pyatv-mqtt-bridge

MQTT Bridge allows you to remote control your Apple TV using the MQTT protocol. For many home automation systems, for example, this protocol is supported, so Apple TV can be integrated into your existing automation system. In addition to simulating key presses, you can also query the current state of Apple TV.

☁ Installation

Before you use this module you need to install pyatv. See FAQ section for installation tips.

To install the javascript module via npm run:

npm install -g @sebbo2002/pyatv-mqtt-bridge

You can also use the provided Docker container to run pyatv-mqtt-bridge within docker:

docker pull sebbo2002/pyatv-mqtt-bridge

⚒ Quick Start

1. Use pyatv to connect to your Apple TV and authenticate [?]

2. Create a new pyatv-mqtt-bridge configuration file. Your can use the config.example.json to start with.

{
    "broker": "mqtt://192.168.1.1",
    "devices": [
        {
            "name": "Any Name",
            "topic": "home/livingroom/appletv",
            "host": "192.168.1.2",
            "id": "AAAAAAAA-BBBB-CCCC-DDDD-EEEEEEEEEEEE",
            "airplayCredentials": "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA:BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB:CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD"
        }
    ]
}

3. Start pyatv

• By command line :

pyatv-mqtt-bridge /home/eve/pyatv-mqtt-bridge.json

• or use the Docker container :

docker run -d --restart=always --name=pyatv-mqtt-bridge \
    -v $(pwd)/config.json:/app/config.json:ro \
    sebbo2002/pyatv-mqtt-bridge

• or just run the Docker container from the docker-compose.yml file with :

docker-compose up -d

🤨 FAQ

How to install pyatv

pip3 install pyatv

How can I enable debugging mode ?

You just need to add the --debug option.

• In command line :

pyatv-mqtt-bridge --debug /home/eve/pyatv-mqtt-bridge.json

• or while using the Docker container :

docker run -d --restart=always --name=pyatv-mqtt-bridge \
    -v $(pwd)/config.json:/app/config.json:ro \
    sebbo2002/pyatv-mqtt-bridge \
    pyatv-mqtt-bridge --debug /app/config.json

• or while using the docker-compose.yml file :

command: pyatv-mqtt-bridge --debug /app/config.json

       then restart the container with :

   docker-compose up

How can I send commands to the Apple TV?

To execute a command send any message to the topic $device/$command. $device is the configured topic of the device and $command is a command from this list. Example: /home/living/appletv/menu. To launch an app, send it's unique id (e.g. com.google.ios.youtube) to the topic $device/launch

How to check the current Apple TV power state and other status information ?

You can listen to several subtopics from the root MQTT topic you've set on your config.json file (i.e. : /home/living/appletv), such as /powerState (on, off) and /deviceState (iddle, playing, etc...).

When the Apple TV is off, the turnOff command turns it on instead, how to fix this ?

Say you send an MQTT message to turn off your Apple TV each time you're leaving home, with the following MQTT topic : /home/living/appletv/turnOff.
... but when you are back home, sometimes your Apple TV is on ! 🤔

Actually, if you press the power button in the right upper corner of your Apple TV remote iOS app, while your Apple TV is already off, it will switch it on as well, and this project only provides bridging between MQTT and PyATV / Apple TV APIs, with no additional data persistence.

(You could use the /suspend command instead of /turnOff to avoid this, but the suspend and wakeup commands are deprecated and may lead to unexpected behaviors).

So you just need to implement a listener for the powerState MQTT topic (i.e. : /home/living/appletv/powerState) in your own app, and store the payload value somewhere (DB, local file, Redis...).

Then your app logic with some "standby apple TV" feature should trigger an MQTT /turnOff command ONLY when your powerState stored value is 'on'.

Copyright and license

Copyright (c) Sebastian Pekarek under the MIT license.