Control Spotify from Your Terminal with the Spotify Player Skill

Ever wanted to skip tracks, search for songs, or control your music without leaving your terminal? The spotify-player skill brings full Spotify control to Clawdbot, letting your AI assistant become your personal DJ.

What Problem Does This Solve?

If you're a developer or power user who lives in the terminal, constantly switching to the Spotify app to change tracks kills your flow. With the spotify-player skill, you can:

Search and play any song, album, or playlist by voice or text
Control playback (play, pause, skip, previous)
Switch between Spotify Connect devices
Get current track info without context switching

It's perfect for focus sessions, coding playlists, or hands-free music control.

Installation

First, install the skill via ClawdHub:

clawdhub install spotify-player

The skill supports two CLI tools. spogo is recommended:

brew tap steipete/tap
brew install spogo

Alternatively, install spotify_player as a fallback:

brew install spotify_player

Requirements:

A Spotify Premium account (required for playback control)
macOS, Linux, or Windows with Homebrew

Configuration & Authentication

spogo Setup (Recommended)

spogo uses browser cookies for authentication—no API keys needed:

spogo auth import --browser chrome

This imports your existing Spotify session from Chrome. Safari and Firefox are also supported.

spotify_player Setup (Alternative)

For spotify_player, you'll need to configure a Spotify app:

Go to the Spotify Developer Dashboard
Create an app and note your Client ID
Add the Client ID to ~/.config/spotify-player/app.toml:

client_id = "your_client_id_here"

Run spotify_player once to complete OAuth authentication

Usage Examples

Basic Playback Control

# Play/pause
spogo play
spogo pause

# Skip tracks
spogo next
spogo prev

# Check what's playing
spogo status

Search and Play Music

# Search for tracks
spogo search track "Bohemian Rhapsody"

# Search for artists
spogo search artist "Daft Punk"

# Search for playlists
spogo search playlist "Deep Focus"

Device Management

If you have multiple Spotify Connect devices (phone, desktop, speakers):

# List available devices
spogo device list

# Switch to a specific device
spogo device set "Living Room Speaker"

Natural Language via Clawdbot

Once configured, just tell your agent:

"Play some lo-fi beats"

"Skip this track"

"What song is playing?"

"Switch Spotify to my HomePod"

Clawdbot will use the skill to execute the right commands.

Tips & Best Practices

Import cookies regularly: If spogo stops working, re-run spogo auth import --browser chrome to refresh your session.
Check device state: If playback commands fail, run spogo device list to ensure a device is active. You may need to start playback from the Spotify app first.
Use spogo over spotify_player: spogo is simpler to set up (cookie-based auth) and has cleaner output.
For TUI lovers: spotify_player offers a full terminal UI with ? for keyboard shortcuts—great for interactive sessions.
Premium required: Free Spotify accounts can't control playback via CLI. You'll need Premium for full functionality.

Conclusion

The spotify-player skill turns Clawdbot into a voice-controlled music assistant. Skip tracks while coding, search for the perfect playlist hands-free, or switch devices without touching your phone. Combined with Clawdbot's other skills, you can build powerful automations—like playing focus music when you start a work session.

Links:

Happy listening! 🎵