Quick Connect for Emby — guide

Installation

You need Emby Server 4.10.1 or newer.

1. Sign in to your MediaLab Works account, open Licenses and download the plugin DLL (available on an active subscription, a lifetime license within its update window, or during the free 30-day trial).
2. Copy the DLL into the Emby plugins folder and restart Emby Server:
   • Linux (package): /var/lib/emby/plugins/
   • Docker: the plugins folder inside your Emby config volume
   • Windows: %AppData%\Emby-Server\programdata\plugins\
3. Open Quick Connect in the Emby dashboard menu and click License. Paste your license key and activate it, or enter your e-mail to start the free 30-day trial or buy a license. The plugin contacts the license server, binds the key to this Emby server and shows the license as Active.

The license is checked once a day (and at every Emby start). Without internet the plugin keeps working for 7 days after the last successful check; after that it is stopped until it can check again.

License

Without a valid license Quick Connect is stopped: the phone and screen pages are not available, no code is issued and the one-time app codes are not accepted. Users who turned on app codes simply sign in with their normal password, which Emby checks as usual. Only the License page keeps working (there you can start the trial, buy, enter the key or update). Settings and the sign-in log are kept, and everything resumes as soon as the license is valid again.

With a valid license, the same page can install an update or roll back to the previous version if an update causes trouble. Restart Emby after either.

Configuration

Open Quick Connect in the Emby dashboard.

1. Settings:
   • Phone sign-in is active: the phone and screen pages.
   • Approval from the phone with username + password too, for phones where Emby is not signed in. Turn it off to allow only approvals from a phone that already has an Emby session.
   • One-time codes for Emby apps: lets each user turn on app codes from the phone page.
   • Administrator accounts cannot sign in with a code: off by default.
   • Screen code validity: 5 minutes by default, from 1 to 15.
   • New account created from the phone: the screen signs in by itself once the account is active: off by default. It needs Registration 1.10.5 or newer; with an older Registration it has no effect.
2. Button on the sign-in screen: click Apply to add Sign in with your phone to the Emby Web sign-in screen. The plugin writes one line into Emby's dashboard-ui/index.html (keeping a copy as index.html.before-quickconnect) and adds it again after Emby updates. If the file belongs to root and Emby cannot write it, the page shows the exact command to run on the server; Remove takes the button out again.
3. How to use shows the two addresses on your server: the screen page (/emby/QuickConnect/Screen) and the phone page (/emby/QuickConnect/Page).

Daily use

• On a TV browser or computer: on the Emby sign-in screen, click Sign in with your phone (or open the screen page). The screen shows a 6-digit code and a QR code.
• On the phone: scan the QR code (or open the phone page and type the code), check the name of the device that is waiting, then approve with one tap as the Emby user already signed in on the phone, or with Another account and a username and password. The screen signs in by itself.
• In the official Emby apps (TVs, consoles): the user opens the phone page while signed in to Emby, turns on codes for my account once, then clicks Show a code whenever needed. In the Emby app they sign in with their username and type the 6-digit code in the password field. The code is valid for 5 minutes and works once; the normal password keeps working.
• No account yet? With Registration installed, the phone page shows a link to create one. If the setting above is on, the screen keeps its code while the account is created, for up to 60 minutes, and shows that an account is being created on the phone. It signs in as the new user as soon as the account is active: right away, after an administrator approves it, or after payment with Cashier. The usual checks still apply to that sign-in (disabled account, administrator block, remote access).
• The panel lists the users with app codes and the recent sign-ins (user, device, app and how it was approved). To end a session, use Emby's own Devices page.

Troubleshooting

• The button does not appear on the sign-in screen: apply it from the panel, run the command it shows if Emby cannot write the file, then reload the sign-in page. After an Emby update the plugin puts it back at start-up; if that fails, the panel shows the error.
• "The code is not valid or has expired": check the digits on the screen; codes last a few minutes and work once. Ask the screen for a new one.
• "Too many attempts": wait 10 minutes; the block applies to the address that made the wrong attempts.
• "The account is not allowed to sign in from outside the local network": the account has no remote access in Emby and the screen is outside your network.
• The app code is refused: turn on codes for the account first, use a fresh code (5 minutes, once), and check that one-time codes are on in the panel.