Waves

A keyboard-driven terminal music player for Linux with Soulseek downloads, MusicBrainz tagging, Last.fm scrobbling, and radio mode.

Note: This project is in active development. Some features may be incomplete.

Features

• Library Browser: Browse music by Artist > Album > Track hierarchy
• File Browser: Navigate filesystem with file/folder deletion
• Playlists: Create, organize, and manage playlists with folder hierarchy
• Favorites: Quick-access playlist with heart icon display
• Playing Queue: Persistent queue with multi-selection, reordering, and undo/redo
• Audio Playback: MP3, FLAC, OPUS/OGG, and M4A/AAC support with seeking
• Album Art: Display album art in expanded player bar, auto-fetch during import
• Full-Text Search: SQLite FTS5 search across library, files, and playlists
• Download Manager: Search and download from Soulseek via slskd integration
• Import System: MusicBrainz tagging, file renaming, and library integration
• Last.fm Scrobbling: Track your listening history with offline queue support
• Radio Mode: Endless playback with Last.fm similar artists and intelligent track selection
• Desktop Notifications: Optional notifications for track changes and downloads (Linux)
• Mouse Support: Click to navigate, select tracks, and control playback
• State Persistence: Queue and navigation saved between sessions

Installation

Nix

Available in nixpkgs unstable:

# Try without installing
nix run nixpkgs#waves

# Install (flake-based)
nix profile install nixpkgs#waves

On NixOS, add waves to environment.systemPackages.

You can also run directly from the repository for the latest development version:

nix run github:llehouerou/waves

Arch Linux (AUR)

yay -S waves-bin

From Source

go install github.com/llehouerou/waves@latest

Requires Go 1.25+ and ALSA development libraries (libasound2-dev on Debian/Ubuntu, alsa-lib on Arch).

Development

git clone https://github.com/llehouerou/waves.git
cd waves
make install-hooks  # Install git pre-commit hook
make run            # Run the app

Controls

Press ? at any time to show the keybinding help popup.

Global

View Switching

F-Sequence Commands

Playback

Navigator

Library (F1 view)

Album View Options

File Browser (F2 view)

Playlists (F3 view)

Playlist Track Editing

Queue Panel

Configuration

Copy config.example.toml to ~/.config/waves/config.toml or ./config.toml.

# Default folder to open on startup (supports ~)
default_folder = "~/Music"

# Icon style: "nerd" (Nerd Font), "unicode" (emoji), "none" (text)
icons = "nerd"

# slskd integration for downloading music from Soulseek
[slskd]
url = "http://localhost:5030"
apikey = "your-api-key-here"
completed_path = "~/downloads/complete"  # For disk verification and importing

[slskd.filters]
format = "both"       # "both", "lossless", or "lossy"
no_slot = true        # Filter out users with no free upload slot
track_count = true    # Filter results with fewer tracks than expected

[musicbrainz]
albums_only = true    # Filter to show only albums (not singles/EPs)

# Last.fm scrobbling (get API key at https://www.last.fm/api/account/create)
[lastfm]
api_key = "your-api-key"
api_secret = "your-api-secret"

Library Sources

Library sources are managed in-app using f p in the library view (F1). This opens a popup where you can add, remove, and view source paths. Sources are persisted in the database, not the config file.

Download Manager

The download manager requires a running slskd instance. Configure the URL and API key in config.toml, then use f d to open the download popup. Search for artists/albums, select a release from MusicBrainz, and download matching results from Soulseek. Downloaded files can be imported with MusicBrainz tagging and Picard-compatible file renaming.

Completed downloads path:

To enable disk verification and importing, set completed_path to match your slskd completed downloads folder:

[slskd]
url = "http://localhost:5030"
apikey = "your-api-key"
completed_path = "~/downloads/complete"  # Path to slskd's completed folder

The app matches files by extracting the folder name from slskd's directory path. For example, if slskd reports a download in @@username\Music\Pink Floyd - The Wall, the app looks for files in completed_path/Pink Floyd - The Wall/. This means:

• The final folder name from slskd must match the folder on disk
• Files are verified by checking existence and size
• Once verified, downloads can be imported into your library

Last.fm Scrobbling

Scrobble your listening history to Last.fm. Create an API account at last.fm/api/account/create, add the credentials to config.toml, then link your account with f l. Tracks are scrobbled after 50% of playback or 4 minutes, whichever comes first. Failed scrobbles are queued and retried automatically.

Radio Mode

Radio mode provides endless playback by automatically adding tracks from similar artists to your queue. It uses the Last.fm API to find artists similar to what you're currently playing, then selects tracks from your local library.

Requirements:

• Last.fm API credentials configured in config.toml (same as scrobbling)
• A populated music library with indexed artists

Usage:

1. Start playing any track from your library
2. Press R to cycle repeat modes until you see the radio icon (📻)
3. The queue will automatically fill with related tracks as you listen

How it works:

• Finds similar artists via Last.fm API based on the currently playing artist
• Matches similar artists to your local library using fuzzy matching
• Scores tracks based on popularity, your listening history, and artist similarity
• Enforces variety by limiting artist repetition and preventing oscillation patterns
• Caches API responses locally to reduce network requests

Configuration options:

[radio]
# Queue behavior
buffer_size = 1              # Tracks to queue ahead (1-20)

# Artist selection
similar_artists_limit = 50   # Similar artists to fetch from API
shuffle_pool_size = 10       # Top N artists to shuffle from
artists_per_fill = 5         # Artists to use per fill after shuffle
artist_match_threshold = 0.8 # Fuzzy match threshold (0.0-1.0)

# Variety enforcement
max_artist_repeat = 2        # Max times same artist in window
artist_repeat_window = 20    # Window size for repeat check
recent_seeds_window = 3      # Seeds to remember for A→B→A prevention

# Scoring weights
top_track_boost = 3.0        # Boost multiplier for top tracks
user_boost = 1.3             # Multiplier for user-scrobbled tracks
decay_factor = 0.1           # Penalty for recently played
min_similarity_weight = 0.1  # Floor for similarity score

# Cache
cache_ttl_days = 7           # Cache TTL in days

Desktop Notifications

Desktop notifications are available on Linux via D-Bus. They are disabled by default and must be enabled in config.toml:

[notifications]
enabled = true           # Master toggle (required)
now_playing = true       # Notify on track change
downloads = true         # Notify when downloads complete
show_album_art = true    # Include album art in notifications
timeout = 5000           # Notification timeout in ms

Notifications use the system notification daemon and support album art display when available.

File Renaming (Import)

When importing downloaded files, the rename pattern determines the folder structure and filename. Configure it with templates and smart features:

[rename]
# Templates (defaults shown)
folder = "{albumartist}/{year} • {album}"
filename = "{artist} • {album} • {tracknumber} · {title}"

# Smart features (all default to true)
reissue_notation = true      # Add [YYYY reissue] suffix for reissues
va_brackets = true           # Wrap "Various Artists" in brackets
singles_handling = true      # Special handling for singles
release_type_notes = true    # Add [soundtrack], [live], etc.
and_to_ampersand = true      # Convert "and" to "&"
remove_feat = true           # Remove "feat." patterns from titles
ellipsis_normalize = true    # Convert "..." to "…"

Available placeholders:

Examples:

Simple structure:

folder = "{albumartist}/{album}"
filename = "{tracknumber} - {title}"
# Result: Pink Floyd/The Dark Side of the Moon/04 - Time.flac

Flat structure:

folder = "{albumartist}"
filename = "{album} - {tracknumber} - {title}"
# Result: Pink Floyd/The Dark Side of the Moon - 04 - Time.flac

License

GPL-3.0 - See LICENSE for details.