lastfm_top10

SwiftBar/xbar/bitbar plugin for displaying your week's last.fm scrobbling activity.

Selecting the artist name takes you to the relevant last.fm artist page. You can also navigate directly to your last.fm profile by selecting that menu item.

Only tested in Swiftbar -- if there are any issues in xbar or bitbar, please let me know.

Uses SFSymbols on macOS for the menubar icon. If there is a Windows or Linux bitbar equivalent, you'll probably need to substitute something else.

Version history

1.1.2: Initial public release

Rolling Top 10 Artists - Code Documentation

This Python script is a BitBar/SwiftBar/xbar plugin that displays your top 10 most-played artists from the past week using the Last.fm API.

Overview

The script fetches your Last.fm listening data and creates a menu bar display showing:

• Your top 10 artists for the past 7 days with play counts
• Number of tracks played today
• Number of tracks played this week
• A link to your Last.fm profile

Configuration Requirements

Required Edits

lastfmUsername = "joeuser"  # Replace with your Last.fm username
lastfmAPIKey = "aabbccddeeff001115524b000ccebbaa"  # Replace with your API key

Important: Create a Last.fm API key at https://www.last.fm/api/account/create

Dependencies

• Python 3
• requests library
• pickle (standard library)

Code Structure

1. Menu Bar Icon Display

print ("􀕒")  # SF Symbol for music icon
print ("---")  # BitBar separator

Displays a music note icon in the macOS menu bar.

2. Top Artists Retrieval

my_endpoint = "http://ws.audioscrobbler.com/2.0/?method=user.gettopartists&user={username}&api_key={key}&format=json&period=7day&limit=10"

• API Method: user.gettopartists
• Parameters:
  • period=7day - Gets artists from the past week
  • limit=10 - Limits results to top 10 artists
  • format=json - Returns data in JSON format

3. Artist List Display

for i in range(10):
    print ('{} ({})|href={}'.format(
        artistDict["topartists"]["artist"][i]["name"],
        artistDict["topartists"]["artist"][i]["playcount"],
        artistDict["topartists"]["artist"][i]["url"]
    ))

Outputs each artist in the format: Artist Name (play_count)|href=url

4. Track Statistics Calculation

sse = int(time.time())  # Current Unix timestamp
yesterday = sse - 86400  # 24 hours ago (86400 seconds)
lastweek = sse - 604800  # 7 days ago (604800 seconds)

Note: The comment "not y2038 compliant" refers to the Year 2038 problem where 32-bit Unix timestamps will overflow.

5. Recent Tracks Queries

Makes two additional API calls:

• Today's tracks: From yesterday's timestamp to now
• This week's tracks: From last week's timestamp to now

Uses the user.getrecenttracks API method with from parameter to filter by date range.

6. Data Persistence

SaveItForLater = {
    "artists": artistDict,
    "playedtoday": daytrax,
    "playedthisweek": weektrax
}

with open('/Users/joeuser/Documents/top10.pickle', 'wb') as f:
    pickle.dump(SaveItForLater, f)

Saves all retrieved data to a pickle file for potential use by other applications (mentioned: TRMNL).

Path to update: /Users/joeuser/Documents/top10.pickle - Change to your desired location.

Error Handling

The script includes basic error handling:

• Exit Code -1: Connection error when retrieving data from Last.fm
• Exit Code -2: JSON parsing error when decoding Last.fm response

API Rate Limiting Considerations

The script makes 3 API calls per execution:

1. Top artists for the week
2. Tracks played today
3. Tracks played this week

Configure your BitBar/xbar refresh interval accordingly to avoid hitting Last.fm's rate limits.

Output Format

The script outputs BitBar-formatted text:

• Lines with |href=URL become clickable menu items
• --- creates separator lines
• First line (with icon) appears in the menu bar

Security Note

⚠️ Warning: The API key in this code is exposed. In production:

• Store credentials in environment variables or a config file
• Add the config file to .gitignore
• Never commit API keys to version control