Emby Server error, RESTful API call by track and artist

[mike99mac 6]

Hi,

I'm trying to learn the Emby RESTful API.  I tried this call, but got an error:

curl -k "http://192.168.1.229:8096/Artists/Adele?Recursive=true&format=json&api_key=$myKey"
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Saw this in the log file:

2022-07-21 13:05:01.816 Error Server: Error processing request
        *** Error Report ***
        Version: 4.7.5.0
        Command line: /opt/emby-server/system/EmbyServer.dll -programdata /var/lib/emby -ffdetect /opt/emby-server/bin/ffdetect -ffmpeg /opt/emby-server/bin/ffmpeg -ffprobe /opt/emby-server/bin/ffprobe -restartexitcode 3 -updatepackage emby-server-deb_{version}_arm64.deb
        Operating system: Linux version 5.15.0-1005-raspi (buildd@bos02-arm64-056) (gcc (Ubuntu 11.2.0-19ubuntu1) 11.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Ubuntu) 2.38) #5-Ubuntu SMP P
        Framework: .NET 6.0.2
        OS/Process: arm64/arm64
        Runtime: opt/emby-server/system/System.Private.CoreLib.dll
        Processor count: 4
        Data path: /var/lib/emby
        Application path: /opt/emby-server/system
        System.NullReferenceException: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
           at Emby.Server.Implementations.Dto.DtoService.AttachPeople(BaseItemDto dto, BaseItem item, DtoOptions options)
           at Emby.Server.Implementations.Dto.DtoService.GetBaseItemDtoInternal(BaseItem item, DtoOptions options, User user)
           at Emby.Server.Implementations.Dto.DtoService.GetBaseItemDto(BaseItem item, DtoOptions options, User user)
           at Emby.Api.UserLibrary.ArtistsService.GetItem(GetArtist request)
           at Emby.Server.Implementations.Services.ServiceController.Execute(HttpListenerHost appHost, Object requestDto, IRequest req)
           at Emby.Server.Implementations.Services.ServiceHandler.ProcessRequestAsync(HttpListenerHost appHost, IRequest httpReq, IResponse httpRes, RestPath restPath, String responseContentType, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
           at Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.HttpListenerHost.RequestHandler(IRequest httpReq, ReadOnlyMemory`1 urlString, ReadOnlyMemory`1 localPath, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        Source: Emby.Server.Implementations
        TargetSite: Void AttachPeople(MediaBrowser.Model.Dto.BaseItemDto, MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.BaseItem, MediaBrowser.Controller.Dto.DtoOptions)

I thought somebody might be interested.

Let me back up and introduce myself.  I'm working on a project called "Smart Boomboxes" that's trying to put Emby and Mycroft, etc onto Ubuntu 22.04 on a Raspberry Pi inside of a boombox. So it's either a real smart boombox, or a general purpose computer with great sound.  The goal is to play music by voice.  The problem is that Mycroft's Emby skill is not that great.  I can say "Hey Mycroft ... play {artist}" and that usually works, but I can't say "Hey Mycroft ... play track {track} by artist {artist}". I'm trying to fix that (I don't believe the issue is in the emby.rickyphewitt skill, but the in mycroft-playback-control.mycroftai).

I have looked at the Swagger API docs, but there aren't a lot of examples. If Mycroft were to call an API asking for "track {track} by artist {artist}", what might a URI look like?

Thanks in advance.

    -Mike Mac

 

[Luke 42078]

HI,  you can query tracks by artist id. If all you have is artist name, then the first thing to do is to use the search api to try and locate the correct artist.

 

[mike99mac 6]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I'll try that.

    -Mike Mac

[Luke 42078]

Let us know how you get on. The name based api that you were trying to use is legacy at this point. It was only being used by Emby for Windows Media Center.

When all you have is a name, it's best to start with search and then once you have the Id you can do any operation from that.

[mike99mac 6]

Hmm, this is not working either: @chef

http://192.168.1.229:8096/Items/RemoteSearch/MusicArtist/Adele?Recursive=true&format=json&api_key=2cb36c16427b46659856d40029250e79
Unable to find the specified file.

Is this "the search api" you referred to?

Thanks.

    -Mike Mac

[mike99mac 6]

Never mind, found a "Try it out" button in swagger and got it working with the search term in added JSON:

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8096/emby/Items/RemoteSearch/MusicArtist?api_key=42fce6daac1d4c7f867927cf9b932eef" -H  "accept: application/json" -H  "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{\"SearchInfo\":{\"Name\":\"Adele\"}"

Wow, that's a lot of data coming back to get just one ID.

Thanks for your help.

    -Mike Mac

[Luke 42078]

No that's going to search the internet metadata providers. That's not what you want. To search the Emby server library you'd just do a normal item query and use the SearchTerm param.

[chef 3810]

Hi! I think the best way to try and figure out the Rest API is with the swagger.

Open the dashboard

Scroll down to where it says "api" at the bottom of the screen

Then just start taking a look at the different endpoints available for you query.

 

Let us know how you make out with the swagger. 

Unfortunately, I'm on my phone and I can't get the proper url to help at the moment, but the swagger will give you exactly what you are looking for. 

[chef 3810]

Here in the swagger is what you are looking for. It is the "Items" endpoint.

 

Use the "SearchTerm" to locate the artist name.

Get the ID of the artist, then you can do another request using the ID, and use  "feilds" to request specific information.

 

Hope this helps

Edited July 22, 2022 by chef

[mike99mac 6]

Thanks for all the replies, but I still can't get an artist's ID from my local library (I can play Adele songs).  This URI:

http://localhost:8096/emby/items/Artists?searchterm=Adele&recursive=true

returns "Unable to find the specified file". 

I've tried a lot of other variations.

    -Mike Mac

[Luke 42078]

Try just /artists instead of /items/artists. This should all be in swagger so that you can try it.

[mike99mac 6]

Yes this URI worked!!

    http://localhost:8096/emby/Artists?searchterm=Adele&recursive=true&api_key=2cb36c16427b46659856d40029250e79

Thanks @luke

    -Mike Mac