Stream Deck Now Playing Plugin

A Stream Deck plugin that displays currently playing music with album art from any media player on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Current Status

✅ Working:

• Real-time song title & artist display
• Play/pause toggle on key press
• Plugin loads and connects to Stream Deck
• Responsive updates when music changes
• Cross-platform compatible (Windows/macOS/Linux ready)

❓ Album Art: Limited support - depends on media player providing artwork through system APIs. Some players (Spotify) may provide this, others may not.

Features

• 🎵 Real-time Updates: Automatically updates when your music changes
• 🖼️ Album Art: Displays album artwork on the Stream Deck key
• 🎮 Play/Pause Control: Press the key to toggle play/pause
• 🔄 Cross-Platform: Works with Spotify, iTunes, Windows Media Player, and other media players
• 📊 Track Info: Shows song name and artist on the key

Requirements

• Stream Deck software (version 6.0 or later)
• Node.js 20+ (automatically handled by Stream Deck)
• A media player that supports system media controls

Installation

For Development/Testing

1. Clone or download this repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd streamdeck-nowplaying

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Build the plugin

   npm run build

4. Link to Stream Deck

   Create a symbolic link from your Stream Deck plugins folder to this directory:

   Windows (PowerShell as Administrator):

   New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "$env:APPDATA\Elgato\StreamDeck\Plugins\com.streamdeck.nowplaying.sdPlugin" -Target "$(Get-Location)"

   macOS:

   ln -s "$(pwd)" ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.elgato.StreamDeck/Plugins/com.streamdeck.nowplaying.sdPlugin

5. Restart Stream Deck software

For Production

1. Build the plugin: npm run build
2. Package as .streamDeckPlugin file (requires Stream Deck CLI or manual packaging)
3. Double-click the .streamDeckPlugin file to install

Usage

1. Open Stream Deck software
2. Find "Now Playing" in the Media category
3. Drag it to a key on your Stream Deck
4. Play some music in any supported media player
5. The key will automatically update with:
   • Album artwork
   • Song name
   • Artist name

Press the key to toggle play/pause

Development

File Structure

streamdeck-nowplaying/
├── manifest.json          # Plugin manifest for Stream Deck
├── src/
│   └── plugin.js         # Main plugin code
├── assets/               # Icons and images
│   ├── action.svg
│   ├── category.svg
│   └── plugin.svg
├── bin/                  # Built plugin files
├── build.js              # Build script
└── package.json

Build & Watch

# Build once
npm run build

# Watch for changes and rebuild
npm run watch

# Test the plugin code directly
npm test

How It Works

The plugin uses:

• node-nowplaying: A cross-platform Node.js library that monitors system media players
• @elgato/streamdeck: Official Elgato Stream Deck SDK for Node.js

The plugin subscribes to media events and updates the Stream Deck key in real-time with:

• Current track information (title, artist, album)
• Album artwork (automatically fetched as base64 thumbnail)
• Playback state (playing/paused)

Supported Media Players

Works with any player that integrates with the system media controls:

• Windows: Spotify, iTunes, Windows Media Player, Groove Music, VLC, etc.
• macOS: Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, VLC, etc.
• Linux: Spotify, Rhythmbox, VLC, and MPRIS-compatible players

Troubleshooting

Plugin doesn't appear in Stream Deck

• Make sure you restarted the Stream Deck software after installation
• Check that the symbolic link was created correctly
• Verify manifest.json exists in the plugin directory

No track information showing

• Ensure you have music playing in a supported media player
• Check the Stream Deck logs: %APPDATA%\Elgato\StreamDeck\logs (Windows)
• Try pressing play/pause in your media player to trigger an update

Album art not displaying

• Some media players may not provide album artwork through system APIs
• The plugin will still show track information even without artwork

License

MIT

Credits

Built with:

• node-nowplaying by JoeyEamigh
• Stream Deck SDK by Elgato