audio + bridge = aubri

Encrypted peer-to-peer audio streamer. aubri establishes a secure audio pipeline using ChaCha20Poly1305 AEAD over UDP or TCP.

By default, the package compiles as a headless command-line interface to minimize the attack surface on server deployments. A graphical diagnostic suite is available via cargo feature flags.

Motivation

Heavy headsets cause physical fatigue during long sessions. I switched to lightweight earbuds, but my desktop lacks bluetooth. aubri bridges this gap by streaming audio from my workstation to a secondary device that handles the connection. No dongles, no complex drivers just a simple, direct bridge.

+---------------------+       +---------------------+       +-----------+
|      desktop        |       |      laptop         |       |  earbuds  |
|    (workstation)    |       |     (bridge)        |       |           |
|                     |       |                     |       |           |
| [ audio source ] ---|------>| [ aubri client ] ---|------>| (pods/BT) |
+---------------------+       +---------------------+       +-----------+
           |                             |
           +---- Encrypted Stream -------+

Build instructions

Compile the headless CLI:

cargo build --release

Compile with the graphical diagnostic suite:

cargo build --release --features gui

Global options

These options can be appended before any subcommand.

--json: Mute standard human-readable logs and output raw JSON telemetry to stdout every 500ms. Designed for pipeline integrations.

Commands and usage

List devices

Enumerate all available audio capture and playback interfaces recognized by the system.

aubri list-devices

Server mode (capture)

Binds to a network interface, awaits a secure handshake, and streams captured hardware audio.

Arguments:

• -b, --bind <BIND>: Network interface and port to bind (default: 0.0.0.0:8080).
• -s, --secret <SECRET>: Cryptographic session secret. If omitted, prompts securely. Can also be set via AUBRI_SECRET environment variable.
• -P, --protocol <PROTOCOL>: Transport protocol udp or tcp (default: udp).
• -d, --device <DEVICE>: Partial or exact name of the capture hardware. On Linux, this defaults to pulse to capture the automatically provisioned virtual sink.
• -r, --sample-rate <SAMPLE_RATE>: Override hardware sample rate (e.g., 48000).

Examples:

# standard execution using environment variable for security
AUBRI_SECRET="your_secure_password" aubri server --bind 0.0.0.0:8080

# force tcp protocol and target a specific input device
aubri server --bind 127.0.0.1:9000 --protocol tcp --device "USB Audio"

# output json telemetry for external monitoring
aubri --json server --bind 0.0.0.0:8080

Client mode (playback)

Connects to a remote server, negotiates the cryptographic session, and plays the received audio stream through a jitter buffer.

Arguments:

• -a, --address <ADDRESS>: Target server IP and port (required).
• -s, --secret <SECRET>: Cryptographic session secret.
• -P, --protocol <PROTOCOL>: Transport protocol udp or tcp (default: udp).
• -d, --device <DEVICE>: Partial or exact name of the playback hardware.
• -r, --sample-rate <SAMPLE_RATE>: Override hardware sample rate.
• -l, --latency <LATENCY>: Jitter buffer capacity in milliseconds (default: 350).
• -p, --prebuffer <PREBUFFER>: Milliseconds of audio to accumulate before starting playback to prevent stuttering (default: 120).
• -k, --keep-alive: Enable watchdog resilience. Automatically attempts reconnection if the socket drops or the server stops responding.

Examples:

# standard execution
AUBRI_SECRET="your_secure_password" aubri client --address 192.168.1.50:8080

# optimize for low latency networks (reduce buffer sizes)
AUBRI_SECRET="your_secure_password" aubri client --address 10.0.0.5:8080 --latency 150 --prebuffer 50

# highly resilient tcp connection
AUBRI_SECRET="your_secure_password" aubri client --address 10.0.0.5:8080 --protocol tcp --keep-alive

Graphical interface

If compiled with --features gui, launches the visual diagnostic suite.

aubri gui

Tests

Validated stream stability and audio across the following cross-distribution scenarios

Automatic configuration

aubri handles the Linux audio stack

Server: creates and selects the aubri virtual sink.

Client: detects and connects to your pipewire for client or pulseaudio backend no manual device configuration required.