---
name: "sonos-media-playback"
description: "Play music on Sonos speakers via Home Assistant; when Spotify search or play_media fails, use Sonos source_list favorites."
---

# Sonos Media Playback

Play music (genre, playlist, artist, "50% volume") on a room Sonos via Home Assistant MCP.

## Steps

1. Find the room player: `homeassistant__ha_search_entities` with `domain_filter="media_player"` and the room name (German room names match, e.g. "bad" -> `media_player.bad`). Done when one media_player entity is found.
2. Set volume first with `ha_call_service(domain="media_player", service="volume_set", data={"volume_level": <0-1>})` — this works even while the player is paused/idle. Percent requested / 100.
3. If the player is `paused` or `idle`, wake it with `media_player.media_play` so Spotify Connect may register it.
4. Resolve the requested music. Prefer, in order:
   - `spotify__search` for playlist/track URIs, then play via the Spotify MCP `play` tool. If `play` returns 404 "No active device found": call `spotify__get_devices`, pick the room-matching device, and retry `play` with that `device_id` explicitly.
   - If Spotify search errors or no Spotify device is active: get the player state with `ha_get_state` and read its `source_list` (Sonos favorites). Pick the favorite closest to the requested genre (e.g. dark techno -> `ChilloutTechno`, sets -> `Fusion 2026 Sets`), then `ha_call_service(domain="media_player", service="select_source", data={"source": "<favorite>"})`.
5. Verify: `ha_get_state` on the entity shows `playing` with `media_title`/`media_playlist` and the requested `volume_level`. Report title and volume to the user; offer the nearest alternative favorite if the genre match is loose.

## Do not retry

- `ha_call_service(media_player, play_media)` with any `spotify:` URI on Sonos: returns HTTP 500 regardless of `media_content_type` (`music`/`playlist`) — skip it and go straight to `source_list` favorites.
- Repeated retries of a failing `spotify__search` with different arguments: the failure is server-side; fall back once, then use favorites.