Control spotify client via keyboard shortcuts

Since there's no official way to control the spotify client by keyboard, I've written a script that does that.

About the script

The script can do the following things:

1. Launch spotify when it's not running
2. Play/pause spotify client when it's running
3. Skips the song when passed the next argument
4. Goes back a song when passed the prev argument

What it actually does is that it switches to the spotify client, clicks the button in the lower left corner and then switches back.

Drawbacks

You might need to tweak the $y variable as this one assumes you have a top panel bar.

Installation

You'll need to have some packages installed. On *buntu:

sudo apt-get install wmctrl xdotool xbindkeys

Save the following script somewhere. I've got it saved as ~/scripts/play_pause_spotify.sh.

#!/bin/bash
# See if spotify is running
if [[ $( wmctrl -lx |  grep spotify.Spotify ) ]]; then
  id=$( wmctrl -lx | grep spotify.Spotify | awk '{ print $1 }' )
  y=$(( $(  wmctrl -d | head -n1 | awk '{ print $9 }' | awk -F'x' '{ print $2 }' ) ))

  # Accept bash arguments
  if   [ $1 == next ]; then
    x=88
  elif [ $1 == prev ]; then
    x=24
  else
    x=55
  fi

  # Release alt as we'll be alt+tabing back
  xdotool keyup alt
  # Don't hide spotify if it was already selected
  if [ 0x0$( xprop -root | grep '^_NET_ACTIVE_W' | awk -F'# 0x' '{print $2}' | awk -F', ' '{print $1}' ) == $id ]; then
    xdotool mousemove $x $y click 1 mousemove restore
  else
    # Switch to spotify
    wmctrl -iR $id -b add,maximized_vert,maximized_horz
    # Click on the relevant button
    xdotool mousemove $x $y click 1 mousemove restore
    # Alt+tab back to what we were doing
    xdotool keyup Shift; xdotool keydown alt key Tab; xdotool keyup alt
  fi
else
  spotify &
  notify-send -i 'spotify' 'Spotify' 'Launching spotify.'
fi

Make it executable

chmod +x ~/scripts/play_pause_spotify.sh

Usage

Play/pause spotify

~/scripts/play_pause_spotify.sh

Play next

~/scripts/play_pause_spotify.sh next

Play previous

~/scripts/play_pause_spotify.sh prev

Keybindings

You can use xbindkeys to assign shortcuts. Mine are:

"~/scripts/play_pause_spotify.sh"
  Pause

"~/scripts/play_pause_spotify.sh next"
  Shift + Pause

"~/scripts/play_pause_spotify.sh prev"
  Control + Shift + Pause