Who needs this?

This was made for lazy people who live on the command line.

(Story time) I was sitting on the couch with my laptop, Netflix on in the background, when suddenly and without warning, the credits are rolling - it’s time to find something else to watch before “Real Rob” starts playing. The remote is all the way over on the coffee table. I can’t be expected to stop what I’m doing, put my laptop down, use the remote, sit back down, and resituate myself with my laptop. There has to be a better way…

Luckily, python-roku exists, which makes it easy to control my Roku with Python. Add a simple interactive CLI, and now I’m Roku-ing in style without ever leaving the terminal.

There are a few practical advantages of roku-cli vs. the remote:

• Responsiveness - Moving around the Roku has never been faster

• Easy text entry - No more hunting around the on-screen keyboard with the arrow keys

• Control any Roku in the house - If you have multiple Roku’s, you can select which one you want to control

• Stay on the command line - No more context switching between your computer and the real world

Installation

pip install rokucli

Or to install the latest source:

git clone https://github.com/ncmiller/roku-cli.git
cd roku-cli
python setup.py install

Supported with Python 2 and 3 on Linux and Mac OS. Also works with Cygwin on Windows. Sorry, no native Windows support.

Usage

To launch the CLI:

$ roku

With no arguments, Rokus within the LAN will be discovered using SSDP. If only one Roku is found, then it will be selected, otherwise you’ll be asked to select one:

Found the following Roku devices:
[1]   192.168.1.116:8060 (Roku 3-4230X SW v7.2.0.4100)
[2]   192.168.1.147:8060 (Roku 3-4200X SW v7.2.0.4100)

Multiple Rokus found. Select the index of the Roku to control:
Select (1 to 2) >

Alternatively, if you already know the IP address of your Roku, then launch the CLI with the IP as the first argument:

$ roku 192.168.1.118

This method is much faster than SSDP.

From there, you’ll be in interactive mode, and you can input keys to control your Roku:

+-------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Back           B or <Backsp>  | Replay          R       |
| Home           H              | Info/Settings   i       |
| Left           h or <Left>    | Rewind          r       |
| Down           j or <Down>    | Fast-Fwd        f       |
| Up             k or <Up>      | Play/Pause      <Space> |
| Right          l or <Right>   | Enter Text      /       |
| Ok/Enter       <Enter>        |                         |
+-------------------------------+-------------------------+
(press q to exit)