Mopidy Monitor

A simple go program that monitors volume change events in mopidy/MPD for use in polybar. Can also be used to skip forward/back in podcasts and songs

Motivation

Polybar's built-in MPD module handles the bulk of needs for mopidy/mpd-related controls, however, it lacks a few features like static time skipping (polybar's implementation is percentage based) and volume level control. Because mopidy tends to skew a bit louder than the rest of the programs on my computer, I like to manage its volume independently. Additionally, as I use mopidy for podcasts as well as music, being able to skip forward in set n-second intervals allows for a much more pleasant listening experience. This project aims to solve those specific gaps, not replace the existing mpd module. Additionally, I do not love my logs being cluttered with mpc connect/disconnect messages, so using a consistently connected server cleans up logs as an added bonus.

Installation Options

Note: the pre-compiled binaries and install scripts target amd64/linux

- Install script

copy one of the following and run it in your terminal

non-interactive (installs to ~/.local/bin)

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lcyvin/mopidy-monitor-go/main/install.sh | /bin/sh

interactive

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lcyvin/mopidy-monitor-go/main/install.sh > /tmp/install.sh && /bin/sh -i /tmp/install.sh && rm /tmp/install.sh

- Download the binary

Grab a binaries from a specific release and copy them to your executables folder (eg ~/.local/bin)

- Build from source

1. Clone this repository
2. cd into the cloned repo and run make install as your user, not root
3. Ensure ~/.local/bin is on your $PATH
4. That's it, you're done, test things out and update your polybar config to your liking.

Usage

- Server

run mopidy-monitor-go. It will output volume changes to STDOUT by default, if you do not need this function, add &> /dev/null to the command invocation

- Client

There are two commands provided by the client, see below for details

volume

Usage: mopidy-control-go volume

If called without flags, increases volume by 2%

• -s | --step value to increase or decrease volume by. When passed on its own, accepts negative values, when used with inc/dec flags, should be an absolute value
• -i | --increment boolean flag, tells the controller to increment the volume by step or default of 2
• -d | --decrement boolean flag, tells the controller to decrement the volume by step or default of 2

seek

Usage: mopidy-control-go seek

If called without flags, seeks 10 seconds ahead

• -i | --interval value to seek by in seconds. When passed on its own, accepts negative values, when used with forward/backward flags, should be an absolute value
• -b | --backward boolean flag, tells the controller to seek backward by increment amount or default of 10 seconds
• -f | --forward boolean flag, tells the controller to seek forward by increment amount or default of 10 seconds

Usage with Polybar

You can find an example polybar config here, if you want to just copy it straight into your config file. Don't forget to add the modules to your bar config, eg:

modules-right = [...] mpd mopidy-volume mopidy-seek-backward mopidy-seek-forward [...]

If the module gives an error or does not render, ensure that the server and client were installed into your user's ~/.local/bin folder.

If for whatever reason you want all of the controls condensed into a single module, you can find an example config for that here. I do not recommend this, as it is much harder to debug/parse.

In your polybar config, add:

[module/mopidy-volume]
type = custom/script
exec = "killall mopidy-monitor-go &> /dev/null; /path/to/mopidy-monitor-go"
exec-if = pgrep -x mopidy; or mpd, setting this ensures the module doesn't show up if mopidy/mpd isn't running
tail = true
label = (%output%%); results in (XX%) output
scroll-up = /path/to/mopidy-control-go volume -i --step 2; step arg is optional, default is 2
scroll-down = /path/to/mopidy-control-go volume -d --step 2

remember to remove the comments (in polybar config, comments are denoted with ;, note that the semicolon in the exec-if line is part of a sh command and not a polybar comment)

If you want to add seek forward/backward buttons (eg, for skipping thru a podcast), refer to the following example:

; using individual modules as opposed to one module with a huge format string to keep things clean
; exec is set to echo " " so that the icon will show up, otherwise polybar will see no output
; and not render the module
[module/mopidy-seek-backward]
type = custom/script
exec = echo " "
exec-if = ps aux | grep mopidy-monitor-go | grep -v grep
format = <label>
label = ◀
click-left = /path/to/mopidy-control-go seek -b -t 30
click-right = /path/to/mopidy-control-go seek -b -t 10

[module/mopidy-seek-forward]
type = custom/script
exec = echo " "
exec-if = ps aux | grep mopidy-monitor-go | grep -v grep
format = <label>
label = ▶
click-left = /path/to/mopidy-control-go seek -f -t 30
click-right = /path/to/mopidy-control-go seek -f -t 10