cliamp - Terminal music player inspired by winamp
2.7k
Stars
144
Forks
34
Open issues
30
Contributors
AI Analysis
cliamp is a retro terminal music player inspired by Winamp that supports playback from local files, streams, podcasts, and multiple music services (Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, Navidrome, Plex, Jellyfin, NetEase Cloud Music). It serves users who want a nostalgic, keyboard-driven music player for the terminal with advanced features like spectrum visualization and parametric EQ. It's best suited for power users and developers who prefer CLI tools and Linux/macOS environments; Windows support i...
Inferred from signals mentioned in the README (tests, CI, type safety) — not a review of the actual code.
AI's overall editorial judgment — not an average of the bars above, can weigh other factors too.
Retro terminal music player with broad streaming support, 4 months old and gaining momentum
cliamp is a Go-based terminal music player inspired by Winamp's UI, supporting local files and 8+ streaming services (Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, Navidrome, Plex, Jellyfin, NetEase Cloud Music, Bilibili). Built on established Go TUI libraries (Bubbletea, Lipgloss), it targets users who want a nostalgic, CLI-native music experience. Created February 2026, it has accumulated 2,621 stars in 4 months with 61 stars in the last week, suggesting active interest in the niche terminal music player category.
Project launched 2026-02-24, directly inspired by Winamp's retro aesthetic but reimagined for modern streaming services and terminal environments. Fits into a growing ecosystem of CLI music players (kew, spotify-player, musicxx) but distinguishes itself via multi-provider support and Winamp-style visual design rather than minimalism.
From 0 to 2,621 stars in ~4 months indicates sustained discovery, likely driven by nostalgic appeal, multi-platform packaging (Homebrew, AUR, direct binaries), and documentation breadth. Recent 61-star week suggests continued momentum. Growth curve typical of specialized open-source projects that acquire steady adoption among target audience rather than explosive viral adoption.
adoption not verified — no GitHub Actions workflows, Docker images, or deployment guides visible in README excerpt. No mention of known production deployments, organizations, or user case studies. Homebrew/AUR availability suggests some Linux desktop adoption, but scale unknown. Spotify provider unavailable on Windows (noted limitation). Community plugins exist (Soap Bubbles Visualizer repo linked), suggesting some power-user adoption, but magnitude unclear.
Likely built as a monolithic TUI application using Bubbletea (Go TUI framework), Lipgloss (styling), Beep (audio playback), and go-librespot (Spotify integration). README shows integration with external tools (ffmpeg for codec support, yt-dlp for video platform extraction). Appears to separate concerns via provider modules (Spotify, Navidrome, Plex, etc.) and configuration (TOML-based). Plugin system via Lua mentioned in docs. No source code visibility limits assessment to documented architecture.
not documented in README
Last push 2026-06-25 (5 days before analysis date), indicating active development. Frequent commits implied by recent star gains. README includes troubleshooting sections, platform-specific instructions, and multiple documentation pages (configuration, keybindings, streaming, provider-specific guides), suggesting ongoing support and issue response. Go 1.25.5 requirement current as of June 2026. No deprecated dependencies mentioned. Appears actively maintained with responsive documentation.
ADOPT IF: you want a multi-service terminal music player with nostalgic Winamp UI and you're comfortable with Go binaries and optional runtime dependencies (ffmpeg, yt-dlp). AVOID IF: you need Windows Spotify support, seek minimal dependencies, or require battle-tested stability (project only 4 months old). MONITOR IF: you're interested in terminal music players—this project's feature breadth and documentation suggest it could become the de facto multi-service option in its niche if maintenance continues.
Independent dimensions
Mainstream potential
3/10
Technical importance
6/10
Adoption evidence
4/10
- Very young project (4 months): API stability, breaking changes, and undocumented bugs more likely than mature alternatives.
- Adoption not verified at scale: star count suggests interest but does not confirm active daily usage in production; virality/novelty effect possible.
- Multi-provider complexity: integrating 8+ services creates maintenance burden; provider API changes could break functionality (e.g., YouTube, SoundCloud policies).
- Dependency on external tools: ffmpeg and yt-dlp required for full feature support; these are separately maintained and could introduce compatibility issues.
- Windows ecosystem friction: Spotify unavailable on Windows, and ALSA/PipeWire bridging required on Linux; desktop audio integration less mature than native players.
If maintenance continues, cliamp likely becomes the preferred multi-service terminal music player for Linux/macOS users who value retro aesthetics and CLI-native workflows within 12 months. Growth rate suggests it could exceed 5,000 stars by end of 2026. Risks are churn from young codebase and provider API instability, not technical incompetence.
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Languages
Information
- Website
- http://www.cliamp.stream
- Language
- Go
- License
- MIT
- Last updated
- 4d ago
- Created
- 5mo ago
- Analyzed with
- anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5
Stars over time
Contributors over time
Top 100 contributors only — repos with more will plateau at 100.
Open issues
YouTube Music fallback credentials pool is empty - provider silently fails
Issues with playing some radiostations
Basic playback control functions are retained while displaying lyrics.
Add songs in bulk from the File Browser to Local TOML Playlists
feat: add cookies_file option for NetEase provider (workaround for yt-dlp DPAPI issue on Windows)
Open pull requests
No open pull requests.
Top contributors
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Focuses exclusively on Spotify with minimalist design; cliamp targets Spotify + 7 other services with retro Winamp UI. spotify-player likely more mature (higher star count) but narrower scope.
Browser-based Winamp emulator; cliamp is terminal-native. Different deployment model (web vs. CLI) rather than direct competition.
Terminal music player in C; similar user base but cliamp offers more streaming integrations and Winamp-style UI while kew may be more lightweight.
Terminal UI framework (Bubbletea equivalent for JavaScript); different category (framework vs. application).
Terminal music player in C++; similar niche but lower star count suggests cliamp may have better current momentum and broader feature set.