cmus ☆

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Description:
Music player with an ncurses based interface

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 2.12.0@3 | Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Multimedia

Tags: music-player ncurses terminal audio command-line

Install: brew install cmus

About:
cmus is a lightweight, terminal-based music player designed for efficiency and speed. It provides a powerful ncurses interface that allows for detailed library management and playback control directly from the command line. It supports a wide variety of audio formats through plugins, making it a versatile choice for audio enthusiasts.

Key Features:

Lightweight and fast operation with minimal resource usage
Powerful vim-like keybindings for efficient navigation
Extensive format support via input plugins (FFmpeg, FLAC, etc.)
Advanced library filtering and playlist management

Use Cases:

Managing and playing large music collections on headless servers or remote machines
Using a feature-rich audio player without leaving the terminal or using a mouse
Running a stable music player on low-spec hardware or inside screen/tmux sessions

Alternatives:

mpd – mpd is a daemon-based music player that separates the server from the client, whereas cmus is a self-contained application.
moc – moc is another ncurses player, but cmus is often noted for its more advanced library management and plugin architecture.

License: GPL-2.0-or-later

Dependencies: faad2, ffmpeg@7, flac, libao, libcue, libogg, libvorbis, mad, mp4v2, ncurses, opusfile, alsa-lib, pulseaudio

Bottles available for: arm64_tahoe, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, arm64_linux, x86_64_linux

Version History

Detected	Rev	Change	Commit
Nov 17, 2024 8:37pm	0	VERSION_BUMP	61891acf
Oct 26, 2024 12:29pm	0	VERSION_BUMP	1df1f90e
Sep 13, 2024 2:30am	0	VERSION_BUMP	de0df550
Nov 27, 2023 2:34am	3	VERSION_BUMP	e34bfefa
Nov 26, 2023 8:29pm	3	VERSION_BUMP	119d0e06