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This document is a WORK IN PROGRESS.
This is just a quick personal cheat sheet: treat its contents with caution!

spotifyd and spotify-tui

Prerequisite(s)

Reference(s)

Table of contents

Install

Install spotifyd and spotify-tui (spt, e.g. with AUR: https://aur.archlinux.org/spotify-tui.git)

Config

spotifyd config: 

$ vi ~/.config/spotifyd
    > [global]
    > # Your Spotify account name.
    > username = "username"
    >
    > # Your Spotify account password.
    > password = "password"
    >
    > # A command that gets executed and can be used to
    > # retrieve your password.
    > # The command should return the password on stdout.
    > #
    > # This is an alternative to the `password` field. Both
    > # can't be used simultaneously.
    > password_cmd = "command_that_writes_password_to_stdout"
    >
    > # If set to true, `spotifyd` tries to look up your
    > # password in the system's password storage.
    > #
    > # This is an alternative to the `password` field. Both
    > # can't be used simultaneously.
    > use_keyring = true
    >
    > # The audio backend used to play the your music. To get
    > # a list of possible backends, run `spotifyd --help`.
    > backend = "alsa"
    >
    > # The alsa audio device to stream audio to. To get a
    > # list of valid devices, run `aplay -L`,
    > device = "alsa_audio_device"  # omit for macOS
    >
    > # The alsa control device. By default this is the same
    > # name as the `device` field.
    > control = "alsa_audio_device"  # omit for macOS
    >
    > # The alsa mixer used by `spotifyd`.
    > mixer = "PCM"
    >
    > # The volume controller. Each one behaves different to
    > # volume increases. For possible values, run
    > # `spotifyd --help`.
    > volume_controller = "alsa"  # use softvol for macOS
    >
    > # A command that gets executed in your shell after each song changes.
    > on_song_change_hook = "command_to_run_on_playback_events"
    >
    > # The name that gets displayed under the connect tab on
    > # official clients. Spaces are not allowed!
    > device_name = "device_name_in_spotify_connect"
    >
    > # The audio bitrate. 96, 160 or 320 kbit/s
    > bitrate = 160
    >
    > # The directory used to cache audio data. This setting can save
    > # a lot of bandwidth when activated, as it will avoid re-downloading
    > # audio files when replaying them.
    > #
    > # Note: The file path does not get expanded. Environment variables and
    > # shell placeholders like $HOME or ~ don't work!
    > cache_path = "cache_directory"
    >
    > # If set to true, audio data does NOT get cached.
    > no_audio_cache = true
    >
    > # Volume on startup between 0 and 100
    > initial_volume = 90
    >
    > # If set to true, enables volume normalisation between songs.
    > volume_normalisation = true
    >
    > # The normalisation pregain that is applied for each song.
    > normalisation_pregain = -10
    >
    > # The port `spotifyd` uses to announce its service over the network.
    > zeroconf_port = 1234
    >
    > # The proxy `spotifyd` will use to connect to spotify.
    > proxy = "http://proxy.example.org:8080"
    >
    > # The displayed device type in Spotify clients.
    > # Can be unknown, computer, tablet, smartphone, speaker, tv,
    > # avr (Audio/Video Receiver), stb (Set-Top Box), and audiodongle.
    > device_type = "speaker"

How to get setup spotify-tui:

  1. Go to the Spotify dashboard - https://developer.spotify.com/dashboard/applications.
  2. Click Create a Client ID and create an app.
  3. Now click Edit Settings.
  4. Add http://localhost:8888/callback to the Redirect URIs.
  5. You are now ready to authenticate with Spotify!

Run spt and answer the questions related to the previous spotify-tui setup.

Afterwards, check spotify-tui config: 

$ cat ~/.config/spotify-tui/client.yml

Use

Troubleshooting

  • "Couldn't initialize logger" error: 
    error `thread 'main' panicked at 'Couldn't initialize logger`
    • a system logger might not be set up.
    • Hack around: add the --no-daemon option

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