View Items in a Playlist

Each playlist that is created on a Plex server contains different media files. Each playlist can contain only one type of file, but can contain hundreds of the same media type.

This API command will return the details of all items that are associated with a specific playlist.

URL

GET http://{ip_address}:32400/playlists/{id}/items?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}

Parameters

Return Status

Response

XML string value that lists the all the items in a playlist. The XML return is dependent on the type of media that is contained in the playlist.

For movie playlists, an example XML returned is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<MediaContainer size="22" composite="/playlists/279065/composite/1649882407" duration="150764" leafCount="22" playlistType="video" ratingKey="279065" smart="1" title="1980's Movies">
    <Video ratingKey="279061" key="/library/metadata/279061" guid="com.plexapp.agents.imdb://tt0088763?lang=en" studio="Universal Pictures" type="movie" title="Back to the Future" titleSort="Back to the Future 1" librarySectionTitle="Movies" librarySectionID="2" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/2" contentRating="PG" summary="Marty McFly, a typical American teenager of the Eighties, is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean "time machine" invented by a slightly mad scientist. During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, Marty must make certain his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love - so he can get back to the future." rating="8.5" viewCount="1" lastViewedAt="1533441384" year="1985" tagline="He's the only kid ever to get into trouble before he was born." thumb="/library/metadata/279061/thumb/1649456734" art="/library/metadata/279061/art/1649456734" duration="6964469" originallyAvailableAt="1985-07-02" addedAt="1649456672" updatedAt="1649456734" chapterSource="media">
        <Media id="338432" duration="6964469" bitrate="3285" width="720" height="460" aspectRatio="1.85" audioChannels="6" audioCodec="ac3" videoCodec="h264" videoResolution="sd" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="NTSC" videoProfile="high">
            <Part id="338785" key="/library/parts/338785/1464487773/file.mkv" duration="6964469" file="M:\Media\Movies\Back to the Future (1985)\Back to the Future (1985) [480p h.264][AAC AC3].mkv" size="2865442785" container="mkv" videoProfile="high" />
        </Media>
        <Genre tag="Adventure" />
        <Genre tag="Comedy" />
        <Country tag="USA" />
        <Collection tag="Back to the Future" />
    </Video>
    ...
</MediaContainer>

For music playlists, an example XML returned is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<MediaContainer size="1096" composite="/playlists/275025/composite/1647266136" duration="268843" leafCount="1096" playlistType="audio" ratingKey="275025" smart="1" title="All Music">
    <Track ratingKey="218550" key="/library/metadata/218550" parentRatingKey="218549" grandparentRatingKey="218548" guid="plex://track/5d07cdc7403c640290f6a452" parentGuid="plex://album/5d07c182403c64029084e584" grandparentGuid="plex://artist/5d07bbfd403c6402904a6593" parentStudio="Polydor" type="track" title="Dancing Queen" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/218548" parentKey="/library/metadata/218549" librarySectionTitle="Music" librarySectionID="8" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/8" grandparentTitle="ABBA" parentTitle="Gold: Greatest Hits" summary="" index="1" parentIndex="1" ratingCount="1134970" parentYear="1992" thumb="/library/metadata/218549/thumb/1648794696" art="/library/metadata/218548/art/1649916521" parentThumb="/library/metadata/218549/thumb/1648794696" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/218548/thumb/1649916521" grandparentArt="/library/metadata/218548/art/1649916521" duration="231400" addedAt="1598373482" updatedAt="1648794696">
        <Media id="278042" duration="231400" bitrate="978" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="flac" container="flac">
            <Part id="278372" key="/library/parts/278372/1598369723/file.flac" duration="231400" file="I:\Music\ABBA\Gold- Greatest Hits\01 Dancing Queen.flac" size="28310307" container="flac" />
        </Media>
    </Track>
    ...
</MediaContainer>        

For photo playlists, an example XML returned is:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <MediaContainer size="1" composite="/playlists/279108/composite/1649881265" leafCount="1" playlistType="photo" ratingKey="279108" smart="0" title="Vacation">
        <Photo ratingKey="193259" key="/library/metadata/193259" parentRatingKey="3680" grandparentRatingKey="3663" guid="com.plexapp.agents.none://3681?lang=xn" parentGuid="local://3680" grandparentGuid="local://3663" type="photo" title="100-0001_CRW" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/3663" parentKey="/library/metadata/3680" librarySectionTitle="Photos" librarySectionID="1" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/1" grandparentTitle="2002" parentTitle="Mexico" summary="" index="1" parentIndex="1" year="2002" thumb="/library/metadata/193259/thumb/1492274439" art="/library/metadata/3680/art/1492274446" parentThumb="/library/metadata/3680/thumb/1492274446" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/3663/thumb/1611751196" grandparentArt="/library/metadata/3663/art/1611751196" playlistItemID="11382" originallyAvailableAt="2002-11-08" addedAt="1430260595" updatedAt="1492274439" createdAtAccuracy="local" createdAtTZOffset="-18000">
            <Media id="252958" width="2312" height="1720" aspectRatio="1.33" container="raw">
                <Part id="253288" key="/library/parts/253288/1036805184/file.Crw" file="I:\Pictures\2002\Mexico\100-0001_CRW.Crw" size="2128044" container="raw" orientation="1" />
            </Media>
        </Photo>
        ...
    </MediaContainer>

The XML returned provides information about the items associated with the specified playlist ID. The root is the MediaContainer element. This element contains a few attributes that provide overall information about the items in the playlist.

Movie Playlists

Within the MediaContainer there is one or more Video child elements that contain the details about the movie items in the playlist.

Within the Video there are one or more Media child elements. Each Media element represents one media file of the movie available on the Plex server.

If there are two media files associated with the movie, such as a 1080p and 480p version, then there would be two Media child elements in the Video element.

Within the Media there are one or more Part child elements. Each Part element represents one part of the movie. If the movie has been added to the Plex server as a multi-part movie, then each of those parts will be represented by one Part child element.

Also within the Video element there are multiple additional child elements that provide more details about the movie. These child elements include Genre, Director, Writer, Country, Collection, and Role.

Within each of these child elements is a single tag attribute that provides the information for the element. There could be multiple of the same child element within the Video, such as multiple directors or writers.

Music Playlists

Within the MediaContainer there is one or more Track child elements that contain the details about the music items in the playlist.

The parent item for the tracks refers to the album that includes the track.

Within the Track there are one or more Media child elements. Each Media element represents one media file of the track available on the Plex server.

Within the Media there are one or more Part child elements.

Photo Playlists

Within the MediaContainer there is one or more Photo child elements that contain the details about the photo items in the playlist.

Within the Photo there are one or more Media child elements.

Within the Media there are one or more Part child elements.

Remarks

A playlist is specific to a user on the Plex server. Only that user can request information about a playlist.

When using a device Plex authentication token, the administrative user playlists will be returned by the Plex server. This means that the administrator's Plex token and any device token will return the same XML response.

Examples

curl -X GET http://{ip_address}:32400/playlists/{id}/items?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}

import requests
plex_url = http://{ip_address}:32400/playlists/{id}/items?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}
response = requests.get(plex_url)
print(response.text)

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://{ip_address}:32400/playlists/{id}/items?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}' -Method GET
Write-Output $response