1. NAME

rhythmbox-client - controls a running instance of rhythmbox

2. SYNOPSIS

rhythmbox-client [ option... ] [ file... ]

3. DESCRIPTION

rhythmbox-client is a tool for controlling an already running instance of

rhythmbox. It's useful for remote control scripting, adding specific files to the library from the shell, or printing details of what's playing. Any files specified after the option arguments will be added to the library. If the

--enqueue option is given, the files will also be added to the play queue.

4. OPTIONS

-?,--help

    Show help options

--debug

    Enable debug output

--no-start

    Do not start a new instance of rhythmbox

--quit

    Quit rhythmbox

--no-present

    Don't present an existing rhythmbox window

--hide

    Hide the rhythmbox window

--next

    Jump to next song

--previous

    Jump to previous song

--notify

    Show notification of the playing song

--play

    Resume playback if currently paused

--pause

    Pause playback if currently playing

--play-pause

    Toggle play/pause mode

  • --play-uri=URI
        Play a specified URI, importing it if necessary
  • --enqueue
        Add specified tracks already in the library to the play queue

--clear-queue

    Empty the play queue before adding new tracks

--print-playing

    Print the title and artist of the playing song

  • --print-playing-format=format
        Print formatted details of the song (see

FORMAT OPTIONS below).

--set-volume

    Set the playback volume

--volume-up

    Increase the playback volume

--volume-down

    Decrease the playback volume

--print-volume

    Print the current playback volume

--mute

    Mute playback

--unmute

    Unmute playback

5. FORMAT OPTIONS

  • %at
        album title
  • %aa
        album artist
  • %aA
        album artist (lowercase)
  • %as
        album artist sortname
  • %aS
        album artist sortname (lowercase)
  • %ay
        album year
  • %ag
        album genre
  • %aG
        album genre (lowercase)
  • %an
        album disc number
  • %aN
        album disc number, zero padded
  • %st
        stream title
  • %tn
        track number (i.e 8)
  • %tN
        track number, zero padded (i.e 08)
  • %tt
        track title
  • %ta
        track artist
  • %tA
        track artist (lowercase)
  • %ts
        track artist sortname
  • %tS
        track artist sortname (lowercase)
  • %td
        track duration
  • %te
        track elapsed time
  • Variables can be combined using quotes. For example "%tn %aa %tt", will print the track number followed by the artist and the title of the track.
        .SH AUTHOR This manual page was written by Sven Arvidsson <>, for the Debian system (but may be used by others).

6. SEE ALSO

R