I’ve had a brief chance to test this with Roon and it works.
So what is it?
Random Albums — a Roon extension
A web UI that shows a screenful of random albums from your Roon library, with
Play Now, Add to Queue, Play Next, Shuffle, and Start Radio
actions targeting any of your zones. Refresh button reshuffles the wall.
Roon-style dark theme (default) plus a light theme.
The Roon API does not let third-party code navigate the Roon app itself, so the album detail view (art, tracks, action buttons) is rendered inside this UI. Tapping Play Now still plays through Roon on the zone you select.
Also included is a mini transport bar, with a share function (generates a MusicD share card, with album review if available) and volume control if your Roon endpoints have variable control.
Now the why?
I love music and between local albums and Qobuz I have a combined album count of ~12k, so sometimes I just don’t want to choose. This presents 12 options on the screen at a time. Nothing taking your fancy, refresh the screen. Play now, add to queue etc. it scrapes Qobuz for album info. Roon’s API restrictions unfortunately restricts pulling this metadata.
I have a version for Lyrion Music Server and Volumio as well. LMS is my choice which has manual search function as well. I haven’t put search inside the Roon version, I may if the Roon API allows the way I want it.
Download it here from my GitHub page. It works on Linux, MacOS and Windows (not tested yet on MacOS or Windows, but there’s no reason why it should not). Installation instructions after screenshots.
Once installed it’ll show in Roon Extensions setting page. Just enable it.
To use it via a web browser enter the IP of the machine running the extension http://<IP_ADDRESS>:3399
With iOS you can save it to the Home Screen and it acts like a full screen app.
Linux
# 1. Install Node + git
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs git
node --version # must be v18+
which node # NOTE this path for the service file
# 2. Unpack
cd /opt && sudo tar -xzf ~/roon-random-albums.tar.gz # → /opt/roon-random-albums
# 3. Dependencies
cd /opt/roon-random-albums && npm install
# 4. Test by hand FIRST
node index.js # should print "listening on http://0.0.0.0:3399", Ctrl-C
Add as a service
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/roon-random-albums.service
[Unit]
Description=Roon Random Albums
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target
[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/opt/roon-random-albums
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/roon-random-albums/index.js
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
User=root
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
save it, then
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now roon-random-albums
sudo systemctl status roon-random-albums
journalctl -u roon-random-albums -f # live logs (Ctrl-C to exit)
MacOS
# Install Node (choose one):
# - Download the macOS installer from https://nodejs.org (LTS), OR
# - With Homebrew:
brew install node
# git is usually already present; if not:
xcode-select --install # or: brew install git
node --version # verify v18+
Unpack and install
cd ~/Applications # or wherever you want it
tar -xzf ~/Downloads/roon-random-albums.tar.gz
cd roon-random-albums
npm install
node index.js # test — should print the listening line
Open http://localhost:3399 (or http://:3399 from another device)
Auto-start on macOS (launchd, optional)
Create ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.local.roon.random-albums.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
"http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key> <string>com.local.roon.random-albums</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/usr/local/bin/node</string>
<string>/Users/YOU/Applications/roon-random-albums/index.js</string>
</array>
<key>WorkingDirectory</key> <string>/Users/YOU/Applications/roon-random-albums</string>
<key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/>
<key>KeepAlive</key> <true/>
</dict>
</plist>
Adjust the node path (which node) and the /Users/YOU/… paths, then:
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.local.roon.random-albums.plist
Windows
- Install Node.js LTS from https://nodejs.org (the installer adds Node to
your PATH automatically). - Install Git for Windows from Redirecting….
- Open PowerShell and verify: node --version (should be v18+).
- Unpack the tarball (right-click → extract, or use 7-Zip), then in PowerShell:
cd C:\Apps\roon-random-albums # wherever you extracted it
npm install
node index.js # test — should print the listening line
- Open http://localhost:3399 (or http://:3399 from another device)
and enable it in Roon → Settings → Extensions.
Auto-start on Windows (optional)
Easiest is NSSM (the Non-Sucking Service Manager):
# After downloading nssm.exe:
nssm install RoonRandomAlbums "C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe" "C:\Apps\roon-random-albums\index.js"
nssm set RoonRandomAlbums AppDirectory "C:\Apps\roon-random-albums"
nssm start RoonRandomAlbums
Or create a Task Scheduler task: “At startup” → start a program →
node.exe with argument C:\Apps\roon-random-albums\index.js and “Start in”
set to the app folder.
Any errors, just post in this thread and I can assist.
