chromecast-with-google-tv

Chromecast with Google TV control

Use this skill when I ask to cast YouTube or Tubi video content, play or pause Chromecast media playback, check if the Chromecast is online, launch episodic content in another streaming app via global search fallback, or pair with a Chromecast device for the first time.

Setup

This skill runs with uv, adb, yt-api, and scrcpy in the PATH. No venv required.

• Ensure uv, adb, yt-api, and scrcpy are available in the PATH.
• Use ./run as a convenience wrapper around uv run google_tv_skill.py.

First-time pairing

Before using this skill, you must pair your Chromecast with ADB wireless debugging:

1. Enable Developer Options on the Chromecast (Settings > System > About > tap "Android TV OS build" 7 times)
2. Enable USB debugging and Wireless debugging in Developer options
3. Use the pair command to pair with the pairing code shown on screen:
   • ./run pair --show-instructions - Display detailed pairing instructions
   • ./run pair --pairing-ip <IP> --pairing-port <PORT> --pairing-code <CODE> - Perform pairing

After pairing once, you can use the connection port shown on the Wireless debugging screen for all other commands.

Capabilities

This skill provides a small CLI wrapper around ADB to control a Google TV device. It exposes the following subcommands:

• pair: pair with Chromecast using wireless debugging (first-time setup)
• status: show adb devices output
• play <query_or_id_or_url>: play content via YouTube, Tubi, or global-search fallback.
• pause: send media pause
• resume: send media play

Usage examples

./run pair --show-instructions

./run pair --pairing-ip 192.168.1.100 --pairing-port 12345 --pairing-code 123456

./run status --device 192.168.4.64 --port 5555

./run play "7m714Ls29ZA" --device 192.168.4.64 --port 5555

./run play "family guy" --app hulu --season 3 --episode 4 --device 192.168.4.64 --port 5555

./run pause --device 192.168.4.64 --port 5555

Device selection and env overrides

• You can pass --device (IP) and --port on the CLI.
• Alternatively, set CHROMECAST_HOST and CHROMECAST_PORT environment variables to override defaults.
• If you provide only --device or only --port, the script will use the cached counterpart when available; otherwise it will error.
• The script caches the last successful IP:PORT to .last_device.json in the skill folder and will use that cache if no explicit device is provided.
• If no explicit device is provided and no cache exists, the script will attempt ADB mDNS service discovery and use the first IP:PORT it finds.
• IMPORTANT: This skill does NOT perform any port probing or scanning. It will only attempt an adb connect to the explicit port provided or the cached port.

YouTube handling

• If you provide a YouTube video ID or URL, the skill will launch the YouTube app directly via an ADB intent restricted to the YouTube package.
• The skill attempts to resolve titles/queries to a YouTube video ID using the yt-api CLI (in the PATH). If ID resolution fails, the skill will report failure.
• You can override the package name with YOUTUBE_PACKAGE (default com.google.android.youtube.tv).

Tubi handling

• If you provide a Tubi https URL, the skill will send a VIEW intent with that URL (restricted to the Tubi package).
• If the canonical Tubi https URL is needed, the skill can look it up via web_search and supply it to this skill.
• You can override the package name with TUBI_PACKAGE (default com.tubitv).

Global-search fallback for non-YouTube/Tubi

• If YouTube/Tubi resolution does not apply and you pass --app with another provider (for example hulu, max, disney+), the skill uses a Google TV global-search fallback.
• For this fallback, pass all three: --app, --season, and --episode.
• scrcpy must be installed and available in the PATH for this flow.
• The fallback starts android.search.action.GLOBAL_SEARCH, waits for the Series Overview UI, opens Seasons, picks season/episode, then confirms Open in <app> when available.
• Hulu profile-selection logic is intentionally not handled here.

Pause / Resume

./run pause ./run resume

Dependencies

• The script uses only the Python standard library (no pip packages required).
• The scripts run through uv to avoid PEP 668/system package constraints.
• The script expects adb, scrcpy, uv, and yt-api to be installed and available in the PATH.

Caching and non-destructive defaults

• The script stores the last successful device (ip and port) in .last_device.json in the skill folder.
• It will not attempt port scanning; this keeps behavior predictable and avoids conflicts with Google's ADB port rotation.

Troubleshooting

• If adb connect fails, run adb connect IP:PORT manually from your host to verify the current port.
• If adb connect is refused and you're running interactively, the script will prompt you for a new port and update .last_device.json on success.
• Connection refused after pairing: If connection is refused:
  • Verify Wireless debugging is still enabled on the Chromecast
  • The device may need to be re-paired if it was restarted or Wireless debugging was toggled off
  • The interactive prompt will offer options to retry with a different port or re-pair
  • Use ./run pair --show-instructions for detailed setup steps

Implementation notes

• The skill CLI code lives in google_tv_skill.py in this folder. It uses subprocess calls to adb, scrcpy, and yt-api, plus an internal global-search helper for fallback playback.
• For Tubi URL discovery, the assistant uses web_search to find canonical Tubi pages and pass the https URL to the skill.