README.md

Automation - Chromecast Play

Intro

This accessory will play/cast audio and/or video to your Chromecast on demand. It can be used for automation.

The list of media (audio/video) to be played must be stored on a file. The plugin will pick a random media from the file every time you turn on the switch. If you want to apply always the same, create a json file with only one media.

Media file

Example:

[
  {
    "name": "Ukulele Song",
    "url": "https://freepd.com/music/Ukulele%20Song.mp3",
    "author": {
      "name": "Rafael Krux"
    }
  },
  {
    "name": "Pond",
    "url": "https://freepd.com/music/Pond.mp3",
    "author": {
      "name": "Rafael Krux"
    },
    "mimeType": "audio/mp3",
    "streamType": "BUFFERED"
  }
]

The JSON file must contain an array of objects. Each object will be a media.

Format of each media object:

Attribute	Required	Description	Example
name	Yes	The name of the media	Ukulele Song
url	Yes	The URL of the media to be streamed	https://freepd.com/music/Ukulele%20Song.mp3
author.name	No (default: unknown)	The name of the author of the media	Rafael Krux
mimeType	No (default: autodetect based on file extension)	The MIME type of the file. See Chromecast supported types	audio/mp3
streamType	No (default: BUFFERED)	The type of stream. For files, use BUFFERED, for live feeds use LIVE	BUFFERED

You can find an example file in this repo under media.json. This file contains some public domain audio (but you can stream video too).

Config

Example config.json:

{
  "accessories": [
    {
      "accessory": "AutomationChromecastPlay",
      "name": "Living Room Play",
      "chromecastDeviceName": "Living Room",
      "mediaFile": "./media.json"
    }
  ]
}

This accessory will create a switch. Turning on the switch will stream the media to your Chromecast. The switch will turn off automatically after 1 second.

The switch has the following properties:

Name	Description	Example
Author	The name of the author of the current media	Rafael Krux
Media	The name of the current applied media	Ukulele Song
Status	The current media status	Playing

Note: some properties are not compatible with iOS Home app, use Elgato Eve app instead.

Configuration options

Attribute	Required	Usage	Example
name	Yes	A unique name for the accessory. It will be used as the accessory name in HomeKit.	Living Room Play
chromecastDeviceName	Yes	The name of your Chromecast device as shown in your Google Home App (case insensitive). This plugin will use Bonjour/mdns to detect the IP address of the Chromecast based on this name.	Living Room
mediaFile	Yes	The path of the media file (relative to the Homebridge current working directory)	./media.json

Other useful plugins

Do you want to automatically turn on the speakers when you stream some audio? Or adjust the volume of the speakers?

Check my homebridge-automation-chromecast plugin.