Plex Command Center

Advanced Plex Media Server monitoring, control dashboard, and Virtual Linear TV

Features • What's New in v2 • Installation • Live TV Setup • Desktop App • Configuration • Screenshots • Roadmap

⚠️ Development Status This project is currently in BETA (v2.5.2 + Live TV). While fully functional, some features are still being refined. We welcome bug reports and feature requests!

📋 Overview

Plex Command Center is a comprehensive web-based dashboard for monitoring and controlling your Plex Media Server. It provides real-time insights into your server's performance, active streams, user activity, media requests, system health, and now includes a Virtual Linear TV system that turns your Plex libraries into always-on TV channels.

Key Capabilities

Real-time Monitoring: Live CPU, memory, network, and disk usage from your actual Plex server (via Zabbix integration)
Stream Management: View and control active streams with detailed playback information
User Analytics: Track top users, watch history, and viewing patterns via Tautulli
Media Requests: Manage Jellyseerr requests with approval/decline capabilities
Collection Management: Create and manage Plex collections by genre, year, or actor
System Health: Monitor server status, library counts, uptime, and disk usage
Virtual Linear TV (NEW in v2): Create virtual TV channels from your Plex libraries with EPG, fillers, schedule rules, and a dedicated desktop player app

🆕 What's New in v2

Virtual Linear TV System

Transform your Plex library into a traditional TV experience with always-on channels.

Virtual Channels: Create channels from any Plex library — by genre, actor, year, or entire libraries
Virtual Clock Engine: Deterministic scheduling using modular arithmetic — every viewer sees the same thing at the same time, no server-side state needed
Zero-CPU Streaming: 302 redirect to Plex direct play URLs means no transcoding overhead on the server
Auto-Build Playlists: Automatically populate channels with content from your libraries, with smart filtering
Filler System: Insert trailers, bumpers, or short clips between programs — auto-scan your Plex libraries for trailers
Schedule Rules:
- Time Block (Broadcast Schedule): Set on-air hours per channel (e.g., "Cartoon channel: 6AM-9PM weekdays")
- Seasonal Boost: Boost specific genres during date ranges (e.g., "Horror +30% in October")
TV Guide: Full EPG grid in the web UI showing 6+ hours of programming with current time marker, respects on/off air schedule rules
Channel Logos: Upload custom logos per channel, displayed as watermarks in the player with configurable position, size, and opacity
M3U + XMLTV: Generate M3U playlist and XMLTV EPG for use with Plex DVR tuner, Channels DVR, or any IPTV player
In-Browser Player: Watch channels directly in the web UI with channel switching (arrow keys), OSD, schedule bar, and channel list overlay
Desktop App (NEW): Dedicated Electron-based Windows app for a native TV viewing experience

Desktop Player App (`plex-livetv-app/`)

A standalone Windows desktop application for watching your virtual channels:

Native Electron App: Frameless window with custom title bar, system tray, always-on-top mode
Channel Sidebar: Browse channels with live "now playing" info, or switch to TV Guide view
Keyboard Shortcuts: Arrow keys for channel switching, number keys for direct tune, M for mute, F for fullscreen, S for sidebar
Auto-Reconnect: Detects stalls and connection loss, automatically reconnects
Channel Logo Watermark: Displays channel logos with your configured position/opacity/size settings
Heartbeat System: Keeps watch sessions alive for accurate "active viewers" tracking

Other v2 Improvements

PWA Support: Install as a Progressive Web App with manifest and service worker
Improved Stream Handling: Video player auto-advances on error or stall (no more stuck loading screens)
Better Guide Rendering: Larger fonts, better spacing, responsive layout in the TV guide grid

✨ Features

Dashboard Widgets

Server Status - Real-time server status with clickable details (IP addresses, library count, uptime)
Active Streams - Live view of current viewers with playback progress and quality
System Resources - CPU, RAM, network I/O with toggle between Plex server (Zabbix) and Docker container metrics
Disk Usage - All drives with usage percentages, automatic alerts for added/removed disks
Top Users - Most active users with play counts and watch time
Recent Requests - Jellyseerr media requests with approve/decline actions
Collections - Visual collection browser with poster art

Dedicated Tabs

Active Streams - Detailed stream information with ability to stop streams
Top Users - Complete user statistics with clickable details
Watch History - Filterable history with date range, user, and search
System - Server information, library details, disk usage
Tools - Utilities including unwatched report generator
Live TV (NEW) - Full virtual linear TV management with sub-views:
- Now Playing - What's currently airing on each channel
- TV Guide - EPG grid with 6-hour view, off-air blocks, and click-to-watch
- Channels - Create, edit, configure channels with filters and logo upload
- Fillers - Manage trailer/bumper content, auto-scan Plex libraries
- Setup - M3U/XMLTV URLs, auto-build tools, session management

Integrations

Plex Media Server - Direct API integration for core functionality
Tautulli - Advanced statistics and watch history
Jellyseerr - Media request management with TMDB search
Zabbix (Optional) - Real-time Windows server metrics (CPU, RAM, disk, network)

🚀 Installation

Prerequisites

Docker & Docker Compose
Plex Media Server with API token
Tautulli instance with API key
Jellyseerr instance with API key
(Optional) Zabbix server for Windows Plex server metrics

Quick Start

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/plex-command-center.git
cd plex-command-center

Configure environment variables

cp docker-compose.yml.example docker-compose.yml
nano docker-compose.yml

Edit the following required variables:

- PLEX_URL=http://YOUR_PLEX_IP:32400
- PLEX_TOKEN=YOUR_PLEX_TOKEN
- TAUTULLI_URL=http://YOUR_TAUTULLI_IP:8181
- TAUTULLI_API_KEY=YOUR_TAUTULLI_KEY
- JELLYSEERR_URL=https://your-jellyseerr-domain.com  # NO trailing slash!
- JELLYSEERR_API_KEY=YOUR_JELLYSEERR_KEY

Optional Zabbix integration (for real Plex server metrics):

- ZABBIX_URL=http://YOUR_ZABBIX_IP/zabbix
- ZABBIX_USER=Admin
- ZABBIX_PASSWORD=YOUR_PASSWORD
- ZABBIX_HOST_ID=YOUR_PLEX_HOST_ID

Build and start

docker-compose build
docker-compose up -d

Access the dashboard
```
http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3001
```

📺 Virtual Linear TV

Quick Setup

Navigate to the Live TV tab in the web UI
Go to Setup sub-view to see your M3U and XMLTV URLs
Go to Channels and click + New Channel
Select a library source, set channel number and name
Click Build Playlist to populate the channel with content
(Optional) Upload a channel logo, add fillers, configure schedule rules
Watch directly in the browser or use the M3U URL with any IPTV player

Schedule Rules

Broadcast Schedule (Time Block): Set specific hours when a channel is on-air. Outside these hours, the channel shows "Off Air" in the TV guide and won't stream.

Example: Kids channel on 6:00-21:00 weekdays only

Seasonal Boost: Increase the percentage of a specific genre during a date range.

Example: Boost Horror by 30% during October (months 10-10)

M3U/XMLTV for Plex DVR

You can add your virtual channels as a tuner in Plex:

In Plex, go to Settings > Live TV & DVR
Add tuner with M3U URL: http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3001/api/livetv/m3u
Add EPG with XMLTV URL: http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3001/api/livetv/xmltv

Environment Variables for Live TV

Variable	Default	Description
`LIVETV_ENABLED`	`true`	Enable/disable the Live TV feature
`LIVETV_BASE_URL`	auto-detected	Base URL for M3U/XMLTV (set if behind reverse proxy)
`LIVETV_GUIDE_HOURS`	`48`	Hours of EPG data to generate
`LIVETV_FILLER_INTERVAL`	`3`	Insert a filler every N programs

🖥️ Desktop App

The plex-livetv-app/ folder contains a standalone Electron desktop app for Windows.

Building from Source

cd plex-livetv-app
npm install
npm start          # Run in development
npm run build      # Build Windows executable

Using Pre-built

If you have a pre-built version, just replace resources/app/renderer/index.html to update the UI without rebuilding.

First Launch

Launch the app
Enter your Plex Command Center server URL (e.g., http://192.168.1.100:3001)
Click Connect — channels load automatically
Click any channel or use arrow keys to start watching

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
`↑` / `↓`	Previous / Next channel
`←` / `→`	Volume down / up
`0-9`	Direct channel number entry
`M`	Toggle mute
`F`	Toggle fullscreen
`S`	Toggle sidebar
`G`	Toggle Guide / Channels view
`Esc`	Exit fullscreen

🔧 Configuration

Getting Your API Keys

Plex Token

Log into Plex Web App
Play any media item
Click the (i) info button → View XML
Look for X-Plex-Token=XXXXX in the URL
Copy the token value

Tautulli API Key

Tautulli → Settings → Web Interface
Scroll to "API" section
Copy the API Key

Jellyseerr API Key

Jellyseerr → Settings → General
Scroll to "API Key"
Click "Generate" if not present
Copy the API Key

Zabbix Host ID (Optional)

Log into Zabbix web interface
Configuration → Hosts
Click on your Plex server host
Look at the URL: hostid=XXXXX
Copy the host ID number

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description	Example
`PLEX_URL`	Yes	Plex server URL	`http://192.168.1.100:32400`
`PLEX_TOKEN`	Yes	Plex API token	`abc123xyz...`
`TAUTULLI_URL`	Yes	Tautulli URL	`http://192.168.1.100:8181`
`TAUTULLI_API_KEY`	Yes	Tautulli API key	`xyz789abc...`
`JELLYSEERR_URL`	Yes	Jellyseerr URL (no trailing slash!)	`https://jellyseerr.domain.com`
`JELLYSEERR_API_KEY`	Yes	Jellyseerr API key	`MTc1OTg2...`
`ZABBIX_URL`	No	Zabbix server URL	`http://192.168.1.50/zabbix`
`ZABBIX_USER`	No	Zabbix username	`Admin`
`ZABBIX_PASSWORD`	No	Zabbix password	`yourpassword`
`ZABBIX_HOST_ID`	No	Zabbix host ID for Plex server	`10662`
`TAILSCALE_IP`	No	Tailscale IP (display only)	`100.99.196.121`
`TZ`	No	Timezone	`America/New_York`
`PORT`	No	Application port	`3001`
`LIVETV_ENABLED`	No	Enable Virtual Linear TV	`true`
`LIVETV_BASE_URL`	No	Base URL for M3U/XMLTV generation	`http://myserver:3001`
`LIVETV_GUIDE_HOURS`	No	Hours of EPG data	`48`
`LIVETV_FILLER_INTERVAL`	No	Programs between fillers	`3`

📸 Screenshots

(Add screenshots here)

Dashboard overview
Active streams view
Top users analytics
Watch history filters
System resources widget
Jellyseerr search & request
Live TV guide grid
Live TV in-browser player
Desktop app player

🏗️ Architecture

Tech Stack

Backend:

Node.js 18
Express.js
Axios for API calls
better-sqlite3 for Live TV data (channels, playlists, fillers, schedule rules)
systeminformation for container metrics
ffmpeg for MPEG-TS remuxing (Live TV stream fallback)

Frontend:

React 18 (no build step — uses Babel standalone)
Single-page application
Auto-refresh every 10 seconds
LocalStorage for widget preferences
PWA support (manifest + service worker)

Desktop App:

Electron
mpegts.js for MPEG-TS fallback playback
Native HTML5 video for Plex direct play / transcode

Deployment:

Docker containerized
Alpine Linux base image
Health check endpoint
SQLite database persisted via volume mount

File Structure

plex-command-center/
├── backend-server-v2.5.2-final.js   # Express API server (~4000 lines)
├── plex-command-center-v2.5.2-final.html  # React frontend (single file)
├── package-v2.5.2.json              # Node dependencies
├── Dockerfile-v2.5.2                # Container build instructions
├── docker-compose.yml.example       # Orchestration config template
├── manifest.json                    # PWA manifest
├── sw.js                            # Service worker
├── .gitignore
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── data/                            # SQLite DB (persisted via volume)
├── logs/                            # Application logs
└── plex-livetv-app/                 # Desktop Electron app
    ├── main.js                      # Electron main process
    ├── preload.js                   # Context bridge
    ├── package.json                 # Electron dependencies
    ├── generate-icon.js             # Icon generator
    ├── icon.png                     # App icon
    └── renderer/
        └── index.html               # Desktop app UI

API Endpoints

Plex:

GET /api/plex/status - Server status and details
GET /api/plex/sessions - Active streams
POST /api/plex/sessions/:id/stop - Stop a stream
GET /api/plex/collections - Get collections
POST /api/plex/collections/create - Create collection
DELETE /api/plex/collections/:key - Delete collection

Tautulli:

GET /api/tautulli/history - Watch history with filters
GET /api/tautulli/user-stats - Top users statistics
GET /api/tautulli/users - User list

Jellyseerr:

GET /api/jellyseerr/requests - Media requests
GET /api/jellyseerr/search - Search TMDB
POST /api/jellyseerr/request - Request media
POST /api/jellyseerr/request/:id/approve - Approve request
POST /api/jellyseerr/request/:id/decline - Decline request

Live TV:

GET /api/livetv/channels - List channels
POST /api/livetv/channels - Create channel
PUT /api/livetv/channels/:id - Update channel
DELETE /api/livetv/channels/:id - Delete channel
POST /api/livetv/channels/:id/build - Build channel playlist
GET /api/livetv/now-playing - Current programs on all channels
GET /api/livetv/guide - EPG guide data (respects schedule rules)
GET /api/livetv/watch/:channelId - Get stream URL for viewing
GET /api/livetv/stream/:channelId.ts - MPEG-TS continuous stream
GET /api/livetv/m3u - M3U playlist for IPTV players
GET /api/livetv/xmltv - XMLTV EPG for IPTV players
POST /api/livetv/channels/:id/rules - Add schedule rule
GET /api/livetv/fillers - List fillers
POST /api/livetv/fillers - Add filler
POST /api/livetv/fillers/scan-trailers - Auto-scan Plex for trailers
GET /api/livetv/logos/:channelId - Get channel logo
GET /api/livetv/logo-settings - Get logo display settings

System:

GET /api/plex/resources - Zabbix metrics (if configured)
GET /api/docker/resources - Container metrics
GET /api/health - Health check

🗺️ Roadmap

Current Version (v2.5.2 + Live TV)

Planned Features (v3.0)

Known Issues

Jellyseerr delete only works on pending requests (API limitation)
Plex server metrics require Zabbix (no built-in Plex API for system stats)
Some Zabbix templates may use different item keys (may need customization)
Desktop app currently Windows-only (Electron supports cross-platform — builds for macOS/Linux coming)

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! This project is actively being developed.

How to Contribute

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

Development Setup

# Clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/plex-command-center.git
cd plex-command-center

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run locally (development)
node backend-server-v2.5.2-final.js

# Access at http://localhost:3001

🐛 Troubleshooting

Container won't start

Check Docker logs: docker-compose logs -f
Verify all required environment variables are set
Ensure ports aren't already in use

Zabbix metrics showing zeros

Verify Zabbix URL is accessible from container
Check host ID is correct
Ensure Zabbix user has API access
Check Zabbix version (tested with 7.2.x)

Jellyseerr requests fail with 404

Remove trailing slash from JELLYSEERR_URL
Verify API key is correct
Check Jellyseerr is accessible

Live TV channels show "No programming"

Make sure you've clicked Build Playlist after creating a channel
Check that the Plex library has content matching the channel's filters
Verify LIVETV_ENABLED=true in environment variables

Live TV player stuck on loading

The player auto-advances on error/stall (v2 fix) — wait 15 seconds
Check that Plex is accessible from the app
Try a different channel to rule out content-specific issues

Desktop app won't connect

Ensure the server URL includes the port (e.g., http://192.168.1.100:3001)
Check that LiveTV is enabled on the server
Verify the server is reachable from your Windows machine

📄 License

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

🙏 Acknowledgments

Plex - For the amazing media server platform
Tautulli - For comprehensive Plex analytics
Jellyseerr - For streamlined media requests
Zabbix - For enterprise-grade monitoring
Electron - For cross-platform desktop apps

📞 Support

Issues: GitHub Issues
Discussions: GitHub Discussions

Made with ❤️ for the Plex community

⭐ Star this repo if you find it useful!

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 36 Commits
desktop-app		desktop-app
public		public
windows		windows
.gitignore		.gitignore
Dockerfile-v2.5.2		Dockerfile-v2.5.2
README.md		README.md
backend-server-v2.5.2-final.js		backend-server-v2.5.2-final.js
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml
manifest.json		manifest.json
package-v2.5.2.json		package-v2.5.2.json
plex-command-center-v2.5.2-final.html		plex-command-center-v2.5.2-final.html
sw.js		sw.js

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Plex Command Center

📋 Overview

Key Capabilities

🆕 What's New in v2

Virtual Linear TV System

Desktop Player App (plex-livetv-app/)

Other v2 Improvements

✨ Features

Dashboard Widgets

Dedicated Tabs

Integrations

🚀 Installation

Prerequisites

Quick Start

📺 Virtual Linear TV

Quick Setup

Schedule Rules

M3U/XMLTV for Plex DVR

Environment Variables for Live TV

🖥️ Desktop App

Building from Source

Using Pre-built

First Launch

Keyboard Shortcuts

🔧 Configuration

Getting Your API Keys

Environment Variables

📸 Screenshots

🏗️ Architecture

Tech Stack

File Structure

API Endpoints

🗺️ Roadmap

Current Version (v2.5.2 + Live TV)

Planned Features (v3.0)

Known Issues

🤝 Contributing

How to Contribute

Development Setup

🐛 Troubleshooting

📄 License

🙏 Acknowledgments

📞 Support

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