Noctalia Lyrics 1.4.4

Synchronized lyrics for the Noctalia bar, with multiple MPRIS players, translation and romanization layers, configurable sources, karaoke highlighting, album artwork, and layout controls.

Plugin

Field	Value
ID	h465855hgg/lyrics
Entries	Bar widget: lyrics; panel: selector; shortcut: open_selector; service: service

Requirements

Install these commands on PATH:

• playerctl: read and control MPRIS players.
• python3: run the unified lyric-source adapter and dynamic lyric parser.
• cp: preserve local MPRIS artwork in the plugin cache.
• chmod: secures the temporary request directory before credentials are written.

Usage

Enable h465855hgg/lyrics, start its service entry, and add the lyrics bar widget. Left-click switches between lyrics and track information when display_mode is toggle; right-click pauses or resumes the selected player. When LRCLIB returns multiple matches, hover over the lyrics widget briefly to open the selector panel and apply another result. Bind the open_selector shortcut to a key combination in Noctalia's shortcuts settings, or open the selector directly through IPC:

noctalia msg panel-toggle h465855hgg/lyrics:selector

Screenshots

Double-line widget with translated or romanized lyrics:


Plugin-wide settings:


Per-widget bar settings:


Local development

Add the parent directory of this checkout as a local Noctalia source:

noctalia msg plugins source add lyrics-dev path /path/to/plugin-parent
noctalia msg plugins enable h465855hgg/lyrics
noctalia msg config-reload

Run validation after every change:

python3 .github/workflows/validate-plugins.py
noctalia plugins lint lyrics
sh lyrics/scripts/setup-deps.sh --check
cd lyrics
python3 -m py_compile lyric_sources.py krc_decode.py lrclib_lyric.py
python3 -m unittest test_lyric_sources.py

Lyrics model

Every source is normalized to lines with independent original, translation, romanization, and character-timing fields:

{
  "time": 1200,
  "duration": 1800,
  "text": "Original lyric",
  "translation": "Translated lyric",
  "romanization": "romanized lyric",
  "chars": [1200, 1500, 1800]
}

Sources

auto tries the IDs listed in lyrics_sources from top to bottom. Supported IDs are:

• lrclib: public LRCLIB search with automatic synchronized-result ranking and manual result selection.
• netease: public NetEase search, synchronized lyrics, translations, and romanization when returned.
• splayer: SPlayer's complete current lyric data, including line and word timing, translations, romanization, background lines, and duet markers. SPlayer must be running; the default API URL is http://127.0.0.1:25884. Changing this URL sends current track metadata to the configured service.
• qqmusic: public QQ Music search and lyric endpoint.
• kugou: public Kugou search and lyric download endpoint.
• qishui: user-configured HTTP endpoint supporting {title}, {artist}, and {album} placeholders.
• apple_music: Apple Music catalog and lyrics request using manually supplied developer and optional user tokens.
• spotify: Spotify search and color-lyrics request using a manually supplied access token or sp_dc.
• musixmatch: Musixmatch subtitle request using a manually supplied usertoken.
• mpris: embedded xesam:asText lyrics from the selected player.
• custom: existing generic HTTP endpoint.
• external: lyrics pushed through Noctalia IPC.

Source APIs can change or reject requests by region or account. Failure of one source in automatic mode moves to the next source without logging credentials. Album artwork uses MPRIS first, then the matched lyric source when available. LRCLIB, Qishui, and Musixmatch matches use the public iTunes Search API as an artwork fallback. Cached covers retain their detected image format and the oldest files are removed after the cache reaches 80 covers.

Credential warning

Noctalia currently exposes these as normal string settings, not secret fields. Spotify, Apple Music, Musixmatch, and Qishui credentials may therefore be stored in plaintext in Noctalia's settings. The plugin never scans browser cookies, never logs credential values, and deletes its temporary credential request file as soon as the source adapter reads it. The service applies mode 0700 to the request directory before writing any credential-bearing file.

Settings

The plugin settings control source selection and fallback order, translation language, lyric timing offset in milliseconds, MPRIS polling interval in milliseconds, double-line translation and romanization, karaoke highlighting, marquee behavior, transitions, fonts, spacing, and side padding.

Per-widget settings control the fallback glyph, artist visibility, paused-state visibility, album-cover shape and size, and primary, inactive, and secondary lyric colors. Credential and source-specific fields are shown only when their matching source is selected; source order, credentials, polling, marquee metrics, player filters, and fine layout controls are under Advanced settings.

Feature test checklist

The normal settings view contains everyday source, lyric-layer, display, font, and animation controls. Open Advanced settings for credentials, source order, polling, marquee metrics, player filters, and fine padding.

1. Language: change Noctalia's global language and reload the config. Plugin settings and runtime text follow the host language. Noctalia currently supports English and Simplified Chinese from the originally requested locale set; Japanese, Korean, and Traditional Chinese are not host language options. Close and reopen Settings, then disable and enable the plugin if the runtime tooltip still uses the previous language.
2. Chinese translation: use NetEase/QQ/Musixmatch with show_translation=true and translation_language=zh-Hans.
3. Romanization: enable show_romanization and select a NetEase/QQ track that returns romanized lyrics.
4. Sources: select each lyrics_source directly, then test custom fallback order through lyrics_sources.
5. Delay: set lyrics_offset_ms to 1000 and -1000; positive values should show the next lyric one second earlier.
6. Polling: test poll_interval_ms at 100, 500, and 2000.
7. Cover: test circle, rounded, square, and custom radius; change cover_size.
8. Double line: enable double_line and switch secondary_line_mode. On horizontal bars keep double_line_auto_fit enabled and lower double_line_height_budget if the bar clips the second line.
9. Karaoke: toggle karaoke_enabled; line transitions must continue when off.
10. Hide layers: independently disable show_translation and show_romanization.
11. Track-only: select display_mode=track; no lyric source request should run.
12. Font and double-line sizing: test font_family, primary_font_size, secondary_font_size, line_gap, font_weight, and font_style.
13. Animations: test karaoke, cascade, wave, fade, typewriter, pulse, blink, and none.
14. Layout: test padding_left, padding_right, and line_gap on horizontal and vertical bars.
15. LRCLIB selection: play a track with multiple results, briefly hover over the widget, and switch between synchronized and plain entries without changing tracks.

External protocol

Address the singleton service with:

noctalia msg plugin h465855hgg/lyrics:service all <event> '<payload>'

Supported events:

• push-lrc: synchronized or plain LRC text.
• push-json: JSON with lines or lyrics.
• push-state: also updates track, position, playing, and cover.
• clear: clears current lyrics.

MPRIS track duration and playback position are microseconds. Lyric line, duration, and character timestamps are milliseconds.