Provided by: cmus_2.9.1-1_amd64 
NAME
cmus - C* Music Player
SYNOPSIS
cmus [options]
DESCRIPTION
cmus is a lightweight ncurses music player. It supports various output methods by using
dynamically-loaded output plugins. cmus has configurable keybindings and can be controlled externally
using cmus-remote(1).
OPTIONS
--listen ADDR
Listen on ADDR (UNIX socket) instead of $CMUS_SOCKET or $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/cmus-socket. ADDR must be
a UNIX socket or host[:port].
WARNING: Using host[:port] is insecure even with a password! It may be on a LAN if you want
multiple users to able to control cmus. Never expose cmus to the internet.
NOTE: Don't use this option to run multiple instances as same user. Doing so would corrupt the
track metadata cache.
--passwd PASSWD
Set the password for TCP/IP connections. Required if listening on host[:port]. Used in conjunction
with --listen.
--plugins
List available plugins and exit.
--show-cursor
Always display the cursor. This is useful for screen readers.
--help
Display usage information and exit.
--version
Display version information and exit.
VIEWS
There are 7 views in cmus. Press keys 1-7 to change active view.
Library view (1)
Displays all tracks in the library. Tracks are sorted and displayed in a tree grouped by
artist/album. Artist sorting is done alphabetically. Albums are sorted by year.
Sorted library view (2)
Displays the same content as view 1, but as a simple list automatically sorted by user criteria.
Playlist view (3)
Displays editable playlists with optional sorting.
Play Queue view (4)
Displays upcoming tracks. These tracks are played before anything else (i.e. the playlist or
library). Once the queue is empty, playback will resume from the last position in the library.
Browser (5)
Displays the directory browser. In this view, music from the filesystem can be added to the
library, active playlist, or queue.
Filters view (6)
Lists user-defined filters.
Settings view (7)
Lists keybindings, unbound commands and options. Remove bindings with D or del, change bindings
and variables with enter, and toggle variables with space.
COMMAND LINE
Everything in cmus is implemented as commands which can be typed at command line or bound to a key. To
enter command mode type :. To execute a command, press ENTER, and to cancel, press ESC or CTRL-C. Use
up/down arrows to browse the command history. Use TAB to complete commands and parameters. You don't need
to type full command name if it is unambiguous (no other commands starting with the same characters).
Examples:
# add files, short for ':add ~/music'
:a ~/music
# change output plugin
:set output_plugin=oss
# start playing
# you could just press 'x' which is the default
# binding for this command
:player-play
# clear current view (library, playlist or play queue)
:clear
SEARCHING
Search mode works like the command mode. To enter search mode, press / and type the query then press
ENTER. Press n to move to the next result or N for the previous one. Type ? to search backwards.
In views 1-4 the query is matched against the artist, album and title tags. Type //WORDS or ??WORDS to
search only artists/albums in view 1 and only titles in views 2-4. If the file doesn't have tags, words
are compared to the filename excluding the path.
Searching also works in views 5-7.
PLAYLIST EDITING
Selecting Tracks
Editing commands affect the currently marked tracks. If there are no marked tracks, the currently
selected track (or selected artist/album in view 1) is used.
To mark the selected track, press SPACE. Marked tracks appear with a gray background. You can only mark
tracks in the list views (2-4).
Copying Tracks Between Views
You can copy marked or selected tracks in views 1-5.
a copy tracks to the library (1-2)
y copy tracks to the marked playlist (3)
e append tracks to the play queue (4)
E prepend tracks to the play queue (4)
Moving Tracks
In views 2-4, tracks can be moved within the list. Note that moving is disabled if the view is
auto-sorted (see lib_sort and pl_sort options).
Pressing p moves marked tracks to the position immediately after the selected track. P moves them to the
position immediately before the selected track. If there are no marked tracks, the selected track is
moved down (p) or up (P).
Note that changing active filters in view 2 reloads it, losing any changes made to the track order.
Removing Tracks
Press D or delete to remove the marked or selected tracks in the current view (1-4). The tracks will be
removed immediately from the view without asking for confirmation. In the browser and filters views, the
same keys are used to remove a file or filter after asking for confirmation.
STATUS LINE
The right hand side of the status line (second row from the bottom, black text on a grey background)
consists of the following fields:
aaa_mode & play_sorted & play_library | continue follow repeat shuffle
NOTE: aaa_mode and play_sorted will be only displayed if play_library is true because these are
meaningless when playing the playlists (view 3).
Pressing m, o, M, C, r and s should make it easier to understand what these fields mean.
See CONFIGURATION OPTIONS section for more information about these options.
KEYBINDINGS
Here's list of default keybindings. To change them, see the unbind and bind commands in the COMMANDS
section.
Common: Playback
b player-next
c player-pause
x player-play
z player-prev
v player-stop
] vol +0 +1%
[ vol +1% +0
+ vol +10%
= vol +10%
} vol -0 -1%
{ vol -1% -0
- vol -10%
, seek -1m
. seek +1m
h seek -5
l seek +5
left seek -5
right seek +5
mlb_click_bar player-pause
mouse_scroll_up_bar seek +5
mouse_scroll_down_bar seek -5
Common: Setting Toggles
m toggle aaa_mode
C toggle continue
M toggle play_library
o toggle play_sorted
r toggle repeat
^R toggle repeat_current
t toggle show_remaining_time
s toggle shuffle
f toggle follow
Common: Commands
q quit -i
^C echo Type :quit<enter> to exit cmus.
I echo {}
! push shell<space>
Common: View/Window Navigation
1 view tree
2 view sorted
3 view playlist
4 view queue
5 view browser
6 view filters
7 view settings
mouse_scroll_up_title left-view
mouse_scroll_down_title right-view
tab win-next
^L refresh
Common: Navigation
^Y win-scroll-up
^E win-scroll-down
^B win-page-up
^F win-page-down
^U win-half-page-up
^D win-half-page-down
k win-up
j win-down
g win-top
G win-bottom
up win-up
down win-down
home win-top
end win-bottom
page_up win-page-up
page_down win-page-down
mouse_scroll_up win-up
mouse_scroll_down win-down
Common: Selection
i win-sel-cur
enter win-activate
mlb_click_selected win-activate
space win-toggle
D win-remove
delete win-remove
p win-mv-after
P win-mv-before
E win-add-Q
a win-add-l
y win-add-p
e win-add-q
u update-cache
U win-update-cache
Common: Filters
/ search-start
? search-b-start
n search-next
N search-prev
F push filter<space>
L push live-filter<space>
File Browser
space win-activate
backspace browser-up
i toggle show_hidden
u win-update
LIBRARY VIEW SORTING
The library view (the tree-like one; not the sorted library view, which is configured with lib_sort - see
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS), is sorted automatically using tags from the audio files.
Note: Albums which feature various artists (e.g. samplers or compilations) are treated specially. If an
album artist tag or the ID3v2 TPE2 frame is set, it will be used instead of the real artist name.
Otherwise, cmus determines if the album is a compilation (if albumartist or artist are set to Various
Artists, Various, VA, or V/A; or if compilation or partofacompilation are set to a truthy value; or if
the ID3v2 TCMP frame is set). If so, the artist is named <Various Artists>.
Note: If the filename is a URL, the artist/album tags are set to <Stream>. If it is a file, cmus sets the
artist and/or album tags to <No Name> if they are not already set. These names will be treated the same
way as other names for sorting.
In general, three levels of sorting are used in the library view: the artist name, then the album, and
finally the track itself.
First, cmus sorts alphanumerically by the value of the artist tag. If a special sorting tag is available,
its value will be used instead.
Next, cmus sorts by the album. Tracks are grouped by the album name, and the groups are sorted by the
date of the first track, then alphanumerically by the name of the album. If the date header is not set,
the album will be placed on top of the list.
Finally, each album is sorted by the track discnumber, tracknumber, then filename (not the track name).
COMMANDS
This section describes cmus' commands, which can be bound to keys and mouse events, put in configuration
files, executed in command mode, or passed to cmus-remote.
Optional parameters are in [brackets], required parameters in <angle brackets> and default key bindings
are (parenthesized).
add [-l] [-p] [-q] [-Q] <file|dir|url|playlist>
Adds file/dir/url/playlist to the specified view or the current view.
-l add to library
-p add to playlist
-q add play queue
-Q prepend to play queue
Supported files are based on the loaded input plugins.
Supported URLs: Shoutcast (http://...), CDDA (cdda://...).
Supported playlist types: plain, .m3u, .pls.
bind [-f] <context> <key> <command>
Adds a key binding.
-f overwrite existing binding
Valid contexts: common (i.e. all views), library (1-2), playlist (3), queue (4), browser (5),
filters (6)
There's one context for each view. Common is a special context on which bound keys work in every
view.
You can override specific keys in common context for a view. For example i selects the current
track in views 1-3 but in browser it is overridden to toggle showing of hidden files.
When setting custom bindings in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cmus/rc, it is recommended to use the -f option,
or else bind may fail due to an existing binding in the autosave or system-level config files.
Hint: You can press tab from command mode to expand contexts, keys, and commands.
browser-up (backspace)
Navigates the browser view to the parent directory (5). This command only makes sense to be bound
to the browser key context although it's possible to use this even if browser view is not active.
cd [directory]
Changes the current working directory. Also changes the directory displayed in the browser view.
clear [-l] [-p] [-q]
Removes all tracks from a single view.
-l clear library
-p clear playlist
-q clear play queue
If a view is not specified, the current view is used.
colorscheme <name>
Changes the color scheme. Color schemes are found in /usr/share/cmus/ or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cmus/
and have the extension .theme.
echo <arg>...
Displays the arguments on the command line.
{} it is replaced with file name of the first selected track.
factivate <user-defined-filter>...
Selects and activates the given user defined filters (displayed in the filters view). Filter names
are separated by spaces. This command is mostly useful when bound to a key to change active
filters quickly. If no arguments are provided, all filters are deactivated.
Prefix a filter name with ! to negate it.
filter <filter-expression>
Temporarily filters a library view. The filter is not saved (use fset and factivate for that).
fset <name>=<filter-expression>
Defines or replaces an existing filter and adds it to the filters view (6).
help
Shows information about help files.
invert
Inverts the marking of tracks in playlist and queue views. See mark and unmark.
live-filter <simple-filter-expression|short-filter-expression>
Like filter, but uses simple filters and shows a preview as you type. It persists even after
leaving command mode.
load [-l] [-p] <playlist>
Loads a playlist to a view.
-l load to library views
-p load to playlist view
If a view is not specified, the current view is used.
lqueue [NUM]
Queues NUM (default 1) random albums from the library. Also see tqueue.
mark <filter-expression>
Marks tracks in playlist and queue view using a filter expression.
mute
Toggles mute for the sound output.
pl-create <name>
Creates a new playlist.
pl-export <filename>
Exports the currently selected playlist. The file will be overwritten if it exists.
pl-import [filename]
Imports a playlist into the playlist view. The argument can be omitted in the file browser view.
pl-rename <name>
Renames the selected playlist.
player-next (b)
Skips to the next track.
player-pause (c)
Toggles pause.
player-pause-playback
Pauses if currently playing.
player-play [filename] (x)
Plays the given track, or, if none is specified, [re]plays the current track from the beginning.
player-prev (z)
Skips to the previous track.
player-stop (v)
Stops playback.
prev-view
Goes to the previously used view.
left-view
Goes to the to view to the left of current one (e.g. view 4 -> view 3)
right-view
Goes to view to the right of current one (e.g. view 3 -> view 4).
push [text]
Enters command mode with the command line pre-set to text. Example:
bind common w push filter artist=
Text can contain spaces, which will be used as-is (e.g. trailing spaces will be preserved). If no
text is given, it defaults to a blank command line.
This command can only be used from a keybinding.
pwd
Prints the current working directory.
quit [-i] (q, :wq)
Exits cmus.
-i ask before exiting
raise-vte
Raises the virtual terminal emulator window. Only works within a X session.
rand
Randomizes (shuffles) the tracks in the library, playlist or queue view.
refresh (^L)
Redraws the terminal window.
run <command>
Runs a command for the marked tracks OR the selected one if none marked.
By default file names are appended to the command. If the command contains {} it is replaced with
list of filenames.
Note: In view 1 you can run a command for all files in the selected album or artist.
save [-e] [-l] [-L] [-p] [-q] [file] (:w)
Saves the contents of a view to a playlist file. In extended mode (-e), also saves track metadata.
-l save library views
-L save filtered library views
-p save playlist view
-q save queue view
If no view is specified, the current one is used.
If no filename given the old filename is used. "-" outputs to stdout (works only remotely).
search-b-start
Enters backwards search mode. Cannot be used directly from command mode.
See search-start.
search-next (n)
If there is an active search, goes to the next match in the current view. See SEARCHING above.
search-prev (N)
If there is an active search, goes to the previous match in the current view. See SEARCHING above.
search-start
Enters search mode. Cannot be used directly from command mode.
This is similar to live-filter, except it is temporary and only selects the current match rather
than filtering the entire view.
seek [+-](<num>[mh] | [HH:]MM:SS)
Seeks to an absolute or relative position, which can be given in seconds, minutes (m), hours (h)
or HH:MM:SS format where HH: is optional.
Seek 1 minute backward
:seek -1m
Seek 5 seconds forward
:seek +5
Seek to absolute position 1h
:seek 1h
Seek 90 seconds forward
:seek +1:30
set <option>=<value>
Sets the value of an option. See OPTIONS.
set <option>
Display option value. Vim compatible set <option>? is also supported.
shell <command>
Executes a command via /bin/sh -c.
showbind <context> <key>
Shows a key binding.
shuffle
Reshuffles the shuffle lists for both library and playlist views.
source <filename>
Reads and executes commands from <filename>.
toggle <option>
Toggles the value of a toggle-able option (all booleans and tristate aaa_mode).
tqueue [NUM]
Queues NUM (default 1) random tracks from the library. See also lqueue.
unbind [-f] <context> <key>
Removes a key binding. Use tab to cycle through bound keys.
-f
Don't throw an error if the binding is not known
unmark
Unmarks all tracks (see mark).
update-cache [-f]
Updates the track metadata cache ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cmus/cache). By default, only deletions or
files with a changed modification time are updated.
-f
Update all files. Same as quit, rm -f $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cmus/cache, start cmus.
version
Prints the version information.
view <name or 1-7>
Changes the active view.
vol [+-]NUM[%] [[+-]NUM[%]]
Changes the volume.
If a single argument is provided, both channels are changed. Otherwise, the first/second values
are for the left/right channels respectively.
To increase or decrease volume prefix the value with - or +, otherwise value is treated as
absolute volume.
Both absolute and relative values can be given as percentage units (suffixed with %) or as
internal values (hardware may have volume in range 0-31 for example).
w
See quit. Intended for use while in command mode.
win-activate (enter)
In views, 1-3 plays the selected track. In view 5 starts, the selected file or changes to the
selected directory. In view 6, activates the selected filters. In settings view (7), changes a
binding or variable.
win-add-l [-n] (a)
Adds the currently marked or selected track(s) (views 3-4), or the currently selected
file/directory (view 5), to the library.
Analogous to :add -l
-n
Don't move the selection to the next item.
win-add-p [-n] (y)
Adds the currently marked or selected track(s) (views 1-2, 4), or the currently selected file or
directory (view 5), to the marked playlist.
Analogous to :add -p
-n
Don't move the selection to the next item.
win-add-Q [-n] (E)
Prepends the currently marked or selected track(s) (views 1-3), or the currently selected file or
directory (view 5), to the play queue.
Analogous to :add -Q
-n
Don't move the selection to the next item.
win-add-q [-n] (e)
Adds the currently marked or selected track(s) (views 1-3), or the currently selected file or
directory (view 5), to the play queue.
Analogous to :add -q
-n
Don't move the selection to the next item.
win-bottom (G, end)
Goes to bottom of the current window.
win-down [NUM] (j, down)
Goes down NUM (default 1) rows in the current window.
win-half-page-down (^D)
Goes down half a page in the current window.
win-half-page-up (^U)
Goes up half a page in the current window.
win-mv-after (p)
Moves the marked tracks below the selected track. If no tracks are selected, selects the previous
track. If no tracks are marked, moves the selected track up by one. This command works in the
playlist and queue views.
win-mv-before (P)
Moves the marked tracks above the selected track. If no tracks are selected, selects the previous
track. If no tracks are marked, moves the selected track down by one. This command works in the
playlist and queue views.
win-next (tab)
Activates the next window (i.e. tree/list). Only relevant in view 1.
win-page-bottom
Goes to the bottom of the visible part of the current window.
win-page-down (^F, page_down)
Goes to down one page in the current window.
win-page-middle
Goes to the middle of the visible part of the current window.
win-page-top
Goes to the top of the visible part of the current window.
win-page-up (^B, page_up)
Goes up one page in the current window.
win-remove (D, delete)
Removes the selected entry. For tracks, no confirmation is required. For playlists (view 3), files
(view 5), filters (view 6) and bindings (view 7) user must confirm the action.
win-scroll-down (^E)
Scrolls the current window one row downwards.
win-scroll-up (^Y)
Scrolls the current window one row upwards.
win-sel-cur (i)
Selects the current track (position in library or playlist, not necessarily same as the currently
playing track). Works only in views 1-3, does nothing in other views.
win-toggle (space)
Expands albums in library view (1), marks tracks in views 2-4, sets the marked playlist in view 3,
toggles selection of a filter in view 6, or toggles a variable's value in view 7.
win-top (g, home)
Goes to top of the current window.
win-up [NUM] (k, up)
Goes up NUM (default 1) rows in the current window.
win-update (u)
Checks the modification time of the files in the library, and updates metadata for changed files.
Removes non-existent files from the library.
Reloads contents of directory in the browser view.
Only works in views 1-2 and 5, does nothing in other views.
win-update-cache [-f]
Same as update-cache, but only for marked / selected tracks. Only works in views 1-2, does nothing
in other views.
wq
See quit. Intended for use from command mode.
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
This section describes configuration options used by cmus.
These options can be changed using the set and toggle commands. Default values are (parenthesized), and
the possible values are in [brackets].
auto_expand_albums_follow, auto_expand_albums_search, auto_expand_albums_selcur (true)
Always expand an artist and select the album when following the currently played track or
performing actions such as "search" or "go to current track". This option is tightly coupled to
the show_all_tracks option. Any "auto_expand_albums_* = false" implies "show_all_tracks = true".
auto_reshuffle (true)
Reshuffle a playlist when the end of a shuffled list is reached.
aaa_mode (all) [all, artist, album]
Defines what tracks should be played in the library view. Not used in the other views.
For example, if set to artist, the player behaves like there were only the files of the currently
playing artist in the library.
altformat_current [Format String]
Alternative format string for the line displaying currently playing track.
Note: If empty, format_current is used instead.
altformat_playlist [Format String]
Alternative format string for the list views (2-4).
Note: if empty, format_playlist is used instead.
altformat_title [Format String]
Alternative format string the for terminal title.
Note: not all terminals support changing window title.
Note: if empty, format_title is used instead.
altformat_trackwin [Format String]
Alternative format string for the tree view's (1) track window.
Note: if empty, format_trackwin is used instead.
buffer_seconds (10) [1-300]
Size of the player buffer in seconds.
color_cmdline_bg (default) [Color]
Command line background color.
color_cmdline_fg (default) [Color]
Command line foreground color.
color_cmdline_attr (default) [Attributes]
Command line attributes.
color_error (lightred) [Color]
Color of error messages displayed on the command line.
color_info (lightyellow) [Color]
Color of informational messages displayed on the command line.
color_separator (blue) [Color]
Color of the separator line between windows in view (1).
color_statusline_bg (gray) [Color]
Status line background color.
color_statusline_fg (black) [Color]
Status line foreground color.
color_statusline_attr (default) [Attributes]
Status line attributes.
color_titleline_bg (blue) [Color]
Background color of the line displaying currently playing track.
color_titleline_fg (white) [Color]
Foreground color of the line displaying currently playing track.
color_titleline_attr (default) [Attributes]
Attributes of the line displaying currently playing track.
color_win_bg (default) [Color]
Window background color.
color_win_cur (lightyellow) [Color]
Color of currently playing track.
color_win_cur_attr (default) [Attributes]
Currently playing track attributes.
color_win_cur_sel_bg (blue) [Color]
Background color of the selected row which is also the currently playing track in active window.
color_win_cur_sel_fg (lightyellow) [Color]
Foreground color of the selected row which is also the currently playing track in active window.
color_win_cur_sel_attr (default) [Attributes]
Attributes of the selected row which is also the currently playing track in active window.
color_win_dir (lightblue) [Color]
Color of directories in browser.
color_win_fg (default) [Color]
Window foreground color.
color_win_attr (default) [Attributes]
Window attributes.
color_win_inactive_cur_sel_bg (gray) [Color]
Background color of the selected row which is also the currently playing track in inactive window.
color_win_inactive_cur_sel_fg (lightyellow) [Color]
Foreground color of the selected row which is also the currently playing track in inactive window.
color_win_inactive_cur_sel_attr (default) [Attributes]
Attributes of the selected row which is also the currently playing track in inactive window.
color_win_inactive_sel_bg (gray) [Color]
Background color of selected row in inactive window.
color_win_inactive_sel_fg (black) [Color]
Foreground color of selected row in inactive window.
color_win_inactive_sel_attr (default) [Attributes]
Attributes of selected row in inactive window.
color_win_sel_bg (blue) [Color]
Background color of selected row in active window.
color_win_sel_fg (white) [Color]
Foreground color of selected row in active window.
color_win_sel_attr (default) [Attributes]
Attributes of selected row in active window.
color_win_title_bg (blue) [Color]
Background color of window titles (topmost line of the screen).
color_win_title_fg (white) [Color]
Foreground color of window titles (topmost line of the screen).
color_win_title_attr (default) [Attributes]
Attributes of window titles (topmost line of the screen).
color_trackwin_album_bg (default) [Color]
Background color of the album row shown in the track window.
color_trackwin_album_fg (default) [Color]
Foreground color of the album row shown in the track window.
color_trackwin_album_attr (bold) [Attributes]
Attributes of the album row shown in the track window.
confirm_run (true)
Ask for confirmation before executing :run
continue (true)
Continue playing after current track finishes.
continue_album (true)
Continue playing next album after current album finishes.
device (/dev/cdrom)
CDDA device file.
display_artist_sort_name (false)
If enabled, always displays artist names used for sorting instead of regular ones in tree view
(e.g. "Artist, The" instead of "The Artist"), so that artists column looks alphabetically sorted.
follow (false)
If enabled, always select the currently playing track on track change.
format_current [Format String]
Format string for the line displaying currently playing track.
format_playlist [Format String]
Format string for the list views (2-4).
format_playlist_va [Format String]
Format string for the list views (2-4), if a track is assumed to be a part of compilation (see
LIBRARY VIEW SORTING for details).
Note: If empty, format_playlist is used instead.
format_statusline [Format String]
Format string for status line.
format_title [Format String]
Format string for terminal title.
Note: Not all terminals support changing window title.
format_trackwin [Format String]
Format string for the tree view's (1) track window.
format_trackwin_album [Format String]
Format string for albums in tree view's (1) track window.
format_trackwin_va [Format String]
Format string for the tree view's (1) track window, if a track is assumed to be a part of
compilation (see LIBRARY VIEW SORTING for details).
Note: If empty, format_trackwin is used instead.
format_treewin [Format String]
Format string for the tree view's (1) tree window.
format_treewin_artist [Format String]
Format string for artists in tree view's (1) tree window.
smart_artist_sort (true)
If enabled, makes the tree view sorting ignore "The" in front of artist names, preventing artists
starting with "The" from clumping together. Real artistsort tags override this option, if present.
id3_default_charset (ISO-8859-1)
Default character set to use for ID3v1 and broken ID3v2 tags.
Note: This is used only if the tag is not valid UTF-8.
icecast_default_charset (ISO-8859-1)
Default character set to use for non-UTF-8 icecast stream metadata.
Note: This is used only if the metadata is not valid UTF-8.
lib_add_filter [Filter]
Apply filter when adding files to the library. See FILTERS.
lib_sort (artist album discnumber tracknumber title filename) [Sort Keys]
Sort keys for the sorted library view (2).
mouse (false)
Enable mouse support.
Note: Mouse wheel scrolling can lag if cmus is compiled with old version of ncurses.
mpris (true)
Enable MPRIS support. See D-Bus Interface (MPRIS)
Note: This flag has no effect if cmus was compiled without MPRIS support.
output_plugin [roar, pulse, alsa, arts, oss, sndio, sun, coreaudio]
Name of output plugin.
pl_sort () [Sort Keys]
Sort keys for the playlist view (3). Empty value disables sorting and enables manually moving
tracks.
play_library (true)
Play tracks from the library instead of playlist.
play_sorted (false)
Play tracks from the library in the sorted view (2) order instead of tree view (1) order. Used
only when play_library is true.
repeat (false)
Repeat after all tracks played.
repeat_current (false)
Repeat current track forever.
replaygain (disabled) [track, album, track-preferred, album-preferred]
Enable Replay Gain.
replaygain_limit (true)
Use replay gain limiting when clipping.
replaygain_preamp (0.0)
Replay gain preamplification in decibels.
resume (false)
Resume playback on startup.
rewind_offset (5) [-1-9999]
If the position of the current track is smaller than rewind_offset, player_prev jumps to the
previous track. Otherwise, player_prev jumps to the beginning of the current track. If
rewind_offset=-1, player_prev always jumps to the previous track.
scroll_offset (2) [0-9999]
Minimal number of screen lines to keep above and below the cursor.
show_all_tracks (true)
Display all tracks of the artist when the artist is selected in the tree view. This option is
tightly coupled to the auto_expand_albums_\ options. "show_all_tracks = false" implies
"auto_expand_albums_* = true".
show_hidden (false)
Display hidden files in browser.
show_current_bitrate (false)
Display current bitrate in the status lines.
show_playback_position (true)
Display elapsed (or remaining) time in the status line. Can be disabled to e.g. not trigger tmux's
activity monitor.
show_remaining_time (false)
Display remaining time instead of elapsed time.
shuffle (false)
Play in shuffled order. Shuffle works in the library views (1-2) and playlist view (3).
skip_track_info (false)
Don't load metadata when adding tracks. Useful when using network file system and having huge
amount of files. Tags can be loaded using 'update-cache' or 'win-update-cache' commands.
softvol (false)
Use software volume control.
Note: You should probably set this to false when using ao as output_plugin to output to wav files.
softvol_state (100 100)
Used to save left and right channel values for software volume control. Two integers in range
0..100 separated by a space. This option is not usually changed directly since vol command does
same thing if softvol is true.
start_view (tree) [tree, sorted, playlist, queue, browser, filters, settings]
Specify the view that gets shown when cmus starts.
status_display_program () [command]
This command, if set, is run for every status change. It can be used to display currently playing
track on desktop background or panel for example. See
/usr/share/doc/cmus/examples/cmus-status-display.
stop_after_queue (false)
Stop playback when end of play queue is reached.
time_show_leading_zero (true)
Pad durations of less than 10 minutes with a leading 0.
tree_width_percent (33) [1-100]
Percentage of the window width to use for left pane.
tree_width_max (0) [0-9999]
Restrict the size calculated from tree_width_percent. 0 disables this option.
This affects the tree in the library view and the playlist list in the playlist view.
Note that this value will be further constrained by the window width and/or the minimum tree size.
For example, to set a fixed size of 60 columns:
set tree_width_percent=100
set tree_width_max=60
Or, to be 33% wide, but at most 60 columns
set tree_width_percent=33
set tree_width_max=60
Or, to always be 33% wide where possible (the default behavior):
set tree_width_percent=33
set tree_width_max=0
wrap_search (true)
Controls whether the search wraps around the end.
Colors
Color is an integer in range -1..255.
The following color names are recognized:
Terminal's default color, -1
default
Fg & bg, 0..7
black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, gray
Fg, 8..15
darkgray, lightred, lightgreen, lightyellow, lightblue, lightmagenta, lightcyan, white
Attributes
Attributes is a set of names "standout|bold":
default does nothing, if you put it with other attributes the other attributes will be used.
standout makes the text standout.
bold makes the text bold.
reverse reverses the text colors.
underline underlines the text.
blink makes the text blink.
Format Strings
Format strings control display of tracks in library, playlist and play queue views.
Note: altformat_* options are used when there are no tags available.
Special Keys:
%a %{artist}
%A %{albumartist}
%l %{album}
%D %{discnumber}
%n %{tracknumber}
%X %{play_count}
%t %{title}
%g %{genre}
%c %{comment}
%y %{date}
%d %{duration}
%f %{path}
%F %{filename}
%{albumduration}
%{originaldate}
%{maxdate}
%{bpm}
%{bitrate}
%{codec}
%{codec_profile}
%{rg_track_gain}
%{rg_track_peak}
%{rg_album_gain}
%{rg_album_peak}
%{arranger}
%{composer}
%{conductor}
%{lyricist}
%{performer}
%{remixer}
%{label}
%{publisher}
%{work}
%{opus}
%{partnumber}
%{part}
%{subtitle}
%{media}
%=
start align right (use at most once)
%%
literal %
%?
literal ?
You can use printf style formatting (width, alignment, padding). As an extension, the width can have a
%-suffix, to specify a percentage of the terminal width.
To see current value of an option type :set option=<TAB>.
Note: With %{bitrate}, you'll have to append the unit yourself, as mentioned in the example below.
You can use conditional operator %{?CONDITION?A[?B]}. CONDITION has the same syntax as filters, except
for unsupported short and simple expressions and supported keys comparison (e.g. artist=albumartist). Its
keys are:
format strings' special keys
configuration options
keyword stream [boolean] (returns true if track is a stream)
keyword va [boolean] (returns true if track's album is compilation)
Else part can be skipped. A and B can contain string literals in " or '. A and B can be empty.
Examples:
:set format_trackwin= %02n. %t %{?y?(%y)}%= %d
:set format_current= %n. %-30t %40F (%y)%= %d
:set format_current= %a - %l - %02n. %t%= %{bitrate}Kbps %g %y
:set format_playlist= %f%= %6{rg_track_gain} dB %8{rg_track_peak}
:set format_playlist= %-25%a %-15%l %3n. %t%= %y %d
Sort Keys
Sort option (lib_sort, pl_sort) value is space separated list of the following sort keys:
artist, album, title, tracknumber, play_count, discnumber, date, originaldate, genre, comment,
albumartist, filename, filemtime, bpm, bitrate, codec, media, codec_profile, rg_track_gain,
rg_track_peak, rg_album_gain, rg_album_peak
Note: Adding a '-' in front of the key will reverse the sort order.
PLUGIN OPTIONS
dsp.alsa.device
PCM device for ALSA plugin, usually "default".
mixer.alsa.channel
Mixer channel for ALSA Plugin, usually "pcm", "master" or "headphone". To see all possible values
run "alsamixer" or "amixer".
mixer.alsa.device
Mixer device for ALSA plugin, usually "default".
mixer.pulse.restore_volume
Restore the volume at startup using PulseAudio. Otherwise, cmus sets the volume to 100%, which
does not mix well with "flat volumes" feature of PA. Defaults to "1"; set to "0" to turn off.
dsp.ao.buffer_size
The audio buffer size; defaults to 16kB, but you may want to try bigger values if you experience
buffer under-runs.
dsp.ao.device_interface
Device interface for libao plugin to request a specific playback device/sink/output. This name
will be in a format determined by the specific driver backend.
dsp.ao.driver
Output driver for libao plugin. Example values: "alsa09", "esd", "irix", "oss", "sun", "aixs",
"wav".
Note: of the file output drivers only "wav" is supported.
dsp.ao.wav_counter
Counter used for making filename. Used only if dsp.ao.driver is "wav". For example if this is 1
and dsp.ao.wav_dir is "/home/user" then PCM data is outputted to "/home/user/01.wav". This counter
is incremented every time playback is stopped.
Note: You probably want to set continue to false (press C), otherwise playback is not stopped
between tracks and all PCM data is outputted to one wav file (useful if you want to join files).c
Also unsetting shuffle and repeat might be good idea.
dsp.ao.wav_dir
Output directory for libao plugin; default to the home directory. Used only if dsp.ao.driver is
"wav".
dsp.coreaudio.device
Device for Core Audio output. Leave empty for default.
dsp.coreaudio.enable_hog_mode
Set hog mode for the device. The default value is false.
dsp.coreaudio.sync_sample_rate
Synchronize the device sample rate with the player, so no interpolation will be applied to the
stream.
dsp.jack.server_name
Connect to jackd with this name. Leave empty for default.
dsp.jack.resampling_quality
The re-sampling quality. 0 is low quality but fast, 1 is medium quality, 2 (default) is high
quality but more CPU intensive. This option is only available if cmus was compiled with
libsamplerate support.
input.cdio.cddb_url
CDDB URL (default: freedb.freedb.org:8880). Uses HTTP if prefixed with "http://" (e.g.:
http://freedb.musicbrainz.org:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi). Set to an empty string to disable CDDB lookup
completely.
input.*.priority
Sets the priority of the input plugin. If multiple plugins can play a file, the plugin with the
higher priority is chosen. If the priority is 0, the plugin is disabled.
dsp.oss.device
PCM device for OSS plugin, usually /dev/dsp.
mixer.oss.channel
Mixer channel for OSS Plugin, "pcm" or "master".
mixer.oss.device
Mixer device for OSS plugin, usually /dev/mixer.
dsp.roar.server
Address of RoarAudio server. Defaults to internal defaults. Can be UNIX, TCP/IP or DECnet address.
dsp.roar.role [music, background_music, ...]
Role for stream. May be used by the server to apply additional defaults.
dsp.sun.device
PCM device for Sun plugin, usually /dev/audio.
mixer.sun.channel
Mixer channel for Sun Plugin, usually "master".
mixer.sun.device
Mixer device for Sun plugin, usually /dev/mixer.
PLAYING AUDIO DISCS
If the cdio input plugin is enabled, CDs and CD images can be played by setting the device option to a
device file (e.g. /dev/cdrom) or an image file (e.g. ~/cd.cue). Then, add a new track using the CDDA URL
scheme:
:add cdda://2
To add the entire disc, use cdda:// (without track number). This only works for audio discs, not images.
Adding track ranges is also possible (cdda://1-3).
To add images without changing the device option, include the image path in the URL:
:add cdda:///path/to/cd.cue/2-5
The metadata will be read from CD-Text, and if not available, looked up from a CDDB server (see
input.cdio.cddb_url).
FILTERS
Filters are used mostly for filtering contents of library views (1 & 2). Filters do not change the actual
library content, i.e. the :save command will still save all tracks to playlist file whether they are
visible or not.
Types
There are three types of filter expressions, each offering more expressiveness:
simple e.g. beatles
short e.g. ~a beatles (!~y1960-1965 | ~d>600)
long e.g. artist="*beatles*"&album="R*"
Simple expressions are only available using live-filter. For other filter commands the type is
auto-detected, so both short and long expressions can be used.
Long expressions are lists of built-in filters or user defined filters separated with & (and) or | (or).
Parenthesises can be used group subexpressions and ! negates result of the expression following it. The
same is true for short expressions, but they can only consist of built-in filters. Also, (and)-grouping
is done implicitly.
Strings
long filename, artist, albumartist, album, title, genre, comment, codec, codec_profile, media
Comparators: = and != (not equal)
short ~f, ~a, ~A, ~l, ~t, ~g, ~c
Comparators: none
Integers
long discnumber, tracknumber, date (year), originaldate (year), duration (seconds), bitrate
Comparators: <, <=, =, >=, >, !=
short ~D, ~n, ~y, ~d
Comparators: <, >
Ranges: a-b (>=a&<=b), -b (<=b), a- (>=a)
Booleans
tag (true if track has tags), stream (true if track is a stream)
For short expressions: ~T and ~s
Defining Filters
Filters can be defined with the fset command. User defined filters appear in the filters view (6).
Create a new filter which name is ogg and value filename="*.ogg"
:fset ogg=filename="*.ogg"
Filter ogg and mp3 files from the 90s. Note the use of user defined filter ogg.
:fset 90s-ogg-mp3=date>=1990&date<2000&(ogg|filename="*.mp3")
Activating Filters
factivate changes the visible contents of the library (views 1-2).
Activate user defined filters ogg and missing-tags
:factivate ogg missing-tags
Like above but negate value of ogg filter.
:factivate !ogg missing-tags
Alternatively, you can filters by pressing space in view 6, then activate them by pressing enter.
Throw-away Filters
The live-filter and filter commands are useful when you want to use a filter without saving it. It
changes the visible contents of the library (views 1-2). filter unactivates all filters in the filters
view, while live-filter is applied in addition to all currently activated filters. It persists even after
leaving command mode.
Filter all rock (anything with rock in genre tag) music from 80s-
:filter date>=1980&genre="*rock*"
:filter ~y1980-~grock
Filter all artists/albums/titles containing "sleepwalking"
:live-filter sleepwalking
Selecting Tracks Matching a Filter
Mark (select) all tracks with duration less than 2 minutes
:mark duration<120
Mark (select) all tracks which have been played at least once
:mark play_count>=1
These commands work in views 2-4.
FILES
cmus reads its configuration from 3 different places in the following order:
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cmus/autosave
This file is automatically created and overwritten by cmus on exit, so it should not be modified
by hand.
/usr/share/cmus/rc
This file contains the default configuration.
If the autosave file did exist, this file is read instead.
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cmus/rc
This file is the static configuration file.
This file is read immediately after the autosave file, and is never modified by cmus. You can
override auto-saved settings in this file. This file is not limited to options; it can contain
other commands too.
Color Schemes
Color schemes (*.theme) are located in /usr/share/cmus or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cmus. You can switch them
using the :colorscheme command with the basename of the theme file.
Note: Colors are not automatically updated when the theme file changes since they are saved in the
autosave file.
Examples
Example status display scripts (see status_display_program) can be found in /usr/share/doc/cmus/examples.
ENVIRONMENT
CMUS_CHARSET
Override the character set used by cmus (default: `locale charmap`).
CMUS_HOME
Override the config directory (default: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cmus).
CMUS_SOCKET
Override the socket path (default: $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/cmus-socket).
HOME
Full path of the user's home directory.
http_proxy
URI of the proxy to use for HTTP requests.
USER
Name of the user running cmus.
USERNAME
Fallback for USER.
D-Bus Interface (MPRIS)
cmus provides a D-Bus interface following the Media Player Remote Interfacing Specification (MPRIS) v2:
https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/mpris-spec/
It exposes the /org/mpris/MediaPlayer2 object path with the interfaces org.mpris.MediaPlayer2 and
org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player. The unique bus name is org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.cmus.
Metadata fields follow the naming convention of the specification:
https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/mpris-spec/metadata/
Additionally, the cmus:stream_title field is exposed if appropriate.
BUGS
The file exists only if you configured cmus with the maximum debug level (./configure DEBUG=2).
After a crash, the last lines of ~/cmus-debug.txt may contain useful information.
Feature requests and bug reports should go to the GitHub issue tracker:
https://github.com/cmus/cmus/issues
SEE ALSO
cmus-tutorial(7), cmus-remote(1)
AUTHORS
cmus was mainly written by Timo Hirvonen <tihirvon@gmail.com>. Other contributors are listed in the
AUTHORS file.
This man page was written by Frank Terbeck <ft@bewatermyfriend.org>, Timo Hirvonen <tihirvon@gmail.com>,
Clay Barnes <clay.barnes@gmail.com>, and Patrick Gaskin <patrick@pgaskin.net>.