Music Assistant Menu Bar (macOS)

Minimal menu bar controller for a Music Assistant server.

Screenshot

Features (v1)

• Menu bar-only app (no dock icon via accessory activation policy)
• WebSocket API client (ws://<host>:<port>/ws)
• Configurable API host + port
• Token input with permanent Keychain storage
• Bonjour auto-discovery (_music-assistant._tcp then _home-assistant._tcp)
• Auto target selection:
  • Prefer currently playing group player
  • Else currently playing non-synced coordinator
  • Else last successful target
• Previous/Play-Pause/Next transport controls
• Play/Pause button label reflects current state (Play when paused/idle, Pause when playing)
• Volume slider (0-100)
  • Group target: players/cmd/group_volume
  • Normal player: players/cmd/volume_set
• Now Playing line with marquee scrolling for long track text
• Global hardware Play/Pause media-key listener (native, no dependencies)
• Exclusive Play/Pause key capture via CGEventTap when permissions allow
• Automatic reconnect with backoff

Run

swift run MusicAssistantMenuBar

Build

swift build

Test

swift test

Signed Build Script

Use build.sh for a signed distributable .app and .zip (outside Mac App Store):

./build.sh

Optional environment variables:

• SIGN_APP (default: 1; set 0 to skip code signing for CI/dev artifacts)
• SIGNING_IDENTITY (optional; auto-detected when possible)
• APP_NAME (default: MusicAssistantMenuBar)
• PRODUCT_NAME (default: MusicAssistantMenuBar)
• APP_ICON_PATH (default: Assets/AppIcon.icns)
• BUNDLE_ID (default: io.example.musicassistant.menubar)
• VERSION (default: 1.0.0)
• BUILD_NUMBER (default: 1)
• OUTPUT_DIR (default: dist)
• SIGNING_KEYCHAIN (path to a specific keychain)
• SIGNING_CERT_P12_BASE64 (optional; base64-encoded .p12 for CI import)
• SIGNING_CERT_PASSWORD (required when SIGNING_CERT_P12_BASE64 is set)
• CI_KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD (optional; temp keychain password)
• NOTARIZE=1 to notarize
  • Use NOTARY_PROFILE (recommended), or
  • APPLE_ID, APPLE_APP_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD, APPLE_TEAM_ID

Artifacts are written to dist/.

Publishing

Publishing Instructions (Click to Expand)

GitHub Actions workflow: .github/workflows/build.yml

• Every push/PR runs swift test, then builds on macOS and uploads an unsigned .app + .zip as workflow artifacts
• Tag pushes with prefix v (for example v1.2.3) run swift test, then build a signed app and publish ${APP_NAME}-${tag}.app.zip to GitHub Releases

To use signing in CI, export your certificate:

1. Open Keychain Access -> login -> My Certificates.
2. Find Developer ID Application: ....
3. Right click -> Export ... -> save as .p12 with a password.
4. Convert to base64:

base64 -i /path/to/DeveloperID.p12 | pbcopy

Set repository secrets:

• SIGNING_CERT_P12_BASE64
• SIGNING_CERT_PASSWORD
• SIGNING_IDENTITY (optional, recommended)
• CI_KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD (optional)

Optional notarization secrets:

• NOTARIZE=1
• NOTARY_PROFILE (recommended), or APPLE_ID + APPLE_APP_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD + APPLE_TEAM_ID

Optional repository variable:

• BUNDLE_ID (defaults to io.example.musicassistant.menubar)

Create a release:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

Notes

• Host/port are saved in UserDefaults and token is saved in Keychain.
• Use the gear button in the menu panel to configure host/port/token and connect.
• To fully block Apple Music from launching on Play/Pause, grant Accessibility/Input Monitoring permissions to the app process. Without permissions, the app falls back to passive key monitoring.
• The permission warning includes quick actions: Allow Access, Open Settings, and Retry.