canberra-gtk-play

Play desktop sound events

TLDR

Play a sound event by identifier

$ canberra-gtk-play --id [desktop-login]

Play a specific audio file

$ canberra-gtk-play --file [path/to/sound.ogg]

Play a sound event with a description

$ canberra-gtk-play --id [bell] --description "[Alert sound]"

Play a sound multiple times

$ canberra-gtk-play --file [path/to/sound.ogg] --loop [3]

Play with permanent caching for frequently used sounds

$ canberra-gtk-play --id [message] --cache-control permanent

SYNOPSIS

canberra-gtk-play [-i id] [-f file] [-d description] [-l loops] [-c cache] [options...]

canberra-gtk-play plays sound events conforming to the XDG Sound Theme and Name Specification. It interfaces with the system sound server (PulseAudio or PipeWire) through libcanberra to play contextual sounds for desktop events.
The utility can play predefined event sounds by identifier (e.g., "window-close", "dialog-information", "bell") or specific audio files. It passes metadata to the sound server for context-aware volume control and routing.

PARAMETERS

-i, --id=identifier

Play the sound event with the specified XDG identifier

-f, --file=file

Play the specified audio file

-d, --description=description

Provide a description for the sound event

-l, --loop=times

Number of times to play (default: 1)

-c, --cache-control=mode

Cache mode: "permanent" for frequent sounds, "volatile" for temporary caching

--media-role=role

Set media role: event, feedback, notification, alarm

--display=display

Specify X display to use

CAVEATS

Requires a running sound server (PulseAudio or PipeWire) with libcanberra support. Sound theme event identifiers depend on installed sound themes and may vary between systems.

HISTORY

The libcanberra project, which includes canberra-gtk-play, was initiated around 2007-2008 to implement the FreeDesktop.org Sound Theme Specification on Linux desktops. It provides an abstract interface for playing event sounds across different sound servers.