pi-remote

Turn a Raspberry Pi Zero (W) into a USB keyboard + media remote for an Android TV box — controllable over a simple HTTP API, a built-in web remote, and Home Assistant. An optional Broadlink RM4 integration adds true IR power on/off for boxes whose power button is IR.

How it works

The Pi's USB-OTG port is switched into peripheral mode and presents itself to the Android box as two USB HID devices:

Device	Purpose
/dev/hidg0	standard boot keyboard (navigation, typing, combos)
/dev/hidg1	consumer control (volume, play/pause, home, search…)

A tiny stdlib-only HTTP server (hid_keyboard_server.py) turns web requests into HID reports, serves the web remote, and shells out to ir_tool.py for IR.

Home Assistant / curl ──HTTP──▶ Pi Zero ──USB HID──▶ Android box
                                  │
                                  └──Wi-Fi──▶ Broadlink RM4 ──IR──▶ Android box (power)

Why both USB and IR?

Most Android TV remotes send navigation over Bluetooth LE and only the power button over IR (so the box can cold-start). The Pi covers everything BLE/HID can do; the Broadlink RM4 covers the one thing only IR can: turning the box back on from standby (the box cuts USB power when off, so HID can't wake it).

Quick links

• Installation — one-command Ansible provisioning, or manual steps
• Configuration — port, API key, paths
• HTTP API — every endpoint with examples
• IR / Broadlink — learn and send IR codes
• Home Assistant — control with REST + embed the remote
• Troubleshooting — the gotchas, solved

Feature summary

• D-pad / OK / Back navigation, text entry, key combos (Ctrl+A, Alt+Tab)
• Media transport + volume via HID consumer control
• IR power (and any other IR button) via a Broadlink RM4
• Mobile-friendly web remote (Add-to-Home-Screen capable)
• Optional shared-secret auth, CORS enabled
• Boot-persistent via systemd; reproducible via Ansible
• No third-party Python deps for the core server (stdlib only)