JSON-RPC over HTTP?

bradvido88 · 2010-12-20 17:24

I currently have some custom scripts that update my XBMC library automatically but they are using the (depricated) HTTP API.

I'd like to switch to the JSON-RPC API, but I am having trouble finding an example of how use the interface. I've read the wiki and have enabled the webserver. Browsing to httpL//mybmc/jsonprc tells me that json-rpc is up and running.

So, now I want to use the interface....

Is it possible to get JSON data back by simply browsing to a URL/command such as http://myxbmc/jsonrp?[command] ? If so, can you give me an example [command]?
If this is not possible, what is an easy way to test commands for debugging purposes?

Thanks for the help. I've been reading up on JSON-RPC, but am new to this, so I'm hoping my questions make sense.

_Andy_ · 2010-12-20 17:59

1) No. You have to wrap your json query in a POST request to your desired port.
You can configure the http port in XBMC.
You can use raw port 9090 too. You need to send your request in brackets {} only.

2)I use an simple app in objective c to test the response.
I guess you can find some easy phyton examples which are part of XBMC too.

darkscout · 2010-12-20 18:01

http://boshdirect.com/blogs/tech/set-xbm...brary.html

Or if you just want to use curl.

Code:

curl -i -X POST -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "AudioPlaylist.Add", "params": { "file": "/home/xbmc/Music/Adele - 19/101-adele-daydreams.mp3"}, "id": 1}' http://localhost:9019/jsonrpc

bradvido88 · 2010-12-20 18:17

Thanks for the replies. I think I will try sending the parameters in a HTTP post. I will test this out tonight.

Thanks

bradvido88 · 2010-12-20 19:16

darkscout Wrote:http://boshdirect.com/blogs/tech/set-xbm...brary.html

Or if you just want to use curl.

Code:

curl -i -X POST -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "AudioPlaylist.Add", "params": { "file": "/home/xbmc/Music/Adele - 19/101-adele-daydreams.mp3"}, "id": 1}' http://localhost:9019/jsonrpc

Ok, I'm using curl on windows. I'm trying to do a test to confirm it works. It is not working. I'm guessing my data syntax in not getting parsed correctly by the command line? Any ideas?

Code:

c:\curl>curl -i -X POST -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "AudioPlayer.PlayPause"}' -u xbmc:xbmc http://localhost:80/jsonrpc

curl: (6) Could not resolve host: 2.0,; No data record of requested type

curl: (6) Could not resolve host: method; No data record of requested type

curl: (3) [globbing] unmatched close brace/bracket at pos 22

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

Content-Length: 115

Content-Type: application/json

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:13:39 GMT

{

   "error" : {

      "code" : -32700,

      "message" : "Parse error."

   },

   "id" : 0,

   "jsonrpc" : "2.0"

}

**Montellese** · 2010-12-20 20:42

I never used curl on windows before but there are two things I noticed in your example:

1. Don't set XBMC to provide the JSON-RPC API on port 80 because port 80 is the default port for HTTP requests to the WWW.
2. You're request is missing the "id" field (which you can see in the HTTP response).

bradvido88 · 2010-12-20 20:49

Montellese Wrote:I never used curl on windows before but there are two things I noticed in your example:

1. Don't set XBMC to provide the JSON-RPC API on port 80 because port 80 is the default port for HTTP requests to the WWW.
2. You're request is missing the "id" field (which you can see in the HTTP response).

Thanks for the tips.
1) Is there a way to specify a different port for the JSON-RPC api to listen on. I thought it is always the same port as the web server. Either way, I changed it to 8000 and it did not help.
2) I added and id, but it's not returning it

I think the problem lies in the syntax of my command. curl is not seeing the data as a single object. It seems like its trying to connect to each parameter as though it thinks it's a server by the "Could not resolve host: 2.0" etc. messages.

Code:

c:\curl>curl -i -X POST -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "AudioPlayer.PlayPause", "id": "1"}' -u xbmc:xbmc http://localhost:8000/jsonrpc

curl: (6) Could not resolve host: 2.0,; No data record of requested type

curl: (6) Could not resolve host: method; No data record of requested type

curl: (6) Could not resolve host: AudioPlayer.PlayPause,; No data record of requested type

curl: (6) Could not resolve host: id; No data record of requested type

curl: (3) [globbing] unmatched close brace/bracket at pos 2

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

Content-Length: 115

Content-Type: application/json

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:46:37 GMT

{

   "error" : {

      "code" : -32700,

      "message" : "Parse error."

   },

   "id" : 0,

   "jsonrpc" : "2.0"

}

For the -d option, I have also tried

Code:

"jsonrpc=2.0&method=AudioPlayer.PlayPause&id=1"

"{jsonrpc: 2.0, method: AudioPlayer.PlayPause, id: 1}"

"{""jsonrpc"": ""2.0"", ""method"": ""AudioPlayer.PlayPause"", ""id"": ""1""}"

"{'jsonrpc': '2.0', 'method': 'AudioPlayer.PlayPause', 'id': '1'}"

But none have worked successfully

EDIT: I have gotten this to work successfully by telnetting to the raw TCP 9090 port and sending this exact string:

Code:

{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "AudioPlayer.PlayPause", "id": "1"}

I give up on the curl syntax for now.
Thanks to all for the help

darkscout · 2010-12-20 21:51

It's not curl's problem. It's Window's bastardization of command line parameters.

Notice all the "Could not resolve hosts"? it's trying to look up a 2.0 as a host and do something with it.

bradvido88 · 2010-12-20 21:52

darkscout Wrote:It's not curl's problem. It's Window's bastardization of command line parameters.

Notice all the "Could not resolve hosts"? it's trying to look up a 2.0 as a host and do something with it.

Yeah, that's why I was trying all the different combinations... trying to get windows to parse it correctly.

maybe a windows cmd line veteran knows what the correct syntax is... or even if a syntax exists that will work.

plumser · 2010-12-21 19:49

dunno if this helps any, but i've written a simple python script to update my library. I use this on ubuntu but maybe you can adapt it for windows..

Code:

#!/usr/bin/python

import json

import httplib, urllib

url = 'http://your.xbmc.ip:port'

jsonrpcurl = url + '/jsonrpc'

updatestr = json.dumps({'jsonrpc': "2.0", 'method': "VideoLibrary.ScanForContent", 'id': "1"})

urllib.urlopen(jsonrpcurl, updatestr).close()

_Andy_ Senior Member Posts: 128 Joined: May 2010 Reputation: 0 Location: Germany, Milky Way Galaxy	2010-12-20 17:59 Post: #2 1) No. You have to wrap your json query in a POST request to your desired port. You can configure the http port in XBMC. You can use raw port 9090 too. You need to send your request in brackets {} only. 2)I use an simple app in objective c to test the response. I guess you can find some easy phyton examples which are part of XBMC too.
	find quote

darkscout Posting Freak Posts: 2,148 Joined: Jul 2008 Reputation: 12	2010-12-20 18:01 Post: #3 http://boshdirect.com/blogs/tech/set-xbm...brary.html Or if you just want to use curl. Code: `curl -i -X POST -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "AudioPlaylist.Add", "params": { "file": "/home/xbmc/Music/Adele - 19/101-adele-daydreams.mp3"}, "id": 1}' http://localhost:9019/jsonrpc`
	find quote

bradvido88 Member+ Posts: 736 Joined: Nov 2008 Reputation: 7 Location: MN	2010-12-20 18:17 Post: #4 Thanks for the replies. I think I will try sending the parameters in a HTTP post. I will test this out tonight. Thanks XBMC.MyLibrary (add anything to the library) ForTheLibrary (ForTheRecord & XBMC Library Integration) SageTV & XBMC PVR Integration Delete unused thumbs
	find quote

darkscout Posting Freak Posts: 2,148 Joined: Jul 2008 Reputation: 12	2010-12-20 21:51 Post: #8 It's not curl's problem. It's Window's bastardization of command line parameters. Notice all the "Could not resolve hosts"? it's trying to look up a 2.0 as a host and do something with it.
	find quote