player-mpris-tail

Script: player-mpris-tail

This script displays the current track and the play-pause status without polling. Information is obtained by listening to MPRIS events, so it is updated instantaneously on change.

Dependencies

• python-dbus
• python-gobject
• python-gi

Configuration

The format of the output can be defined by passing an -f or --format argument. This argument supports metadata replacement using {tag} (e.g. {title}) as well as more advanced formatting, described below.

Players can be blacklisted by passing a -b or --blacklist argument. As an example, VLC can be blacklisted by passing -b vlc. To get a list of the current running players (and their status), run the script as player-mpris-tail.py list.

Commands

The current player can be controlled by passing one of the following commands:

Command	Description
play	Play the current track
pause	Pause the currently playing track
play-pause	Play the current track or unpause it if currently paused
stop	Stop playback
previous	Move to the previous track
next	Move to the next track
raise	Tell the current player to focus its window

General information about the current state can be printed using the following commands:

Command	Description
status	Print the normal output and exit immediately
current	Print the currently detected player and its status
list	List the detected players and their status
metadata	Print the metadata object for the current track

Arguments

The following arguments are supported:

Argument	Description	Default
-b, --blacklist	Blacklist / Ignore the given player
-w, --whitelist	Whitelist / Permit the given player
-f, --format	Use the given format string	{icon} {artist} - {title}
--truncate-text	Use the given string as the end of truncated text	…
--icon-playing	Use the given text as the playing icon	⏵
--icon-paused	Use the given text as the paused icon	⏸
--icon-stopped	Use the given text as the stopped icon	⏹
--icon-none	Use the given text as the icon for when no player is active	``

Formatting

Tags can be printed by surrounding them with { and }. Polybar formatting can also be given and will be passed through, including substituted tags and formatters.

Tags

The supported tags are:

Tag	Description
artist	The artist of the current track
album	The album of the current track
title	The title of the current track
track	The track number of the current track
length	The length of the current track
fmt-length	The formatted length of the current track ([hours:]minutes:seconds)
position	The track current time position
genre	The genre of the current track
disc	The disc number of the current track
date	The date of the current track
year	The year of the current track
cover	The URL of the cover of the current track
icon	The icon for the current status (playing / paused / stopped / none)
icon-reversed	The pause icon when playing, else the play icon

String formatters

Parts of the format string can be manipulated by surrounding them with {: and :} and prepending a formatter followed by a : (e.g. {:t20:by {artist}:})

The following formatters are supported:

Formatter	Argument	Description	Example	Output
tag		Only print the string if tag exists	{:album: on {album}:}	on Album Name
w	Number	Limit the width of the string to number	{:w3:Hello:}	Hel
t	Number	Truncate width of the string to number. If the string is shorter than or equal to number it is printed as given, else the string is truncated and appended a truncator text	{:t3:Hello:}	He…

Module

Basic output

[module/player-mpris-tail]
type = custom/script
exec = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py -f '{icon} {artist} - {title}'
tail = true

Example: ⏵ Artist - Title

Basic output and mouse controls

[module/player-mpris-tail]
type = custom/script
exec = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py -f '{icon} {artist} - {title}'
tail = true
click-left = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py previous &
click-right = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py next &
click-middle = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py play-pause &

Example: ⏵ Artist - Title

Output using formatters

[module/player-mpris-tail]
type = custom/script
exec = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py -f '{icon} {:artist:t5:{artist}:}{:artist: - :}{:t4:{title}:}'
tail = true
click-left = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py previous &
click-right = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py next &
click-middle = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py play-pause &

Example: ⏵ Artis… - Titl… or ⏵ Titl…

Output using formatters and Polybar action handlers

[module/player-mpris-tail]
type = custom/script
exec = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py -f '{icon} {:artist:t18:{artist}:}{:artist: - :}{:t20:{title}:}  %{A1:~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py previous:} ⏮ %{A} %{A1:~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py play-pause:} {icon-reversed} %{A} %{A1:~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py next:} ⏭ %{A}'
tail = true

Example: ⏵ Artis… - Titl… ⏮ ⏸ ⏭ or ⏵ Titl… ⏮ ⏸ ⏭ or ⏸ Titl… ⏮ ⏵ ⏭

Output using formatters, Polybar action handlers and blacklisting

[module/player-mpris-tail]
type = custom/script
exec = ~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py -f '{icon} {:artist:t18:{artist}:}{:artist: - :}{:t20:{title}:}  %{A1:~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py previous -b vlc -b plasma-browser-integration:} ⏮ %{A} %{A1:~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py play-pause -b vlc -b plasma-browser-integration:} {icon-reversed} %{A} %{A1:~/polybar-scripts/player-mpris-tail.py next -b vlc -b plasma-browser-integration:} ⏭ %{A}' -b vlc -b plasma-browser-integration
tail = true

Example: ⏵ Artis… - Titl… ⏮ ⏸ ⏭ or ⏵ Titl… ⏮ ⏸ ⏭ or ⏸ Titl… ⏮ ⏵ ⏭