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Getting Started on Windows

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github-actions[bot] edited this page Oct 31, 2026 · 2 revisions

Getting Started on Windows

From nothing to a player your Sendspin server can find, running whenever you are logged on.

You need: Windows 10 1809 or later, or Windows 11, on x64 (Windows on ARM runs the x64 build through its emulation), and something to play through. You do not need administrator rights, except for the optional firewall rule.

The short way

Invoke-WebRequest https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Sendspin/sendspin-cpp-cli/main/scripts/get_started_windows.ps1 -OutFile get_started_windows.ps1
notepad get_started_windows.ps1    # it is about to install things; read it
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\get_started_windows.ps1

It prints what it is about to do, as you, and waits for you to say yes:

==> This is what it will do, as you, with no administrator rights

  install   C:\Users\you\AppData\Local\Programs\sendspin-cli\  (sendspin-cli.exe and its README, LICENSE and config example)
  config    C:\Users\you\AppData\Roaming\sendspin-cli\config  (from the example; every line in it is commented out)
  PATH      add C:\Users\you\AppData\Local\Programs\sendspin-cli to your user PATH, so 'sendspin-cli status' works anywhere
  task      'sendspin-cli' in Task Scheduler: start the player, without a window, when you
            log on, logging to C:\Users\you\AppData\Local\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.log; it checks every minute
            and starts the player again if it has stopped
  start     the task, now

Go ahead? [y/N]

-Yes skips the prompt, and is required when there is no console to ask on. -Version v0.5.0 installs a specific release instead of the newest. -Firewall adds the firewall rule without asking, though Windows still asks for administrator approval.

What it actually does

  1. Checks this is Windows 10 1809 or later, where the player's control socket and mDNS both work, on x64 or ARM64.
  2. Finds the newest release and downloads its windows-x86_64 zip plus SHA256SUMS.
  3. Verifies the checksum, and stops without installing anything if it does not match.
  4. Installs into your own LocalAppData, AppData\Local\Programs\sendspin-cli, and clears the mark Windows puts on downloaded files, since it has just verified them. A player already running from there is stopped cleanly first, so running the script again upgrades it.
  5. Copies the annotated example config to AppData\Roaming\sendspin-cli\config if you have none. Every line in it is commented out, so it chooses nothing: the player plays through your default output device, and follows it when you change it.
  6. Adds the install folder to your user PATH, so sendspin-cli status works in any new terminal.
  7. Registers a scheduled task that runs sendspin-cli -z when you log on, with no window. The task also checks every minute: while the player runs, that check finds its pidfile held and does nothing, and if the player has stopped, it starts it again.
  8. Starts it now, and shows the last lines of its log.
  9. Offers the firewall rule — see Letting a server reach it.

Pair it

Your Sendspin server finds the player over mDNS. When you pair it from the server, the player prints a six-digit code in its log; type it into the server:

Get-Content $env:LOCALAPPDATA\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.log -Wait -Tail 20
I cli: *** Pairing code: 110948 *** -- type it into the server to pair

Each pairing attempt has its own code, so keep the server's dialog open while you read it. Closing the dialog cancels the attempt and withdraws the code. Pairing a Player has the rest.

Drive it

sendspin-cli status        # what it is doing
sendspin-cli vol 30        # and the other subcommands

These talk to the player over its control socket, in your LocalAppData, which only you can reach. See Controlling the Player.

To restart it with new settings, stop it; the task starts it again within a minute:

taskkill /PID (Get-Content $env:LOCALAPPDATA\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.pid)

taskkill without /F is a clean stop: the player says goodbye to the server first. To keep it stopped, disable the task before stopping it, and enable it again to bring it back:

Disable-ScheduledTask sendspin-cli
taskkill /PID (Get-Content $env:LOCALAPPDATA\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.pid)

Enable-ScheduledTask sendspin-cli

Stop-ScheduledTask is not the way to stop it: the task has already handed over to the detached player, so there is nothing for it to end.

Letting a server reach it

A server finds the player over mDNS and then connects to it on port 8928. Windows Firewall blocks that connection until a rule allows it, and adding a rule needs administrator rights, so the script offers it apart from everything else:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName sendspin-cli -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Program "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.exe" -Protocol TCP -Profile Private

The rule covers private networks only. If Windows has your home network marked Public, change that in Settings → Network & internet, or the rule does not apply.

Without the rule, the player can still dial a server itself: put server = <host> in the config, or server = mdns: to find one over mDNS. See Connection modes.

SmartScreen

The release is unsigned, so the first time it runs, Windows SmartScreen may say it protected your PC. The script checks the zip against the SHA256SUMS the release publishes before installing it; if you got the binary some other way, check it the same way. A signed build is tracked in the roadmap.

Where things are

What Where
The player %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.exe
Your config %APPDATA%\sendspin-cli\config
What it remembers: its identity and pairings, volume, last server %LOCALAPPDATA%\sendspin-cli\state
Its log %LOCALAPPDATA%\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.log
Its pidfile %LOCALAPPDATA%\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.pid
Its control socket %LOCALAPPDATA%\sendspin-cli-8928.sock

The state file and the control socket's lock are readable by you alone. The log is never rotated, so it only grows; it is safe to delete while the player is stopped.

Uninstalling

Disable-ScheduledTask sendspin-cli
taskkill /PID (Get-Content $env:LOCALAPPDATA\sendspin-cli\sendspin-cli.pid)
Unregister-ScheduledTask sendspin-cli -Confirm:$false
$dir = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\sendspin-cli"
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('Path', (([Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', 'User') -split ';' | Where-Object { $_ -and $_ -ne $dir }) -join ';'), 'User')
Remove-Item $dir -Recurse

Your config, state and log are left where they are, so reinstalling keeps the player's identity and pairings. Remove %APPDATA%\sendspin-cli and %LOCALAPPDATA%\sendspin-cli too to forget it entirely; a server then sees a new, unpaired player. The firewall rule, if you added it, goes from an administrator PowerShell:

Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName sendspin-cli

Without the script

Take sendspin-cli-<version>-windows-x86_64.zip and SHA256SUMS from Releases, check one against the other, and run it from wherever you unpacked it:

Get-FileHash .\sendspin-cli-0.5.0-windows-x86_64.zip -Algorithm SHA256   # compare with SHA256SUMS
Expand-Archive .\sendspin-cli-0.5.0-windows-x86_64.zip .
Get-ChildItem .\sendspin-cli-0.5.0-windows-x86_64 | Unblock-File
.\sendspin-cli-0.5.0-windows-x86_64\sendspin-cli.exe -l
.\sendspin-cli-0.5.0-windows-x86_64\sendspin-cli.exe

-l lists what it can play through. Windows lists each device once per host API, so pick one by that column and its name, e.g. -o "portaudio:directsound:Speakers (USB DAC)"; an index works too, but shifts as devices come and go. Ctrl+C and closing the window stop it cleanly, and it handles logging off and shutting down the same way.

Next

sendspin-cli

Get it running

Use it

When it misbehaves

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