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https://github.com/marioortizmanero/polybar-pulseaudio-control

A feature-full Polybar module to control PulseAudio
https://github.com/marioortizmanero/polybar-pulseaudio-control

audio control hacktoberfest manager pavolume pavucontrol polybar pulseaudio switch-sinks

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A feature-full Polybar module to control PulseAudio

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README 

        
# PulseAudio Control



A feature-full volume control module for PulseAudio. Also known as Pavolume. Main features:



* Increase/Decrease and Mute the default audio node (can be sink or source).

* Switch between nodes easily. You can also blacklist useless devices.

* Optionally enable notifications and OSD messages.

* Works as a shortcut to pavucontrol or your favorite audio manager tool.

* Highly customizable: check the [Usage](#usage) section for details.



![example](screenshots/example.png)



## Installation



### Arch



Install [`pulseaudio-control`](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/pulseaudio-control/) from the AUR with your preferred method, for example:

```

$ yay -S pulseaudio-control

```



### Other Linux



Download the [bash script](https://github.com/marioortizmanero/polybar-pulseaudio-control/blob/master/pulseaudio-control) from this repository, or extract it from [the latest release](https://github.com/marioortizmanero/polybar-pulseaudio-control/releases/latest), and put it somewhere in your `$PATH`.



#### Dependencies



[`pulseaudio`](https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/PulseAudio/) with `pactl` in your `$PATH`. You might want to have [`pavucontrol`](https://freedesktop.org/software/pulseaudio/pavucontrol/) installed to easily control pulseaudio with a GUI. The script can send notifications if enabled, for which you'll need a notification daemon like [`dunst`](https://github.com/dunst-project/dunst).



This script works with PipeWire as well, as long as your system has something like [`pipewire-pulse`](https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/pipewire-pulse/).



To be able to switch the default sinks from this script you might need to disable stream target device restore by editing the corresponding line in `/etc/pulse/default.pa` to:



```

load-module module-stream-restore restore_device=false

```



At a minimum, bash version 4 is required to run the script. You can check your bash version by running `bash --version`.



## Usage



`pulseaudio-control` is expected to be invoked from a [polybar](//github.com/polybar/polybar) module:

```ini

[module/pulseaudio-control]

type = custom/script

exec = pulseaudio-control [option...] 

```



where `action`, and (optionally) `option`s are as specified in `pulseaudio-control help`:



```

Usage: ./pulseaudio-control [OPTION...] ACTION



Terminology: A node represents either a sink (output) or source (input).



Options:

  --autosync | --no-autosync

        Whether to maintain same volume for all programs.

        Default: "no"

  --color-muted 

        Color in which to format when muted.

        Pass empty string to disable.

        Default: "6b6b6b"

  --notifications | --no-notifications

        Whether to show notifications when changing nodes.

        Default: "no"

  --osd | --no-osd

        Whether to display KDE's OSD message.

        Default: "no"

  --icon-muted 

        Icon to use when muted.

        Default: none

  --icon-node 

        Icon to use for node.

        Default: none

  --format 

        Use a format string to control the output.

        Remember to pass this argument wrapped in single quotes (`'`) instead

        of double quotes (`"`) to avoid your shell from evaluating the

        variables early.

        Available variables:

        * $VOL_ICON

        * $VOL_LEVEL

        * $ICON_NODE

        * $NODE_NICKNAME

        * $IS_MUTED (yes/no)

        Default: '$VOL_ICON ${VOL_LEVEL}%  $ICON_NODE $NODE_NICKNAME'

  --icons-volume [,...]

        Icons for volume, from lower to higher.

        Default: none

  --node-type 

        Whether to consider PulseAudio sinks (output) or sources (input).

        All the operations of pulseaudio-control will apply to one of the two.

        Pass `input` for the sources, e.g. a microphone.

        Pass `output` for the sinks, e.g. speakers, headphones.

        Default: "output"

  --volume-max 

        Maximum volume to which to allow increasing.

        Default: "130"

  --volume-step 

        Step size when inc/decrementing volume.

        Default: "2"

  --node-blacklist [,...]

        Nodes to ignore when switching. You can use globs. Don't forget to

        quote the string when using globs, to avoid unwanted shell glob

        extension.

        Default: none

  --node-nicknames-from 

        pactl property to use for node names, unless overridden by

        --node-nickname. Its possible values are listed under the 'Properties'

        key in the output of `pactl list sinks` and `pactl list sources`.

        Default: none

  --node-nickname :

        Nickname to assign to given node name, taking priority over

        --node-nicknames-from. May be given multiple times, and 'name' is

        exactly as listed in the output of `pactl list sinks short | cut -f2`

        and `pactl list sources short | cut -f2`.

        Note that you can also specify a port name for the node with

        `/`.

        It is also possible to use glob matching to match node and port names.

        Exact matches are prioritized. Don't forget to quote the string when

        using globs, to avoid unwanted shell glob extension.

        Default: none

  --listen-timeout-secs

        The listen command updates the output as soon as it receives an event

        from PulseAudio. However, events are often accompanied by many other

        useless ones, which may result in unnecessary consecutive output

        updates. This script buffers the following events until a timeout is

        reached to avoid this scenario, which lessens the CPU load on events.

        However, this may result in noticeable latency when performing many

        actions quickly (e.g., updating the volume with the mouse wheel). You

        can specify what timeout to use to control the responsiveness, in

        seconds.

        Default: "0.05"



Actions:

  help              display this message and exit

  output            print the PulseAudio status once

  listen            listen for changes in PulseAudio to automatically update

                    this script's output

  up, down          increase or decrease the default node's volume

  mute, unmute      mute or unmute the default node's audio

  togmute           switch between muted and unmuted

  next-node         switch to the next available node

  sync              synchronize all the output streams volume to be the same as

                    the current node's volume



Author:

    Mario Ortiz Manero

More info on GitHub:

    https://github.com/marioortizmanero/polybar-pulseaudio-control

```



See the [Module](#module) section for an example, or the [Useful icons](#useful-icons) section for some packs of icons.



## Module



The example from the screenshot can:



* Increase and decrease the volume on mousewheel scroll

* Mute the audio on left click

* Switch between devices on mousewheel click

* Open `pavucontrol` on right click



```ini

[module/pulseaudio-control-output]

type = custom/script

tail = true

format-underline = ${colors.cyan}

label-padding = 2

label-foreground = ${colors.foreground}



# Icons mixed from Font Awesome 5 and Material Icons

# You can copy-paste your options for each possible action, which is more

# trouble-free but repetitive, or apply only the relevant ones (for example

# --node-blacklist is only needed for next-node).

exec = pulseaudio-control --icons-volume " , " --icon-muted " " --node-nicknames-from "device.description" --node-nickname "alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo:  Speakers" --node-nickname "alsa_output.usb-Kingston_HyperX_Virtual_Surround_Sound_00000000-00.analog-stereo:  Headphones" listen

click-right = exec pavucontrol &

click-left = pulseaudio-control togmute

click-middle = pulseaudio-control --node-blacklist "alsa_output.pci-0000_01_00.1.hdmi-stereo-extra2" next-node

scroll-up = pulseaudio-control --volume-max 130 up

scroll-down = pulseaudio-control --volume-max 130 down



[module/pulseaudio-control-input]

type = custom/script

tail = true

format-underline = ${colors.cyan}

label-padding = 2

label-foreground = ${colors.foreground}



# Use --node-blacklist to remove the unwanted PulseAudio .monitor that are child of sinks

exec = pulseaudio-control  --node-type input --icons-volume "" --icon-muted "" --node-nickname "alsa_output.pci-0000_0c_00.3.analog-stereo:  Webcam" --node-nickname "alsa_output.usb-Kingston_HyperX_Virtual_Surround_Sound_00000000-00.analog-stereo:  Headphones" --node-blacklist "*.monitor" listen

click-right = exec pavucontrol &

click-left = pulseaudio-control --node-type input togmute

click-middle = pulseaudio-control --node-type input next-node

scroll-up = pulseaudio-control --node-type input --volume-max 130 up

scroll-down = pulseaudio-control --node-type input --volume-max 130 down

```



## Useful icons



Here's a list with some icons from different fonts you can copy-paste. Most have a space afterwards so that the module has a bit of spacing. They may appear bugged on your browser if the font isn't available there. Please add yours if they aren't in the list.



| Font name                                       | Volumes         | Muted            | Output icons               | Input icons |

| ----------------------------------------------- | :-------------: | :--------------: | :------------------------: | :---------: |

| [FontAwesome](https://fontawesome.com)          | `" , , "`    | `" "` or `" "` | `" "` or `" "` or ``    | `", "`    |

| [Material](https://material.io/resources/icons) | `" , , "`    | `" "` or `"󰍭 "` | `" "` or `" "` or `" "` | `"󰍬, 󰍮"`    |

| Emoji                                           | `"🔈 ,🔉 ,🔊 "` | `"🔇 "`          | `"🔈 "` or `"🎧 "`         | `"🎙️ "`      |

| Emoji v2                                        | `"🕨 ,🕩 ,🕪 "`    | `"🔇 "`          | `"🕨 "` or `"🎧 "`          | `"🎤 "`     |



Most of these can be used after downloading a [Nerd Font](https://www.nerdfonts.com/) and including it in your [Polybar config](https://github.com/polybar/polybar/wiki/Fonts). For example:



```ini

font-X = Font Awesome 5 Free: style=Solid: pixelsize=11

font-Y = Font Awesome 5 Brands: pixelsize=11

font-Z = Material Icons: style=Regular: pixelsize=13; 2

```



## FAQ



### Can I use this with a status bar other than Polybar?



The only part of this script that's tied to Polybar is the color formatting.

When muted, the dimmed color will probably not work. Please [let us know in this

issue](https://github.com/marioortizmanero/polybar-pulseaudio-control/issues/36)

if you want support for a new status bar. I'd strongly recommend you to open a

PR yourself, as it should be relatively easy!



### Does this work with PipeWire?



Yes! You only need to install the pulseaudio client on your machine. On Arch

Linux, that's

[`pipewire-pulse`](https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/pipewire-pulse/),

for example.



It won't work with other audio servers like JACK, though.



### This script uses too much CPU



We use the `pactl subscribe` command to get notified of new events that may

occur in order to refresh the output. However, the command often outputs *a lot*

of events for a simple action, like increasing the volume. Instead of refreshing

for every single line it prints, we:



1. Wait for one event

2. Update the output first

3. Continue to listen for events until a timeout ends, or until we reach a large

   enough number of them

4. Update the output again

5. Go back to step 1



This way, the first event will update quickly, and the following ones, which are

most likely unnecessary, will be ignored until some time passes. This reduces

the CPU usage, but it's not really perfect, as everyone percieves latency

differently, and it depends on the use-case.



The timer can be configured with `--listen-timeout-secs`, which has a default

value of `0.05` (50 ms). If you want less CPU usage, i.e., ignore more duplicate

events, you can bump it to, for example, `0.1` (100 ms). Or for faster refreshes

when performing multiple actions quickly, e.g., updating the volume with your

mousewheel, you can even use a smaller value.



### This script feels laggy when performing multiple actions quickly



Please refer to the previous question, as you can fix this by setting a smaller

refresh delay with `--listen-timeout-secs`.



## Sources



Part of the script and of this README's info was taken from [customlinux.blogspot.com](http://customlinux.blogspot.com/2013/02/pavolumesh-control-active-sink-volume.html), the creator. It was later adapted to fit polybar. It is also mixed with [the ArcoLinux version](https://github.com/arcolinux/arcolinux-polybar/blob/master/etc/skel/.config/polybar/scripts/pavolume.sh), which implemented the `listen` action to use less resources.



## Development



Any PRs and issues are welcome! The tests can be ran with `bats tests.bats`, preferably with the Dockerfile in this repository.