spotify

name: spotify description: "Control Spotify playback — play, pause, skip, search, and queue tracks. Use when: user asks to play music, search for songs, control playback, or manage Spotify queue. NOT for: downloading music, non-Spotify services (Apple Music, YouTube Music), or audio file playback." dependencies: requests metadata: emoji: "🎵"

Spotify

Control Spotify playback via the Spotify Web API.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• "Play some jazz music"
• "Skip this song"
• "What's currently playing?"
• "Search for songs by The Beatles"
• "Pause the music"
• "Add this song to my queue"

When NOT to Use

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

• Downloading or saving music → Spotify API doesn't support downloads
• Apple Music or YouTube Music → different APIs/tools
• Playing local audio files → use system media player
• Music recognition → use specialised tools (Shazam, etc.)

Setup

1. Create a Spotify app at https://developer.spotify.com/dashboard
2. Set redirect URI to http://localhost:8888/callback
3. Get your Client ID and Client Secret
4. Configure in pythonclaw.json:

"skills": {
  "spotify": {
    "clientId": "your-client-id",
    "clientSecret": "your-client-secret"
  }
}

5. Run the auth flow once to get a refresh token:

python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py auth

Alternative: spotify-player CLI

If you have spotify_player installed (Rust-based TUI):

brew install spotify_player  # macOS

Then use it directly:

spotify_player playback play
spotify_player playback pause
spotify_player search "query"

Commands

Current playback

python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py now-playing

Search

python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py search "The Beatles" --type track
python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py search "Chill Vibes" --type playlist

Playback control

python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py play
python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py pause
python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py next
python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py previous

Play a specific track or playlist

python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py play --uri spotify:track:4iV5W9uYEdYUVa79Axb7Rh
python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py play --uri spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DXcBWIGoYBM5M

Queue a track

python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py queue spotify:track:4iV5W9uYEdYUVa79Axb7Rh

Volume

python {skill_path}/spotify_ctl.py volume 50

Notes

• Requires Spotify Premium for playback control
• An active Spotify device must be running (desktop app, mobile, or web player)
• The auth token expires and auto-refreshes via the refresh token
• Search results return Spotify URIs which can be used for playback

Resources