Intro

I love discovering new music.

Whether that be through Spotify’s daily playlists, or through suggestions from a friend, I really enjoy discovering, diving into, and experiencing new music.

I’ve had this idea for a while - how can I make it dead-simple to add songs to a queue. With this post, i’ve taken it one step further, letting anyone add to my queue.

Well ok…not exactly my queue. Song get added instead to a playlist called “Josh’s Public Queue”. You can follow and listen to that playlist, and of course add song recommendations through this site.

How does it work!?

The backend service runs as an AWS Lambda function, just like my Spotify “now playing” post. That post will give you the background necessary in getting a Spotify client ID, as well as setting up AWS DynamoDB, API Gateway, and Lambda.


The code for this specific project is written in Python below.

import requests
import time
import boto3
import json

# Lambda function written by Josh Spicer <https://joshspicer.com/>

# REMEMBER TO REPLACE `<YOUR REFRESH TOKEN>` and `<YOUR SECRET>` with, well those values!

# Check my guide for how to do so: https://joshspicer.com/spotify-public-queue

# Connect the DynamoDB database

dynamodb = boto3.resource('dynamodb')
table = dynamodb.Table('Spotify-State')

refreshToken = '<YOUR REFRESH TOKEN>'

# Main Function -- SPOTIFY ADD PARTY QUEUE

def lambda_handler(event, context):

    # Get the id query parameter from AWS API gateway
    # This is the spotify song ID.
    if validateInput(event["queryStringParameters"]['id']):
        songID = event["queryStringParameters"]['id']
    else:
        return {'statusCode': 400, 'headers': {'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' : "*", 'content-type': 'application/json'}, 'body': json.dumps({'status': "Error!"})}


    # See if "expiresAt" indeed indicates we need a new token.
    # Spotify access tokens last for 3600 seconds.
    dbResponse = table.get_item(Key={'spotify': 'prod'})
    expiresAt = dbResponse['Item']['expiresAt']

    # If expired....
    if expiresAt <= time.time():
        refreshTheToken(refreshToken)

    dbResponse = table.get_item(Key={'spotify': 'prod'})
    accessToken = dbResponse['Item']['accessToken']

    headers = {'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + accessToken, 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Accept': 'application/json'}

    # Post the inputted song to a very specific playlist
    r = requests.post('https://api.spotify.com/v1/users/joshspicer37/playlists/0OBq0h6EjCmaPXjeCB4IlM/tracks?uris=' + songID, headers=headers)

    # Return if the process was a success.
    if r.status_code == 201:
        return {'statusCode': 200, 'headers': {'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' : "*", 'content-type': 'application/json'}, 'body': json.dumps({'status': "Success!"})}
    else:
        return {'statusCode': 400, 'headers': {'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' : "*", 'content-type': 'application/json'}, 'body': json.dumps({'status': "Error!"})}

# Only called if the current accessToken is expired (on first visit after ~1hr)

def refreshTheToken(refreshToken):

    clientIdClientSecret = 'Basic <YOUR SECRET>'
    data = {'grant_type': 'refresh_token', 'refresh_token': refreshToken}

    headers = {'Authorization': clientIdClientSecret}
    p = requests.post('https://accounts.spotify.com/api/token', data=data, headers=headers)

    spotifyToken = p.json()

    # Place the expiration time (current time + almost an hour), and access token into the DB
    table.put_item(Item={'spotify': 'prod', 'expiresAt': int(time.time()) + 3200, 'accessToken': spotifyToken['access_token']})

def validateInput(input):
tmp = input.split(":")
return len(tmp) == 3 and tmp[0] == 'spotify' and tmp[1] == 'track' and tmp[2].isalnum()

```