Control Kodi through your Google Home / Google Assistant

What it can do

Follow these steps to easily control your kodi using simple voice commands with your Google Home or Google assistant:

Play a movie:

"Hey Google, kodi play [movie name]" --> will search for the given movie name and play it.
"Hey Google, kodi resume [movie name]" --> will search for given movie name and pick up playback from where you left it.

Play a random movie:

"Hey Google, kodi play a random movie" --> will play a random movie.
"Hey Google, kodi play a random horror movie" --> will play a random movie of the genre "Horror".
"Hey Google, kodi play a random movie of the year 2010" --> will play a random movie of the year 2010.
"Hey Google, kodi play a random horror movie of the year 2010" --> will play a random movie of the genre "Horror" and of the year 2010.

Play a tv show:

Play the next unwatched episode: "Hey Google, kodi play tv show [tv show name]" --> will search for the given tv show and play the next unwatched episode.
Play a specific episode: "Hey Google, kodi play [tv show name] season 3 episode 1" --> will search for the given tv show and play season 3 episode 1.
Play a random episode from a tv show: "Hey Google, kodi shuffle [tv show name]" --> will search for the given tv show and play a random episode.
Play the most recently added episode: "Hey Google, kodi play new episode" --> will play the most recently added episode to the kodi library.

Search and play a youtube video:

"Hey Google youtube [youtube title]" --> will search a youtube video, and play the first video.

Pause / Resume kodi:

"Hey Google, pause kodi"

Stop kodi:

"Hey Google, stop kodi"

Change volume:

Mute kodi: "Hey Google, mute/unmute kodi"
Set volume: "Hey Google, set kodi volume to 60"
Increase volume: "Hey Google, Kodi volume up [by 10]" --> increase the volume by the requested amount or by 20% if no amount was specified
Decrease volume: "Hey Google, Kodi volume down [by 10]" --> similar to the above

Play PVR channel:

"Hey Google, switch kodi to BBC channel" or "Hey Google, switch kodi to channel 10"

Turn on TV:

"Hey Google, switch to kodi" --> will turn on the TV and switch to Kodi's HDMI input

Shutdown Kodi:

"Hey Google, kodi shutdown"

Scan library:

"Hey Google, kodi scan library" --> Will start a full library scan

Navigate kodi:

Navigate up: "Hey Google, kodi navigate up [3]" --> Will navigate up the requested amount or just once if no number was specified
Navigate Down: "Hey Google, kodi navigate down [3]" --> same as above for navigating down
Navigate Left: "Hey Google, kodi navigate left [3]" --> same as above for navigating left
Navigate Right: "Hey Google, kodi navigate right [3]" --> same as above for navigating right
Navigate Back: "Hey Google, kodi go back [3]" --> Will navigate back the requested amount or just once if no number was specified
Navigate Select: Hey Google, kodi Select" --> Will select the hightlighted item
Navigate Context Menu: "Hey Google, kodi open context menu" --> Will open the context menu for the selected item
Navigate Go Home: "Hey Google, kodi go home" --> Will open the main menu page

Whats Playing:

"Hey Google, kodi Whats Playing" --> Will show whats playing information

Change Subtitles:

"Hey Google, kodi subtitles on/off/previous/next" --> Will change subtitle settings

Change Subtitles direct select:

"Hey Google, kodi change subtitle to track 3" --> Will change subtitle track to a specific track

Change Audiostream(Language):

"Hey Google, kodi audiostream previous/next" --> Will change audiostream settings

Change Audiostream(Language) direct select:

"Hey Google, kodi change audiostream to track 3" --> Will change audiostream settings

Seek forward x minutes:

"Hey Google, kodi go forward 30 minutes" --> will seek forward [the requested number] of minutes or just 1 minute if no number was specified

Seek backwards x minutes:

"Hey Google, kodi go backward 30 minutes" --> same as above just seeking backward

Seek to x minutes:

"Hey Google, kodi jump to 30 minutes"

Play a song:

"Hey Google, kodi play the song [song name]" --> will search for the given song name and play it.

Play an album:

"Hey Google, kodi play the album [album name]" --> will search for the given album name and play it.

Play an artist:

"Hey Google, kodi play songs by the artist [music artist name]" --> will search for the given music artist name and play it.

Playlist Control:

"Hey Google, kodi playlist previous/next/list item number" --> This will go forward/backward or select an item on the playlist #.

How to setup

Disclaimer: Use on your own risk and choose complex username & password in the below steps.

A) Enable webserver access in kodi

In Kodi, go to Settings >> Web server
Set Allow remote contorl via HTTP to On
Choose a port number (e.g. 8080)
Choose a username and password (Important!)
Configure your router to forward the port your selected to your kodi device
Find your external IP address (i.e. Google 'what's my ip?')

B) Set up a webserver in Glitch to control your kodi

Go to Glitch.com and sign in with your github user
Create a new Glitch project and under advance settings choose Import from GitHub
Enter this project OmerTu/GoogleHomeKodi
Change Glitch project settings to private (under share > Make private)
Edit the .env file in your Glitch project with the following settings:

KODI_PROTOCOL="http"
KODI_IP="YOUR_EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS"
KODI_PORT="YOUR_KODI_PORT"
KODI_USER="YOUR_KODI_USER_NAME"
KODI_PASSWORD="YOUR_KODI_PASSWORD"
AUTH_TOKEN="YOUR_CONNECTION_PASSWORD"

YOUR_CONNECTION_PASSWORD can be anything you want.

Check your Glitch server address by choosing 'Show Live' on the top left. A new tab with your server will open. Note your server address in the address bar.

B.2) [OPTIONAL] Set up a local webserver to control your kodi

As an alternative to (B), it's possible to run a local node.js server in stead of running it on Glitch.com. The benifit of this is that you don't need to expose your kodi Api. Additional using the hodi-hosts.config.js file, you can set up and control multiple kodi installations.

Click to expand (B.2) instructions

After cloning the repo, create a copy of the kodi-hosts.config.js.dist file and rename it to kodi-hosts.config.js.
Edit the file and make sure the kodiConfig and globalConfig sections match your environment.
You should now be able to start the node server by running: node server.js.

Here is a systemd init config. To run it as a daemon. On a debian dist save it as /etc/systemd/system/kodiassistant.service.

Don't forget to run: sudo systemctl enable sudo systemctl enable kodiassistant.service to start the deamon on startup.

[Unit]
Description=Node.js Google Home Kodi Interface

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/GoogleHomeKodi/server.js
# Required on some systems
WorkingDirectory=/opt/GoogleHomeKodi
Restart=always
# Restart service after 10 seconds if node service crashes
RestartSec=10
# Output to syslog
StandardOutput=syslog
StandardError=syslog
SyslogIdentifier=nodejs-example

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Note: you server should run Node.js 6.10 or above (8 preferred)

B.3) [OPTIONAL] controlling multiple kodi instances

Setting up the local node server, will allow you to utilize the kodi-hosts.config.js configuration. This configuration will allow you to address multiple kodi installations (e.g. "Hey Google, kodi play [movie name] in the bedroom")

Click to expand (B.3) instructions

For this you will need to extend the list. Like in this example:

exports.kodiConfig = [{
    id: 'kodi', // For now leave the first set to kodi.
    // YOUR_EXTERNAL_PROTOCOL (http or https)
    kodiProtocol: 'http',
    // YOUR_KODI_IP_ADDRESS
    kodiIp: '192.168.178.10',
    // YOUR_KODI_PORT
    kodiPort: '8080',
    // YOUR_KODI_USER_NAME
    kodiUser: 'kodi',
    // YOUR_KODI_PASSWORD
    kodiPassword: 'myKodiPass'
},
    // You can use this to specify additonal kodi installation, that you'd like to control.
    // For example alternate kodi destination 1:   
{
    id: 'bedroom',
    // YOUR_EXTERNAL_PROTOCOL (http or https)
    kodiProtocol: 'http',
    // YOUR_KODI_IP_ADDRESS
    kodiIp: '192.168.1.11',
    // YOUR_KODI_PORT
    kodiPort: '8080',
    // YOUR_KODI_USER_NAME
    kodiUser: 'kodi',
    // YOUR_KODI_PASSWORD
    kodiPassword: 'myKodiPass'
},
    // You can use this to specify additonal kodi installation, that you'd like to control.
    // For example alternate kodi destination 2:   
{
    id: 'kitchen',
    // YOUR_EXTERNAL_PROTOCOL (http or https)
    kodiProtocol: 'http',
    // YOUR_KODI_IP_ADDRESS
    kodiIp: '192.168.1.12',
    // YOUR_KODI_PORT
    kodiPort: '8080',
    // YOUR_KODI_USER_NAME
    kodiUser: 'kodi',
    // YOUR_KODI_PASSWORD
    kodiPassword: 'myKodiPass'
}
];

The id will match your kodi instance with a spoken keyword. For every command / kodi destination you will need to add a new IFTTT applet. You'll only real change here, is the body. As up until now you have been using a body like: {"token":"*YOUR_CONNECTION_PASSWORD*"}. Now you will need to add the kodiid attribute to it, matching the id of your configuration.

Example scan library If you normally would use a sentence like: "Hey Google, kodi scan library" --> Will start a full library scan. For running this command on your second kodi instance, you could copy the applet, and change it to: "Hey Google, kodi scan library in the bedroom".

In this new applet, you will need to make sure it will recognize this new sentence, and add the attribute kodiid to the body. For example: {"token":"*YOUR_CONNECTION_PASSWORD*", "kodiid":"bedroom"}

C) Set up IFTTT with your Google Home

Go to IFTTT
Create a new applet: if This then That
For This choose: Google Assistance
1. Choose Say a phrase with a text ingredient
2. In What do you want to say? enter something like:
Kodi play $
1. In What do you want the Assistant to say in response? enter something like:
ok playing $ movie
For That choose: Maker Webhooks
1. Choose Make a web request
2. In URL enter:
YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playmovie?q= {{TextField}}

For example, if your glitch server address is 'green-icecream.glitch.me', your should enter:

https://green-icecream.glitch.me/playmovie?q= {{TextField}}
1. Method: POST
2. Content Type: application/json
3. Body:
{"token":"YOUR_CONNECTION_PASSWORD"}

Now every time you say "Hey Google, Kodi play movie bla bla", it should play bla bla on your kodi.

Note: If your external IP changes, this will stop working (consider getting a static IP address)

Setting up other actions:

For Tv show support - Next unwatched episode, follow all the steps in C, except these changes:

Choose a different phrase (e.g. "Kodi play an episode of $")
Use this URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playtvshow?q= {{TextField}}

For Tv show support - Specific episode, follow all the steps in C, except these changes:

Choose "Say a phrase with both a number and a text ingredient" in step 3
Choose a different phrase (e.g. "Kodi play $ episode #").

For this to work, when you talk to your GoogleHome, the $ part must be in the format of "[TV_SHOW_NAME] season [SEASON_NUMBER]". Meaning the word "Season" has to be said, the tv show name must be said before it and the season number must be said after it (i.e. "okay google kodi play bla season 4 episode 1")

Use this URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playepisode?q= {{TextField}}&e= {{NumberField}}

To pause or resume kodi follow the instructions in C, except these changes:

Choose "Say a simple phrase" in step 3
Use this URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpause

To Stop kodi, follow the same instructions as pause but use this URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/stop

To Mute kodi, follow the same instructions as pause but use this URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/mute

To Set Volume on kodi use "Say a phrase with a number" and the URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/volume?q={{NumberField}}

To Seek forward the play by x seconds use "Say a phrase with a number" and the URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/seekforward?q={{NumberField}}

For PVR TV support - Set channel by name, follow all the steps in C, except these changes:

Choose a different phrase (e.g. "switch kodi to $ channel")
Use this URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpvrchannelbyname?q={{TextField}}

For PVR TV support - Set channel by number, use "Say a phrase with a number" and the URL:

YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpvrchannelbynumber?q={{NumberField}}

Full table with available actions

Type of phrase	phrase	url
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi play $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playmovie?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi resume $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/resumemovie?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi play a random [$] movie [of year #]	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playrandommovie?genre={{TextField}}&year={{NumberField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi play an episode of $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playtvshow?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with both a number and a text ingredient	Kodi play $ episode #	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playepisode?q={{TextField}}&e= {{NumberField}}
Say a simple phrase	Kodi play new episode	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playrecentepisode
Say a simple phrase	Kodi pause	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpause
Say a simple phrase	Kodi stop	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/stop
Say a simple phrase	Kodi mute	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/mute
Say a phrase with a number	Kodi set volume #	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/volume?q={{NumberField}}
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi volume up by # Kodi volume up	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/volumeup?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/volumeup
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi volume down by # Kodi volume down	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/volumedown?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/volumedown
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi switch to $ channel	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpvrchannelbyname?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a number	Kodi switch to channel number #	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playpvrchannelbynumber?q={{NumberField}}
Say a simple phrase	Kodi shutdown	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/shutdown
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi shuffle $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/shuffleepisode?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi youtube play $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playyoutube?q={{TextField}}
Say a simple phrase	Kodi scan library	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/scanlibrary
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi Navigate up # Kodi Navigate up	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navup?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navup
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi Navigate down # Kodi Navigate down	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navdown?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navdown
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi Navigate left # Kodi Navigate left	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navleft?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navleft
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi Navigate right # Kodi Navigate right	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navright?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navright
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi Navigate back # Kodi Navigate back	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navback?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navback
Say a simple phrase	Kodi select	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navselect
Say a simple phrase	Kodi show context menu	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navcontextmenu
Say a simple phrase	Kodi go home	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/navhome
Say a simple phrase	Kodi whats playing	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/displayinfo
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi subtitles $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/setsubtitles?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a number	Kodi subtitles direct select #	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/setsubtitlesdirect?q={{NumberField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi audio stream $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/setaudio?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a number	Kodi audio stream direct select #	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/setaudiodirect?q={{NumberField}}
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi seek forward # minutes Kodi seek forward	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/seekforwardminutes?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/seekforwardminutes
Say a phrase with a number Say a simple phrase	Kodi seek backward # minutes Kodi seek backward	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/seekbackwardminutes?q={{NumberField}} YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/seekbackwardminutes
Say a phrase with a number	Kodi seek to # minutes	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/seektominutes?q={{NumberField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi play the song $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playsong?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi play the album $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playalbum?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi play the artist $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playartist?q={{TextField}}
Say a phrase with a text ingredient	Kodi playlist $	YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/playercontrol?q={{TextField}}

To Turn on the TV and switch to Kodi's HDMI input

This requires Kodi 17 (Krypton) and above
This also requires that both your kodi device and TV support CEC commands
You need to install this script.json-cec add-on: Download and move it to your kodi device and then in Kodi choose Settings>Add-ons>Install from zip file > choose the zip your just downloaded.
Finally you can use this in 2 ways:
- Add another command: follow the same instructions as pause but use this URL:
YOUR_GLITCH_SERVER_ADDRESS/activatetv
- Add the following line to your .env file (see step B-5 above) and kodi will automaticly turn on the tv and switch the HDMI input everytime your trigger the main playing actions (play a move / tv show / episode / pvr channel)
ACTIVATE_TV="true"

How to update to the latest version

Go to Glitch.com and sign in with your github user
Select your Glitch project and under advance settings choose Import from GitHub
Enter this project OmerTu/GoogleHomeKodi

Troubleshooting

If your can't preform a simple action like pausing a video, try to narrow down to problem:

While a video is being played in Kodi, try pausing it by entering this in your browser:

http://YOUR_INTERNAL_KODI_IP:PORT/jsonrpc?request={"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"Player.playpause","params":{"playerid":1}}

If you get prompt to enter username and password choose the ones you set in Kodi (step A above). If that doesn't work, you probably have a problem with your kodi setup.

If that works, try pausing a video using your external IP:

http://YOUR_EXTERNAL_IP:PORT/jsonrpc?request={"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"Player.playpause","params":{"playerid":1}}

If that doesn't work you probably have a problem with your router configuration.

If it does work, there might be something wrong in your glich or IFTTT settings.

Credits

Thanks for everyone who contributed to this projects: p0psicles, Keljian and Lunatixz

I also used some code from these 3 projects: MarvinSchenkel/HomeyKodi Jephuff/kodi-rpc joshjowen/script.json-cec

And this wonderful website makes setting this up super easy - Glitch

Made by Omer Turgeman

I hope you find this helpful! If you'd like, you can give me a cup of coffee :)

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 76 Commits
kodi-connection		kodi-connection
views		views
.eslintrc.json		.eslintrc.json
.gitignore		.gitignore
.glitch-assets		.glitch-assets
README.md		README.md
config.js		config.js
exceptions.js		exceptions.js
helpers.js		helpers.js
kodi-hosts.config.js.dist		kodi-hosts.config.js.dist
package.json		package.json
server.js		server.js

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