V 1.0

Spotify playback control inside Maya 2025 — with auto-pause on playback.

Prerequisites

What You Need

Before starting, make sure you have all of the following. Every item is required.

Maya Version 2025+
Spotify Account Premium required
Spotify Developer App Free at developer.spotify.com
Python Library spotipy — installed by the tool
⚠
Spotify Premium is required. The Web API playback control endpoints are not available on free accounts. This is a Spotify limitation, not a tool limitation.
Installation

Drop In & Run

AXE Spotify is a single .py file. No installer, no dependencies to manage manually.

1
Download axe_spotify.py

Save the file to your Maya scripts directory.
Windows: Documents\maya\scripts
Mac: ~/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/scripts

2
Open Maya 2025

Open the Script Editor (Windows → General Editors → Script Editor) and create a new Python tab.

3
Run the launch command

Paste and run the following in the Python tab:

import axe_spotify; axe_spotify.launch()
💡
Add it to a shelf button so you don't have to type it every session. Right-click any shelf → New Shelf Button → paste the command → set the language to Python.
One-Time Setup

Spotify Developer App

AXE Spotify talks to Spotify through their official Web API. You need to register a free developer app to get credentials. This takes about 3 minutes and you only do it once.

1
Go to the Spotify Developer Dashboard

Log in at developer.spotify.com/dashboard with your Spotify account.

2
Create a new app

Click Create App. Name it anything — AXE Spotify works. Add a short description. Check Web API under "Which API/SDKs are you planning to use?"

3
Add the redirect URI — exactly as shown

In the Redirect URIs field, paste the URL below and click Add. It must match exactly.

http://127.0.0.1:8888/callback
⚠
Spotify may show a warning that this URI is not secure. This is expected and safe — it's a local address that never leaves your machine. Accept and save anyway.
4
Copy your Client ID and Client Secret

From your app's settings page, copy the Client ID and Client Secret. You'll paste these into AXE Spotify's setup screen.

💡
Your credentials are saved locally to ~/axe_spotify_config.json after the first setup. You won't need to enter them again.
Authorization

First Run Walkthrough

The first time you launch, AXE Spotify will walk you through a 3-step setup. After that it connects silently on every launch.

1
Step 1 — Install spotipy

Click Install Spotipy. The tool runs pip automatically using Maya's Python environment (mayapy.exe). Takes a few seconds. If it's already installed it skips straight to the next step.

2
Step 2 — Enter credentials

Paste your Client ID and Client Secret from the Spotify developer dashboard. Both fields turn green when valid. Click Next.

3
Step 3 — Authorize in browser

Click Open Browser. A Spotify login tab opens. Approve access. Your browser will then show "This site can't be reached" — that's normal and means it worked. AXE Spotify catches the response automatically and connects. You're done.

✓
After the first run, the tool reconnects silently on every launch using the cached token. The setup screens will never appear again unless you delete ~/axe_spotify_config.json and ~/.axe_spotify_token.
⚠
If auto-capture fails (rare — usually a firewall blocking port 8888), a fallback field will appear. Copy the full URL from your browser's address bar — even if it shows an error page — and paste it into that field, then click Connect.
Troubleshooting

FAQ

The Install button does nothing / hangs Maya
This happens if the install is accidentally run on Maya's main thread. Make sure you're on the latest version of the file. Internally, the installer uses mayapy.exe (not maya.exe) via a background QThread so Maya stays responsive. If you're still stuck, you can install manually: open a command prompt and run mayapy -m pip install spotipy — mayapy.exe lives in C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2025\bin\.
"redirect_uri: Not matching configuration" error
The redirect URI in your Spotify app settings doesn't exactly match what the tool is using. Go to developer.spotify.com/dashboard → your app → Settings → Redirect URIs, and make sure this is listed exactly: http://127.0.0.1:8888/callback. No trailing slash, no https, no localhost — it must be that exact string.
Browser shows "This site can't be reached" after approving
This is not an error. Spotify is redirecting to 127.0.0.1:8888 which is a local address on your machine. AXE Spotify spins up a tiny local server to catch that redirect automatically. The "can't be reached" message just means the browser tried to load the page after the server already captured the token and shut down. If the tool hasn't connected after a few seconds, use the manual fallback field that appears.
It says "not playing" but Spotify is open and playing
The Web API only controls the active Spotify Connect device. Make sure Spotify is actively playing on your computer (not casting to a speaker or another device). Click the device icon in Spotify's bottom bar and confirm your computer is selected as the active device. The tool polls every 3 seconds so it may take a moment to update.
Playlists show 0 tracks
The track count displayed in the playlist list comes from Spotify's API metadata, which sometimes lags or returns 0 for collaborative and followed playlists. The playlist will still play correctly when clicked — the count is cosmetic only.
Auto-pause isn't working
Check that the Auto-Pause toggle in the panel is switched on (it's cyan when active). Also confirm that Spotify is playing before you hit play in Maya — the tool caches whether Spotify was playing at the moment Maya starts playback, so if Spotify was already paused it won't resume it when Maya stops.
The panel jumps to the corner / goes tiny when I open Playlists
Make sure you're on the latest version of the file. An earlier build had an adjustSize() call that bubbled up through the widget tree and confused Maya's workspace layout. That's been removed. Re-download and re-run import axe_spotify; axe_spotify.launch().
Can I use this without Spotify Premium?
No. Spotify's playback control API endpoints — play, pause, skip, volume — require a Premium subscription. This is enforced on Spotify's server side and cannot be worked around. The Web API documentation confirms this at developer.spotify.com/documentation/web-api.
How do I reset / re-authorize from scratch?
Delete these two files and relaunch:

~/axe_spotify_config.json — your saved credentials
~/.axe_spotify_token — your cached OAuth token

The setup wizard will appear again on next launch.