Get Libraries

A Plex server can have many different libraries setup for various media. You can easily retrieve the information about all libraries that are available on a Plex server using this API command.

URL

GET http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}

Parameters

NameDescription
ip_addressThe IP address of the Plex Media server.
plex_tokenThe Plex token.

Return Status

HTTP CodeDescription
200Success - The request was successful.
401Unauthorized - The Plex token provided was not valid.

Response

XML string value that lists the libraries that have been created on the Plex server. An example of the XML returned from the request is shown below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<MediaContainer size="4" allowSync="0" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1638961228" title1="Plex Library">
    <Directory allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/movie-fanart.jpg" composite="/library/sections/2/composite/1640879224" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/movie.png" key="2" type="movie" title="Movies" agent="com.plexapp.agents.imdb" scanner="Plex Movie Scanner" language="en" uuid="493a64e7-b541-4667-b050-d702beebf2f6" updatedAt="1595491662" createdAt="1419621957" scannedAt="1640879224" content="1" directory="1" contentChangedAt="87188911" hidden="0">
        <Location id="9" path="M:\Media\Movies" />
    </Directory>
    <Directory allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/show-fanart.jpg" composite="/library/sections/4/composite/1640879304" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/show.png" key="4" type="show" title="TV Shows" agent="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb" scanner="Plex Series Scanner" language="en" uuid="3bbbe6f7-628f-4983-ae5d-7c05779c4c28" updatedAt="1595493250" createdAt="1419642504" scannedAt="1640879304" content="1" directory="1" contentChangedAt="5613493" hidden="0">
        <Location id="11" path="M:\Media\TV Shows" />
    </Directory>
    <Directory allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/artist-fanart.jpg" composite="/library/sections/8/composite/1640879225" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/artist.png" key="8" type="artist" title="Music" agent="tv.plex.agents.music" scanner="Plex Music" language="en" uuid="b6031749-2969-4027-afee-64172b72b77d" updatedAt="1598392667" createdAt="1430573735" scannedAt="1640879225" content="1" directory="1" contentChangedAt="59913170" hidden="0">
        <Location id="16" path="M:\Media\Music" />
    </Directory>
    <Directory allowSync="1" art="/:/resources/photo-fanart.jpg" composite="/library/sections/1/composite/1640879303" filters="1" refreshing="0" thumb="/:/resources/photo.png" key="1" type="photo" title="Photos" agent="com.plexapp.agents.none" scanner="Plex Photo Scanner" language="xn" uuid="fc948ea9-3fad-45e2-99ef-b461b2d746d2" updatedAt="1600821139" createdAt="1419611117" scannedAt="1640879303" enableAutoPhotoTags="0" content="1" directory="1" contentChangedAt="115673999" hidden="0">
        <Location id="10" path="M:\Media\Pictures" />
    </Directory>
</MediaContainer>

The XML returned provides a list of the libraries that are available on the Plex server. The root is the MediaContainer element. This element contains a few attributes that provide overall information about the libraries on the server.

MediaContainer Attributes
AttributeDescription
sizeThe number of libraries.
allowSync1 - allow syncing content.
0 - don't allow syncing content.
identifierThe type of item.
mediaTagPrefixPrefix for the media tag.
mediaTagVersionMedia tag version.
Note: This could be a date and time value.
title1The title of the library.
Note: This appears to be internally created, and can't be changed by the server owner.

Within the MediaContainer there are one or more Directory child elements. Each Directory element represents one library on the Plex server.

Directory Attributes
AttributeDescription
allowSync1 - allow the items in the to be synced.
0 - do not allow the items in the library to be synced.
artThe background artwork used to represent the library.
compositeThe composite image associated with the library.
filters1 - allow library filters.
0 - do no allow library filters.
refreshing1 - the library is refreshing the metadata.
0 - the library is not refreshing the metadata.
thumbThe thumbnail for the library.
keyThe relative URL of the information for the library.
typeThe type of item represented by this Directory element.
titleThe name of the library.
agentThe agent used to set the metadata for the items in the library.
scannerThe name of the scanner used to scan the library.
languageThe two-character language for the library.
uuidUnique identifier for the library.
updatedAtThe date and time the library was updated in the library.
createdAtThe date and time when the library was created.
scannedAtThe date and time when the library was last scanned.
contentUnknown.
directoryUnknown.
contentChangedAtThe date and time when the library content was last changed.
hidden1 - the library is hidden.
0 - the library is not hidden.

Within each of the Directory elements can be one or more Location child elements. These child elements specify the folder path of the files associated with each library.

The attributes of the Location elements are:

Location Attributes
AttributeDescription
idUnique integer value used as the location identifier.
pathThe full path to the folder containing the files for the library. This value was specified when the library was added to the Plex server.

Remarks

The Plex authentication token used to make the request will determine what libraries are returned.

If the token used is for a non-administrative user, then the libraries returned will only include the libraries the user can access. Libraries that the user cannot access will not be returned in the XML response.

When using a device Plex token, all libraries will be returned because libraries cannot be restricted for a device, only for users.

Examples

curl -X GET http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}
import requests
plex_url = http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}
response = requests.get(plex_url)
print(response.text)
$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'http://{ip_address}:32400/library/sections/?X-Plex-Token={plex_token}' -Method 'GET'
Write-Output $response
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