VibeSonic is a lightweight, self-hosted music/media server written in Go. Single binary, SQLite storage, server-rendered Bootstrap 5 templates, dark mode by default, minimal JavaScript, no external services (no Redis, no message broker, no microservices).

It implements the original Subsonic REST API through version 1.16.1, in full, plus a set of OpenSubsonic extensions, so it works with existing Subsonic/OpenSubsonic client apps, alongside a complete server-rendered web UI for browser use. See docs/subsonic-compatibility.md for the endpoint-by-endpoint matrix and docs/client-compatibility.md for real-client testing status.

Features

SQLite storage (WAL mode, foreign keys, versioned migrations)
Native authentication (Argon2id, HTTP-only session cookies, CSRF) and optional Navidrome-style external authentication via a trusted reverse-proxy header, gated on the real TCP peer address — see docs/external-auth.md
A library scanner: multiple music folders, incremental rescans, new/changed/deleted/renamed detection, bounded worker pool
Real metadata extraction via ffprobe (multi-artist/genre, MusicBrainz IDs, ReplayGain, embedded artwork/lyrics, sort fields)
Direct streaming with HTTP range support, plus real ffmpeg-backed transcoding (mp3/opus/aac) and HLS segmenting, bounded concurrency, cancelled on client disconnect
Structured lyrics: plain, line-synced, and (where the source provides it) word/syllable-level timing, exposed via the songLyrics OpenSubsonic extension and rendered in the web player with click-to-seek and active-line highlighting
Sonic similarity: real audio-feature analysis (tempo, loudness, spectral shape, chroma) computed during scanning, used for similar-track lookups and path-finding between songs
Optional MusicBrainz/Cover Art Archive metadata enrichment (off by default — VibeSonic works fully offline otherwise)
Podcasts (RSS subscriptions, bounded background downloads, restart recovery), Internet radio stations, shares (public, no-login-required links), bookmarks, and multi-device play queues
A real jukebox backed by mpv's JSON IPC — server-side playback, not a simulation; cleanly unavailable if mpv isn't installed
API keys, with the full Subsonic per-user permission model (admin/settings/stream/download/upload/playlist/cover art/comment/ podcast/share/jukebox/video-conversion roles, plus per-user music folder access)
A server-rendered, dark-mode, keyboard-friendly web UI covering browsing, search, playlists (including M3U import/export), favorites, a persistent player with shuffle/repeat and the Media Session API, and a full admin section
/healthz and /readyz

Quick start

go build -o vibesonic ./cmd/vibesonic
VIBESONIC_SESSION_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32) ./vibesonic

Then open http://localhost:8080 — on a fresh database you'll land on the setup wizard, which creates the administrator account, your first music folder, and kicks off the first scan.

ffmpeg/ffprobe should be on PATH (or pointed to via VIBESONIC_FFMPEG_PATH/VIBESONIC_FFPROBE_PATH) for metadata reading, cover art extraction, and transcoding/HLS to work. mpv should be on PATH (or pointed to via VIBESONIC_MPV_PATH) for the jukebox to be available — without it, jukeboxControl returns a clear "unavailable" error rather than pretending to work.

Point any Subsonic/OpenSubsonic client at http://<host>:8080 (base URL only, no /rest suffix — clients construct that themselves) with a VibeSonic username/password, or an API key generated from account settings.

Docker

docker compose up -d

See docker-compose.yml — mount your music directory read-only at /music and set VIBESONIC_SESSION_SECRET. Docker is convenient but never required; see docs/deployment.md for running natively.

systemd

See systemd/vibesonic.service and docs/deployment.md for install steps and reverse-proxy examples (Caddy/nginx/Traefik).

Configuration

VibeSonic is configured entirely through VIBESONIC_* environment variables — see docs/configuration.md for the full list and defaults. There is no separate config file.

Documentation

docs/architecture.md — how the pieces fit together
docs/configuration.md — every environment variable
docs/external-auth.md — trusted reverse-proxy authentication
docs/subsonic-compatibility.md — protocol endpoint/extension status
docs/client-compatibility.md — real-client testing tracker
docs/deployment.md — native/Docker/systemd/reverse-proxy deployment
docs/security.md — security-relevant design decisions
docs/backup.md — what to back up and how (SQLite WAL caveats included)

Development

go fmt ./...
go vet ./...
go test ./...

Most tests exercise real SQLite databases and, where relevant, the real ffmpeg/ffprobe binaries (skipped automatically if not installed). No mocks are used for the database.