🎵 Ambient Music AutoPlayer for VS Code
Inspiration
One day, I realized I had been feeling unproductive for several days. After a quick self-reflection, I discovered that watching TV series and movies in the background while coding was draining my focus and creativity. This insight inspired me to build a tool for myself—and for thousands of other developers who face similar distractions—to help us stay in the zone with relaxing ambient music.
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🎧 What It Does
Ambient music starts automatically with your project and seamlessly transitions to a new track every 30 minutes (by default) to keep you in the zone.
✨ Features
- ✅ Automatically plays ambient music when a workspace is opened
- ✅ Rotates to a new track every 30 minutes (configurable)
- ✅ Prevents multiple instances with singleton design
- ✅ Supports reconnecting WebSocket clients
- ✅ Manual play/pause/resume via Command Palette
- ✅ Easily set your own playlist via command
- ✅ Manually close the tab via
Ambient Music: ❌ Close Tab command
- ✅ No configuration required for default usage
🚀 How to Use
Automatic Playback
- Install the extension from Marketplace
- Open any folder/project in VS Code
- A browser tab will auto-launch playing ambient music
- You'll receive a confirmation notification
Manual Controls
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and search for:
| Command ID |
Title |
Description |
ambientMusic.setPlaylist |
🎶 Set Playlist (Rain, Forest, Ocean...) |
Choose or define a relaxing playlist |
ambientMusic.openTab |
🌐 Open Ambient Music Player |
Opens the embedded music player tab |
ambientMusic.play |
▶️ Play Ambient Music |
Starts playing ambient music |
ambientMusic.pause |
⏸️ Pause Music |
Pauses the currently playing track |
ambientMusic.resume |
⏯ Resume Music |
Resumes paused ambient music |
ambientMusic.closeTab |
❌ Close Music Player |
Closes the music player tab |
ambientMusic.resetPlaylist |
🔄 Reset Playlist to Default |
Restores the default ambient playlist |
💡 Tip: You can customize keybindings for these commands or use them in your automation workflows inside VS Code.
🔧 Configuration (Optional)
These settings can be customized in your VS Code settings.json.
| Setting Key |
Type |
Default |
Description |
ambientMusic.autoPlayOnStartup |
boolean |
true |
Automatically start ambient music when VS Code launches. |
ambientMusic.port |
number |
3303 |
Port for the WebSocket server. Set to 0 for dynamic port allocation. |
ambientMusic.switchIntervalMinutes |
number |
30 |
Time interval (in minutes) to automatically switch to the next video in the playlist. |
ambientMusic.debug |
boolean |
false |
Enables verbose debug logging for easier troubleshooting. |
ambientMusic.playlist |
array |
[] |
Custom list of ambient YouTube videos with rich metadata. See example below. |
{
"title": "Peaceful Piano",
"url": "https://youtu.be/abc123",
"tags": ["piano", "relax"],
"channel": {
"name": "Chill Music Co.",
"url": "https://youtube.com/@chillmusicco"
}
}
ℹ️ Use these to personalize your flow.
📁 Installation
Install from Visual Studio Code Marketplace.
💡 Want to close the music tab without shutting down the extension? Use the Ambient Music: ❌ Close Tab command.
🔗 Requirements
- VS Code version 1.80+
- Internet access for streaming
🐛 Support
Have feedback or issues?
💼 License
MIT License © 2025 Taj
💬 Credits
Built with ❤️ by Taj, inspired by a need for focus and flow while coding.
Special thanks to these amazing YouTube creators whose music powers the ambient experience:
If you're one of these creators and would like your content removed or credited differently, please open an issue or reach out.
🧰 Developer Guide
If you're interested in contributing or modifying this extension, check out the DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md for setup instructions, architecture overview, packaging guide, and testing tips.
✨ Focus better. Code deeper. Let your workspace sing.
