node-roku-client

Discover & control Roku devices from NodeJS.

requirements:

• node 6.0.0 or higher
• a Roku device connected to your network
• a router/network that supports UPnP (for ssdp)

Installation

$ npm install roku-client

Usage

// es2015
import Client, { keys } from 'roku-client';

// commonjs
const { Client, keys } = require('roku-client');

Client.discover(/* timeout, defaults to 10 seconds */)
  .then((client) => {
    console.log(`roku device found at ${client.ip}`);
    return client.apps();
  })
  .then((apps) => {
    apps.forEach(app => console.log(app));
    // [{ id, name, type, version }, ...]
  })
  .catch(err => {
    console.error(err.stack)
  });

// Or, if the roku address is already known
const client = new Client('http://192.168.1.17:8060');
client.keypress(keys.VOLUME_UP);

Client.discover()

Invoking Client.discover() will return a promise which resolves to a Client object on success. The Client will be initialized to the address of the first device to respond. This client object will contain the methods needed to control a roku device. Commands are sent to the Roku device via HTTP protocol as found on the docs.

If there are multiple Roku devices on the network, Clint.discoverAll() can be called which will wait the full timeout and return a promise that resolves to an array of clients for all the addresses found.

import Client from 'roku-client';

Client.discoverAll(10).then((clients) => {
  console.log(clients.map(c => c.ip));
  // ['http://192.168.1.17:8060', 'http://192.168.1.18:8060', ...]
});

API Methods

| Method Name | Return Type | Details | |---|---|---| | ip | string | The network ip and port http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8060 | | static .discover(timeout?: number) | Promise<Client> | Return a promise resolving to a new Client object for the first Roku device discovered on the network. | | static .discoverAll(timeout?: number) | Promise<Client[]> | Return a promise resolving to a list of Client objects corresponding to each roku device found on the network. | | .apps() | Promise<{id: string, name: string, type: string, version: string}[]> | List of all apps installed on this device. | | .active() | Promise<{id: string, name: string, type: string, version: string}\|null>} | A single object representing the active app, or null if the home screen is active. | | .info() | Promise<Object> | A map of this Roku device's properties. Varies from device to device. | | .keypress(key: string) | Promise<void> | Send a keypress from keys.js or a single character to send that letter (e.g. to an input box). | | .keydown(key: string)| Promise<void> | The same as keypress but tells the Roku to hold the key down. | | .keyup(key: string) | Promise<void> | The same as keypress but tells the Roku to release a key held with keyup ( a no-op if the key was not held). | | .icon(appId: number) | Promise<Icon> | Fetches the image and returns an object with the fetch response, extension, and mime type. | | .launch(appId: number) | Promise<void> | Launch the given app by its id. | | .launchDtv(channel?: number \| string) | Promise<void> | Launch the DTV tuner, optionally to a specific channel. | | .text(text: string) | Promise<void> | Send the text string as a series of keypress actions. | | .command() | Commander | Returns a Commander instance, which allows for easily chaining key commands to send to the Roku. |

Keypress Values

keys.js contains a list of keypress values understood by Roku. It can be accessed programmatically:

import { keys } from 'roku-client';

keys.HOME // 'Home'
keys.LEFT // 'Left'

Commander

The Client#command() method provides a simpler interface over the keypress and text methods. It allows them to be chained and repeated and handles all promise chaining internally.

Each key within the keys.js module is available on the commander instance in camelcase form. Additionally, a .text() method is available to send text strings. Each key command takes an optional number to specify the number of times to repeat the command, defaulting to 1.

After chaining the desired methods, call .send() to send them to the Roku. .send() returns a promise that completes when all buttons have been pressed, or when the Roku fails to respond to any of the commands. A Commander instance should not be reused after calling .send().

Examples

Navigate to a search box and enter text

client.command()
  .up()
  .left()
  .select()
  .text('Breaking Bad')
  .enter()
  .send()
  .then(/* commands succeeded */)
  .catch(err => { /* commands failed */ });

Turn the volume up by 10

client.command()
  .volumeUp(10)
  .send();

Conditionally perform a command

client.command()
  .exec(cmd => goUp ? cmd.up(10) : cmd.down(10))
  .right()
  .select()
  .send();

Konami code

client.command()
  .up(2)
  .down(2)
  .left()
  .right()
  .left()
  .right()
  .text('ba')
  .enter()
  .send();

Wait before performing the next command

client.command()
  .enter()
  .wait(1000)
  .text('some text')
  .send();

Usage in the Browser

I have replaced direct usage of node-fetch with fetch-ponyfill, which should allow node-roku-client to be used in the browser. However, I have not yet tested this, and suspect that node-ssdp may cause issues in the browser. If anything, creating a client directly with the ip address should work as expected.

Testing

$ npm run test

This will run the linter, unit tests, and coverage.

References

• Roku - External Control Service Commands
• Roku - Keypress Key Values

Additional Information

Tested on OSX & raspberry pi w/ raspbian jessie, and with Roku TV.