Tutorial: Simple Spotify Web API

Introduction

Spotify's Web API provides developers with a powerful set of tools to interact with the music streaming service programmatically. In this tutorial, we'll explore the basics of setting up and utilizing Spotify's Web API using Golang, a versatile programming language. We'll also delve into the Gorilla/Mux library, a popular router and dispatcher for building robust web applications in Golang.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure that you have the following prerequisites installed on your system:
Golang: Visit Golang for installation instructions.
A Spotify Developer Account: Create one at Spotify.

Setting up Spotify Web Api

1. Create the Spotify App:

Create a new app to obtain the client ID and client secret.

2. Obtain the API Credentials:

After creating the app, note down the client ID and client secret.

Set the Redirect URI in the app settings (e.g., http://localhost:8080/callback).

3. Authentication Flows:

Implement the Authorization Code Flow to obtain an access token.

Exchange the authorization code for an access token using Golang's net/http package.

Using Gorilla/Mux for Routing:

1. Install Gorilla/Mux:

Open your terminal and run:


               go get -u github.com/gorilla/mux

2. Create a Simple Server:

Set up a basic Golang server using Gorilla/Mux:

         
   package main
   import (
      "github.com/gorilla/mux"
      "net/http"
   )

   func main() {
      spotifyAuthenticator.SetAuthInfo(clientID, clientSecret)
      router := mux.NewRouter()

      // Define your routes here
      handler.SetupRoutes(r)

      http.Handle("/", r)
      fmt.Println("Server is listening on :8080")
      http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
   }

Using the clientID and clientSecret retrieved from Spotify, we are able to establish a connection. Next, we're going to retrieve the access token that will be used to access Spotify's API.

 client, err := spotifyAuthenticator.Token(state, r)

After establishing a connection, we're in! Now we can get some data from Spotify via Go wrapper

Handle Spotify API Requests:

3. Get Spotify ID.

Now that we've established a connection with Spotify's API, you can start playing around with the API. Let's do a simple one such as getting your playlists.
Firstly, we need to get your Spotify ID. We can do a simply get CurrentUser()

   
   client, _ := client.CurrentUser()
   userId := client.ID

Once retrieving userID, getting your playlist is just a simple

   
   client, _ := client.GetPlaylistForUser(userId)

Conclusion

That's all for the simple Spotify API! You can refer to my github repo for more indepth look on how I've used Spotify's Web API to create a playlist from a random genre!