Reliable way to identify a single playback session via API?

[Cr8iveLosr 97]

Similar to Tautulli, I'm building analytics using the Emby API and I'm running into an issue with playback tracking.

During normal playback the client sends repeated updates like:

• /Sessions/Playing/Progress

• /Sessions/Playing/Stopped

• /Users/{UserId}/PlayedItems/{Id}

Because progress updates are sent frequently (and during pause/seek), a single viewing session generates many events. If you track these directly it looks like multiple plays for the same item.

What I'm trying to determine is:

What is the correct/official way to identify a single playback session using the API?

For example:

• Is there a recommended session lifecycle to follow?

• Is there an API endpoint that exposes completed playback sessions?

• Or is the only reliable method reading the PlaybackActivity table in library.db?

If there isn't currently an API solution, is there a recommended approach for analytics tools that need accurate play/session history without direct database access?

[Luke 42135]

Quote

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Because progress updates are sent frequently (and during pause/seek), a single viewing session generates many events. If you track these directly it looks like multiple plays for the same item.

Hi, what makes you say that?

[Cr8iveLosr 97]

The issue is that during a single playback session the client sends multiple events such as /Sessions/Playing/Progress, /Sessions/Playing/Stopped, etc.

Because these updates are triggered during pauses, seeks, and other interactions, a single viewing session can produce dozens of events. If analytics tools track these events directly, they appear as multiple playback sessions for the same item.

For example, a user can watch one movie once, but the API activity may show dozens of playback-related events due to progress updates and interaction events. That makes it difficult to reliably determine a single playback session.

So the core question is: what is the recommended way to group these events into a single playback session when building analytics tools?

Specifically:

• Is there a canonical session identifier we should use?

• Is there a documented playback session lifecycle developers should follow?

• Is there an API endpoint that exposes completed playback sessions?

• Or is reading the PlaybackActivity table in library.db currently the intended approach?

Understanding the recommended method would help avoid incorrect analytics results without relying on direct database access.