Spotify Soloist Features

These are the main ways to use Spotify Soloist on a Linux device.

Spotify Soloist runs as a headless Spotify Connect device on your Linux hardware. After startup and pairing, it appears in the Spotify app alongside other available playback devices.

Spotify Soloist acts like the Spotify Connect client you know and love: you can start playback, transfer playback, control the queue, adjust volume, shuffle, and repeat from Spotify apps, while audio plays on the Linux device. Spotify Soloist does not provide its own local UI.

For the full setup flow, see Getting started.

Use the optional WebSocket API when another local process needs to subscribe to playback events or send control commands directly. Start Spotify Soloist with --ws ADDR:PORT; use port 0 when you want the operating system to choose a free port.

The WebSocket API is a local integration surface. It has no built-in client authentication, authorization, TLS, Origin validation, CSRF protection, browser-facing security controls, or network exposure policy.

For integration guidance, see Basic integration. For the complete protocol, see WebSocket API reference.

Use soloist ctl to inspect and control a running Spotify Soloist process from another local shell process. soloist ctl connects through the local WebSocket API, so start Spotify Soloist with --ws when you want command-line control.

Common commands include status, now, queue, pause, play, and volume. For machine-readable output, pass --json to now or queue. For the complete command list, see soloist ctl.

Use single-track mode for scripts that should play one Spotify URI and exit when playback finishes. Pair once with --pair to store credentials, then run Spotify Soloist with --single-track URI.

In single-track mode, Spotify Soloist restores the stored session without advertising a new Spotify Connect device for pairing. Playback starts with shuffle and repeat disabled, remote control and playback transfer are disabled for the playback context, and Spotify Soloist exits when the requested item finishes, stops, or changes.

For all daemon options, see Command line.