Tutorial¶

SoCo allows you to control your Sonos sound system from a Python program. For a quick start have a look at the example applications that come with the library.

zones = list(soco.discover())

sonos = SoCo(ip)
sonos.partymode()

The soco module¶

SoCo (Sonos Controller) is a simple library to control Sonos speakers

soco.discover(timeout=1, include_invisible=False)¶

Discover Sonos zones on the local network.

Return an set of visible SoCo instances for each zone found. Include invisible zones (bridges and slave zones in stereo pairs if include_invisible is True. Will block for up to timeout seconds, after which return None if no zones found.

class soco.SonosDiscovery¶

Retained for backward compatibility only. Will be removed in future releases

Deprecated since version 0.7: Use discover() instead.

static get_speaker_ips()¶

Deprecated in favour of discover()

class soco.SoCo(ip_address)¶

A simple class for controlling a Sonos speaker.

For any given set of arguments to __init__, only one instance of this class may be created. Subsequent attempts to create an instance with the same arguments will return the previously created instance. This means that all SoCo instances created with the same ip address are in fact the same SoCo instance, reflecting the real world position.

Public functions:

play -- Plays the current item.
play_uri -- Plays a track or a music stream by URI.
play_from_queue -- Plays an item in the queue.
pause -- Pause the currently playing track.
stop -- Stop the currently playing track.
seek -- Move the currently playing track a given elapsed time.
next -- Go to the next track.
previous -- Go back to the previous track.
switch_to_line_in -- Switch the speaker's input to line-in.
switch_to_tv -- Switch the speaker's input to TV.
get_current_track_info -- Get information about the currently playing
                          track.
get_speaker_info -- Get information about the Sonos speaker.
partymode -- Put all the speakers in the network in the same group.
join -- Join this speaker to another "master" speaker.
unjoin -- Remove this speaker from a group.
get_queue -- Get information about the queue.
get_artists -- Get artists from the music library
get_album_artists -- Get album artists from the music library
get_albums -- Get albums from the music library
get_genres -- Get genres from the music library
get_composers -- Get composers from the music library
get_tracks -- Get tracks from the music library
get_playlists -- Get playlists from the music library
get_music_library_information -- Get information from the music library
get_current_transport_info -- get speakers playing state
browse_by_idstring -- Browse (get sub-elements) a given type
add_uri_to_queue -- Adds an URI to the queue
add_to_queue -- Add a track to the end of the queue
remove_from_queue -- Remove a track from the queue
clear_queue -- Remove all tracks from queue
get_favorite_radio_shows -- Get favorite radio shows from Sonos'
                            Radio app.
get_favorite_radio_stations -- Get favorite radio stations.
create_sonos_playlist -- Create a new empty Sonos playlist
create_sonos_playlist_from_queue -- Create a new Sonos playlist
                                    from the current queue.
add_item_to_sonos_playlist -- Adds a queueable item to a Sonos'
                               playlist

Properties:

uid -- The speaker's unique identifier
mute -- The speaker's mute status.
volume -- The speaker's volume.
bass -- The speaker's bass EQ.
treble -- The speaker's treble EQ.
loudness -- The status of the speaker's loudness compensation.
cross_fade -- The status of the speaker's crossfade.
status_light -- The state of the Sonos status light.
player_name  -- The speaker's name.
play_mode -- The queue's repeat/shuffle settings.
queue_size -- Get size of queue.

Warning

These properties are not cached and will obtain information over the network, so may take longer than expected to set or return a value. It may be a good idea for you to cache the value in your own code.

add_item_to_sonos_playlist(queueable_item, sonos_playlist)¶

Adds a queueable item to a Sonos’ playlist

Parameters:	queueable_item – the item to add to the Sonos’ playlist sonos_playlist – the Sonos’ playlist to which the item should be added

add_to_queue(queueable_item)¶

Adds a queueable item to the queue

add_uri_to_queue(uri)¶

Adds the URI to the queue

Parameters:	uri (str) – The URI to be added to the queue

all_groups¶

Return a set of all the available groups

all_zones¶

Return a set of all the available zones

bass¶

The speaker’s bass EQ. An integer between -10 and 10.

browse(ml_item=None, start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Browse (get sub-elements) a music library item

Keyword arguments:

ml_item (DidlObject): The DidlObject to browse, if left start (int): The starting index of the results max_items (int): The maximum number of items to return full_album_art_uri(bool): If the album art URI should include the

IP address

Returns:

dict: A SearchResult object

Raises:

AttributeError: If ml_item has no item_id attribute SoCoUPnPException: With error_code='701' if the item cannot be

browsed

browse_by_idstring(search_type, idstring, start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Browse (get sub-elements) a given type

Parameters:

search_type – The kind of information to retrieve. Can be one of: ‘artists’, ‘album_artists’, ‘albums’, ‘genres’, ‘composers’, ‘tracks’, ‘share’, ‘sonos_playlists’, and ‘playlists’, where playlists are the imported file based playlists from the music library idstring – String ID to search for start – Starting number of returned matches max_items – Maximum number of returned matches. NOTE: The maximum may be restricted by the unit, presumably due to transfer size consideration, so check the returned number against the requested. full_album_art_uri – If the album art URI should include the IP address

Returns:

A dictionary with metadata for the search, with the keys ‘number_returned’, ‘update_id’, ‘total_matches’ and an ‘item_list’ list with the search results.

clear_queue()¶

Removes all tracks from the queue.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker cleared the queue.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

create_sonos_playlist(title)¶

Create a new empty Sonos playlist.

Params title:	Name of the playlist
Returns:	An instance of DidlPlaylistContainer

create_sonos_playlist_from_queue(title)¶

Create a new Sonos playlist from the current queue.

Params title:	Name of the playlist
Returns:	An instance of DidlPlaylistContainer

cross_fade¶

The speaker’s cross fade state. True if enabled, False otherwise

get_album_artists(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Convinience method for get_music_library_information() with search_type=’album_artists’. For details on remaining arguments refer to the docstring for that method.

get_albums(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Convinience method for get_music_library_information() with search_type=’albums’. For details on remaining arguments refer to the docstring for that method.

get_artists(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Convinience method for get_music_library_information() with search_type=’artists’. For details on remaining arguments refer to the docstring for that method.

get_composers(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Convinience method for get_music_library_information() with search_type=’composers’. For details on remaining arguments refer to the docstring for that method.

get_current_track_info()¶

Get information about the currently playing track.

Returns: A dictionary containing the following information about the currently playing track: playlist_position, duration, title, artist, album, position and a link to the album art.

If we’re unable to return data for a field, we’ll return an empty string. This can happen for all kinds of reasons so be sure to check values. For example, a track may not have complete metadata and be missing an album name. In this case track[‘album’] will be an empty string.

get_current_transport_info()¶

Get the current playback state

Returns: A dictionary containing the following information about the speakers playing state current_transport_state (PLAYING, PAUSED_PLAYBACK, STOPPED), current_trasnport_status (OK, ?), current_speed(1,?)

This allows us to know if speaker is playing or not. Don’t know other states of CurrentTransportStatus and CurrentSpeed.

get_favorite_radio_shows(start=0, max_items=100)¶

Get favorite radio shows from Sonos’ Radio app.

Returns: A list containing the total number of favorites, the number of favorites returned, and the actual list of favorite radio shows, represented as a dictionary with title and uri keys.

Depending on what you’re building, you’ll want to check to see if the total number of favorites is greater than the amount you requested (max_items), if it is, use start to page through and get the entire list of favorites.

get_favorite_radio_stations(start=0, max_items=100)¶

Get favorite radio stations from Sonos’ Radio app.

Returns: A list containing the total number of favorites, the number of favorites returned, and the actual list of favorite radio stations, represented as a dictionary with title and uri keys.

Depending on what you’re building, you’ll want to check to see if the total number of favorites is greater than the amount you requested (max_items), if it is, use start to page through and get the entire list of favorites.

get_genres(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Convinience method for get_music_library_information() with search_type=’genres’. For details on remaining arguments refer to the docstring for that method.

get_group_coordinator(zone_name)¶

Deprecated since version 0.8: Use group() or all_groups() instead.

get_music_library_information(search_type, start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Retrieve information about the music library

Parameters:	search_type – The kind of information to retrieve. Can be one of: ‘artists’, ‘album_artists’, ‘albums’, ‘genres’, ‘composers’, ‘tracks’, ‘share’, ‘sonos_playlists’, and ‘playlists’, where playlists are the imported file based playlists from the music library start – Starting number of returned matches max_items – Maximum number of returned matches. NOTE: The maximum may be restricted by the unit, presumably due to transfer size consideration, so check the returned number against the requested. full_album_art_uri – If the album art URI should include the IP address
Returns:	A SearchResult object
Raises:	SoCoException upon errors

NOTE: The playlists that are returned with the ‘playlists’ search, are the playlists imported from (files in) the music library, they are not the Sonos playlists.

The information about the which searches can be performed and the form of the query has been gathered from the Janos project: http://sourceforge.net/projects/janos/ Props to the authors of that project.

get_playlists(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Convinience method for get_music_library_information() with search_type=’playlists’. For details on remaining arguments refer to the docstring for that method.

NOTE: The playlists that are referred to here are the playlist (files) imported from the music library, they are not the Sonos playlists.

get_queue(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Get information about the queue

Parameters:	start – Starting number of returned matches max_items – Maximum number of returned matches full_album_art_uri – If the album art URI should include the IP address
Returns:	A Queue object

This method is heavly based on Sam Soffes (aka soffes) ruby implementation

get_sonos_playlists(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Convenience method for: get_music_library_information(‘sonos_playlists’) Refer to the docstring for that method

get_speaker_info(refresh=False)¶

Get information about the Sonos speaker.

Arguments: refresh – Refresh the speaker info cache.

Returns: Information about the Sonos speaker, such as the UID, MAC Address, and Zone Name.

get_speakers_ip(refresh=False)¶

Get the IP addresses of all the Sonos speakers in the network.

Arguments:

refresh – Refresh the speakers IP cache. Ignored. For backward compatibility only

Returns:

a set of IP addresses of the Sonos speakers.

Deprecated since version 0.8.

get_tracks(start=0, max_items=100, full_album_art_uri=False)¶

Convinience method for get_music_library_information() with search_type=’tracks’. For details on remaining arguments refer to the docstring for that method.

group¶

The Zone Group of which this device is a member.

group will be None if this zone is a slave in a stereo pair.

is_bridge¶

Is this zone a bridge?

is_coordinator¶

Return True if this zone is a group coordinator, otherwise False.

return True or False

is_visible¶

Is this zone visible? A zone might be invisible if, for example it is a bridge, or the slave part of stereo pair.

return True or False

join(master)¶

Join this speaker to another “master” speaker.

Note

The signature of this method has changed in 0.8. It now requires a SoCo instance to be passed as master, not an IP address

loudness¶

The Sonos speaker’s loudness compensation. True if on, otherwise False.

Loudness is a complicated topic. You can find a nice summary about this feature here: http://forums.sonos.com/showthread.php?p=4698#post4698

mute¶

The speaker’s mute state. True if muted, False otherwise

next()¶

Go to the next track.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully skipped to the next track.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

Keep in mind that next() can return errors for a variety of reasons. For example, if the Sonos is streaming Pandora and you call next() several times in quick succession an error code will likely be returned (since Pandora has limits on how many songs can be skipped).

partymode()¶

Put all the speakers in the network in the same group, a.k.a Party Mode.

This blog shows the initial research responsible for this: http://blog.travelmarx.com/2010/06/exploring-sonos-via-upnp.html

The trick seems to be (only tested on a two-speaker setup) to tell each speaker which to join. There’s probably a bit more to it if multiple groups have been defined.

pause()¶

Pause the currently playing track.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully paused the track.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

play()¶

Play the currently selected track.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully started playing the track.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

play_from_queue(index, start=True)¶

Play a track from the queue by index. The index number is required as an argument, where the first index is 0.

index: the index of the track to play; first item in the queue is 0 start: If the item that has been set should start playing

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully started playing the track. False if the track did not start (this may be because it was not requested to start because “start=False”)

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

play_mode¶

The queue’s play mode. Case-insensitive options are:

NORMAL – Turns off shuffle and repeat. REPEAT_ALL – Turns on repeat and turns off shuffle. SHUFFLE – Turns on shuffle and repeat. (It’s strange, I know.) SHUFFLE_NOREPEAT – Turns on shuffle and turns off repeat.

play_uri(uri=u'', meta=u'', title=u'', start=True)¶

Play a given stream. Pauses the queue. If there is no metadata passed in and there is a title set then a metadata object will be created. This is often the case if you have a custom stream, it will need at least the title in the metadata in order to play.

Arguments: uri – URI of a stream to be played. meta – The track metadata to show in the player, DIDL format. title – The track title to show in the player start – If the URI that has been set should start playing

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully started playing the track. False if the track did not start (this may be because it was not requested to start because “start=False”)

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

player_name¶

The speaker’s name. A string.

previous()¶

Go back to the previously played track.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully went to the previous track.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

Keep in mind that previous() can return errors for a variety of reasons. For example, previous() will return an error code (error code 701) if the Sonos is streaming Pandora since you can’t go back on tracks.

queue_size¶

Get size of queue

remove_from_queue(index)¶

Remove a track from the queue by index. The index number is required as an argument, where the first index is 0.

index: the index of the track to remove; first item in the queue is 0

Returns:

True if the Sonos speaker successfully removed the track

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

seek(timestamp)¶

Seeks to a given timestamp in the current track, specified in the format of HH:MM:SS or H:MM:SS.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully seeked to the timecode.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

speaker_ip¶

Retained for backward compatibility only. Will be removed in future releases

Deprecated since version 0.7: Use ip_address instead.

status_light¶

The white Sonos status light between the mute button and the volume up button on the speaker. True if on, otherwise False.

stop()¶

Stop the currently playing track.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully stopped the playing track.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

switch_to_line_in()¶

Switch the speaker’s input to line-in.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully switched to line-in.

If an error occurs, we’ll attempt to parse the error and return a UPnP error code. If that fails, the raw response sent back from the Sonos speaker will be returned.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

switch_to_tv()¶

Switch the speaker’s input to TV.

Returns: True if the Sonos speaker successfully switched to TV.

If an error occurs, we’ll attempt to parse the error and return a UPnP error code. If that fails, the raw response sent back from the Sonos speaker will be returned.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

treble¶

The speaker’s treble EQ. An integer between -10 and 10.

uid¶

A unique identifier. Looks like: RINCON_000XXXXXXXXXX1400

unjoin()¶

Remove this speaker from a group.

Seems to work ok even if you remove what was previously the group master from it’s own group. If the speaker was not in a group also returns ok.

Returns: True if this speaker has left the group.

Raises SoCoException (or a subclass) upon errors.

visible_zones¶

Return an set of all visible zones

volume¶

The speaker’s volume. An integer between 0 and 100.

exception soco.SoCoException¶

base exception raised by SoCo, containing the UPnP error code

exception soco.UnknownSoCoException¶

raised if reason of the error can not be extracted

The exception object will contain the raw response sent back from the speaker

Plugins¶

Plugins can extend the functionality of SoCo.

# create a plugin by normal instantiation
from soco.plugins.example import ExamplePlugin

# create a new plugin, pass the soco instance to it
myplugin = ExamplePlugin(soco, 'a user')

# do something with your plugin
print 'Testing', myplugin.name
myplugin.music_plugin_stop()

# get a plugin by name (eg from a config file)
myplugin = SoCoPlugin.from_name('soco.plugins.example.ExamplePlugin',
                                soco, 'some user')

# do something with your plugin
print 'Testing', myplugin.name
myplugin.music_plugin_play()

Unit and integration tests¶

There are two sorts of tests written for the SoCo package. Unit tests implement elementary checks of whether the individual methods produce the expected results. Integration tests check that the package as a whole is able to interface propertly with the Sonos hardware. Such tests are especially useful during re-factoring and to check that already implemented functionality continues to work past updates to the Sonos units’ internal software.

pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

py.test

python execute_unittests.py --modules soco --ip 192.168.0.110

python execute_unittests.py --list

python execute_unittests.py --help

python execute_unittests.py --modules foo --coverage

The data_structures sub module¶

SoCo releases¶

# Version < 0.7
for item in soco.get_queue():
    print item['title']
# Version >=0.7
for item in soco.get_queue():
    print item.title

>>> import soco
>>> d = soco.SonosDiscovery()
>>> ips = d.get_speaker_ips()
>>> for i in ips:
...        s = soco.SoCo(i)
...        print s.player_name

>>> import soco
>>> for s in soco.discover():
...        print s.player_name

soco.volume = 30
soco.volume -=3
soco.status_light = True

soco.volume(30)
soco.volume(soco.volume()-3)
soco.status_light("On")

Release Procedures¶

This document describes the necessary steps for creating a new release of SoCo.

git tag -a v0.7 -m 'release version 0.7'

git push --tags

python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel upload