cmus/cmus
Cmus
cmus is a terminal-based audio player that runs entirely within a terminal window, using the ncurses library to render its interface without any graphical toolkit. It is designed to play local music files and internet radio streams, with support for CUE sheet metadata that splits single audio files into logical tracks with correct timing, and gapless playback that eliminates audible pauses between consecutive tracks.
The player distinguishes itself through a Vi-inspired incremental search interface that locates tracks and commands in real time as you type, and a tab-based workspace model that organizes the interface into independent views for the library, playlist, and file browser. It also provides a Unix socket IPC interface for remote control from external programs, and can execute external commands with selected tracks as arguments. Volume normalization is handled through ReplayGain metadata, adjusting playback levels per track or album for consistent listening.
Additional capabilities include a play queue for arranging upcoming tracks, playback state persistence that remembers and restores the last position on restart, and scrobbling support for reporting played tracks to Last.fm or Libre.fm. The interface supports keyboard shortcut customization, tab-completion command execution, and dynamic playlist filtering that refines the visible track list in real time.
Features
- Terminal Players - Runs entirely in a terminal window to play local music files without a graphical interface.
- Terminal Music Controllers - Controls music playback entirely from the terminal using keyboard shortcuts and commands.
- Incremental Search - Provides real-time incremental search for tracks and commands as the user types.
- Gapless Playbacks - Plays consecutive audio files with no audible silence or pause between tracks.
- Cue Sheet Playbacks - Parses CUE sheet files to split album images into logical tracks with correct timing.
- Gapless Playbacks - Plays consecutive audio files with no audible silence or pause between tracks.
- Terminal-Based Interfaces - Renders the entire music player interface using ncurses in a terminal window.
- Vi-Style Searchers - Locates tracks and commands using incremental search patterns inspired by the Vi editor.
- Directory Browsing - Navigates the filesystem tree to locate and add audio files to the library.
- Flat-File Library Indexes - Maintains a flat-file library index parsed into memory for fast filtering and searching.
- Command Line Completions - Suggests command completions as the user types in a command-line mode.
- Keyboard Shortcut Mappers - Assigns any keyboard shortcut to any command, including parameterized actions like seeking.
- ReplayGain Normalizations - Adjusts playback volume per track or album based on stored ReplayGain loudness metadata.
- ReplayGain Normalizations - Applies ReplayGain metadata to adjust playback volume per track or album for consistent listening.
- Play Queue Orderings - Arranges upcoming tracks in a user-defined sequence that plays after the current selection.
- Streaming Clients - Streams audio from internet radio servers as if they were local files.
- Internet Radio Streams - Plays live audio streams from internet radio stations as if they were local files.
- Input Event Loops - Processes user input and internal events through a central dispatch loop.
- Plugin-Based Architectures - Loads input and output plugins as shared libraries at runtime for format and backend extensibility.
- Real-time Prefix Filtering - Refines the visible track list in real time by typing filter criteria without reloading.
- Tabbed Interfaces - Organises the interface into independent tab views for library, playlist, and file browser.
- Data Processing - Cross-platform command-line audio player.
- Terminal Libraries - Lightweight console-based music player.
- Music Players - Lightweight and fast console-based music player.
Star history
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