VS Music Extension for VS Code

A Visual Studio Code extension that displays currently playing music information and provides playback controls directly in your editor. Perfect for Linux developers who want to stay in their coding flow while managing their music.

📸 Screenshots

VS Music Extension in Action

The extension showing current track information in VS Code with the music player panel and status bar integration

✨ Features

Status Bar Integration: Shows current track info (title, artist) in VS Code's status bar
Music Explorer Panel: Dedicated panel in the Explorer sidebar with music controls
Playback Controls: Play/pause, next/previous track controls
Real-time Updates: Automatically updates when tracks change
Corner Widget: Optional floating widget for quick access
Configurable Display: Customize what information is shown and where

🐧 Linux Compatibility :: ( we are adding for win and mac shortly)

This extension is specifically designed for Linux systems and uses playerctl to communicate with MPRIS-compatible media players.

Supported Music Players

The following Linux music players are supported through MPRIS/playerctl:

Spotify
VLC Media Player
Rhythmbox
Audacious
Clementine
Strawberry
Amarok
Banshee
Totem
mpv (with MPRIS script)
Chromium/Chrome (when playing media)
Firefox (when playing media)
And any other MPRIS-compatible player

📦 Installation

Prerequisites

Important: You must have playerctl installed on your Linux system for this extension to work.

Install playerctl

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install playerctl

Fedora/CentOS/RHEL:

sudo dnf install playerctl
# or for older versions:
sudo yum install playerctl

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S playerctl

openSUSE:

sudo zypper install playerctl

From Source (if not available in repos):

git clone https://github.com/altdesktop/playerctl.git
cd playerctl
meson builddir
cd builddir
ninja
sudo ninja install

Verify Installation

Test that playerctl works with your music player:

# Check if playerctl is installed
playerctl --version

# Test with your music player (start playing music first)
playerctl metadata
playerctl status

Install the Extension

From VS Code Marketplace:
- Open VS Code
- Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
- Search for "VS Music" by codershubinc
- Click Install
From VSIX file:
- Download the music-0.0.1.vsix file from releases
- Open VS Code
- Press Ctrl+Shift+P and type "Extensions: Install from VSIX"
- Select the downloaded .vsix file
From GitHub:
- Visit the VS Music repository
- Download the latest release

🚀 Usage

Start your music player (Spotify, VLC, etc.)
Begin playing music
The extension will automatically detect and display track information

Available Commands

Access these commands via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

Music: Toggle Widget - Show/hide the music widget
Music: Toggle Corner Widget - Show/hide corner widget
Music: Play/Pause - Toggle playback
Music: Next Track - Skip to next track
Music: Previous Track - Go to previous track
Music: Show Music Panel - Open the music panel
Music: Refresh - Refresh music information

UI Components

Status Bar

Shows current track information in the status bar
Click to play/pause
Configurable position (left/right)

Music Explorer Panel

Located in the Explorer sidebar
Shows detailed track information
Includes playback controls
Shows album art (when available)

Optional floating widget
Quick access to controls
Minimal and unobtrusive

⚙️ Configuration

Configure the extension through VS Code settings (File → Preferences → Settings, then search for "music"):

{
  "music.enableStatusBar": true,
  "music.statusBarPosition": "right",
  "music.statusBarPriority": 100,
  "music.updateInterval": 1000,
  "music.showAlbumArt": true,
  "music.maxTitleLength": 30
}

Settings Reference

Setting	Type	Default	Description
`music.enableStatusBar`	boolean	`true`	Show music info in status bar
`music.statusBarPosition`	string	`"right"`	Position of music info (`"left"` or `"right"`)
`music.statusBarPriority`	number	`100`	Priority of music status bar item
`music.updateInterval`	number	`1000`	Update interval in milliseconds
`music.showAlbumArt`	boolean	`true`	Show album art in music panel
`music.maxTitleLength`	number	`30`	Maximum length of song title in status bar

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"playerctl not available" message

Solution: Install playerctl using your distribution's package manager (see Installation section)
Verify: Run playerctl --version in terminal

Extension doesn't detect music

Check: Ensure your music player supports MPRIS
Test: Run playerctl metadata while music is playing
Restart: Try restarting VS Code after starting your music player

No controls working

Verify: Test playerctl commands manually:

playerctl play-pause
playerctl next
playerctl previous

Track info not updating

Check: Increase the update interval in settings if on a slower system
Restart: Restart both your music player and VS Code

Debug Information

To get debug information:

Open VS Code Developer Tools (Help → Toggle Developer Tools)
Check the Console tab for VS Music extension logs
Look for error messages related to playerctl

Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

Check that playerctl works with your music player
Verify your music player supports MPRIS
Check VS Code's Developer Console for errors
Create an issue with your system info:
- Linux distribution and version
- Music player and version
- playerctl version
- Error messages from console

🎵 Supported Formats

The extension works with any audio format supported by your music player, including:

MP3, FLAC, OGG, AAC, WAV
Streaming services (Spotify, YouTube Music in browser)
Internet radio streams
Podcasts and audiobooks

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! This extension is specifically designed for Linux systems.

Development Setup

Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/codershubinc/vscode-music.git
Navigate to music directory: cd vscode-music/music
Install dependencies: bun install
Open in VS Code
Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
Test with your favorite Linux music player

Building

# Compile TypeScript
bun run compile

# Package extension
bun run package

# Create VSIX
bun run build-vsix

👨‍💻 Author

Swapnil Ingle (@codershubinc)

Publisher: codershubinc
GitHub: https://github.com/codershubinc/vscode-music
Issues: https://github.com/codershubinc/vscode-music/issues

📈 Marketplace Information

Extension Name: VS Music
Publisher: codershubinc
Version: 0.0.1
Category: Other
License: MIT
Engine: VS Code ^1.103.0

🏷️ Keywords

music, player, spotify, vlc, linux, playerctl, mpris, status-bar, media-control, audio, playback, music-info

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

playerctl - The backbone that makes this extension possible
The MPRIS specification for standardized media player control
VS Code Extension API documentation
The Linux audio community

VS Music

Swapnil Ingle