iTunes API

iTunes API is a simple REST server allowing you to query/control a local running iTunes instance. Once you have a way to make RESTful API calls to control iTunes, you can integrate its control into any of your own software.

This is especially convenient for integrating into any sort of Home Automation you might have.

Last confirmed working version of iTunes: 12.7.2.

Features

• play/stop/pause/playpause/next/previous control over what's playing.
• query to return what's currently playing.
• fetch the art of the currently playing song.
• set a specific playlist to play, by name.
• query to return a list of available AirPlay endpoints.
• set an AirPlay endpoint to be active. (This can be multiple, since iTunes supports it).

Setup

script/bootstrap

Running It

Get up and running immediatly with script/server.

iTunes API will run on port 8181 by default. Use the PORT environment variable to use your own port.

Forever

iTunes API has support for Forever. It uses launchd on OS X to kick it off so that it starts on boot. There is no init.d other Linux support of this type. Pull requests would be welcome for this though.

Development

You can simply run it by calling script/server. This will run it in development mode with logging to standard out.

Install as Service on OS X

script/install

Logging

iTunes API logs all of its requests. In production, it logs to a file at log/logs.log. In development mode, it just logs to stdout.

Development

Launch the app via script/server to run it in the development environment.

Docs

This is a quick overview of the service. Read app.js if you need more info.

Resources

Here's a list of resources that may be returned in a response.

NowPlaying Resource

The NowPlaying resource returns all the information about if iTunes is playing and what is playing.

{
  "player_state": "playing",
  "volume": 60,
  "muted": false,
  "id": "AC4FFD2271422B47",
  "name": "Forever",
  "artist": "HAIM",
  "album": "Days Are Gone (2013)",
  "playlist": "Summer Jams",
  "shuffle": "songs",
  "repeat": "all"
}

Playlist Resource

The Playlist resource returns all the information about a playlist in your library.

{
  "id": "outkast-the-90s",
  "name": "Outkast: The '90s",
  "loved": true,
  "duration_in_seconds": 4544,
  "time": "1:15:44"
},

AirPlayDevice Resource

The AirPlayDevice resource returns all the information about an available AirPlay device on your network.

{
  "id": "63-22-fa-1f-f5-d4",
  "name": "Living Room",
  "kind": "Apple TV",
  "active": true,
  "selected": true,
  "volume": 60,
  "supports_video": true,
  "supports_audio": true,
  "network_address": "63:22:fa:1f:f5:d4"
}

Methods

These are the endpoints you can hit to do things.

Info

Use these endpoints to query the current state of iTunes.

GET /now_playing => NowPlayingResource
GET /artwork => JPEG Data (image/jpeg)

Player Control

Use these endpoints to control what's currently playing.

PUT /playpause => NowPlayingResource
PUT /stop => NowPlayingResource
PUT /previous => NowPlayingResource
PUT /next => NowPlayingResource
PUT /play => NowPlayingResource
PUT /pause => NowPlayingResource
PUT /volume [level=20] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /mute [muted=true] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /mute [muted=false] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /shuffle [mode=off] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /shuffle [mode=songs] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /shuffle [mode=albums] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /shuffle [mode=groupings] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /repeat [mode=off] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /repeat [mode=one] => NowPlayingResource
PUT /repeat [mode=all] => NowPlayingResource

Playlists

Use this endpoint to start a specific playlist.

GET /playlists => {"playlists": [PlaylistResource, PlaylistResource, ...]}
PUT /playlists/:id/play => NowPlayingResource

Webradio

Use this endpoint to start a webradio station.

The installation script copies a text file to /Users/USERNAME/Music/iTunes! In this text file, enter your Webradio URLs line by line.

Start eg. URL from line 1 with PUT /webradio/1

PUT /webradio/:id => NowPlayingResource
PUT /webradio/delete => Clears the library from URL Tracks!

AirPlay Control

Use these endpoints to query and set AirPlay devices. You can set multiple AirPlay devices to be used at the same time.

GET /airplay_devices => {"airplay_devices": [AirPlayDevice, AirPlayDevice, ...]}
GET /airplay_devices/:id => AirPlayDevice
PUT /airplay_devices/:id/on => AirPlayDevice
PUT /airplay_devices/:id/off => AirPlayDevice
PUT /volume [level=20] => AirPlayDevice

System Control

Use these endpoints to controll MacOS. Note! If you run sleep or shutdown, then the iTunes API is no longer accessible! If your Mac is sleeping, you can wake up your Mac with ssh user@ipadress "caffienate -u -t5"

PUT /system/restart_itunes
PUT /system/restart_macos
PUT /system/sleep_macos
PUT /system/shutdown_macos
PUT /addMedia/---Path---to---Media---Folder---  => Replace / with 3 -

Contributions

• fork
• create a feature branch
• open a Pull Request