Playback
Navidrome Integration: Publishing Flows as Playlists
Navidrome is the easiest playback server to integrate with, because it speaks Subsonic natively and accepts playlist files written straight into the library directory. Aurral uses both mechanisms.
Two integration paths
The first is playlist publishing: Aurral writes Flow and playlist entries that Navidrome picks up as real playlists. The second is the Subsonic API on /rest, which lets any Subsonic-compatible client — phone apps, desktop players, web frontends — connect to Aurral directly instead.
They serve different purposes. Playlists are what your household actually listens to. The Subsonic API is what lets you search Aurral from an app you already use.
Playlist naming
By default Aurral names each playlist <code>username - playlist name</code> in Navidrome. That prefix exists because a shared server will otherwise collide when two people create a playlist with the same name.
If you are the only user, turn off Prefix playlist names with the owner username in settings under Playback, Navidrome, and the bare name is used.
Navidrome must scan the same files
A remote path mapping lets Aurral read Lidarr files, but it does not make Navidrome aware of them. Navidrome has to scan the same folder itself for playlist entries to resolve to playable tracks.
If a Flow appears in Navidrome but every track shows as unavailable, this is almost always the cause: the playlist exists, the files do not resolve.
- Mount the same host media path into both containers.
- Give Flow files their own folder so Navidrome can treat them separately if you prefer.
- Set SCAN_PURGEMISSING so rotated-out Flow tracks do not linger in the playlist.
Rotated flows and missing entries
A Flow rotates its tracks out on schedule. Aurral asks the connected playback servers which files their playlists still use before cleaning up, and keeps anything still referenced — for example a Flow track someone saved into another playlist in a client.
If a server is unreachable, Aurral waits and retries the cleanup later rather than deleting a file that might still be in use. When you delete a playlist yourself, that check is skipped, because the deletion is explicit.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need Navidrome for Aurral to play music?
No. Aurral has its own browser player. Navidrome matters for reaching your phone apps and for publishing Flows as playlists you see elsewhere.
Why is my playlist called username - something?
Navidrome prefixes playlist names with the owner by default so two users can use the same playlist name without colliding. Turn the prefix off in settings if you are single-user.
Flow tracks show as unavailable in Navidrome. What now?
Usually Navidrome is not scanning the folder where the Flow files live. Confirm both containers mount the same host path and that Navidrome has scanned it.
Everything else
All integrations
Library
The music manager decides what ends up on disk. Aurral never writes into someone else's library folder.
Downloads
Where the audio actually comes from. Source order decides which client gets asked first.
Playback
Playback stays where it is. Aurral publishes playlists into the server you already run.
Listening history
History is the strongest recommendation signal you already own. Wire it in and the picks improve.
Alerts and shows
Optional signals that turn a static library into something that keeps moving.
Connect Navidrome to the rest of your stack
Nothing here requires restarting anything else. Add it when it becomes the piece you were missing.