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Quick Start

Quick Start

This guide will help you set up MiniFy and start controlling your Spotify playback in under 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

  • ✅ MiniFy installed on your system (Installation Guide)
  • ✅ A Spotify account (Free or Premium)
  • ✅ Spotify playing on some device (phone, computer, smart speaker, etc.)

Getting Started

  1. Launch MiniFy

    Open MiniFy from your applications menu or desktop shortcut.

  2. Connect to Spotify

    On first launch, you’ll see a “Connect to Spotify” button. Click it to begin authentication.

    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ │
    │ 🎵 Welcome to MiniFy │
    │ │
    │ Connect your Spotify account to │
    │ start controlling your music. │
    │ │
    │ [ Connect to Spotify ] │
    │ │
    └──────────────────────────────────────────┘
  3. Authorize access

    A browser window will open asking you to log in to Spotify. After logging in, click “Agree” to authorize MiniFy.

    ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Spotify │
    │ │
    │ MiniFy wants to access your Spotify account │
    │ │
    │ This will allow MiniFy to: │
    │ • View your Spotify account data │
    │ • View your activity on Spotify │
    │ • Control playback on your devices │
    │ │
    │ [ Cancel ] [ Agree ] │
    │ │
    └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  4. Wait for confirmation

    After authorizing, you’ll see a success page. MiniFy will automatically detect this and show the player interface.

  5. Start playing music

    If nothing is playing, start a song in Spotify. MiniFy will display your currently playing track!

Your First 5 Minutes

Explore the Interface

Once connected, you’ll see the main player interface:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Standard Layout (B) │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌────────────┐ Track Name Here │
│ │ │ Artist Name │
│ │ Album │ │
│ │ Art │ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━●━━━━━━━━━ │
│ │ │ 2:34 ────────────── 4:12 │
│ └────────────┘ │
│ │
│ ⏮️ ▶️/⏸️ ⏭️ │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Use the Context Menu

Right-click anywhere to access the context menu:

┌────────────────────────┐
│ ⚙️ Settings │
│ 🔍 Search │
│ 🤖 AI DJ * │
│ ───────────────────── │
│ 🔽 Minimize │
│ ❌ Close Window │
└────────────────────────┘
* AI DJ only appears when an AI provider is configured

Try the Keyboard Shortcuts

ActionShortcut
Play/PauseSpace
Next Track or N
Previous Track or P
Volume Up
Volume Down
Open SettingsCtrl+,

Customization Quick Guide

Change Theme

  1. Right-click anywhere in MiniFy
  2. Hover over “Themes”
  3. Select your preferred theme

Available themes: Dark, Light, Catppuccin, Dracula, ChatGPT, YouTube, BMW, Milka

Change Layout

  1. Right-click anywhere in MiniFy
  2. Hover over “Layout”
  3. Choose from:
    • Layout A - Compact (minimal footprint)
    • Layout B - Standard (balanced view)
    • Layout C - Expanded (large album art)

Enable Always on Top

  1. Right-click anywhere in MiniFy
  2. Click “Always on Top”

This keeps MiniFy visible above other windows.

Setting Up AI DJ (Optional)

The AI DJ gives you personalized music recommendations. To set it up:

  1. Open Settings

    Press Ctrl+, (or ⌘+, on macOS), or right-click → Settings

  2. Go to Connections

    Navigate to the “Connections” tab

  3. Add an AI Provider

    Choose from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI, or Groq and enter your API key

  4. Activate the Provider

    Click “Connect” to validate, then set it as Active

  5. Use AI DJ

    Right-click → AI DJ to open the chat interface

Example AI DJ Conversations

Once configured, try asking:

  • “Play something based on my recent listening history”
  • “Find me something upbeat and energetic”
  • “What’s my music taste like?”
  • “Play some chill acoustic tracks”

Troubleshooting First Setup

MiniFy won’t connect to Spotify

  • Ensure you have an internet connection
  • Check that your browser can access spotify.com
  • Try clearing browser cookies for Spotify

No track is showing

  • Make sure Spotify is playing on some device
  • Check that the same Spotify account is used
  • Try playing/pausing in Spotify to refresh the connection

Controls don’t work

  • Verify you have an active Spotify playback device
  • Premium features (like seeking) may be limited on Free accounts
  • Try clicking play in Spotify first

What’s Next?