Using container included sendspin-client for host audio

[Pipshag]

Would it be possible to utilize the container to create a sendspin client on the host? I tried looking up the documentation and discussions without finding a real answer.
This would make the project a one-stop shop for managing the audio outputs in my home.

[trudenboy]

Hi @Pipshag — short version: yes, local/host audio output as an MA player is in our roadmap (v3.x, Phase 1), but we're currently re-evaluating whether to ship it given that Music Assistant now has its own native local_audio provider for exactly this use case.

What's planned in our v3 roadmap (ROADMAP_V3.md): a LocalSinkBackend / ALSADirectBackend device kind that exposes any host PA/PW/ALSA sink (USB DAC, HDMI, analog) as an MA player, side-by-side with the current BT speaker entries — same web UI, same multiroom sync, same lifecycle, just without the BT pair/scan steps.

Why we're hesitating: MA's new local_audio provider runs inside the MA server process and covers the same need without the bridge — it enumerates host sinks directly and exposes each as an MA player. For users running MA on the same host as the audio output, that's strictly simpler than going through us. Our internal analysis (rnd/ma-bluetooth-provider-analysis.md) concluded MA's provider covers most local cases, leaving the bridge's unique value in three narrower scenarios:

1. Bluetooth speakers — MA natively can't handle BT (this is our core)
2. Standalone Pi/host without MA on it — bridge as a self-contained receiver pulling audio from a remote MA server over the network
3. Container-specific routing — our PULSE_SINK + subprocess isolation per output

If your case is #2 or #3, local audio backend in this bridge will eventually make sense and is on the roadmap. If MA runs on the same host as your audio output, MA's local_audio provider is the right tool today and avoids us shipping duplicated functionality.

For the one-stop-shop goal you described: MA local_audio + this bridge for BT already gets you everything in a single MA UI without waiting on us.