XMMS2(1)

NAME
xmms2 - The official XMMS2 command line interface

SYNOPSIS
xmms2 [command] [arguments]
xmms2 help [command]

DESCRIPTION
XMMS2 is a redesign of the XMMS (http://legacy.xmms2.org) music player. It features a client-server model, allowing multiple (even simultaneous!) user interfaces, both textual and graphical. All common audio formats are supported using plugins. On top of this, there is a flexible media library to organise your music.

xmms2 is the official CLI XMMS2 client.

INVOCATION

  Inline mode
If xmms2 is passed a command as an argument, that command will be interpreted and xmms2 will exit after it is finished.

  Interactive mode
xmms2 features a powerful shell-like environment via readline that allows the user to enter commands at a prompt and have the usual cool features such as pathname expansion and line editing.

COMMANDS

All commands accept the option -h/--help which displays the command's help.

pattern refers to a collection definition. (See PATTERN below.)

position is a pattern to match playlist positions. When absent in a command, the default is the end of the playlist. (See POSITION PATTERN below.)

  General Commands
add [ -f [-N] [-P] [-A key=value]... ] [-p playlist] [-n | -a position] [-o prop[,...]] [-j] arguments...
add [-p playlist] [-n | -a position] [-o prop[,...]] [-j] pattern...

    Add media to a playlist. It will attempt to guess whether arguments constitute a pattern or represent file paths. This behaviour can be overridden by forcing the type with -f and -t. If file paths contain * or ? characters, it will attempt to expand them. Failing to find a match the * and ? characters will be attempted to be added as a part of the URL.

    -f, --file
    Force treating arguments as file paths.

    -P, --pls
    Force treating arguments as playlist files. This option implies -f.

    -t, --pattern
    Force treating arguments as a pattern.

    -N, --non-recursive
    Do not add directories recursively.

    -p, --playlist playlist
    Add media to playlist instead of the active playlist.

    -n, --next
    Add media after the current track.

    -a, --at position
    Add media at the given position.

    -A, --attribute key=value
    Add media with given key=value attribute. May occur multiple times. Only valid when adding new files to the media library.

    -o, --order prop[,...]
    Add media sorted by the given comma-separated list of properties. If a property is prefixed by -, media are sorted in reverse order on that property.

    -j, --jump
    Jump to and start playing the newly-added media.

exit

    Exit the shell-like interface.

help [-a] command

    Show the help on command. This is equivalent to command -h. If command is an alias, show the alias definition. If no command is provided, list all available commands.

    -a, --alias
    List available aliases if command is not provided. Otherwise, have no effect.

info [pattern | positions...]

    Display the properties of all media matching pattern or at the given positions. Without argument, display the properties of the current track.

jump [-b] pattern|position

    Jump to the first media matching pattern or to the given position.

    -b, --backward
    Jump backward to the first media matching the pattern

list [-p name] [pattern | positions...]

    List the contents of a playlist (the active one by default). If pattern is provided, contents are further filtered and only the matching media are displayed.

    -p, --playlist
    List playlist, instead of the active playlist.

move [-p playlist] [-n | -a position] pattern | positions...

    Move entries inside a playlist (the active one by default).

    -p, --playlist playlist
    The playlist to act on.

    -n, --next
    Move the matching tracks after the current track.

    -a, --at position
    Move the matching tracks by an offset or to a position.

next [offset]

    Jump to the next song. If offset is provided, act like jump +offset.

pause

    Pause playback.

play

    Start playback.

prev [offset]

    Jump to the previous song. If offset is provided, act like jump -offset.

remove [-p playlist] pattern | positions...

    Remove the matching media from a playlist (the active one by default).

    -p, --playlist playlist
    Remove from playlist, instead of the active playlist.

current [-r seconds] [-f format]

    Display playback status, either continuously or once.

    -r, --refresh seconds
    Set the delay, in seconds, between each refresh of the current playback metadata. If 0, the metadata is only printed once (default) and the command exit immediately. When in refresh mode, basic control is provided on the active playlist.

    -f, --format format
    Set the format string used to display status information, instead of the one from the configuration file (see FORMAT STRING below).

search [-o prop1[,prop2...]] [-l prop1[,prop2...] ] pattern

    Search and print all media matching pattern.

    -o, --order prop1[,prop2...]
    Display search results sorted by the given list of properties. If a property is prefixed by '-', results are sorted in reverse order on that property.

    -l, --columns prop1[,prop2...]
    List of properties to use as columns.

seek time | offset

    Seek to a relative or an absolute time in the current track.

stop

    Stop playback.

toggle

    Toggle playback.

  Playlist Commands

playlist clear [playlist]

    Clear a playlist. By default, clear the active playlist.

playlist config [-t type] [-s history] [-u upcoming] [-i coll] [-j playlist] [playlist]

    Configure a playlist by changing its type, attributes, etc. By default, configure the active playlist.

    -t, --type type
    Change the type of the playlist: list, queue, pshuffle.

    -s, --history size
    The size of the history of played tracks (for queue, pshuffle).

    -u, --upcoming upcoming
    Number of upcoming tracks to maintain (for pshuffle).

    -i, --input collection
    Input collection for the playlist (for pshuffle). Default to 'All Media'.

    -j, --jumplist playlist
    Jump to another playlist when the end of the playlist is reached.

playlist create [-s] [-p playlist] name

    Create a new playlist.

    -s, --switch
    Switch to the newly created playlist.

    -p, --playlist playlist
    Copy the content of the playlist into the new playlist.

playlist list [-a]

    List all playlists.

    -a, --all
    Include hidden playlists.

playlist remove playlist

    Remove the given playlist.

playlist rename [-f] [-p playlist] newname

    Rename a playlist. By default, rename the active playlist.

    -f, --force
    Force the rename of the playlist, overwrite an existing playlist if needed.

    -p, --playlist
    Rename the given playlist.

playlist shuffle [playlist]

    Shuffle a playlist. By default, shuffle the active playlist.

playlist sort [-p playlist] [prop] ...

    Sort a playlist. By default, sort the active playlist. Prefix properties by '-' for reverse sorting. If no properties are specified, the playlist is sorted by artist, album, and track number.

    -p, --playlist
    Rename the given playlist.

playlist switch playlist

    Change the active playlist.

  Collection Commands

collection config collection [attrname [attrvalue]]

    Get or set attributes for the given collection. If no attribute name is provided, list all attributes. If only an attribute name is provided, display the value of the attribute. If both attribute name and value are provided, set the new value of the attribute.

collection create [-f] [-e] [-c collection] name [pattern]

    Create a new collection. If pattern is provided, it is used to define the collection. Otherwise, the new collection contains the whole media library.

    -f, --force
    Force creating of the collection, overwrite an existing collection if needed.

    -c, --collection collection
    Copy an existing collection to the new one.

    -e, --empty
    Initialize an empty collection.

collection list

    List all collections.

collection show collection

    Display a human-readable description of a collection.

collection remove collection

    Remove a collection.

collection rename [-f] oldname newname

    Rename a collection.

    -f, --force
    Force renaming of the collection, overwrite an existing collection if needed.

  Server Commands

server browse URL

    Browse a URL via the xform plugins available in the daemon.

server config [name [value]]

    Get or set configuration values. If no name or value is provided, list all configuration values. If only a name is provided, display the content of the corresponding configuration value. If both name and a value are provided, set the new content of the configuration value. The name of the configuration value is subject to shell wildcard expansion so that multiple values can be queried (but not set) at once.

server import [-N] path

    Import new files into the media library. By default, directories are imported recursively.

    -N, --non-recursive
    Do not import directories recursively.

server plugins

    List the plugins loaded in the server.

server property [-i | -s | -D] [-S] mid [name [value]]

    Get or set properties for a given media. If no name or value is provided, list all properties. If only a name is provided, display the value of the property. If both a name and a value are provided, set the new value of the property. By default, set operations use source "client/xmms2-cli", while list and display operations use source-preference. Use the --source option to override this behaviour. By default, the value will be used to determine whether it should be saved as a string or an integer. Use the --int or --string flag to override this behaviour.

    -i, --int
    Force the value to be treated as integer.

    -s, --string
    Force the value to be treated as a string.

    -D, --delete
    Delete the selected property.

    -S, --source
    Property source.

server rehash [pattern]

    Rehash the media matched by the pattern, or the whole media library if no pattern is provided

server remove [pattern]

    Remove the matching media from the media library.

server shutdown

    Shutdown the server.

server stats

    Display statistics about the server: uptime, version, size of the medialib, etc.

server sync

    Immediately save collections to disk. (Otherwise only performed on shutdown or 10 seconds after last change to collections.)

server volume [-c name] [value]

    Get or set the audio volume (in a range of 0-100). If a value is provided, set the volume to value. Otherwise, display the current volume. By default, the command applies to all audio channels. Use the --channel flag to override this behaviour. Relative changes to the volume are possible by prefixing value by + or -.

    -c, --channel
    Get or set the volume only for the named channel.

PATTERN
Patterns are used to search for songs in the media library, some of these patterns may require escaping (with '\') depending on what shell is used. The properties can be found in the output of xmms2 info.

<property>:<string>

    Match songs whose property matches the string. A ? in the string indicates a single wildcard character, and a * indicates multiple wildcard characters.

<property>~<string>

    Match songs whose property fuzzily matches the string. Equal to matching by <property>:*<string>*.

<property><operation><number>

    The operation can be <, <=, > or >=, the pattern will match songs whose property is a numerical value smaller, smaller or equal, bigger, bigger or equal in comparison to the number.

+<property>

    Match songs which has the property.

in:<namespace>/<collection>

    Match songs in the given collection. The namespace may be Playlists, or Collections.

NOT <pattern>

    Match the complement of the pattern.
<pattern> <pattern>
<pattern> AND <pattern>

    Match songs that are matched by both patterns.

<pattern> OR <pattern>

    Match songs that are matched by at least one of the two pattern.

( <pattern> )

    Match songs matched by the pattern, used for grouping AND and OR matches.

<string>

    Match songs whose artist, title or album match the string.

~<string>

    Match songs whose artist, title or album fuzzily matches the string.

#<number>

    Match a specific media library id.

POSITION PATTERN
Position patterns are used together with commands that operate on playlist content.

M_N

    Select playlist entries ranging from M positions before the current song, to N positions after. Both M and N may be omitted and will then default to 0.

-N

    Select the song N positions before the current song.

+N

    Select the song N positions after the current song.

pos0,pos1,...,posN

    Select one to many playlist positions.

FORMAT STRING

Commands that output formatted metadata can be customized with the help of user-defined format strings like the following:

'${artist} - ${title}'
When passed metadata the name of the artist and the title will be inserted into the resulting string. In addition to the metadata supplied from the media library the following list of properties are also available:

position

    The current playlist position.

playback_status

    The playback status as a string (Stopped, Playing, Paused, Unknown).

playtime

    The playtime of the currently playing song.

duration

    The duration of the current song, as zero-padded minutes:seconds

minutes

    The minutes part, zero-padded, of the current song duration.

seconds

    The seconds part, zero-padded, of the current song duration.

ALIASES

A list of command aliases are read from the configuration file in the section [alias] at runtime. The syntax of xmms2 aliases are somewhat similar to bash and other shells. An alias is defined by a list of semi-colon separated commands and arguments. Parameter expansion is supported (see Expansion below).

The default configuration includes the following aliases:

addpls

    add -f -P $@

clear

    playlist clear

status

    current -f $1

ls

    list

mute

    server volume 0

quit

    server shutdown

repeat

    seek 0

scap

    stop ; playlist clear ; add $@ ; play

  Expansion
Positional Parameters
    An alias can use positional parameters, for example:

    foo = add -f $1 $3

    foo ctkoz.ogg and slre.ogg

    Will result in:

    add -f ctkoz.ogg slre.ogg

Special Parameters
    $@
        This expands to all parameters passed to the alias.

CONFIGURATION

All control characters are interpreted as expected, including ANSI escape sequences.

AUTO_UNIQUE_COMPLETE
    Boolean, complete an abbreviation of a command and it's arguments. For example: `serv vol 42' will complete to `server volume 42'. (Note: Abbreviations must be non-ambiguous)

CLASSIC_LIST
    Boolean, format list output similar to the classic cli.

CLASSIC_LIST_FORMAT
    String to format classic list output with.

GUESS_PLS
    Boolean, try to guess if the URL is a playlist and add accordingly. (Not reliable)

HISTORY_FILE
    File to save command history to.

PLAYLIST_MARKER
    String to use to mark the current active entry in the playlist

PROMPT
    String to use as a prompt in INTERACTIVE MODE

SERVER_AUTOSTART
    Boolean, if true xmms2 will attempt to start xmms2d(1) if it's not running already.

SHELL_START_MESSAGE
    Boolean, if true, xmms2 will display a greeting message and basic help when started in INTERACTIVE MODE

STATUS_FORMAT
    String to format status output with.

FILES

$XDG_CACHE_HOME/xmms2/nyxmms2_history
    Default command history file if HISTORY_FILE is unset.

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/xmms2/clients/nycli.conf
    The configuration file for xmms2

ENVIRONMENT

XMMS_PATH
    Override the default connection path.

    To connect via IPv4
        tcp://IPv4-Address:port

    To connect via IPv6
        tcp://[IPv6-Address]:port

    To connect via unix socket
        unix:///path/to/socket

BUGS
Please report all bugs at http://bugs.xmms2.org

AUTHORS
Igor Assis, Anders Waldenborg, Anthony Garcia, Sebastien Cevey, and Jonne Lehtinen, Daniel Svensson, Raphaël Bois

See the AUTHORS file in the XMMS2 source distribution for more info.

The blame for this man page is on Anthony.

If you contributed and feel you should be listed here please send me a mail.