Step 1. Developer mode on the TV (every option)

Do this on the TV itself.

1. Open Settings, then System, then About (Google TV). On Android TV 9 to 11 it is Settings, Device Preferences, About.
2. Go right down to Android TV OS build (or Build). Press OK on it seven times. A countdown appears, then "You are now a developer!".
3. Go back. There is a new menu called Developer options (under System, or Device Preferences).
4. Find USB debugging and switch it on.
5. If there is also a Network debugging switch (also called ADB over network or ADB debugging), switch it on too. Some TVs have no such switch: on a TCL with Android TV 11, USB debugging alone opened the network port. The opposite happened on a 2015 Sony Bravia (Android 8.0): port 5555 only opened after Network debugging was switched on as well. Either way, check from the computer: .venv/bin/python scripts/check-tv.py <tv address>. If it says ADB is open on port 5555, everything in this repo works as it is. If it says only Wireless debugging is on, see the box below.
6. Find the TV's address: Settings, Network and Internet, your Wi-Fi (or Settings, Network, your Wi-Fi, details). It looks like four numbers with dots. Give the TV a fixed address in your router if you can, so it never changes.

The first time a computer connects, the TV asks "Allow USB debugging?". Tick Always allow and press Allow. You never see it again.

Allow every computer before you switch the Google home off. Seen on one Google TV (Android 14): after apply.sh switched off the Google TV home and its setup app, the TV no longer showed "Allow USB debugging?" for any new computer. Computers allowed before that kept working. So connect each computer you will use (check-tv.py <tv address> --adb, and for option C the app's Connect ADB) and press Allow before step 6. If it already happened, see "If something is stuck" in docs/UNINSTALL.md.

Only Wireless debugging? Newer Google TVs (Android 11 and up) may offer only Wireless debugging, which pairs with a code and uses a random port that changes after a restart. couch-tv's scripts and the bridge speak plain ADB on a fixed port, so turn the fixed port on once with Google's own tools (Android platform-tools):

1. On the TV: Developer options, Wireless debugging on, then Pair device with pairing code. It shows a code and an address with a port, for example <tv address>:37123.
2. On the computer: adb pair <tv address>:<pairing port> <code>.
3. Back on the Wireless debugging screen, note the port under "IP address and port", then adb connect <tv address>:<that port>.
4. adb tcpip 5555. Port 5555 is now open and check-tv.py should say ADB is open on port 5555.

On some TVs port 5555 closes again after a restart. Then run steps 2 to 4 again (option B's daily guard and the remote need it open). If your TV keeps a different fixed port open, set "adb_port" on that TV in config.json (or ADB_PORT=<port> for the scripts). The Wireless debugging port itself needs Google's adb; couch-tv cannot use it directly.

Mac: "allow devices on your local network". macOS asks once per program before it lets it talk to devices at home. Say Allow for Terminal (or the app your AI agent runs in). A program that is new to the Mac, like Google's adb straight after downloading it, can be blocked silently: it then cannot reach the TV although everything else can. couch-tv's own tools (tv-home/tools/tvadb.py, on-tv/scripts/real-tv.py, check-tv.py) are plain Python and run inside the Python you have already allowed, so use them for everything except the one-off Wireless debugging pairing above. If adb is blocked: System Settings, Privacy and Security, Local Network, and switch on the app it runs in.

Step 2. Get the code and set up Python (every option)

git clone https://github.com/Seagey/couch-tv.git
cd couch-tv
python3 --version                    # 3.11 or newer
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -r bridge/requirements.txt
cp config.example.json config.json

Edit config.json (it is private, it never gets committed):

• tvs: put your TV's address in ip. Give it a name. Add more TVs by adding more entries.
• people: the names that show on the "who is watching" switch, any number. None or one: no switch. Two: a switch. Three or more: a round head icon that opens a list. It shows even before anyone has watched anything. Mark children with "kid": true and visitors with "guest": true so they stay out of the household's picks.
• weather: your latitude, longitude, place name and time zone (Open-Meteo, free, no key). A suburb or city, never a home address.
• country: two letter code, for where shows stream.
• Option B: `bridge.h

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