# spotify-tui — Spotify Client for Your Terminal in Rust

> A fast terminal user interface for Spotify written in Rust, letting you browse, search, and control playback from the command line.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# spotify-tui — Spotify Client for Your Terminal in Rust

## Quick Use
```bash
# macOS
brew install spotify-tui
# or cargo
cargo install spotify-tui
spt
```

## Introduction
spotify-tui (spt) brings a full Spotify experience to the terminal. Built in Rust with the tui-rs library, it provides a keyboard-driven interface for browsing your library, searching tracks, and controlling playback without leaving the command line.

## What spotify-tui Does
- Browse saved albums, playlists, podcasts, and recently played tracks
- Search for artists, albums, tracks, and playlists within the terminal
- Control playback: play, pause, skip, seek, shuffle, and repeat
- Manage your library by saving or removing tracks and albums
- Display current playback with track progress and device info

## Architecture Overview
spotify-tui communicates with the Spotify Web API using OAuth 2.0 PKCE authorization. It renders the interface using tui-rs (now ratatui) with a crossterm backend. Audio playback is handled by an active Spotify client on any device; spt acts as a remote controller rather than a local audio player.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Requires a Spotify Premium account for playback control
- Create a Spotify Developer app at developer.spotify.com for API credentials
- Set client ID via the interactive first-run setup or config file
- Config lives at `~/.config/spotify-tui/client.yml`
- Customize keybindings and theme in the config file

## Key Features
- Vim-style keybindings for fast navigation
- Device switching to transfer playback between speakers and devices
- Lyrics display integration via the Genius API
- Album art rendering in terminals that support images (e.g. kitty, iTerm2)
- Low resource usage compared to the official Electron-based desktop app

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **ncspot** — Another Rust Spotify TUI; plays audio natively without needing another client
- **Spotify Desktop** — Full GUI app built on Electron; heavier on resources
- **cmus** — General-purpose terminal music player; no Spotify integration
- **playerctl** — CLI playback controller; no browsing or search UI

## FAQ
**Q: Does spotify-tui play audio directly?**
A: No. It controls playback on an active Spotify client. You need Spotify running on a device.

**Q: Do I need Spotify Premium?**
A: Yes. The Spotify Web API requires Premium for playback control features.

**Q: Can I use it with a tiling window manager?**
A: Yes. It is a terminal app, so it integrates naturally with i3, sway, and similar setups.

**Q: Is the project still maintained?**
A: Development has slowed, but the app remains functional with the current Spotify API.

## Sources
- https://github.com/Rigellute/spotify-tui
- https://docs.rs/spotify-tui

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-e26730bc
Author: AI Open Source