Template Media Player

Note: This integration is strongly inspired by media_player.template.
Unfortunately that integration is no longer maintained and missing some features, so I decided to create a new and improved one.

With Template Media Player you can create media player entities in Home Assistant using templates and scripts.
You can define any attribute you want and create custom behaviour for all services supported by the media_player domain.
This allows you to combine your existing media players into a single entity for improved usability and control or to create completely new media players from scratch.

Installation

You can install this integration using the custom repository option in HACS.

1. Add the repository URL to the list of custom repositories in HACS
2. Select and install the integration in HACS
3. Restart Home Assistant
4. Configure your entities

Configuration

To create the entities you need to define them in your configuration.yaml file.
For a full example of all available options see examples.

media_player:
  - platform: template_media_player
    media_players:
      my_media_player:
        unique_id: my_media_player
        friendly_name: My Media Player
        device_class: tv
        icon_template: mdi:television
        state_template: "on"

Templates

Options that are marked as _template or elements of the attribute_templates object can be defined using Jinja2 templates:

# ...
state_template: >
  {% if states('media_player.something") == "on" %}
    idle
  {% else %}
    off
  {% endif %}

Attributes

To define state attributes for your entity use the attribute_templates option.
You can use the variable attribute in your templates to get the current attributes name as a string.
For a full list of attributes commonly used by media player entities see examples.

media_player:
  - platform: template_media_player
    media_players:
      my_media_player:
        #...
        attribute_templates:
            media_title: >
              # attribute contains the value "media_title"
              {{ state_attr("media_player.something", attribute) }}

Global Template

To reduce code duplication you can define a template using the global_template option. This template will be executed before each of the other templates and can be used to define common variables.

media_player:
  - platform: template_media_player
    media_players:
      my_media_player:
        #...
        global_template: >
          {% set tv = "media_player.tv" %}
        state_template: >
          {{ states(tv) }}

Scripts

Elements of the service_scripts, source_scripts or sound_mode_scripts options are action sequences like in Home Assistant scripts.

media_player:
  - platform: template_media_player
    media_players:
      my_media_player:
        #...
        source_scripts:
          Plex:
            - service: media_player.turn_on
              data_template:
                entity_id: media_player.tv
            - delay:
                seconds: 3
            - service: media_player.select_source
              data_template:
                entity_id: media_player.tv
                source: Plex

Service Scripts

Use the service_scripts option to define services that are supported by the media_player domain.
For a full list of services and their respective variables supported by media player entities see examples.

media_player:
  - platform: template_media_player
    media_players:
      my_media_player:
        #...
        service_scripts:
          turn_on:
            - service: media_player.turn_on
              data_template:
                entity_id: media_player.tv

Source Scripts

Use the source_scripts option to define sources for your media_player.

media_player:
  - platform: template_media_player
    media_players:
      my_media_player:
        #...
        source_scripts:
          Plex:
            - service: media_player.select_source
              data_template:
                entity_id: media_player.tv
                source: Plex

Sound Mode Scripts

Use the sound_mode_scripts option to define sound modes for your media_player.

media_player:
  - platform: template_media_player
    media_players:
      my_media_player:
        #...
        sound_mode_scripts:
          Bass Boost:
            - service: media_player.select_sound_mode
              data_template:
                entity_id: media_player.soundbar
                source: Bass Boost

Base Media Player

You can specify an entity using the base_media_player_entity_id option to inherit all supported behaviour and attributes from, when the behaviour or attribute is not implemented by the template media player.

Browse Media

You can specify an entity to use for the browse media functionality using the browse_media_entity_id option.
Make sure you also define the play_media service for this to work.