Skip to main content
Playback controls send commands directly to the Spotify desktop app using AppleScript. They work instantly without any network requests, and they never steal window focus.
These commands require the Spotify desktop app to be open and running. They do not require API credentials or a Spotify Premium subscription.

​
Commands

CommandDescription
spot nowShow the currently playing track with a progress bar
spot pausePause playback
spot resumeResume playback
spot toggleToggle between play and pause
spot nextSkip to the next track
spot prevSkip to the previous track
spot vol [0-100]Set volume to a level, or show current volume if no argument
spot shuffle [on|off]Enable or disable shuffle, or show current state if no argument
spot repeat [on|off]Enable or disable repeat, or show current state if no argument

​
Now playing

spot now
Displays the current track name, artist, album, and a progress bar showing how far through the track you are. All track info is fetched in a single AppleScript call.

​
Pause, resume, and toggle

spot pause
spot resume
spot toggle
spot pause and spot resume print a confirmation line. spot toggle switches state silently.

​
Skip tracks

spot next
spot prev
After skipping, spot waits 200 ms for Spotify to update, then prints the new track name and artist.

​
Volume

spot vol        # show current volume
spot vol 75     # set volume to 75%
The volume argument is clamped to the range 0–100.

​
Shuffle

spot shuffle        # show current shuffle state
spot shuffle on     # enable shuffle
spot shuffle off    # disable shuffle
You can also pass true/false or 1/0 in place of on/off.

​
Repeat

spot repeat        # show current repeat state
spot repeat on     # enable repeat
spot repeat off    # disable repeat
Repeat is also set automatically by play commands: spot play -a turns repeat on. All other play commands — spot play -s, spot <query>, and spot play <query> — turn repeat off.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us