Marquee

Marquee turns a Google Nest Hub into a clean Plex now-playing display. It shows artwork, title, plot, genres, ratings, media details, progress, and a clock, then returns the Hub to ambient mode when playback stops.

Templates

Five designed layouts, switchable live from the settings page:

Spotlight — poster beside the full metadata stack	Hero — big centered title over the backdrop
Lower Third — broadcast-style chyron over full-bleed art	Big Clock — ambient timepiece with a now-playing strip

Every template is built from the same blocks — title/logo identity, grouped ratings, metadata chips, plot, progress, clock, poster — so your show/hide toggles, themes, custom accent color, and block position tweaks carry across all of them.

Features

• Live Plex now-playing card with five designed templates: Spotlight, Split, Hero, Lower Third, and Big Clock.
• Four themes plus a custom accent color, 12/24-hour clock styles, and per-block show/hide toggles.
• A drag-and-slider editor for moving, sizing, and scaling each card block, with an instant demo preview.
• Persisted settings, health checks, and a Docker-first deployment path.
• Google Nest Hub casting with clean idle handoff back to ambient mode.

What You Need

• Docker
• Plex Media Server on the same LAN
• A Google Nest Hub on the same LAN
• A Plex X-Plex-Token

Marquee is designed for a trusted LAN. It has no login and should not be port-forwarded.

Quick Start

Edit the example IP addresses and token in compose.yaml, then run:

docker compose up -d --build
docker compose logs -f marquee

Open http://SERVER-IP:8084/. The card served to the Hub is http://SERVER-IP:8084/image.

If you prefer plain Docker:

docker build -t marquee:local .
docker run -d --name marquee --restart unless-stopped --network host \
  -e PAGE_URL=http://192.168.1.10:8084/image \
  -e PLEX_HOST=http://localhost:32400 \
  -e PLEX_TOKEN=replace-me \
  -v marquee-config:/config \
  marquee:local

Settings persist under ./data in Compose mode or /config in the container.

Configuration

Required environment variables:

• PAGE_URL — this server's LAN IP + /image. The Hub loads this URL, so localhost will not work here.
• PLEX_HOST — keep http://localhost:32400 when Plex runs on the same machine; otherwise its LAN IP
• PLEX_TOKEN

Cast device: open the settings page and press Scan — Marquee discovers Google Cast devices on your LAN and you pick your Hub from a dropdown. (HUB_IP still works as an env fallback; discovery needs the container on the same network/VLAN as the Hub, which host networking gives you.)

Optional settings:

• PLEX_USERS — comma-separated Plex usernames that trigger the marquee. Leave empty to react to everyone on the server, including shared and home users (the sessions API is server-wide).
• TMDB_API_KEY
• POLL_SECONDS default 5
• SERVE_PORT default 8084
• REPO_DIR default /app
• DATA_DIR default /config

Health status is available at /healthz and includes the version.

Plex Token

1. Sign in to Plex Web and open an item on your server.
2. Select More (…) → Get Info → View XML.
3. Copy the value after X-Plex-Token= from the browser address bar.
4. Test it at http://PLEX-IP:32400/?X-Plex-Token=YOUR_TOKEN.

See Plex's token instructions. Never put a real token in Compose files, screenshots, issues, or commits.

For credits-scene badges, create a TMDb account, open Account Settings → API, request a key, and set TMDB_API_KEY.

Development

docker build -t marquee:test .
docker run --rm marquee:test python cast/cast.py --selftest
docker logs -f marquee

The service uses catt to launch DashCast on the Hub. Ratings come from Plex metadata; optional credits-scene keywords come from TMDb.

Cast behavior

Marquee checks that DashCast is active, casts the /image URL when playback starts, and releases the Hub when playback stops. Container tests cannot prove physical Hub behavior, so before publishing a release:

1. Open PAGE_URL from another LAN device.
2. Start a Plex movie or episode and confirm the Hub loads the card.
3. Pause and resume playback and confirm the progress state updates within one poll interval.
4. Stop playback and confirm the Hub returns to ambient mode.
5. Review docker logs marquee; there should be no catt ... failed message.