MBXHub

Download MBXHub

MBXHub - The bridge to everything else.

New in 0.5.1.1: Taste Explorer, DJ Taste Tab, Mixer Charm, Album Artist browsing, Album Grid sort & overlays

v0.5.1.1

Download MBXHub 0.5.1.1

What's Included Description
mb_MBXHub.dll REST API, WebSocket, Dashboard, Discovery, AutoQ, TrueShuffle, Charms, Device Proxy, Audio Streaming, Radio
MBXHub.exe Shell - Windows app identity, SMTC media controls bridge, and firewall configuration (requires .NET 8.0 Desktop Runtime)

Library Browser

Phantom Charm

Shell Integration

RemoteApp

RDP Start

MusicBee via RDP

Charm Bar

Installation

Upgrading? Copy the new files over the old ones and restart MusicBee. Everything else is automatic: If you've customized pages and want to reset them, delete the pages\ folder at %APPDATA%\MusicBee\MBXHub\, or use MBXHub Settings → General → Export Pages to overwrite with the latest versions.

Step 1: Download & Extract

Download and extract all files.

Step 2: Copy to Plugins

Copy the DLL and EXE files to your MusicBee Plugins folder:

  • Default: C:\Program Files (x86)\MusicBee\Plugins\
  • Portable: [MusicBee folder]\Plugins\

The SBOM files are informational and don't need to be copied.

Step 3: Start MusicBee

Launch MusicBee. MBXHub loads automatically.

Step 4: Configure Firewall

Open the Tools menu in MusicBee:

Tools Menu

Firewall Settings

  • Go to MBXHub Settings and use the Firewall section to configure network access
  • Optionally, export a script and run it manually

Step 5: Open Dashboard

Open a browser:

http://localhost:8080

You should see the Now Playing dashboard. Use the theme toggle in the header to switch between light and dark modes:

http://localhost:8080/docs
- for the docs. 
http://localhost:8080/pages
- for the HTML pages.

Dashboard

Compact

Player (Desktop)

Player (Mobile)

Dashboard (embedded)

  • Album artwork and track info
  • Artist/Genre influence buttons
  • Progress bar with seek
  • Ban, star rating, and love buttons
  • Playback controls
  • Volume control
  • Shuffle (Off/Shuffle/DJ) and repeat toggles
  • ARiA presets
  • Playlist selector
  • Theme toggle (light/dark/midnight)

Player Page (/pages/player.html)

  • 3-column layout (responsive for tablet/mobile)
  • Browse: Albums, Artists, Genres, Playlists, Podcasts, Radio, Moods
  • Search with instant results
  • Queue panel with Up Next
  • Now, Next, +Q buttons on tracks
  • Lyrics display
  • Fully customizable HTML/CSS/JS
  • Edit in %APPDATA%\MusicBee\MBXHub\pages\

Step 6: Set Up Mood Data (Optional)

AutoQ classifies tracks by mood using 14 audio features extracted by Truedat. Without mood data, AutoQ falls back to genre/BPM metadata estimates.

  1. Enable iTunes XML export - In MusicBee, go to Edit → Preferences → Library and enable "iTunes Music Library.xml" export
  2. Download Truedat - Place truedat.exe and essentia_streaming_extractor_music.exe in the same folder
  3. Run Truedat - truedat.exe "iTunes Music Library.xml"
    This scans your library and produces mbxmoods.json. Large libraries take hours (or days) - the scan is incremental and resumable.
  4. Place the output - Copy mbxmoods.json to your MusicBee Library folder (sibling to AppData) or %APPDATA%\MusicBee\MBXHub\. MBXHub searches both automatically.
  5. Configure a custom tag - In MusicBee, go to Edit → Preferences → Tags (1). Under Custom Tags, set one tag (e.g. Custom1) to "AutoQ Mood". MBXHub writes the mood channel name (e.g. "Euphoric", "Chill") into this field.

Custom Tags Setup

The custom tag can be configured in mbxhub.json via autoQ.moodTagField and autoQ.moodTagFieldName. This lets you see mood data in MusicBee's column browser, use it in auto-playlists, and sort by mood.

Tuning Console

System Requirements

Component Requirement
Operating SystemWindows 10 or later
MusicBeeMusicBee 3.x or later
Framework (Plugin).NET Framework 4.8 (included with Windows 10+)
Framework (Shell).NET 8.0 Desktop Runtime (for MBXHub.exe SMTC bridge)

Configuration

Open MusicBee → Edit → Preferences → Plugins → Configure

Tools Menu

Configuration Tab

Dashboard Tab

Features Tab

API Access Tab

Settings and logs are stored in:

%AppData%\MusicBee\MBXHub\

Files:

Default Ports

Service Port
REST API + Dashboard8080
WebSocket8080

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Port already in use Open MusicBee → Edit → Preferences → Plugins → MBXHub → Configure to change port
Connection refused Use the Firewall section in MBXHub Settings to add firewall rules, or manually allow inbound TCP on port 8080
Plugin not loading Verify DLL is in correct Plugins folder
Pages not updating after upgrade Page serving: (1) disk file if exists, (2) embedded resource fallback, (3) 404. Disk takes priority for customization, embedded for updates. Delete specific files from %APPDATA%\MusicBee\MBXHub\pages\ and refresh - embedded version served automatically, no restart needed.

Other HALRAD MusicBee Projects