Kodi MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for controlling Kodi media center. This server provides both REST API and MCP protocol support, allowing seamless integration with MCP clients like Claude Desktop, n8n, and other MCP-compatible tools.

Features

Core Kodi Controls

• 🎮 Player Control: Play, pause, stop, volume control
• 🧭 Navigation: Menu navigation (up, down, left, right, select, back)
• 📊 Library Management: View library statistics, scan library
• 🎬 Movie Operations: Search movies, list recent movies, play by ID
• 📺 TV Show Operations: List TV shows, play episodes

Smart Downloads Management

• 📁 List Downloads: Browse video files in download directory
• 🔍 Search Downloads: Find files by name (case-insensitive)
• 🎯 Smart Find & Play: Intelligent search with automatic playback of best match
• 📂 Direct File Play: Play any video file by path

Protocol Support

• 🌐 REST API: Direct HTTP endpoints for easy integration
• 🔌 MCP Protocol: Full Model Context Protocol support
• 📡 Server-Sent Events: Real-time event streaming
• 🔗 WebSocket: Bidirectional communication support

Quick Start

Using Docker (Recommended)

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/kodi-mcp-server.git
   cd kodi-mcp-server
   

2. Configure environment

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your Kodi configuration
   

3. Start with Docker Compose

   docker-compose up -d
   

4. Verify installation

   curl http://localhost:8080/health
   

Manual Installation

1. Requirements

   • Python 3.11+
   • Kodi with JSON-RPC enabled
   • Network access to Kodi instance

2. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Configure environment

   export KODI_HOST=192.168.1.100
   export KODI_PORT=8080
   export KODI_USERNAME=kodi
   export KODI_PASSWORD=your_password
   export KODI_DOWNLOADS_PATH=/path/to/downloads
   

4. Run the server

   python -m src.server
   

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default	Required
KODI_HOST	Kodi server IP address	localhost	Yes
KODI_PORT	Kodi JSON-RPC port	8080	Yes
KODI_USERNAME	Kodi username	-	Yes
KODI_PASSWORD	Kodi password	-	Yes
KODI_DOWNLOADS_PATH	Path to downloads folder	-	Yes
SERVER_HOST	MCP server bind address	0.0.0.0	No
SERVER_PORT	MCP server port	8080	No
MCP_SERVER_NAME	MCP server identifier	kodi-controller	No
LOG_LEVEL	Logging level	INFO	No

Kodi Setup

1. Enable JSON-RPC in Kodi

   • Settings → Services → Control
   • Enable "Allow remote control via HTTP"
   • Set username and password
   • Note the port (usually 8080)

2. Configure Downloads Path

   • Use the actual path as seen by Kodi
   • For Docker Kodi: usually /storage/downloads/ or /var/media/
   • Test with Files.GetDirectory in Kodi JSON-RPC

Available Tools

Player Control

• get_now_playing - Get currently playing media information
• player_play_pause - Toggle play/pause
• player_stop - Stop playbook
• set_volume - Set volume level (0-100)

Navigation

• navigate_menu - Navigate Kodi interface (up/down/left/right/select/back)

Library Operations

• search_movies - Search movies in Kodi library
• list_recent_movies - List recently added movies
• list_tv_shows - List all TV shows
• play_movie - Play movie by library ID
• play_episode - Play TV show episode
• get_library_stats - Get library statistics
• scan_library - Trigger library scan

Downloads Management

• list_downloads - List video files in downloads directory
• search_downloads - Search downloads by filename
• play_file - Play video file by path
• find_and_play - Smart search with automatic best-match playback

Usage Examples

With MCP Client (Claude Desktop, n8n)

{
  "tool": "find_and_play",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "avengers",
    "auto_play": true
  }
}

REST API

# Search and play the best matching file
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/tools/find_and_play \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"params": {"query": "batman", "auto_play": true}}'

# List recent movies
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/tools/list_recent_movies \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"params": {"limit": 10}}'

# Control playback
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/tools/player_play_pause \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

MCP JSON-RPC Protocol

# Initialize connection
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "initialize", "id": 1}'

# List available tools
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/list", "id": 2}'

# Execute tool
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0", 
    "method": "tools/call", 
    "params": {
      "name": "find_and_play",
      "arguments": {"query": "matrix", "auto_play": true}
    },
    "id": 3
  }'

Integration

n8n MCP Client

1. Add MCP Client node in n8n
2. Configure connection:
   • Transport: Server-Sent Events
   • URL: http://your-server:8080
3. Use available tools in your workflows

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kodi-controller": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["exec", "kodi-mcp-server", "python", "-m", "src.pure_mcp_server"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Smart Search Algorithm

The find_and_play tool uses an intelligent scoring algorithm:

• 🎯 Position Matching: Terms at the beginning get higher scores
• 🔤 Word Matching: Complete word matches vs partial matches
• ⭐ Quality Bonus: Higher quality formats (1080p, BluRay) get bonus points
• ⚠️ Suspicious File Detection: Samples, trailers get penalty points
• 🧠 Fuzzy Matching: Works with partial terms like "batman" → "The Dark Knight"

API Reference

Health Check

GET /health

List Tools

GET /tools

Execute Tool (REST)

POST /tools/{tool_name}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "params": {
    "param1": "value1",
    "param2": "value2"
  }
}

MCP Protocol Endpoints

POST /          # JSON-RPC MCP protocol
GET /           # Server-Sent Events stream
GET /sse        # Additional SSE endpoint

Development

Running Tests

# Test new tools functionality
./demo_smart_search.sh

# Test all tools
./demo_new_tools_working.sh

# Quick Docker test
./quick_docker_test.sh

Project Structure

kodi-mcp-server/
├── src/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── config.py           # Configuration management
│   ├── kodi_client.py      # Kodi JSON-RPC client
│   ├── server.py          # Main server entry point
│   ├── hybrid_server.py   # Hybrid REST+MCP server
│   └── pure_mcp_server.py # Pure MCP protocol server
├── docker-compose.yml     # Docker deployment
├── Dockerfile            # Container definition
├── requirements.txt      # Python dependencies
├── .env.example         # Environment template
└── README.md           # This file

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

• 🐛 Issues: GitHub Issues
• 📖 Documentation: MCP Protocol Specification
• 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions

Acknowledgments

• Model Context Protocol - The protocol specification
• Kodi - The amazing media center software
• FastAPI - Web framework for the hybrid server