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Private session toggle in the TUI and GUI settings #850
Description
What
A user on Discord asked for a private session, like the one in the Spotify app. During a private session, Spotify does not share your listening activity with followers. The plays also do not change your recommendations or your taste profile. spotatui has no private session. Everything you play on the native streaming device counts against your profile.
The toggle should behave like Spotify's:
- A "Private session" row in the TUI settings screen and on the GUI Settings page.
- A lock icon in the TUI playbar and the GUI player bar during a private session.
- The private session does not survive a restart. It is runtime state only and never goes into
config.ymlorstate.yml.
Where to look
- The librespot fork:
connect/src/state.rsbuilds theDeviceInfoonce inConnectState::newand never setsis_private_session(connect.proto, field 11). The fork needs a way to change it at runtime and publish the new state.LegacyEndSong.protoandRawCoreStream.protoalso have anincognito_modefield. - The settings:
src/core/app/settings_schema.rsandsettings_apply.rsfor the row, with asetting_requirementarm forRequirement::SpotifySession. - The GUI:
gui/src/Settings.tsxandgui/src/PlayerBar.tsx. - The TUI playbar:
src/tui/ui/player.rs. - The device list:
src/infra/spotify/player.rsalready readsis_private_sessionfrom other Connect devices.
Possible solution
Add a setter in the fork that changes is_private_session on the device and sends a new PutStateRequest. Then add an Action in spotatui that calls the setter, and show the state on both frontends.
Before you write the fork part, capture what the Spotify desktop app sends when you toggle private session. The device flag alone is possibly not enough.
Also decide if a private session pauses spotatui's own listening history (Stats, streaks, recap) and Discord Rich Presence. Spotify hides your activity from friends during a private session, so a hidden Discord presence matches that.
Done when
- You can turn private session on and off in the TUI settings and in the GUI settings.
- During a private session, the official Spotify app shows the spotatui device as private.
- Plays during a private session do not appear in "Recently played".
- A restart of spotatui ends the private session.
Activity
spotatui commentedon Oct 14, 2026
🎧 spotatui triage
Auto-triaged with DeepSeek V4-Flash.
Label:
enhancementLikely area: Spotify private session / Connect device state
Summary
The issue requests adding a Spotify-style private session feature to spotatui, so that listening activity is not shared with followers and does not affect recommendations or the taste profile. The reporter wants a toggle in both the TUI settings screen and the GUI Settings page, plus a lock icon in the TUI playbar and GUI player bar while a private session is active. The private session should be runtime-only state that does not persist across restarts. The issue also raises open questions about whether the private session should pause spotatui's own listening history and Discord Rich Presence.
Key points
What would help
Possible duplicates: none found
Compared against the 56 most recently updated open issues.