Important

we are currently working on turning monochrome into a legal, bring your own music app. please be patient with us in the time being.

Monochrome

An open-source, privacy-respecting, ad-free music app.

Website - Donate - Features - Usage - Self-Hosting - Contributing

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What is Monochrome?

Monochrome is an open-source, privacy-respecting, ad-free TIDAL web UI, built on top of Hi-Fi. It provides a beautiful, minimalist interface for streaming high-quality music without the clutter of traditional streaming platforms.

Features

Audio Quality

• High-quality High-Res/lossless audio streaming
• Support for local music files
• API caching for improved performance

Interface

• Dark, minimalist interface optimized for focus
• Animated Album Covers For Supported Albums
• High-quality Music Videos
• Customizable themes & Community Theme Store
• Accurate and unique audio visualizer
• Offline-capable Progressive Web App (PWA)
• Media Session API integration for system controls

Library & Organization

• Recently Played tracking for easy history access
• Comprehensive Personal Library for favorites
• Queue management with shuffle and repeat modes
• Native Podcast support & organization
• Playlist import from other platforms
• Public playlists for social sharing
• Smart recommendations for new songs, albums & artists
• Infinite Recommendation Radio
• Explore Page (Hot & New) for discovering newly added music and whats trending overall or within each genre

Lyrics & Metadata

• Lyrics support with karaoke mode
• Genius integration for lyrics
• Track downloads with automatic metadata embedding

Integrations

• Account system for cross-device syncing
• Customizable & Public Profiles
• Real-time Listening Parties for synced playback with friends
• Last.fm and ListenBrainz integration for scrobbling
• OAuth support (Google, Discord, GitHub, Spotify)
• Unreleased music from ArtistGrid
• Dynamic Discord Embeds
• Artist Biography + Social Links for learning more about your favorite artists
• Multiple API instance support with failover

Power User Features

• Keyboard shortcuts & Command Palette (CTRL+K) for power users

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Quick Start

Live Instance

Our Recommended way to use monochrome is through our official instance:

monochrome.tf / monochrome.samidy.com

For alternative instances, check INSTANCES.md.

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Self-Hosting

NOTE: Accounts will not work on self-hosted instances. Our Appwrite authentication system only allows authorized domains.

We had to heavily customize the authentication system and write several custom scripts to support features like SMTP and Google OAuth (which are currently bugged in Appwrite). Because of this, we can no longer provide a self-hostable accounts system.

Option 1: Docker (Recommended)

git clone https://github.com/monochrome-music/monochrome.git
cd monochrome/docker
cp .env.example .env  # or copy from .env.local
docker compose up -d

Visit http://localhost:3000

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Synology NAS Setup

This guide covers running Monochrome on a Synology NAS using Docker.

Prerequisites

• Docker Package installed on your Synology
• SSH access to your NAS (optional, for troubleshooting)

Step 1: Prepare Directories

1. Create a shared folder for Monochrome (e.g., docker/monochrome)
2. Upload the project files to this folder, or clone directly via SSH:

   cd /volume1/docker/monochrome
   git clone https://github.com/monochrome-music/monochrome.git .
   

Step 2: Configure Environment

1. Navigate to the docker folder

2. Copy the .env file (or create from .env.local):

   cd docker
   cp .env.local .env
   

3. Edit .env with your settings:

   # Port for the web interface
   MONOCHROME_PORT=3000
   
   # Enable authentication (set to true to require login)
   AUTH_ENABLED=false
   
   # Secret key - generate with: openssl rand -base64 32
   AUTH_SECRET=your-random-secret-key-here
   
   # PocketBase URL (internal Docker network)
   POCKETBASE_URL=http://pocketbase:8090
   
   # Session duration (7 days in milliseconds)
   SESSION_MAX_AGE=604800000
   
   # PocketBase Admin credentials
   PB_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@monochrome.local
   PB_ADMIN_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
   TZ=Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh  # Adjust to your timezone
   POCKETBASE_PORT=8090
   

Step 3: Start the Container

Using SSH or the Docker UI:

cd /volume1/docker/monochrome/docker
docker compose up -d

Or in Docker Desktop / Container Manager:

1. Navigate to your project folder
2. Select docker-compose.yml
3. Click "Run"

Step 4: Access the Application

• Local: http://<your-nas-ip>:3000
• External: Set up Synology Reverse Proxy (see below)

Optional: Set Up Reverse Proxy (HTTPS)

1. Go to Control Panel > Application Portal > Reverse Proxy
2. Click Create
3. Configure:
   • Source:
     • Protocol: HTTPS
     • Hostname: monochrome.yourdomain.com (your domain)
     • Port: 443
   • Destination:
     • Protocol: HTTP
     • Hostname: localhost
     • Port: 3000
4. Save and access via https://monochrome.yourdomain.com

Optional: Enable User Authentication

1. Edit .env:

   AUTH_ENABLED=true
   

2. Restart the container:

   docker compose down && docker compose up -d
   

Common Commands

# View logs
docker compose logs -f

# Restart
docker compose restart

# Update & rebuild
docker compose pull && docker compose up -d --build

# Stop
docker compose down

# Stop and remove data (WARNING: loses all user data)
docker compose down -v

# Backup PocketBase data
docker compose exec pocketbase tar czf - /pb_data > ../backup_monochrome.tar.gz

# Restore PocketBase data
docker compose exec pocketbase tar xzf - -C / < ../backup_monochrome.tar.gz

Tailscale Access

Visit http://<tailscale_server_hostname_or_ip>:3000

By default, the app uses Vite preview, which restricts access to localhost.
To allow access over Tailscale:

1. Open vite.config.js

2. Uncomment and configure the preview section:

preview: {
    host: true,
    allowedHosts: ['<your_tailscale_hostname>'], // e.g. pi5.tailf5f622.ts.net
},

3. Restart with a fresh container (if already running):

docker compose down
docker compose up -d

For development mode and advanced setups, see DOCKER.md.

Option 2: Manual Installation

Prerequisites

• Bun (Preferred) or Node.js (Version 20+ or 22+ recommended)

Local Development

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/monochrome-music/monochrome.git
   cd monochrome
   

2. Install dependencies:

   bun install
   # or
   npm install # NPM is included with Node.js
   

3. Start the development server:

   bun run dev
   # or
   npm run dev
   

4. Open your browser: Navigate to http://localhost:5173/

Building for Production

bun run build
# or
npm run build

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Usage

Basic Usage

1. Visit the Website or your local development server
2. Search for your favorite artists, albums, or tracks
3. Click play to start streaming
4. Use the media controls to manage playback, queue, and volume

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Space	Play / Pause
→	Seek forward 10s
←	Seek backward 10s
Shift + →	Next track
Shift + ←	Previous track
↑	Volume up
↓	Volume down
M	Mute / Unmute
S	Toggle shuffle
R	Toggle repeat
Q	Open queue
L	Toggle lyrics
/	Focus search
Esc	Close modals
[	Previous visualizer preset
]	Next visualizer preset
\	Toggle visualizer auto-cycle
Ctrl + K	Command Palette

Account Features

To sync your library, history, and playlists across devices:

1. Click the "Accounts" Section
2. Sign in with Google or Email
3. Your data will automatically sync across all devices

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Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Please see our Contributing Guide for:

• Setting up your development environment
• Code style and linting
• Project structure
• Before You Contribute
• Commit message conventions
• Deployment information

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Made with ❤️ by the Monochrome team

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