mpvc 🎧

An mpc-like control interface for the mpv player with a nearly complete compatibility layer for mpc commands in addition to GNU style arguments. This forks lwillets/mpvc providing some extra goodies such as: improved CLI, TUI, FZF, WEB & playing media from YouTube & streaming services. Check the Wiki, LogBook & Casts for a detailed view of the extra features of this fork.

Overview

mpvc functionality is provided by:

• mpvc: provides the mpvc core CLI commands
• extras/mpvc-tui: provides a console TUI, using mpvc underneath
• extras/mpvc-fzf: provides FZF integration to mpvc.
• extras/mpvc-web: a hack to remotely control mpvc from web
• extras/mpvc-mpris: speaks MPRIS to control mpv player through key-bindings.
• extras/mpvc-equalizer: provides a basic mpv equalizer for the CLI.
• extras/mpvc-autostart: automatic mpv start/stop based on presence.
• extras/mpvc-installer: provides an installer to install/update mpvc.

For more details on how to use the above tools have a look at the logbok.html. In addition, the casts/ directory to shows some screencasts of mpvc in action.

QuickInstall ▶️

mpvc-installer fetch-user: installs mpvc under BINDIR=~/bin/

curl -fsSL -o mpvc-installer https://github.com/gmt4/mpvc/raw/master/extras/mpvc-installer && sh ./mpvc-installer fetch-user

QuickStart

 # fetch a local copy of the github repo
 git clone https://github.com/gmt4/mpvc/
 # use extras/mpvc-installer: just copy/link to your $HOME/bin
 (cd mpvc; extras/mpvc-installer link-user)

 # use mpvc-fzf to search and play youtube media
 mpvc-fzf -p 'kupla mirage'
 # use mpvc to add/load/save media files or online YT URLs
 mpvc add /path/to/your/*.mp3 # or your URLs
 find . -type f -name | mpvc load
 mpvc save my-playlist

 # use mpvc-fzf to manage the playlist
 mpvc-fzf -f
 # use mpvc-tui to start the tui + desktop notifications
 mpvc-tui -T

Screenshots

mpvc-tui -T: running the mpvc TUI

Dependencies

Required:

• mpv
• socat: is recommended due to the differing implementations of netcat across UNIXes.
• awk: a sane version of awk is recommended

Recommended extras:

• curl
• fzf
• notify-send

Debian (and derivatives such as Ubuntu):

apt install mpv gawk curl socat fzf rlwrap jq libnotify-bin
 

Arch (and derivatives):

pacman -Sy mpv gawk curl socat fzf rlwrap jq libnotify

BSD (and pkg(1) based derivatives):

pkg install -y mpv gawk curl socat fzf rlwrap jq libnotify

MacOS (and brew(1) based derivatives see FAQ):

brew install gawk socat fzf rlwrap jq gnu-sed yt-dlp # mpv curl libnotify

Check for missing dependencies using mpvc-installer check-reqs

Install

To install mpvc:

• curl based install: as in QuickInstall.
• git based install: as in QuickStart.

Distro packages:

• Arch Linux package: pacaur -y mpvc-git mpvc-git
• Gentoo Linux package: emerge mpvc mpvc
• Nix package: nix-env -i mpvc mpvc

Usage

mpvc requires the use of mpv and its --input-ipc-server option.

mpvc automatically opens an ipc-server for you when adding files to be played, but by default will close the ipc-server when all files have finished playing.

To keep the ipc-server open permanently, use:

$ mpv --input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket

You can also specify the default ipc server in your $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mpv.conf which will make the most recent mpv instance you start be controllable via mpvc:

input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket

However, this may not be suitable if you have background music added to the socket and then open a video using mpv. The new mpv instance will be controllable through the socket, but the previous instance is not. You can get around this by adding the video via mpvc, and manually switching to the video.

Useful Tricks

Some basic tricks are provided in QuickStart. For more tips on loading/saving/maniputaling the mpv playlist/state, managing av/vf filters, etc. are provided in the LogBook.

• Hotkey daemons like sxhkd can be used to bind mpvc commands to key combinations. Alternatively check your window manager documentation on how to bind keys to commands.
• Any URL that can be played using mpv can be added to the playlist, e.g. using mps-youtube with player set to mpvc and playerargs set to add.
• mpvc executes faster ~4x faster when using dash symlinked to /bin/sh instead of bash. Another faster alternative is mksh.
• mpvc should be fully POSIX compliant, meaning it should run on any UNIX-like variant. Please report an issue if you experience trouble.

Limitations

Like any piece of software, mpvc is not perfect:

• mpvc does not resolve individual files in a directory unless it is currently in or has been inside that directory, giving misleading results about the total number of files in the current playlist. This is a limitation of mpv.
• mpvc depends on shell tools. If your shell is misconfigured or you are using unusual variants of basic UNIX tools, mpvc is not guaranteed to work. However, all effort has been made to make mpvc as POSIX compliant as possible.

Check out the Issue Tracker for further improvements to be made.