Spotify Controller
Control Spotify locally across Windows and macOS. No Spotify Web API, no OAuth, no internet required.
Features
- Sidebar (Activity Bar) view with track title, artist, and album
- Play / Pause, Next, Previous controls
- Windows: Uses a local C# helper (SMTC) for instant control
- macOS: Uses AppleScript for native integration
- Works on Windows 10/11 and macOS
- Real-time track information polling
Requirements
Windows
- Windows 10/11
- Spotify desktop app running
macOS
- macOS 10.12 or later
- Spotify desktop app running
How it works
Windows: The extension starts a local .NET 6 helper that uses GlobalSystemMediaTransportControlsSessionManager to control Spotify and read track info.
macOS: The extension uses embedded AppleScript commands to communicate with Spotify.
The sidebar view polls for track updates every few seconds and sends data to the webview.
Usage
For Users
- Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace
- Open the Spotify view from the Activity Bar
- Use the Play / Pause, Next, and Previous buttons to control playback
For Developers
Windows
- Build the helper (Release, single file):
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 /p:PublishSingleFile=true /p:SelfContained=true
- Reload the Extension Host.
- Open the Spotify view from the Activity Bar.
macOS
- The AppleScript helper is embedded in the extension
- No additional setup required
- Reload the Extension Host and open the Spotify view
Commands
- Spotify: Play / Pause
- Spotify: Next
- Spotify: Previous
Known issues
- If Spotify is closed, the view shows a status message and controls do nothing.
Release notes
1.0.0
- Major release: Added full macOS support with embedded AppleScript integration
- Updated extension to work seamlessly across Windows and macOS
- Refactored macOS helper to be embedded in the extension (no external file needed)
- Improved error handling and messaging
0.0.1
- Initial Windows-only release with SMTC control and sidebar view.
| |
