Named scripts are usually more dependable than improvised media commands:
- “Start movie night.”
- “Play the living-room Jellyfin client.”
- “Pause all media.”
- “Turn on cinema mode.”
Networking, remote access, and security
- For local use, ensure Home Assistant can route to Jellyfin and the playback devices.
- Reserve IP addresses for fixed devices.
- Allow mDNS and multicast where automatic discovery requires them, or configure devices manually.
- For remote access, prefer HTTPS through a correctly configured reverse proxy, a VPN, or a managed remote-access service.
- Do not casually expose Jellyfin’s raw port to the public internet.
- Use a restricted Jellyfin user for Home Assistant when administrator privileges are unnecessary.
- Keep passwords, tokens, and API keys out of YAML, screenshots, logs, and public repositories.
- Use firewall rules and, where appropriate, separate server, trusted-device, and IoT VLANs.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Home Assistant cannot add Jellyfin | Incorrect URL, DNS, TLS, firewall, or webroot | Include http:// or https://, the correct port and webroot; test reachability from the Home Assistant host. |
| No Jellyfin media entity appears | No active session or wrong account | Start playback, confirm the client is signed in to the same server, and verify the integration user can see the session. |
| Controls or metadata are missing | Client capability limitation | Update or reconnect the client and check its supported capabilities. Use the native device integration for hardware controls. |
| Cast devices are not discovered | mDNS or multicast is blocked | Check VLAN routing and multicast filtering, or configure the Cast device manually by IP. |
| Chromecast cannot play media | URL, DNS, HTTP(S), or codec problem | Make sure the receiver can resolve and reach the HTTP(S) URL. Do not use an inaccessible SMB path or private hostname. |
| TV works but Jellyfin does not | Separate integrations expose different capabilities | Use the TV integration for power, input, launching, and remote control; use Jellyfin for the media session. |
| Lights flicker during playback | Temporary buffering or state changes | Add a for: duration, delay, playback conditions, and explicit handling for playing, paused, idle, and unavailable. |
| Voice command fails | Generic media exposure is not Jellyfin library search | Expose named scripts for repeatable actions and use platform-specific voice integrations. |
The most stable setup
For most households, install the native Jellyfin app on each TV or streaming device, add the built-in Jellyfin integration to Home Assistant, and add native integrations for the playback hardware. Let Jellyfin report playback state; let the TV or streamer integration handle power, app launching, inputs, and remote commands; and let ordinary Home Assistant automations control lights, blinds, speakers, sensors, and alerts.
This approach avoids pretending that every client supports the same controls, works with the devices you already own, and gives you a practical recovery path when discovery or app-level control is limited.
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