Music Client

Music client is an unoriginally named React app that integrates with my music API. It supports two different methods of installation: purely remote, where files are streamed from the music API, or local where a copy of the music files are stored on the machine hosting the music client.

Features (non conclusive list)

• Integration with Media Session APIs, which Chrome (first image) integrates with Windows (second image):

Running

Local mode

Deploying the music-client in local mode means that the client keeps a copy of all the tracks locally, and streams them locally, rather than streaming them from the server.

Note that the below command has a few placeholders that need to be replaced. It is also using a docker volume to persist local copies of the tracks.

Also note that the local.music.file.location MUST end with a trailing slash.

Optionally, you can use the variable $HOST in the zuul.routes.music-api.url property, which will be expanded client side to window.location.origin. This could be useful if you host both the API and UI on the same origin, and want to be able to access the API and UI directly from the host (rather than using the CNAME configured for the host).

docker run --name="music-client" -e "zuul.routes.music-api.url"="SERVER_URL" -e "zuul.music-api.authorizationHeader"="AUTHORIZATION_HEADER" -e "music.file.source"="local" -e "device.name"="DEVICE_NAME" -e "server.port"="8080" -p "8080:8080/tcp" -v music:/music -e "local.music.file.location"="/music/" --name music --rm stevenmassaro/music-client

Here's an example of running in remote mode (where music is streamed from the server).

docker run --name="music-client" -e "zuul.routes.music-api.url"="SERVER_URL" -e "zuul.music-api.authorizationHeader"="AUTHORIZATION_HEADER" -e "music.file.source"="remote" -e "device.name"="DEVICE_NAME" -e "server.port"="8080" -p "8080:8080/tcp" --name music --rm stevenmassaro/music-client 

Other useful tools

• https://github.com/evilpro/Taskplay - puts playback controls on the Windows taskbar
• https://github.com/sakithb/media-controls - puts playback controls on the Ubuntu GNOME toolbar
• https://github.com/randyrants/sharpkeys - allows remapping of keyboard keys (used to remap something useless, like scroll lock, to the "skip track" key)
  • If this won't work for you, you can use a simple AutoHotKey script to remap the F9 key to the "skip track" keyboard press (note that I am no AHK expert, so this might not be the best way to do this, but it does work for me on Windows 10):

    #NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
    ; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
    SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
    SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
  
    f9::
                    Send {Media_Next}
    Return
  

Architecture

In previous versions, the unique design of allowing both remote and local usage of the client demanded a complicated architecture, involving an API Gateway (provided via Spring Cloud Gateway).

Current versions of the app circumvent the need for any gateway (which was a performance detriment), by making calls to the backend using CORS.