GST123(1)

💖 GST123(1) — the manual page, but make it a vibe 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the gst123 man page, except I'm your friend who actually reads the docs and tells you what's up. it's a command line media player, it's free software, it's under the GNU LGPL, and it's genuinely iconic. let's go 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

gst123 — a GStreamer based command line media player. that's the whole name, that's the whole vibe, periodt. 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

gst123 [OPTIONS] [<URIS>...]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so like, gst123 is a command line based media player, released as free software under the GNU LGPL. no GUI, no drama, just you, your terminal, and your files. main character energy fr fr. ✨

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👑 OPTIONS 👑

• -h, --help — shows you a brief help message. short and sweet, we love a low-effort queen 🫶
• --version — prints out the gst123 version. just the number, nothing extra.
• --full-version — prints out the gst123 version and the versions of the libraries it uses. the receipts, basically. 💅
• -r, --repeat — repeat the playlist forever. forever forever. no cap. 🔁
• -z, --shuffle — shuffle the playlist before playing it. chaos, but make it pre-planned.
• -Z, --random — play files in random order forever. yes, different from -z, bestie. read the capitals. 🙈
• -x, --novideo — do not play the video stream. audio only, we're being mysterious today.
• -f, --fullscreen — use fullscreen video output. cinema. 🍿
• -@ playlist, --list playlist — load the files to play from the playlist file.
• -a driver[=device], --audio-output driver[=device`]* — set the audio output driver (and device). check the audio drivers section below for the deets. 🔥
• -v plugin, --visualization plugin — use a plugin for visualization while audio plays. pretty colors, your music but make it a screensaver 🌈
• -V, --visualization-list — show a list of the available audio visualization plugins that you can use with the -v option. window shopping, but for plugins.
• -k n, --skip n — skip the first n seconds of each file. intro? don't know her.
• --volume volume — set the initial replay volume (in percent).
• -s subtitle_file, --subtitle subtitle_file — set the subtitle file to use for video playback. 🎬
• -q, --quiet — don't display any messages (title, codec, ui feedback). silence, but the good kind.
• --verbose — print the GStreamer pipeline used to play files. nerd mode: activated 🧚

ok so besides filenames, playlist entries or command line args can be directories. in that case, gst123 recursively searches the directory and plays all the files contained in it. it's giving "let me handle it" 💜

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💀 INTERRUPT 💀

you can abort gst123 at any time by pressing Ctrl-C. if you're playing multiple files, this will stop the current file and begin playing the next one. so like, it skips, it doesn't quit, sneaky.

if you want to abort playing immediately instead of skipping to the next file, press Ctrl-C within the first second of the playback of a new file. timing is everything, bestie 😭

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🎀 KEYBOARD INPUT 🎀

• cursor left/right — seek 10 seconds backwards/forwards.
• cursor down/up — seek 1 minute backwards/forwards.
• page down/up — seek 10 minute backwards/forwards. that's a lot of minutes.
• space — toggle pause.
• +/- — increase/decrease volume by 10%.
• m — toggle mute/unmute.
• f — toggle fullscreen display (only for videos).
• 1 — normal video size (only for videos).
• A/a — increase/decrease opacity by 10% (only for videos). translucent era 💅
• s — toggle subtitles (only for videos).
• r — toggle playback direction, forward or reverse. going backwards is a lifestyle.
• [ ] — change playback rate to 10% faster/slower.
• { } — change playback rate to 2x faster/slower.
• Backspace — change playback rate to normal speed, 1x. reset, breathe, we're fine 🫶
• n — play next file.
• q — quit gst123.
• ? — show keyboard help.

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🌟 CONFIGURATION FILE 🌟

during start, gst123 will read ~/.config/gst123rc, if this file exists. empty lines and lines starting with a # are ignored. the following commands are available:

audio_output <driver>[=<device>]

this sets the default audio driver and the default audio device. it has the same effect as the -a / --audio-output command line option. when both are present — a config file entry and the command line option — the value from the command line option will be used. read the section on audio drivers for details on the available drivers and syntax. command line stays winning, as it should. 👑

visualization <visualization_plugin>

set the default visualization plugin for audio files. this setting has the same effect as the -v / --visualization command line option. when both are present, the value from the command line option will be used. same rule, same queen. ✨

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🎧 AUDIO DRIVERS 🎧

• alsa=<device> — the ALSA driver; when used without an argument (as in -a alsa), the ALSA driver uses the default device. to select an ALSA device, it's possible to use for example alsa=hw:1 (which will use the hw:1 ALSA device).
• oss=<device> — the OSS driver; when used without an argument (as in -a oss), the OSS driver uses the default device. the device can be specified using for example oss=/dev/dsp1 (which would use the OSS device /dev/dsp1).
• pulse=<device> — the PulseAudio driver. this driver optionally accepts a device name using the pulse=<device> syntax.
• jack — the JACK driver. device selection is not supported in this case. sorry bestie.
• none — dummy output driver, will not output any audio. silent treatment, but on purpose 💀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

gst123 Website (http://space.twc.de/~stefan/gst123.php) — go say hi, it's literally right there.

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and that's the whole page, no crumbs left 💖 this lil masterpiece is dated 08/08/2023 and it's GST123(1), so jot that down. slay, go play some media, ily 🫶✨