Terminal Winamp-style music player for keyboard-driven workflows
Experience a retro music workflow inside your terminal: play local files, internet radio, and self-hosted libraries through a keyboard-driven interface. Cliamp, from Bjarneo, packages a Winamp 2.x–inspired text UI with a real-time spectrum visualizer and a 10-band parametric equalizer. It targets developers and system administrators who want tight keyboard control and low resource use while managing playlists, streaming services, and daemon-mode background playback.
What does Cliamp actually do for playback and library access?
Cliamp unifies multiple sources by supporting local audio files, internet radio, podcasts, major streaming platforms, and self-hosted servers like Plex and Jellyfin, accessed from a single terminal interface. The player handles high-fidelity formats such as FLAC, WAV, and ALAC alongside MP3 and OGG, and offers synced lyrics, playlist management, and a spectrum visualizer with over 30 modes for on-the-fly viewing.
How does it affect system performance during use?
The player keeps resource use low compared with graphical players, suitable for background listening on desktop machines. A daemon mode (--daemon) lets the process run without the text UI, enabling remote control while the app consumes fewer resources than an Electron-based client. The tool requires a terminal emulator and appropriate audio drivers to output sound on Windows systems.
Is it safe to run and can it be extended safely?
Cliamp is open source under the MIT License, so its code is auditable and the project exposes its implementation publicly. Extensibility relies on Lua plugins, allowing custom features to be added; that requires scripting knowledge to avoid misconfiguration. Integrations with external streaming services occur through supported connectors rather than system-level modifications.
Clear fit for terminal power users, with a setup caveat
Cliamp suits developers and administrators who need a keyboard-centric audio hub that combines local and remote sources while keeping memory use low. Its visualizer, parametric EQ, and Lua extensibility reward technical users. Expect a setup step: it requires a terminal emulator and correct audio drivers to function on Windows, which may add configuration overhead for less technical environments.
