Skip to main content

Ampache API

The Ampache API Provides methods for pulling out it's meta data in the form of simple XML (and JSON!) documents. This was originally created for use by Amarok, but there is no reason it couldn't be used to create other front-ends to the Ampache data.

Access to the API is controlled by the Internal Access Control Lists. Currently all requests are limited to a maximum of 5000 results for performance reasons. To get additional results pass offset as an additional parameter.

If you have any questions or requests for this API please submit a Feature Request. All dates in the API calls should be passed as ISO 8601 dates.

News​

Ampache7 is here!

The good news is that API6 will remain as the primary API for the next major version. This means NO breaking changes for the API!

API6 will continue to be extended and developed as normal.

Archived Version Documentation​

After each release, a documentation page will be created to allow pruning old features from the current version.

Ampache supports the last major release of each API version. You can also check out the past releases page for some historical detail but DO NOT use these pages as a guide for API development.

API Changelog​

Take a look at the API Changelog to keep an eye on changes between versions

Before you begin​

Ampache 5.2.0+ supports multiple API versions. This means that you can send your handshake with a specific version (e.g. 390001, 440001, 5.2.0 or 6.0.0) you will be sent API3, API4, API5 and API6 responses in return.

To change from API3 to API5 you can send a ping with a new version parameter to update your session (or send goodbye to log off and start again.)

API3 is not recommended for use outside of running old applications and it is recommended that you turn off API versions you don't use.

Sending Handshake Request​

Multiple authentication methods are available, described in the next sections.

NOTE if you use a Bearer Token you do not need to send a handshake request.

User / Password​

The handshake is a combination of the following three things

  • Encoded Passphrase
  • Timestamp
  • Username

The key that must be passed to Ampache is SHA256(TIME+KEY) where KEY is SHA256('PASSWORD'). Below is a PHP example

$time = time();
$key = hash('sha256', 'mypassword');
$passphrase = hash('sha256', $time . $key);

Once you've generated the encoded passphrase, you can call the following URL (localhost/ampache is the location of your Ampache installation)

http://localhost/ampache/server/xml.server.php?action=handshake&auth=PASSPHRASE&timestamp=TIME&version=6.0.0&user=USER

Api Key​

The key that must be passed to Ampache is the API Key generated for a specific user (none by default, only the administrator can generate one). Then call the following URL (localhost/ampache is the location of your Ampache installation):

http://localhost/ampache/server/xml.server.php?action=handshake&auth=API_KEY&version=6.0.0

If you are using Ampache 4.0.0 and higher; the key can be passed to Ampache using SHA256(USER+KEY) where KEY is SHA256('APIKEY'). Below is a PHP example

$user = 'username';
$key = hash('sha256', 'myapikey');
$passphrase = hash('sha256', $user . $key);

HTTP Header Authentication​

Ampache supports sending your auth parameter to the server using a Bearer Token.

The auth parameter does not need to be sent with your URL. We will check your header for a token first

GET https://demo.ampache.dev/server/json.server.php?action=handshake&version=6.0.0 HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer 000111112233334444455556667777788888899aaaaabbbbcccccdddeeeeeeff

Ampache scheme​

To standardize how to transfer Ampache connection information, the following Ampache scheme is defined.

ampache://authentication@hostname[:port]/subdirectory[#parameters]

for example:

  • ampache://myuser:mypwd@localhost/ampache
  • ampache://yourapikey@localhost:993/ampache#ssl=true

Stream Token's​

Ampache6+ allows you to create a Stream Token for a user.

The biggest bonus here is that these static tokens let you can create links that avoid the risk of the session expiring and don't require a handshake to create a session.

Once a user has been given a streaming token; all Democratic, Song, Podcast Episode and Video streams will use this session token.

e.g. https://music.com.au/play/index.php?ssid=supercoolstreamingtoken&type=song&oid=1511&uid=1&player=api&name=The%20Smashing%20Pumpkins%20-%20Wound.flac

This token does not allow a user to do anything except stream music and it requires an Admin to create the token for the user.

Application Name​

By default Ampache uses USER_AGENT as application name but this could also be defined through http query string. Add &client=YourAppName to override the application name. This parameter also works on stream sessions.

Geolocation​

  • Latitude
  • Longitude
  • Place name

Optionally, you can also provide geolocation information &geo_latitude=$latitude&geo_longitude=$longitude, with an optional place name if you already know coordinates match &geo_name=$placename.

Result​

If your authenticated User and IP match a row in the Access List the following will be returned.

For XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<root>
  <auth><![CDATA[cfj3f237d563f479f5223k23189dbb34]]></auth>
  <api><![CDATA[6.0.0]]></api>
  <session_expire><![CDATA[2022-08-17T04:34:55+00:00]]></session_expire>
  <update><![CDATA[2021-07-21T02:51:36+00:00]]></update>
  <add><![CDATA[2021-08-03T00:04:14+00:00]]></add>
  <clean><![CDATA[2021-08-03T00:05:54+00:00]]></clean>
  <songs><![CDATA[75]]></songs>
  <albums><![CDATA[9]]></albums>
  <artists><![CDATA[17]]></artists>
  <genres><![CDATA[7]]></genres>
  <playlists><![CDATA[2]]></playlists>
  <searches><![CDATA[17]]></searches>
  <playlists_searches><![CDATA[19]]></playlists_searches>
  <users><![CDATA[4]]></users>
  <catalogs><![CDATA[4]]></catalogs>
  <videos><![CDATA[2]]></videos>
  <podcasts><![CDATA[2]]></podcasts>
  <podcast_episodes><![CDATA[13]]></podcast_episodes>
  <shares><![CDATA[2]]></shares>
  <licenses><![CDATA[14]]></licenses>
  <live_streams><![CDATA[3]]></live_streams>
  <labels><![CDATA[3]]></labels>
</root>

For JSON

{
    "auth": "cfj3f237d563f479f5223k23189dbb34",
    "api": "6.0.0",
    "session_expire": "2022-08-17T06:21:00+00:00",
    "update": "2021-07-21T02:51:36+00:00",
    "add": "2021-08-03T00:04:14+00:00",
    "clean": "2021-08-03T00:05:54+00:00",
    "songs": 75,
    "albums": 9,
    "artists": 17,
    "genres": 7,
    "playlists": 2,
    "searches": 17,
    "playlists_searches": 19,
    "users": 4,
    "catalogs": 4,
    "videos": 2,
    "podcasts": 2,
    "podcast_episodes": 13,
    "shares": 2,
    "licenses": 14,
    "live_streams": 3,
    "labels": 3
}

All future interactions with the Ampache API must include the AUTHENTICATION_TOKEN as a GET variable named auth.

Methods​

All methods must be passed as action=METHODNAME. All data methods can take an optional offset=XXX and limit=XXX. The limit determines the maximum number of results returned. The offset will tell Ampache where to start in the result set. For example if there are 100 total results and you set the offset to 50, and the limit to 50 Ampache will return results between 50 and 100. The default limit is 5000. The default offset is 0.

You can also pass it limit=none to overcome the limit limitation and return all the matching elements.

For more in depth information regarding the different api servers you can view the following documentation pages.

Auth Methods​

All Auth methods return HTTP 200 responses

  • handshake
  • goodbye
  • ping
  • register
  • lost_password Ampache 6.1.0+

Non-Data Methods​

All Non-Data methods return HTTP 200 responses

  • bookmarks
  • system_update
  • users
  • user_preferences

Data Methods​

All Data methods return HTTP 200 responses

  • advanced_search
  • albums
  • album
  • album_songs
  • artists
  • artist
  • artist_albums
  • artist_songs
  • bookmark Ampache 6.1.0+
  • bookmark_create
  • bookmark_delete
  • bookmark_edit
  • browse
  • catalogs
  • catalog
  • catalog_action
  • catalog_add
  • catalog_delete
  • catalog_file
  • catalog_folder
  • deleted_podcast_episodes
  • deleted_songs
  • deleted_videos
  • flag
  • followers
  • following
  • friends_timeline
  • genres
  • genre
  • genre_albums
  • genre_artists
  • genre_songs
  • get_bookmark
  • get_indexes
  • get_similar
  • index Ampache 6.3.0+
  • labels
  • label
  • label_artists
  • last_shouts
  • licenses
  • license
  • license_songs
  • list (Replaces get_indexes)
  • live_streams
  • live_stream
  • live_stream_create
  • live_stream_delete
  • live_stream_edit
  • now_playing Ampache 6.3.1+
  • player Ampache 6.4.0+
  • playlists
  • playlist
  • playlist_add Ampache 6.3.0+
  • playlist_add_song
  • playlist_create
  • playlist_delete
  • playlist_edit
  • playlist_generate
  • playlist_hash Ampache 6.6.0+
  • playlist_remove_song
  • playlist_songs
  • podcasts
  • podcast
  • podcast_create
  • podcast_delete
  • podcast_edit
  • podcast_episodes
  • podcast_episode
  • podcast_episode_delete
  • preference_create
  • preference_delete
  • preference_edit
  • rate
  • record_play
  • scrobble
  • search_group Ampache 6.3.0+
  • search Ampache 6.3.0+ (alias for advanced_search)
  • search_songs
  • shares
  • share
  • share_create
  • share_delete
  • share_edit
  • songs
  • song
  • song_delete
  • stats
  • system_preference
  • system_preferences
  • timeline
  • toggle_follow
  • update_art
  • update_artist_info
  • update_from_tags
  • update_podcast
  • url_to_song
  • user
  • user_create
  • user_delete
  • user_edit (Replaces user_update)
  • user_playlists Ampache 6.3.0+
  • user_preference
  • user_smartlists Ampache 6.3.0+
  • user_update
  • videos
  • video

Binary Data Methods​

All binary methods will not return XML/JSON responses. they will either return the requested file/data or an HTTP error code.

For information about about how playback works and what a client can expect from Ampache check out API Media Methods

@return (HTTP 200 OK)

@throws (HTTP 400 Bad Request)

@throws (HTTP 404 Not Found)

@throws (HTTP 416 Range Not Satisfiable)

  • download
  • get_art
  • stream

Control Methods​

All Control methods return HTTP 200 responses

  • democratic
  • localplay
  • localplay_songs

Access Levels​

Some methods have a user access level requirement. Access goes from 0-100 and is split into the following types.

  • 5: Guest
  • 25: User
  • 50: Content Manager
  • 75: Catalog Manager
  • 100: Admin

Request URL Examples​

For the purpose of this example the Ampache host is 'localhost' and the path to Ampache is /ampache

Requesting all genres whose name starts with Rock​

XML

http://localhost/ampache/server/xml.server.php?action=tags&auth=1234567890123456789012345678901&filter=Rock

JSON

http://localhost/ampache/server/json.server.php?action=tags&auth=1234567890123456789012345678901&filter=Rock

Requesting all song titles, with an offset of 5000​

XML

http://localhost/ampache/server/xml.server.php?action=songs&auth=12345678901234567890123456789012&offset=5000

JSON

http://localhost/ampache/server/json.server.php?action=songs&auth=12345678901234567890123456789012&offset=5000