# User Documentation
## Installation Instructions
[](https://repology.org/project/ncspot/versions)
### On macOS
`ncspot` is available via [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/):
```zsh
brew install ncspot
```
### On Windows
`ncspot` is available via [Scoop](https://scoop.sh/):
```powershell
scoop install ncspot
```
or via [winget](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/):
```powershell
winget install hrkfdn.ncspot
```
### On Linux
Your distribution may have packaged `ncspot` in its package repository.
If so, simply install using your distribution's package manager - it
is by far the easiest way. If not, you can build from source instead.
See [Compiling](/doc/developers.md).
In case your package manager does not perform dependency resolution,
here are the runtime dependencies:
- `dbus`, `libncurses`, `libssl`
- `libpulse` (or `portaudio`, if built using the PortAudio backend)
- `libxcb` (if built with the `clipboard` feature)
- `ueberzug` or a compatible implementation (e.g. `ueberzugpp`) (if built with the `cover` feature)
### On BSD's
Your distribution may have packaged `ncspot` in its package repository.
If so, simply install using your distribution's package manager - it
is by far the easiest way. If not, you can build from source instead.
See [Compiling](/doc/developers.md).
### From [crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/ncspot)
`ncspot` can be installed with `cargo`. The `cargo` documentation recommends against installing
software with it. If another option is available from the ones above, it should be preferred. If no
recent version is available for your OS, you can use the following command to install `ncspot` from
[crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/ncspot).
```zsh
# The --locked option is important and the compilation process might fail without it
cargo install --locked ncspot
```
## Key Bindings
The keybindings listed below are configured by default. Additionally, if you
built `ncspot` with MPRIS support, you may be able to use media keys to control
playback depending on your desktop environment settings. Have a look at the
[configuration section](#configuration) if you want to set custom bindings.
### Navigation
| Key | Command |
|-------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ? | Show help screen. |
| F1 | Queue (See [specific commands](#queue)). |
| F2 | Search. |
| F3 | Library (See [specific commands](#library)). |
| F8 | Album Art (if built with the `cover` feature). |
| / | Open a Vim-like search bar (See [specific commands](#vim-like-search-bar)). |
| : | Open a Vim-like command prompt (See [specific commands](#vim-like-commands)). |
| Escape | Close Vim-like search bar or command prompt. |
| Q | Quit `ncspot`. |
### Playback
| Key | Command |
|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Return | Play track or playlist. |
| Space | Queue track or playlist. |
| . | Play the selected item after the currently playing track. |
| P | Move to the currently playing track in the queue. |
| S | Save the currently playing item to your library. |
| D | Remove the currently playing item from your library. |
| Shift+P | Toggle playback (i.e. Play/Pause). |
| Shift+S | Stop playback. |
| Shift+U | Update the library cache (tracks, artists, albums, playlists). |
| < | Play the previous track. |
| > | Play the next track. |
| F | Seek forward by 1 second. |
| Shift+F | Seek forward by 10 seconds. |
| B | Seek backward by 1 second. |
| Shift+B | Seek backward by 10 seconds. |
| - | Decrease volume by 1%. |
| + | Increase volume by 1%. |
| [ | Decrease volume by 5%. |
| ] | Increase volume by 5%. |
| R | Toggle _Repeat_ mode. |
| Z | Toggle _Shuffle_ state. |
### Context Menus
| Key | Command |
|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| O | Open a detail view or context for the **selected item**. |
| Shift+O | Open a context menu for the **currently playing track**. |
| A | Open the **album view** for the selected item. |
| Shift+A | Open the **artist view** for the selected item. |
| M | Open the **recommendations view** for the **selected item**. |
| Shift+M | Open the **recommendations view** for the **currently playing track**. |
| Ctrl+V | Open the context menu for a Spotify link in your clipboard (if built with the `share_clipboard` feature). |
| Backspace | Close the current view. |
When pressing O:
- If the _selected item_ is **not** a track, it opens a detail view.
- If the _selected item_ **is** a track, it opens a context menu with:
- "Artist(s)" (let's you show or (un)follow a track's artist(s))
- "Show Album"
- "Share" (if built with the `share_clipboard` feature)
- "Add to playlist"
- "Similar tracks"
### Sharing
(if built with the `share_clipboard` feature)
| Key | Command |
|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| X | Copy the URL to the **currently selected item** to the system clipboard. |
| Shift+X | Copy the URL to the **currently playing track** to the system clipboard. |
### Queue
| Key | Command |
|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| C | Clear the entire queue. |
| D | Delete the currently selected track. |
| Ctrl+S | Save the current queue. |
### Library
| Key | Command |
|--------------|-----------------------------------------|
| D | Delete the currently selected playlist. |
### Vim-Like Search Bar
| Key | Command |
|--------------|-----------------------------|
| n | Previous search occurrence. |
| N | Next search occurrence. |
### Vim-Like Commands
You can open a Vim-style command prompt using :, and close it at any
time with Escape.
The following is an abridged list of the more useful commands. For the full list, see [source code](/src/command.rs).
Note: \ - mandatory arg; [BAR] - optional arg
| Command | Action |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `help` | Show current key bindings. |
| `quit`
Aliases: `q`, `x` | Quit `ncspot`. |
| `logout` | Remove any cached credentials from disk and quit `ncspot`. |
| `playpause`
Aliases: `pause`, `toggleplay`, `toggleplayback` | Toggle playback. |
| `stop` | Stop playback. |
| `seek` [`+`\|`-`]\ | Seek to the specified position, or seek relative to current position by prepending `+`/`-`.
\* TIME is anything accepted by [parse_duration](https://docs.rs/parse_duration/latest/parse_duration/)
\* Default unit is `ms` for backward compatibility. |
| `move` \ \ | Scroll the current view `up`/`down`/`left`/`right` with integer step sizes, or `pageup`/`pagedown`/`pageleft`/`pageright` with float step sizes. |
| `repeat` [REPEAT_MODE]
Alias: `loop` | Set repeat mode. Omit argument to step through the available modes.
\* Valid values for REPEAT_MODE: `list` (aliases: `playlist`, `queue`), `track` (aliases: `once`, `single`), `none` (alias: `off`) |
| `shuffle` [`on`\|`off`] | Enable or disable shuffle. Omit argument to toggle. |
| `previous` | Play the previous track. |
| `next` | Play the next track. |
| `focus` \ | Switch to a different view.
\* Valid values for SCREEN: `queue`, `search`, `library`, `cover` (if built with the `cover` feature) |
| `search` \ | Search for a song/artist/album/etc. |
| `clear` | Clear the queue. |
| `share` \ | Copy a shareable URL of the item to the system clipboard. Requires the `share_clipboard` feature.
\* Valid values for ITEM: `selected`, `current` |
| `newplaylist` \ | Create a new playlist. |
| `sort` \ [SORT_DIRECTION] | Sort a playlist.
\* Valid values for SORT_KEY: `title`, `album`, `artist`, `duration`, `added`
\* Valid values for SORT_DIRECTION: `ascending` (default; aliases: `a`, `asc`), `descending` (aliases: `d`, `desc`) |
| `exec` \ | Execute a command in the system shell.
\* Command output is printed to the terminal, so redirection (`2> /dev/null`) may be necessary. |
| `noop` | Do nothing. Useful for disabling default keybindings. See [custom keybindings](#custom-keybindings). |
| `reload` | Reload the configuration from disk. See [Configuration](#configuration). |
| `reconnect` | Reconnect to Spotify (useful when session has expired or connection was lost |
| `add [current]` | Add selected track to playlist, if `current` is passed the currently playing track will be added |
| `save [current]` | Save selected item, if `current` is passed the currently playing item will be saved |
## Remote control (IPC)
Apart from MPRIS, ncspot will also create a domain socket on UNIX platforms (Linux, macOS, *BSD).
The socket will be created in the platform's runtime directory. Run `ncspot info` to show the
location of this directory on your platform. Applications or scripts can connect to this socket to
send commands or be notified of the currently playing track, i.e. with `netcat`:
```
% nc -U $NCSPOT_CACHE_DIRECTORY/ncspot.sock
play
{"mode":{"Playing":{"secs_since_epoch":1672249086,"nanos_since_epoch":547517730}},"playable":{"type":"Track","id":"2wcrQZ7ZJolYEfIaPP9yL4","uri":"spotify:track:2wcrQZ7ZJolYEfIaPP9yL4","title":"Hit Me Where It Hurts","track_number":4,"disc_number":1,"duration":184132,"artists":["Caroline Polachek"],"artist_ids":["4Ge8xMJNwt6EEXOzVXju9a"],"album":"Pang","album_id":"4ClyeVlAKJJViIyfVW0yQD","album_artists":["Caroline Polachek"],"cover_url":"https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b2737d983e7bf67c2806218c2759","url":"https://open.spotify.com/track/2wcrQZ7ZJolYEfIaPP9yL4","added_at":"2022-12-19T22:41:05Z","list_index":0}}
playpause
{"mode":{"Paused":{"secs":25,"nanos":575000000}},"playable":{"type":"Track","id":"2wcrQZ7ZJolYEfIaPP9yL4","uri":"spotify:track:2wcrQZ7ZJolYEfIaPP9yL4","title":"Hit Me Where It Hurts","track_number":4,"disc_number":1,"duration":184132,"artists":["Caroline Polachek"],"artist_ids":["4Ge8xMJNwt6EEXOzVXju9a"],"album":"Pang","album_id":"4ClyeVlAKJJViIyfVW0yQD","album_artists":["Caroline Polachek"],"cover_url":"https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b2737d983e7bf67c2806218c2759","url":"https://open.spotify.com/track/2wcrQZ7ZJolYEfIaPP9yL4","added_at":"2022-12-19T22:41:05Z","list_index":0}}
```
Each time the playback status changes (i.e. after sending the `play`/`playpause`
command or simply by playing the queue), the current status will be published as
a JSON structure.
Possible use cases for this could be:
- Controlling a detached ncspot session (in `tmux` for example)
- Displaying the currently playing track in your favorite application/status bar (see below)
- Setting up routines, i.e. to play specific songs/playlists when ncspot starts
### Extracting info on currently playing song
Using `netcat` and the domain socket, you can query the currently playing track
and other relevant information. Note that not all `netcat` versions are suitable,
as they typically tend to keep the connection to the socket open. OpenBSD's
`netcat` offers a work-around: by using the `-W` flag, it will close after a
specific number of packets have been received.
```
% nc -W 1 -U $NCSPOT_CACHE_DIRECTORY/ncspot.sock
{"mode":{"Playing":{"secs_since_epoch":1675188934,"nanos_since_epoch":50913345}},"playable":{"type":"Track","id":"5Cp6a1h2VnuOtsh1Nqxfv6","uri":"spotify:track:5Cp6a1h2VnuOtsh1Nqxfv6","title":"New Track","track_number":1,"disc_number":1,"duration":498358,"artists":["Francis Bebey"],"artist_ids":["0mdmrbu5UZ32uRcRp2z6mr"],"album":"African Electronic Music (1975-1982)","album_id":"7w99Aae1tYSTSb1OiDnxYY","album_artists":["Francis Bebey"],"cover_url":"https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b2736ab57cedf27177fae1eaed87","url":"https://open.spotify.com/track/5Cp6a1h2VnuOtsh1Nqxfv6","added_at":"2020-12-22T09:57:17Z","list_index":0}}
```
This results in a single output in `JSON` format, which can e.g. be parsed using [jq](https://stedolan.github.io/jq/).
For example, you can get the currently playing artist and title in your
terminal as follows:
```
% nc -W 1 -U $NCSPOT_CACHE_DIRECTORY/ncspot.sock | jq '.playable.title'
"PUMPIN' JUMPIN'"
% nc -W 1 -U $NCSPOT_CACHE_DIRECTORY/ncspot.sock | jq '.playable.artists[0]'
"Hideki Naganuma"
```
## Configuration
Configuration is saved to the `config.toml` file in the platform's standard configuration directory.
Run `ncspot info` to show the location of this directory on your platform. To reload the
configuration during runtime use the `reload` command.
Possible configuration values are:
| Name | Description | Possible values | Default |
|---------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
| `command_key` | Key to open command line | Single character | `:` |
| `initial_screen` | Screen to show after startup | `"library"`, `"search"`, `"queue"`, `"cover"`[1] | `"library"` |
| `use_nerdfont` | Turn nerdfont glyphs on/off | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `flip_status_indicators` | Reverse play/pause icon meaning[2] | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `backend` | Audio backend to use | String[3] | |
| `backend_device` | Audio device to configure the backend | String | |
| `audio_cache` | Enable caching of audio files | `true`, `false` | `true` |
| `audio_cache_size` | Maximum size of audio cache in MiB | Number | |
| `volnorm` | Enable volume normalization | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `volnorm_pregain` | Normalization pregain to apply in dB (if enabled) | Number | `0.0` |
| `default_keybindings` | Enable default keybindings | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `notify`[4] | Enable desktop notifications | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `bitrate` | Audio bitrate to use for streaming | `96`, `160`, `320` | `320` |
| `gapless` | Enable gapless playback | `true`, `false` | `true` |
| `shuffle` | Set default shuffle state | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `repeat` | Set default repeat mode | `"off"`, `"track"`, `"playlist"` | `"off"` |
| `playback_state` | Set default playback state | `"Stopped"`, `"Paused"`, `"Playing"`, `"Default"` | `"Paused"` |
| `library_tabs` | Tabs to show in library screen | Array of `"tracks"`, `"albums"`, `"artists"`, `"playlists"`, `"podcasts"`, `"browse"` | All tabs |
| `cover_max_scale`[1] | Set maximum scaling ratio for cover art | Number | `1.0` |
| `hide_display_names` | Hides spotify usernames in the library header and on playlists | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `statusbar_format` | Formatting for tracks in the statusbar | See [track_formatting](#track-formatting) | `%artists - %track` |
| `[track_format]` | Set active fields shown in Library/Queue views | See [track formatting](#track-formatting) | |
| `[notification_format]` | Set the text displayed in notifications[4] | See [notification formatting](#notification-formatting) | |
| `[theme]` | Custom theme | See [custom theme](#theming) | |
| `[keybindings]` | Custom keybindings | See [custom keybindings](#custom-keybindings) | |
| `ap_port` | Set ap-port for librespot (for restrictive firewalls) | `80`, `443`, `4070` | |
1. If built with the `cover` feature.
2. By default the statusbar will show a play icon when a track is playing and
a pause icon when playback is stopped. If this setting is enabled, the behavior
is reversed.
3. Run `ncspot -h` for a list of devices.
4. If built with the `notify` feature.
### Custom Keybindings
Keybindings can be configured in `[keybindings]` section in `config.toml`.
Each key-value pair specifies one keybinding, where the key is a string in the
format of:
```
[MODIFIER+]
where:
MODIFIER: Shift|Alt|Ctrl
CHAR: Any printable character
NAMED_KEY: Enter|Space|Tab|Backspace|Esc|Left|Right|Up|Down
|Ins|Del|Home|End|PageUp|PageDown|PauseBreak|NumpadCenter
|F0|F1|F2|F3|F4|F5|F6|F7|F8|F9|F10|F11|F12
```
For implementation see [commands::CommandManager::parse_key](/src/commands.rs).
Its value is a string that can be parsed as a command. See
[Vim-Like Commands](#vim-like-commands).
Examples: (Click to show/hide)
```toml
[keybindings]
# Bind "Shift+i" to "Seek forward 10 seconds"
"Shift+i" = "seek +10s"
```
To disable a default keybinding, set its command to `noop`:
```toml
# Use "Shift+q" to quit instead of the default "q"
[keybindings]
"Shift+q" = "quit"
"q" = "noop"
```
### Proxy
`ncspot` will respect system proxy settings defined via the `http_proxy`
environment variable.
```sh
# In sh-like shells
http_proxy="http://foo.bar:4444" ncspot
```
### Theming
[Theme generator](https://ncspot-theme-generator.vaa.red/) by [@vaarad](https://github.com/vaared).
The color palette can be modified in the configuration. For instance, to have
`ncspot` match Spotify's official client, you can add the following entries to
the configuration file:
```toml
[theme]
background = "black"
primary = "light white"
secondary = "light black"
title = "green"
playing = "green"
playing_selected = "light green"
playing_bg = "black"
highlight = "light white"
highlight_bg = "#484848"
error = "light white"
error_bg = "red"
statusbar = "black"
statusbar_progress = "green"
statusbar_bg = "green"
cmdline = "light white"
cmdline_bg = "black"
search_match = "light red"
```
More examples can be found in [this pull request](https://github.com/hrkfdn/ncspot/pull/40).
### Track Formatting
It's possible to customize how tracks are shown in Queue/Library views and the
statusbar, whereas `statusbar_format` will hold the statusbar formatting and
`[track_format]` the formatting for tracks in list views.
If you don't define `center` for example, the default value will be used.
Available options for tracks: `%artists`, `%title`, `%album`, `%saved`,
`%duration`
Default configuration:
```toml
statusbar_format = "%artists - %title"
[track_format]
left = "%artists - %title"
center = "%album"
right = "%saved %duration"
```
Examples: (Click to show/hide)
Example 1 - Show only album name and track name after it:
```toml
[track_format]
left = "%album"
center = "%title"
right = ""
```
Example 2 - Show track title before artists, and don't show album at all:
```toml
[track_format]
left = "%title - %artists"
center = ""
```
Example 3 - Show everything as default, but hide saved status and track length:
```toml
[track_format]
right = ""
```
Example 4 - Show everything as default, except show title before artists:
```toml
[track_format]
left = "%title - %artists"
```
Example 5 - Show saved status and duration first, followed by track title and artists, with the album last:
```toml
[track_format]
left = "|%saved| %duration | %title - %artists"
center = ""
right = "%album"
```
### Notification Formatting
`ncspot` also supports customizing the way notifications are displayed
(which appear when compiled with the `notify` feature and `notify = true`).
The title and body of the notification can be set, with `title` and `body`, or the default will be used.
The formatting options are the same as those for [track formatting](#track-formatting) (`%artists`, `%title`, etc)
Default configuration:
```toml
[notification_format]
title = "%title"
body = "%artists"
```
### Cover Drawing
When compiled with the `cover` feature, `ncspot` can draw the album art of the
current track in a dedicated view (`:focus cover` or F8 by default)
using Überzug. The original project has been abandoned, therefore using a
compatible implementation such as [Überzug++](https://github.com/jstkdng/ueberzugpp)
is recommended. For more information on installation and terminal
compatibility, consult that repository.
To allow scaling up the album art beyond its native resolution (640x640 for
Spotify covers), use the config key `cover_max_scale`. This is especially useful
for HiDPI displays:
```toml
cover_max_scale = 2
```
## Authentication
`ncspot` prompts for a Spotify username and password on first launch, uses this
to generate an OAuth token, and stores it to disk.
The credentials are stored in `librespot/credentials.json` in the user's cache directory. Run
`ncspot info` to show the location of this directory.
The `logout` command can be used to remove cached credentials. See
[Vim-Like Commands](#vim-like-commands).
### Using a Password Manager
If you would like ncspot to retrieve your login data from command results,
i.e. because you use a password manager like `pass`, you can add the following
configuration:
```toml
[credentials]
username_cmd = "echo username"
password_cmd = "pass spotify.com/username"
```
Do note that this is only required for the initial login or when your credential
token has expired.
