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diff --git a/blog/spotifyd.md b/blog/spotifyd.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..56a46b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/spotifyd.md @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +--- +title: "Spotify on Linux" +date: 2020-07-09 +draft: false +--- + +I've been trying to use command-line tools more often recently, and that +includes my music software. For a long time, I was using the official Spotify +client for linux, with an AUR package [here][spotaur]. This was fine for +a while, but I really wanted to be able to use it on the commandline. This post +is documentation on where I went with this. +<!--more--> + +## Beginnings +I started by doing a search for "spotify tui". This led me to a number of +options, but the only standalone one I could find was [`ncspot`][ncspot], a TUI +written in Rust. I used `cargo install` to build and compile ncspot, and was +presented with a screen allowing me to enter my username and password. + +Following that, I was shown to the main screen, which looks like this: + + + +I could use the arrow keys or `hjkl` to navigate the tabs and songs, and `F1`, +`F2`, and `F3` to navigate the different contexts[^1]. The keybindings were +a bit confusing (`Shift-p` to toggle playback, and `>`/`<` to skip songs). + +This is what the album view looked like: + + +This worked well for me, for a little while. Eventually I got tired of not being +able to control it from my phone or control other devices from my laptop. + +## Enter Spotifyd +For those who don't know, Spotifyd is an open source spotify client that runs as +a system service. Its major benefit to me is the ability to use Spotify Connect +to control or be controlled by other devices like my phone. Spotifyd is part of +the AUR for different audio backends, so the install was a simple `yay -S +spotifyd-pulseaudio`. + +Following the documentation at the project's [github][spotifyd-github], I filled +out a configuration file, which is tracked in my [dotfiles][dotfiles-spotd] +repository. My password is tracked by [`pass`][pass], so I can put that command +in the configuration file without worrying about my password getting leaked into +git. There's also a systemd service, that I placed in my `.config/systemd` +folder to run as a user service. + +With `spotifyd` enabled and running, I found a frontend in +[`spotify-tui`][spotifytui], another TUI written in Rust. I followed the README +directions and created my OAuth application. With my Client ID/Secret in hand, +I managed to authenticate with the Spotify API and could select devices. + +One of the advantages of spotifytui over ncspot at least is that it supports +Spotify Connect, so that I can control both the `spotifyd` service running on my +laptop and any other clients running on my network, including my phone. + +The main layout of `spotify-tui` looks like this: + + +Overall I like `spotify-tui` a lot more than `ncspot`, but I'm keeping it on my +system in case I need to run multiple clients at once. + +`spotify-tui` is available in the AUR as `yay -S spotify-tui`. + +[^1]: Queue, Search, and Library, respectively + +[spotaur]: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/spotify/ +[ncspot]: https://github.com/hrkfdn/ncspot +[spotifyd-github]: https://github.com/Spotifyd/spotifyd +[dotfiles-spotd]: +https://git.sr.ht/~muirrum/dotfiles/tree/master/.config/spotifyd/spotifyd.conf +[pass]: https://passwordstore.org +[spotifytui]: https://github.com/Rigellute/spotify-tui |