Emby Device Triggers: Troubleshooting Playback Stopped Issues

Having your smart home react precisely to your media consumption is a fantastic experience. For users of Home Assistant integrating with Emby, this means setting up automations that trigger based on media playback events. A common desire is to have an automation kick in when playback stops, whether it's pausing a movie or finishing a TV show. However, some users have encountered a frustrating issue where the playback_stopped device trigger in Home Assistant simply doesn't fire, leaving automations dormant. This article will delve into why this might be happening and how you can troubleshoot and potentially resolve this problem, ensuring your Emby media player integrates seamlessly with your smart home.

Understanding Home Assistant Device Triggers and Emby Integration

Device triggers in Home Assistant provide a powerful way to create automations based on specific actions performed by a device. Instead of relying on entity states, which can sometimes be delayed or less precise, device triggers offer a more direct event-driven approach. For the Emby integration, this means Home Assistant can listen for events directly from your Emby server or clients, such as when a session starts, stops, or when media playback changes. The goal is to make your smart home dynamic and responsive to your Emby experience. When the playback_stopped trigger fails to activate, it disrupts this intended functionality. This can be particularly annoying when you've set up automations expecting them to run, like turning off lights when you stop watching, or perhaps sending a notification. The issue reported involves a specific configuration where the user is attempting to use the playback_stopped type with a media_player.emby_shield_3 entity, but the automation never executes. The provided configuration snippet shows the correct structure for a device trigger, including the device_id, domain, entity_id, and the type of trigger desired. The fact that it's not working suggests a potential communication breakdown or an interpretation issue between Home Assistant and the Emby service regarding the playback status. It's important to note that the integration is actively receiving WebSocket messages related to sessions, as seen in the debug logs, which indicates a level of connectivity. However, translating these messages into actionable triggers within Home Assistant seems to be where the problem lies. We'll explore the possible causes, from configuration nuances to potential bugs within the integration itself.

Diagnosing the playback_stopped Trigger Failure

When your Emby device triggers aren't firing as expected, the first step is to meticulously examine the setup and the logs. The user in this scenario has provided a clear example of the trigger configuration they are using: device_id: 330f5cdcfe899fd2099f4fbea6ce6cf7, domain: embymedia, entity_id: media_player.emby_shield_3, and type: playback_stopped. This configuration appears syntactically correct for Home Assistant. The expected behavior is that whenever playback on the media_player.emby_shield_3 entity is stopped, this trigger should activate, allowing the associated automation to run. However, it's not happening. Let's look at the provided debug logs. The logs show frequent DEBUG messages from custom_components.embymedia.websocket and custom_components.embymedia.coordinator. We can see messages like Received WebSocket message: Sessions and Manually updated embymedia_25b585b900134ff2bd3094cea2826af4 data. There's also a log entry indicating New session detected: SHIELD (Emby for Android) and Fired session_connected event for media_player.emby_shield_3. This suggests that the integration is indeed connected to the Emby server via WebSockets and is receiving session information. Crucially, the logs show updates related to watch time being added, like Watch time added for user Eric: 0 seconds. This implies that the Emby integration is aware of ongoing or recently completed playback sessions. However, there's a distinct lack of any log entries that explicitly mention a playback_stopped event being detected or fired by the integration itself when the user stops playback. This absence is a key indicator that the problem might not be with the automation configuration, but rather with how the Emby integration is processing or interpreting the session data it receives from Emby to generate the playback_stopped trigger event. It's possible that the specific event Emby sends when playback stops isn't being correctly mapped to the playback_stopped type by the embymedia custom component, or perhaps the integration is only actively monitoring for new sessions and not changes within existing sessions that lead to a stop event.

Potential Causes and Solutions for Trigger Issues

Several factors could be contributing to the playback_stopped device trigger failing in the homeassistant-emby integration. Based on the provided logs and the nature of device triggers, we can hypothesize a few common culprits. One primary suspect is how the integration handles session state changes. The logs indicate that the integration receives WebSocket messages about sessions and updates watch time. However, it's possible that the precise event signaling the end of playback isn't being correctly translated into the playback_stopped trigger event within Home Assistant. Emby's API might send a session update that indicates a pause, a stop, or simply an idle state, and the integration might not be configured to recognize all of these as a triggerable 'stop' event. Another possibility is a version compatibility issue. While the user specified Emby Server 4.9.x (latest) and Emby for Android TV, and Home Assistant 2025.12.x, the version of the homeassistant-emby custom component (0.4.0) might have a known bug or a change in event handling that affects this specific trigger. Older or newer versions of Emby Server or Emby clients could also send events in slightly different formats, which older integration versions might not understand. Network or WebSocket connection stability could also play a role, although the logs don't strongly suggest this, as they show continuous activity. If the WebSocket connection drops and reconnects intermittently, it might miss crucial event messages. To address these issues, consider the following steps: 1. Update the homeassistant-emby integration: Always ensure you are running the latest stable version of the custom component. Developers frequently release fixes for bugs and compatibility issues. Check the integration's GitHub repository for release notes and recent commits that might mention trigger fixes. 2. Check Emby Server Logs: While Home Assistant logs are crucial, reviewing the Emby server logs themselves might provide clues about the exact events being sent when playback stops. This can help determine if Emby is reporting the stop event correctly. 3. Verify Emby Client Behavior: Ensure the 'Emby for Android TV' client is behaving as expected. Sometimes, client-specific quirks can affect how playback events are reported. Try testing with a different Emby client if possible. 4. Review Integration Configuration: Double-check all Emby integration settings within Home Assistant for any options that might relate to event reporting or session handling. 5. Test Alternative Triggers: As a workaround or for diagnostic purposes, you could try other triggers if available, such as a state change trigger on the media_player entity itself (e.g., state: 'off' or state: 'idle'). However, device triggers are generally preferred for responsiveness. If the issue persists after these steps, it would be beneficial to open a detailed issue on the homeassistant-emby integration's GitHub repository, providing the logs, configuration, and version information, as done here. This will help the developers identify and address the bug.

Advanced Troubleshooting and Workarounds

If the standard troubleshooting steps haven't resolved the issue with your Emby device triggers not firing the playback_stopped event, it's time to explore some more advanced techniques and potential workarounds. Sometimes, the integration might not be precisely capturing the