Apple Music CLI

Use clawtunes to control Apple Music from the terminal. Search and play music, control playback, adjust volume, manage playlists, manage shuffle/repeat, browse the Apple Music catalog, and connect to AirPlay devices.

Setup

• Install (Homebrew): brew install forketyfork/tap/clawtunes

• macOS-only; requires Apple Music app.

Play Music

• Play a song: clawtunes play song "Song Name"

• Play an album: clawtunes play album "Album Name"

• Play a playlist: clawtunes play playlist "Playlist Name"

• Always use the --non-interactive (-N) flag to prevent interactive prompts: clawtunes -N play song "Song Name"

• If the command exits with code 1 and lists multiple matches, retry with a more specific song/album/playlist name.

• If a more specific name still returns multiple matches, use the --first (-1) flag to auto-select the first result: clawtunes -1 play song "Song Name"

Playback Control

• Pause: clawtunes pause

• Resume: clawtunes resume

• Next track: clawtunes next

• Previous track: clawtunes prev

• Show now playing: clawtunes status

Volume

• Show volume: clawtunes volume

• Set volume: clawtunes volume 50

• Adjust volume: clawtunes volume +10 or clawtunes volume -10

• Mute: clawtunes mute

• Unmute: clawtunes unmute

Shuffle and Repeat

• Enable/disable shuffle: clawtunes shuffle on or clawtunes shuffle off

• Set repeat mode: clawtunes repeat off, clawtunes repeat all, or clawtunes repeat one

Search

• Search songs and albums: clawtunes search "query"

• Include playlists: clawtunes search "query" -p

• Songs only: clawtunes search "query" --no-albums

• Limit results: clawtunes search "query" -n 20

Love/Dislike

• Love current track: clawtunes love

• Dislike current track: clawtunes dislike

Playlists

• List all playlists: clawtunes playlists

• Create a playlist: clawtunes playlist create "Road Trip"

• Add a song to a playlist: clawtunes playlist add "Road Trip" "Kickstart My Heart"

• Remove a song from a playlist: clawtunes playlist remove "Road Trip" "Kickstart My Heart"

AirPlay

• List devices: clawtunes airplay

• Select device: clawtunes airplay "Device Name"

• Deselect device: clawtunes airplay "Device Name" --off

Apple Music Catalog

• Search the streaming catalog: clawtunes catalog search "Bowie Heroes"

• Limit catalog results: clawtunes catalog search "Bowie Heroes" -n 5

• Note: Catalog search is browse-only. To add songs to playlists, they must first be in your library. Use Apple Music app to add catalog items to your library before managing them with clawtunes.

Notes

• macOS-only (uses AppleScript to communicate with Apple Music).

• If automation permissions are requested, grant access in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation.