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# ncspot
[](https://crates.io/crates/ncspot)
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[](https://github.com/hrkfdn/ncspot/actions?query=workflow%3ABuild)
[](https://repology.org/project/ncspot/versions)
[](https://snapcraft.io/ncspot)
[](https://snapcraft.io/ncspot)
`ncspot` is a ncurses Spotify client written in Rust using `librespot`. It is
heavily inspired by ncurses MPD clients, such as ncmpc. My motivation was to
provide a simple and resource friendly alternative to the official client as
well as to support platforms that currently don't have a Spotify client, such
as the \*BSDs.
[](/images/screenshot.png?raw=true)
## Table of Contents
- [ncspot](#ncspot)
- [Table of Contents](#table-of-contents)
- [Resource Footprint Comparison](#resource-footprint-comparison)
- [Installation](#installation)
- [On macOS](#on-macos)
- [On Windows](#on-windows)
- [On Linux](#on-linux)
- [Building a Debian Package](#building-a-debian-package)
- [Build](#build)
- [Audio Backends](#audio-backends)
- [Key Bindings](#key-bindings)
- [Navigation](#navigation)
- [Playback](#playback)
- [Context Menus](#context-menus)
- [Sharing](#sharing)
- [Queue](#queue)
- [Library](#library)
- [Vim-Like Search Bar](#vim-like-search-bar)
- [Vim-Like Commands](#vim-like-commands)
- [Configuration](#configuration)
- [Custom Keybindings](#custom-keybindings)
- [Proxy](#proxy)
- [Theming](#theming)
- [Cover Drawing](#cover-drawing)
- [Authentication](#authentication)
## Resource Footprint Comparison
Measured using `ps_mem` on Linux during playback:
| ncspot | 22.1 MiB | 24.1 MiB | 46.2 MiB |
| Spotify | 407.3 MiB | 592.7 MiB | 1000.0 MiB |
## Installation
### 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
```
### On Linux
Requirements:
- Rust
- Python 3 (needed for building `rust-xcb` dependency)
- `libpulse-dev` (or `portaudio-dev`, if you want to use the PortAudio backend)
- `libncurses-dev` and `libssl-dev`
- `libdbus-1-dev`
- `libxcb` + development headers (for clipboard access)
- `pkg-config`
- A Spotify premium account
On Debian based systems you need following packages for development headers:
```bash
sudo apt install libncursesw5-dev libdbus-1-dev libpulse-dev libssl-dev libxcb1-dev libxcb-render0-dev libxcb-shape0-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev
```
For Fedora, these dependencies are required:
```bash
dnf install pulseaudio-libs-devel libxcb-devel openssl-devel ncurses-devel dbus-devel
```
#### Building a Debian Package
You can use `cargo-deb` create in order to build a Debian package from source.
Install it with:
```bash
cargo install cargo-deb
```
Then you can build a Debian package with:
```bash
cargo deb
```
You can find it under `target/debian`.
## Build
Install the latest `ncspot` release using:
```bash
cargo install ncspot
```
Or build it yourself using:
```bash
cargo build --release
# NB: add these flags on Windows
cargo build --release --no-default-features --features rodio_backend,cursive/pancurses-backend
```
- Both approaches require a working [Rust installation](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install).
- For debugging, you can pass a debug log filename and log stderr to a file,
e.g. :
```bash
RUST_BACKTRACE=full cargo run -- -d debug.log 2> stderr.log
```
### Audio Backends
By default `ncspot` is built using the PulseAudio backend. To make it use the
PortAudio backend (e.g. for \*BSD or macOS) or Rodio backend (e.g. for
Windows), you need to recompile `ncspot` with the respective features:
```bash
# PortAudio (BSD/macOS)
cargo run --no-default-features --features portaudio_backend,cursive/pancurses-backend
# Rodio (Windows)
cargo run --no-default-features --features rodio_backend,cursive/pancurses-backend
```
## Key Bindings
The keybindings listed below are configured by default. Additionally, if you
run `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
| <kbd>?</kbd> | Show help screen. |
| <kbd>F1</kbd> | Queue (See [specific commands](#queue)). |
| <kbd>F2</kbd> | Search. |
| <kbd>F3</kbd> | Library (See [specific commands](#library)). |
| <kbd>F8</kbd> | Album Art (if compiled with the `cover` feature). |
| <kbd>/</kbd> | Open a Vim-like search bar (See [specific commands](#vim-like-search-bar)). |
| <kbd>:</kbd> | Open a Vim-like command prompt (See [specific commands](#vim-like-commands)). |
| <kbd>Escape</kbd> | Close Vim-like search bar or command prompt. |
| <kbd>Q</kbd> | Quit `ncspot`. |
### Playback
| <kbd>Return</kbd> | Play track or playlist. |
| <kbd>Space</kbd> | Queue track or playlist. |
| <kbd>.</kbd> | Play the selected item after the currently playing track. |
| <kbd>P</kbd> | Move to the currently playing track in the queue. |
| <kbd>S</kbd> | Save the currently playing track to your library. |
| <kbd>D</kbd> | Remove the currently playing track from your library. |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>P</kbd> | Toggle playback (i.e. Play/Pause). |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>S</kbd> | Stop playback. |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>U</kbd> | Update the library cache (tracks, artists, albums, playlists). |
| <kbd><</kbd> | Play the previous track. |
| <kbd>></kbd> | Play the next track. |
| <kbd>F</kbd> | Seek forward. |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>F</kbd> | Seek forward with a 10-second step. |
| <kbd>B</kbd> | Seek backwards. |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>B</kbd> | Seek backwards with a 10-second step. |
| <kbd>-</kbd> | Decrease volume by 1. |
| <kbd>+</kbd> | Increase volume by 1. |
| <kbd>[</kbd> | Decrease volume by 5. |
| <kbd>]</kbd> | Increase volume by 5. |
| <kbd>R</kbd> | Toggle _Repeat_ mode. |
| <kbd>Z</kbd> | Toggle _Shuffle_ state. |
### Context Menus
| <kbd>O</kbd> | Open a detail view or context for the **selected item**. |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>O</kbd> | Open a context menu for the **currently playing track**. |
| <kbd>A</kbd> | Open the **album view** for the selected item. |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>A</kbd> | Open the **artist view** for the selected item. |
| <kbd>M</kbd> | Open the **recommendations view** for the **selected item**. |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>M</kbd> | Open the **recommendations view** for the **currently playing track**. |
| <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>V</kbd> | Open the context menu for a Spotify link in your clipboard. |
| <kbd>Backspace</kbd> | Close the current view. |
When pressing <kbd>O</kbd>:
- 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:
- "Show Artist"
- "Show Album"
- "Share"
- "Add to playlist"
- "Similar tracks"
### Sharing
| <kbd>X</kbd> | Copy a shareable URL of the **currently selected item** to the system clipboard. |
| <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>X</kbd> | Copy a shareable URL of the **currently playing track** to the system clipboard. |
### Queue
| <kbd>C</kbd> | Clear the entire queue. |
| <kbd>D</kbd> | Delete the currently selected track. |
| <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>S</kbd> | Delete the currently selected track. |
### Library
| <kbd>D</kbd> | Delete the currently selected playlist. |
### Vim-Like Search Bar
| <kbd>n</kbd> | Previous search occurrence. |
| <kbd>N</kbd> | Next search occurrence. |
## Vim-Like Commands
You can open a Vim-style command prompt using <kbd>:</kbd>, and close it at any
time with <kbd>Escape</kbd>.
The following is an abridged list of commonly-used commands. For the full list, see [source code](/src/command.rs).
| `help` | Show current key bindings. |
| `quit`<br/>Aliases: `q`, `x` | Quit `ncspot`. |
| `logout` | Remove any cached credentials from disk and quit `ncspot`. |
| `playpause`<br/>Aliases: `pause`, `toggleplay`, `toggleplayback` | Toggle playback. |
| `stop` | Stop playback. |
| `seek [+\|-]<time>` | Seek to the specified position, or seek relative to current position by prepending `+`/`-`. Supports mixing time units (e.g. `seek 1m42s`). Default unit is `millisecond`. |
| `repeat [repeat_mode]`<br/>Aliases: `loop` | Set repeat mode. Omit `repeat_mode` argument to step through the available modes. |
| `shuffle [on\|off]` | Enable or disable shuffle. Omit argument to toggle. |
| `previous` | Play previous track. |
| `next` | Play next track. |
| `focus <queue\|search\|library>` | Switch to a screen. |
| `search <keyword>` | Search a song. |
| `clear` | Clear playlist. |
| `share <item>` | Copies a shareable URL of the item to the system clipboard. |
| `newplaylist <name>` | Create new playlist with name `name`. |
| `sort <sort_key> [sort_direction]` | Sort a playlist by `sort_key` in direction `sort_direction`. Default direction is ascending. |
| `exec <cmd>` | Executes a command in the system shell. Be aware that command output is printed to the terminal, so redirection to `/dev/null` e.g. by appending `2> /dev/null` may be necessary. |
- Supported `repeat_mode` are:
- `list` | `playlist` | `queue`
- `track` | `once` | `single`
- `none` | `off`
- Supported `item` are:
- `selected`: Selected item.
- `current`: Current song.
- Supported `sort_key` are:
- `title`
- `album`
- `artist`
- `duration`
- `added`
- Supported `sort_direction` are:
- `a` | `asc` | `ascending`
- `d` | `desc` | `descending`
## Configuration
Configuration is saved to `~/.config/ncspot/config.toml` (or
`%AppData%\ncspot\config.toml` on Windows). To reload the configuration during
runtime use the command prompt by typing `:reload`.
Possible configuration values are:
| `command_key` | Key to open command line | Single character | `:` |
| `initial_screen` | Screen to show after startup | `"library"`, `"search"`, `"queue"`, `"cover"` | `"library"` |
| `use_nerdfont` | Turn nerdfont glyphs on/off | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `flip_status_indicators` | Reverse play/pause icon meaning | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `backend` | Audio backend to use | String | |
| `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 (if enabled) | Number | 0 |
| `default_keybindings` | Enable default keybindings | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `notify` | Enable desktop notifications | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `bitrate` | Audio bitrate to use for streaming | `96`, `160`, `320` | `320` |
| `album_column` | Show album column for tracks | `true`, `false` | `true` |
| `gapless` | Enable gapless playback | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `shuffle` | Set default shuffle state | `true`, `false` | `false` |
| `repeat` | Set default repeat mode | `off`, `track`, `playlist` | `off` |
| `[theme]` | Custom theme | See [custom theme](#theming) | |
| `[keybindings]` | Custom keybindings | See [custom keybindings](#custom-keybindings) | |
### Custom Keybindings
Keybindings can be configured in `[keybindings]` section in `config.toml`,
e.g. as such:
```toml
[keybindings]
"Shift+i" = "seek +10000"
```
### Proxy
`ncspot` will respect system proxy settings defined via the `http_proxy`
environment variable.
### 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).
## 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 <kbd>F8</kbd> by default)
using [Überzug](https://github.com/seebye/ueberzug). For more information on
installation and terminal compatibility, consult that repository.
To allow scaling the album art up beyond its 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 `~/.cache/ncspot/librespot/credentials.json`
(unless the base path has been changed with the `--basepath` option).
The `:logout` command can be used to programmatically remove cached credentials
(see [Vim-Like Commands](#vim-like-commands) above).