playerctl
Control MPRIS media players from command line
TLDR
Toggle play/pause
$ playerctl play-pause
Skip to next track$ playerctl next
Go to previous track$ playerctl previous
List all players$ playerctl -l
Control specific player$ playerctl -p [player_name] [command]
Control all players$ playerctl -a [command]
Display metadata$ playerctl metadata -f "Now playing: {{artist}} - {{title}}"
SYNOPSIS
playerctl [-p player] [-a] [-l] command
DESCRIPTION
playerctl controls media players that implement the MPRIS D-Bus specification. It provides a unified command-line interface for controlling Spotify, VLC, Firefox, and many other media applications.The tool is commonly used for keyboard shortcuts and scripts to control media playback without focusing the player window.
PARAMETERS
-p, --player _player_
Target specific player-a, --all-players
Control all players-l, --list-all
List available players-f, --format _format_
Output format template
COMMANDS
play-pause
Toggle playbackplay
Start playbackpause
Pause playbackstop
Stop playbacknext
Next trackprevious
Previous trackposition
Get or set positionvolume
Get or set volumestatus
Get playback statusmetadata
Get track metadata
INSTALL
sudo apt install playerctl
sudo dnf install playerctl
sudo pacman -S playerctl
sudo apk add playerctl
sudo zypper install playerctl
nix profile install nixpkgs#playerctl
CAVEATS
Requires MPRIS-compatible player. Some players have limited MPRIS support. Player must be running to be controlled. Metadata availability varies by player.
HISTORY
playerctl was created by Tony Crisci to provide a simple, reliable way to control media players from scripts and keybindings. It's widely adopted in tiling window manager setups.
