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Community server

spotDL runs a free, shared community instance so you can use the tool without running any infrastructure. The CLI talks to it by default.

  • Web UI / docs: spotdl.dev
  • API base URL: https://api.spotdl.dev

What the community server does

  • Resolves Spotify metadata (tracks, albums, artists, playlists).
  • Searches audio providers and ranks candidate matches.
  • Serves lyrics.
  • Collects community votes on matches and lyrics so results improve over time, and accepts reports of bad matches.

What it does not do: it does not download audio for you. Downloading happens on your machine (CLI/embedded server or your self-hosted instance). The shared instance is metadata + matching + curation only.

Accounts

Browsing, searching and resolving work anonymously. Voting, submitting matches and reporting require an account so curation stays accountable. Create one from the web UI or:

spotdl auth login

spotdl auth * always talks to the remote server (never the embedded one).

Using it from the CLI

Nothing to configure — the default API URL is https://api.spotdl.dev. To be explicit, or to override for one command:

spotdl --api-url https://api.spotdl.dev "<url>"

If the community server is unreachable, the CLI transparently falls back to the in-process embedded server (with a one-line notice) so downloads still work. --offline skips the probe entirely.

Be a good neighbour

The shared instance is a common resource with rate limits. Please read Etiquette & fair use — in short: it is cache-first and rate-limited, and heavy or automated use should run against your own self-hosted or embedded server.