Questions and answers
The short answers: what you need, which lights work, how good the sync is, and what it costs (nothing).
Getting started
Do I need to buy anything? No. Tempolight is free and open source (MIT). You need lights it can drive (WLED strips are cheapest and best for music; see connect-lights.md) and a computer or Raspberry Pi on the same network. To try it with no lights at all, use Try without lights in the setup wizard, or the online demo.
Which computer? Windows 10/11, macOS, Linux, or a Raspberry Pi 3, 4 or 5. A Pi Zero 2 works for small setups at a lower frame rate (Tempolight switches to low-power mode by itself).
Does it need the internet or an account? No. Everything runs on your home network. The internet is only used for things you turn on: Spotify on other devices, shared beat maps, Twitch, Discord, and checking for updates.
Is the online demo the real app? Yes: the same core, effects and director, running in your browser with three pretend WLED controllers. It can't reach real lights, Spotify or a microphone on another device; install Tempolight for that.
Does the computer have to stay on? Yes, while the lights should follow the music. A Raspberry Pi that does nothing else is the usual answer (raspberry-pi.md). Without any computer, an ESP32 with a microphone and Tempolight Lite (beta) is music-reactive on its own, with fewer features.
Music
Does it work with Spotify? Yes, with the whole beat map once a song has been learned: spotify.md. Spotify stopped giving new apps its audio analysis, so Tempolight learns each song the first time it hears it.
With YouTube, Apple Music, a DJ app, the radio? Yes: Tempolight listens (the computer's sound or a microphone) and reacts live. Songs you've played in Tempolight before are recognised from any source and followed with their beat map. music-sources.md.
Do my songs get uploaded? No. Song files play in your browser; only their beat map (tempo, beats, parts) goes to the Tempolight server on your network. Live audio goes from the browser to that server, is analysed and thrown away.
Why do the lights know a drop is coming? For songs played in the app, or remembered and learned ones, the whole song is analysed ahead: build-ups and drops are known before they play. While listening live to an unknown song, Tempolight notices a drop as it happens.
The lights are a bit behind the beat. Your speakers play the sound late. Music → Timing → Fix the timing automatically measures it once. troubleshooting.md.
Lights
Which lights work? WLED (and anything that speaks DDP, E1.31 or Art-Net), Govee (LAN, beta), OpenRGB, Nanoleaf, Philips Hue, LIFX, WiZ, TP-Link Kasa, Yeelight, Twinkly, DMX fixtures through an Art-Net or sACN node, and phones. All at once, as one show.
Why does my Hue lamp look slow? The Hue bridge takes about 10 commands a second for all its lights. Calm effects look good; for beat effects, try fast (Entertainment) mode, which is in beta. connect-lights.md.
Does Tapo work? No. Tapo (and Kasa devices with the newer login firmware) need a TP-Link account login, which Tempolight doesn't do. Older Kasa bulbs and KL strips work.
Can I keep using WLED's own effects and presets? Yes. When Tempolight stops sending, WLED goes back to its own effect after a few seconds. Turn a device off in Devices (the On column) to leave it to WLED. Send segments to WLED writes your room's ranges into WLED.
How many LEDs? As many as your controllers and network carry. Use an ESP32 rather than an ESP8266 above about 300 LEDs, and split big setups over several controllers; Tempolight keeps them in sync. The status bar shows the LEDs and frames per second, and the latency meter warns when a controller drops frames.
Home and parties
Can guests change things? With a PIN (Settings → Lock) they can only do what you allow: pick effects, use scenes, use the pads, change brightness. Guest song requests and phones as lights work while locked.
Is it safe for people sensitive to flashing light? Turn on Settings → Lighting → Photosensitive-safe mode: at most 3 flashes a second over everything, no strobes from chat, lasers and DMX strobes off. Night mode does the same during its hours.
Does it work with Home Assistant, Apple Home, Google, Alexa? Yes: smart-home.md.
Can it wake me up? Yes, with a sunrise that's at full light at your alarm, set by weekday or by your phone's alarm: wake-up.md.
Running it
Where are my settings? In ~/.tempolight (Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.tempolight; Pi image:
/var/lib/tempolight; Docker: the tempolight volume). Settings → Backup downloads everything in one file;
Restore from a file… brings it back on another computer (your PIN stays as it is there).
How do I update? Settings → About → Check for updates. Installs made with git or the installer scripts update with Update now; the one-file app, Homebrew, winget, Scoop and Docker show the command to use. install.md.
Can I run it on a server and use it from my phone? Yes: open the On your phone address it prints (for example
http://192.168.1.20:8080) and add it to the home screen. A few browser features (microphone, camera, sharing sound)
only work on localhost or https.
Can I use it in Docker? Yes, best on Linux with host networking. Docker Desktop on a Mac or PC has limits: docker.md.
Is there an API? Yes, HTTP and WebSocket, plus OSC and MQTT: api.md.
Something's wrong. troubleshooting.md, then open an issue.