Ampache has an open, published API that can allow 3rd party applications to integrate with the music, meta-data, and album art held by Ampache. The primary use for this API is to expose your Ampache server to mobile devices while maintaining a native and fully functional client without having to rely on a web browser. Full documentation for developers on Ampache's API can be found at XML-API Development

The API is disabled out of the box in versions earlier Ampache 3.5.4. You will need to make a few modifications to the default Ampache configuration.

As of Ampache 3.5.4 the API should work out of the box without any modifications. If you are upgrading from a previous version you will need to add an API/RPC Access Control List for any IP addresses that you wish to use the API from.

In most cases people will want to open up all addresses to use the API, which can be accomplished by entering 0.0.0.0 for the Start IP and 255.255.255.255 for the end IP. When creating the ACL entry leave everything as default until you know what the settings are for. If you are familiar with the networks you will be connecting from, feel free to customize these ACL's for your setup. You should also check and make sure that access_control=true Is set in your config file. If you have upgraded Ampache from a version before 3.4.x access_control was disabled by default.

Troubleshooting:

• The 3.5.x and newer APIs use your web interface username and password. If you have recently upgraded from Ampache 3.4.x you will need to log into the web interface and reset your password before the API will work.

• If you recieve an ACL error it is because your Ampache install is either missing the API/RPC Access Control List or the IP you are accessing from is outside the currently defined ACL. Verify your ACLs and, if needed enable logging to get more detailed debug information.

• It's possible that an ACL error is an erroneous error message, particularly in regard to Amarok. Amarok fails because your RPC version is too old, but doesn't report it. It then attempts to get through the ACL and you get the ACL message not because the ACL itself is failing, but your client cannot connect do to the previous Version Too Old. Amarok only reports the last error it got, not the first.

Using Ampache over SSL is recommended for security and privacy reasons, but it can be tricky to setup on few clients. If you're using a self-signed certificate or a certificate delivered by a local authority, be sure you can configure your client to ignore invalid certificates or set the root certificate as a trusted authority (see ubuntu explanation example).

Your Ampache server can be accessed through SubSonic API but there is some prerequisite for that:

• You must enable SubSonic Backend in System settings.
• Default configuration is for Apache web server, you have to adapt /rest/.htaccess script for your web server if you're not using Apache
• Url rewriting Apache mod must be enabled and your Apache configuration must allow configuration override (AllowOverride all).

If you use Nginx, htaccess files are not read. You must add this lines in your VHost file:

if ( !-d $request_filename ) {
	rewrite ^/rest/(.*)\.view$ /rest/index.php?action=$1 last;
}

location /rest/ {
	limit_except GET POST {
		deny all;
	}
}

The same for lighttpd:

url.rewrite-once = (
  "^/rest/(([^\?]+)\.view)(\?(.*))?" => "/rest/index.php?ssaction=$2&$4"
)

• Access control and XML-API must be enabled
• PHP cUrl mod is highly recommended
• To not break few clients, Authorization header should be passed (some Apache module can remove this header for security reason). To be sure, please add the following directive in your Apache configuration : SetEnvIf Authorization "(.*)" HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=$1
• Most SubSonic client will request cover thumbnail. To return real thumbnail on the fly, PHP-GD module is recommended.

Once these prerequisites matched, the best test is to open http://localhost/ampache/rest/ping.view page with your browser and see the output. You should get the following XML response:

<subsonic-response version="1.10.1" status="failed">
    <error code="10" message="Required parameter is missing."/>
</subsonic-response>

If you get successfully this XML message, you can now add your server on a Subsonic client, adding http://localhost/ampache as web server url.

Your Ampache server can be accessed through Plex API but there is some prerequisite for that:

• You must enable Plex Backend in System settings.
• Default configuration is for Apache web server, you have to adapt /plex/.htaccess script for your web server if you're not using Apache
• Url rewriting Apache mod must be enabled
• You have to setup a dedicated Virtual Host for Plex backend pointing to /plex subdirectory, and listen on port 32400 (recommended). Vhost example:

<VirtualHost *:32400>
    DocumentRoot /var/local/ampache/plex/
    
    Alias /: /var/local/ampache/plex/
    
    <Directory "/var/local/ampache/plex/">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
        AllowOverride all
            Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

• Access control and XML-API must be enabled
• http_host setting in ampache.cfg.php must be configured. You should also configure local_web_path setting.
• PHP cUrl mod must be installed
• Plex users are linked to Ampache users based on e-mail address. Setup correctly your user email address or disable this feature in the following management interface.
• Administrate and publish the server to myPlex with http://localhost:32400/web

Your Ampache server can be accessed through DAAP protocol (iTunes server) but there is some prerequisite for that:

• You must enable DAAP Backend in System settings.
• Default configuration is for Apache web server, you have to adapt /daap/.htaccess script for your web server if you're not using Apache
• Url rewriting Apache mod must be enabled
• You have to setup a dedicated Virtual Host for DAAP backend pointing to /daap subdirectory, and listen on port 3689 (recommended). Vhost example:

<VirtualHost *:3689>
    DocumentRoot /var/local/ampache/daap/
    
    <Directory "/var/local/ampache/daap/">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
        AllowOverride all
            Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

• Most DAAP clients only support server auto-discovery.
• On Linux: you should setup Avahi and add the following /etc/avahi/services/ampache-daap.service file:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
<!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
<service-group>
 <name>Ampache DAAP protocol</name>

 <service>
   <type>_http._tcp</type>
   <port>3689</port>
 </service>

 <service>
   <type>_daap._tcp</type>
   <port>3689</port>
 </service>

 <service>
   <type>_dacp._tcp</type>
   <port>3689</port>
 </service>

 <service>
   <type>_touch-able._tcp</type>
   <port>3689</port>
   <txt-record>txtvers=1</txt-record>
   <txt-record>OSsi=0x10313</txt-record>
   <txt-record>CtlN=Ampache</txt-record>
   <txt-record>Ver=131073</txt-record>
   <txt-record>DvSv=2305</txt-record>
   <txt-record>DvTy=iTunes</txt-record>
   <txt-record>DbId=416D7061636865</txt-record>
 </service>
 
 <service>
   <type>_rsp._tcp</type>
   <port>3689</port>
 </service>
</service-group>

• On Windows: you should run the following commands once Bonjour service installed:
• dns-sd -R Ampache _http._tcp local 3689
• dns-sd -R Ampache _daap._tcp local 3689
• dns-sd -R Ampache _dacp._tcp local 3689
• dns-sd -R Ampache _touch-able._tcp local 3689 txtvers=1 OSsi=0x10313 CtlN=Ampache Ver=131073 DvSv=2305 DvTy=iTunes DbId=416D7061636865
• dns-sd -R Ampache _rsp._tcp local 3689
• PHP cUrl mod is recommended
• DAAP protocol doesn't support multiusers. If you want authentication, you should setup the DAAP password configuration in system settings.

Your Ampache server can be accessed through UPnP / DLNA API but there is some prerequisite for that:

• You must enable UPnP Backend in System settings.
• You must also enable Use beautiful stream url in Streaming settings.
• PHP Socket mod must be enabled
• You should broadcast the server periodically calling http://localhost/ampache/upnp/?btnSend=Send+SSDP+broadcast or php bin/broadcast.inc with a cron (every 1-2 minutes recommended).

Your Ampache server can be accessed through WebDAV API.

• You must enable WebDAV Backend in System settings.
• The base address to setup on your client is http://localhost/ampache/webdav/index.php/
• If use_auth is enabled (by default), a basic authentication with your Ampache user/password will be required.