Getting Started

# Getting Started

## Install

Choose your system on the [Download page](/download/) and follow its
installation steps. Then open **Tidalfast**.

## Sign in

Press **Sign in with TIDAL**. Your browser opens TIDAL's sign-in page. Sign in
there. When it ends on an "Oops" page, copy that page's whole address and paste
it into Tidalfast. Tidalfast never sees your TIDAL password.

**Sign in for Max (hi-res) instead** uses a separate browser sign-in with your
own client ID, which lets TIDAL deliver hi-res FLAC where it has it.

Tidalfast remembers your sign-in using your computer's protected storage, so
you normally do not need to sign in each time you open the app.

## Basics

- **Music plays on this computer.** Pick the quality (Low, High, Lossless or
  Max) in Settings.
- **Closing the window does not stop the music.** Tidalfast keeps playing
  from the system tray; reopen it from the tray icon and quit from the tray
  menu or Ctrl+Q. On macOS you can also reopen it from the Dock. Settings can
  turn this off. On Linux, including Flatpak, a desktop with a working system
  tray is required for this behavior.
- **Play and Pause fade.** With the default audio settings, music fades in or
  out to avoid a hard cut.
- **Artist names are links.** Click a credited artist in the player bar to
  open their page.
- **Common actions have shortcuts.** Space plays and pauses, Ctrl+F or `/`
  searches, and `Q` opens the queue. Ctrl+/ shows the full list.
- **Right-click for more actions.** Right-click a song, playlist, album, or
  artist to see its menu. Your own playlists include **Edit details** and
  **Delete**. In **Add to playlist**, type a playlist name to find it, or
  choose **New playlist**. If the playlist already contains the song,
  Tidalfast asks before adding another copy.
- **TIDAL links open in Tidalfast.** A `tidal:` link shared from another app
  opens its page, starting Tidalfast if it is not running. `tidalfast <link>`
  does the same from a terminal.

## Plugins

Tidalfast has no built-in plugins. In **Settings > Plugins (TidaLuna)**, the
**Enable TidaLuna plugins** switch (off by default) turns on a runtime that can
run TidaLuna plugins from a plugin store. Turning it off unloads them and keeps
them installed. Plugins that depend on TIDAL's own web code cannot run; the
Plugin Store marks a plugin that works only in part.

A plugin asks before it starts a program, gets your TIDAL sign-in, saves TIDAL
songs as files, takes keyboard shortcuts across your whole computer (Windows)
or talks to another program over its pipe; each is off until you allow it.
**Reset to defaults** on a plugin's card clears its settings, saved data and
permissions and starts it fresh. Removing a plugin deletes everything it left,
while turning it off keeps it. The **Plugin Store** tab lists the plugin stores,
and the **Themes** tab has a catalogue of 52 themes.

## Light or dark

Open **Settings > Appearance > Theme** and choose **Dark** (TIDAL's black, the
default), **Light**, or **Follow system**. Follow system matches your
desktop's appearance.

## If song titles show empty boxes

Tidalfast uses your computer's fonts to display titles in different languages.
macOS and Windows already include fonts for most languages. On Linux,
install `noto-fonts` and `noto-fonts-cjk` (Arch) or `fonts-noto` and
`fonts-noto-cjk` (Debian or Ubuntu) if letters are missing. For colour emoji,
install `noto-fonts-emoji` (Arch) or `fonts-noto-color-emoji` (Debian or
Ubuntu).

![Japanese, Chinese, and Korean titles in a playlist](/assets/images/scripts.png)

## Choosing the interface language

Tidalfast uses your computer's language when it has a translation for it, and
English otherwise. To pick another language, open **Settings > Appearance >
Language**; the change applies at once. Choose **System** to follow the
computer again. Anything not yet translated appears in English. See
[Translating Tidalfast](/translating/) to help.

## Choosing which app opens TIDAL links

On Windows, choose the app in **Settings > Apps > Default apps**. On Linux,
after installing the current app launcher:

```sh
xdg-mime default tidalfast.desktop x-scheme-handler/tidal
xdg-mime default tidalfast.desktop x-scheme-handler/tidaluna
```

## Build from source

Build the single binary with Rust 1.98 or newer:

```bash
cargo install --git https://github.com/CIoudGuy/tidalfast --locked
```

On Linux, you need the development packages for ALSA, PulseAudio or
PipeWire, and the windowing libraries. Nothing else is needed. A plain
`cargo build --release` works on every platform. On Arch:

```bash
sudo pacman -S --needed alsa-lib libpulse libxkbcommon wayland
```

On Debian or Ubuntu:

```bash
sudo apt install libasound2-dev libpulse-dev libxkbcommon-dev libwayland-dev
```

On Fedora:

```bash
sudo dnf install alsa-lib-devel pulseaudio-libs-devel libxkbcommon-devel \
  wayland-devel
```

With [Nix](https://nixos.org), `nix develop` in a checkout provides all of it,
along with the exact toolchain `rust-toolchain.toml` pins.

Install

Choose your system on the Download page and follow its installation steps. Then open Tidalfast.

Press Sign in with TIDAL. Your browser opens TIDAL’s sign-in page. Sign in there. When it ends on an “Oops” page, copy that page’s whole address and paste it into Tidalfast. Tidalfast never sees your TIDAL password.

Sign in for Max (hi-res) instead uses a separate browser sign-in with your own client ID, which lets TIDAL deliver hi-res FLAC where it has it.

Tidalfast remembers your sign-in using your computer’s protected storage, so you normally do not need to sign in each time you open the app.

Basics

Music plays on this computer. Pick the quality (Low, High, Lossless or Max) in Settings.
Closing the window does not stop the music. Tidalfast keeps playing from the system tray; reopen it from the tray icon and quit from the tray menu or Ctrl+Q. On macOS you can also reopen it from the Dock. Settings can turn this off. On Linux, including Flatpak, a desktop with a working system tray is required for this behavior.
Play and Pause fade. With the default audio settings, music fades in or out to avoid a hard cut.
Artist names are links. Click a credited artist in the player bar to open their page.
Common actions have shortcuts. Space plays and pauses, Ctrl+F or / searches, and Q opens the queue. Ctrl+/ shows the full list.
Right-click for more actions. Right-click a song, playlist, album, or artist to see its menu. Your own playlists include Edit details and Delete. In Add to playlist, type a playlist name to find it, or choose New playlist. If the playlist already contains the song, Tidalfast asks before adding another copy.
TIDAL links open in Tidalfast. A tidal: link shared from another app opens its page, starting Tidalfast if it is not running. tidalfast <link> does the same from a terminal.

Plugins

Tidalfast has no built-in plugins. In Settings > Plugins (TidaLuna), the Enable TidaLuna plugins switch (off by default) turns on a runtime that can run TidaLuna plugins from a plugin store. Turning it off unloads them and keeps them installed. Plugins that depend on TIDAL’s own web code cannot run; the Plugin Store marks a plugin that works only in part.

A plugin asks before it starts a program, gets your TIDAL sign-in, saves TIDAL songs as files, takes keyboard shortcuts across your whole computer (Windows) or talks to another program over its pipe; each is off until you allow it. Reset to defaults on a plugin’s card clears its settings, saved data and permissions and starts it fresh. Removing a plugin deletes everything it left, while turning it off keeps it. The Plugin Store tab lists the plugin stores, and the Themes tab has a catalogue of 52 themes.

Light or dark

Open Settings > Appearance > Theme and choose Dark (TIDAL’s black, the default), Light, or Follow system. Follow system matches your desktop’s appearance.

If song titles show empty boxes

Tidalfast uses your computer’s fonts to display titles in different languages. macOS and Windows already include fonts for most languages. On Linux, install noto-fonts and noto-fonts-cjk (Arch) or fonts-noto and fonts-noto-cjk (Debian or Ubuntu) if letters are missing. For colour emoji, install noto-fonts-emoji (Arch) or fonts-noto-color-emoji (Debian or Ubuntu).

Choosing the interface language

Tidalfast uses your computer’s language when it has a translation for it, and English otherwise. To pick another language, open Settings > Appearance > Language; the change applies at once. Choose System to follow the computer again. Anything not yet translated appears in English. See Translating Tidalfast to help.

Choosing which app opens TIDAL links

On Windows, choose the app in Settings > Apps > Default apps. On Linux, after installing the current app launcher:

xdg-mime default tidalfast.desktop x-scheme-handler/tidal
xdg-mime default tidalfast.desktop x-scheme-handler/tidaluna

Build from source

Build the single binary with Rust 1.98 or newer:

cargo install --git https://github.com/CIoudGuy/tidalfast --locked

On Linux, you need the development packages for ALSA, PulseAudio or PipeWire, and the windowing libraries. Nothing else is needed. A plain cargo build --release works on every platform. On Arch:

sudo pacman -S --needed alsa-lib libpulse libxkbcommon wayland

On Debian or Ubuntu:

sudo apt install libasound2-dev libpulse-dev libxkbcommon-dev libwayland-dev

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install alsa-lib-devel pulseaudio-libs-devel libxkbcommon-devel \
  wayland-devel

With Nix, nix develop in a checkout provides all of it, along with the exact toolchain rust-toolchain.toml pins.