Provided by: pipewire-bin_1.2.7-1ubuntu5.1_amd64 
NAME
pipewire-props - PipeWire object property reference.
DESCRIPTION
PipeWire describes and configures audio and video elements with objects of the following main types:
Node
Audio or video sink/source endpoint
Device
Sound cards, bluetooth devices, cameras, etc. May have multiple nodes.
Monitor
Finding devices and handling hotplugging
Port
Audio/video endpoint in a node
Link
Connection between ports, that transporting audio/video between them.
Client
Application connected to PipeWire.
All objects have properties ('props'), most of which can be set in configuration files or at runtime when
the object is created.
Some of the properties are 'common properties' (for example node.description) and can be set on all
objects of the given type. Other properties control settings of a specific kinds of device or node (ALSA,
Bluetooth, ...), and have meaning only for those objects.
Usually, all the properties are configured in the session manager configuration. For how to configure
them, see the session manager documentation. In minimal PipeWire setups without a session manager, they
can be configured via context.objects in pipewire.conf(5).
See also
WirePlumber configuration
COMMON DEVICE PROPERTIES
These are common properties for devices.
device.name # string
A (unique) name for the device. It can be used by command-line and other tools to identify the
device.
device.param.PARAM = { ... } # JSON
Set value of a device Param to a JSON value when the device is loaded. This works similarly as pw-
cli(1) set-param command. The PARAM should be replaced with the name of the Param to set, ie. for
example device.Param.Props = { ... } to set Props.
device.plugged # integer
when the device was created.
As a uint64 in nanoseconds.
device.nick # string
a short device nickname
device.description # string
localized human readable device one-line description.
Ex. 'Foobar USB Headset'
device.serial # string
Serial number if applicable.
device.vendor.id # integer
vendor ID if applicable
device.vendor.name # string
vendor name if applicable
device.product.id # integer
product name if applicable
device.product.name # string
product ID if applicable
device.class # string
device class
device.form-factor # string
form factor if applicable.
One of 'internal', 'speaker', 'handset', 'tv', 'webcam', 'microphone', 'headset', 'headphone',
'hands-free', 'car', 'hifi', 'computer', 'portable'
device.icon # string
icon for the device.
A base64 blob containing PNG image data
device.icon-name # string
an XDG icon name for the device.
Ex. 'sound-card-speakers-usb'
device.intended-roles # string
intended use.
A space separated list of roles (see media.role) this device is particularly well suited for, due to
latency, quality or form factor.
device.disabled = false # boolean
Disable the creation of this device in session manager.
There are other common device.* properties for technical purposes and not usually user-configurable.
See also
Key Names in the API documentation for a full list.
COMMON NODE PROPERTIES
The properties here apply to general audio or video input/output streams, and other nodes such as sinks
or sources corresponding to real or virtual devices.
Identifying Properties
These contain properties to identify the node or to display the node in a GUI application.
node.name
A (unique) name for the node. This is usually set on sink and sources to identify them as targets for
linking by the session manager.
node.description
A human readable description of the node or stream.
media.name
A user readable media name, usually the artist and title. These are usually shown in user facing
applications to inform the user about the current playing media.
media.title
A user readable stream title.
media.artist
A user readable stream artist
media.copyright
User readable stream copyright information
media.software
User readable stream generator software information
media.language
Stream language in POSIX format. Ex: en_GB
media.filename
File name for the stream
media.icon
Icon for the media, a base64 blob with PNG image data
media.icon-name
An XDG icon name for the media. Ex: audio-x-mp3
media.comment
Extra stream comment
media.date
Date of the media
media.format
User readable stream format information
object.linger = false
If the object should outlive its creator.
device.id
ID of the device the node belongs to.
Classifying Properties
The classifying properties of a node are use for routing the signal to its destination and for
configuring the settings.
media.type
The media type contains a broad category of the media that is being processed by the node. Possible
values include 'Audio', 'Video', 'Midi'
media.category
What kind of processing is done with the media. Possible values include:
• Playback: media playback.
• Capture: media capture.
• Duplex: media capture and playback or media processing in general.
• Monitor: a media monitor application. Does not actively change media data but monitors activity.
• Manager: Will manage the media graph.
media.role
The Use case of the media. Possible values include:
• Movie: Movie playback with audio and video.
• Music: Music listening.
• Camera: Recording video from a camera.
• Screen: Recording or sharing the desktop screen.
• Communication: VOIP or other video chat application.
• Game: Game.
• Notification: System notification sounds.
• DSP: Audio or Video filters and effect processing.
• Production: Professional audio processing and production.
• Accessibility: Audio and Visual aid for accessibility.
• Test: Test program.
media.class
The media class is to classify the stream function. Possible values include:
• Video/Source: a producer of video, like a webcam.
• Video/Sink: a consumer of video, like a display window.
• Audio/Source: a source of audio samples like a microphone.
• Audio/Sink: a sink for audio samples, like an audio card.
• Audio/Duplex: a node that is both a sink and a source.
• Stream/Output/Audio: a playback stream.
• Stream/Input/Audio: a capture stream.
The session manager assigns special meaning to the nodes based on the media.class. Sink or Source
classes are used as targets for Stream classes, etc..
Scheduling Properties
node.latency = 1024/48000
Sets a suggested latency on the node as a fraction. This is just a suggestion, the graph will try to
configure this latency or less for the graph. It is however possible that the graph is forced to a
higher latency.
node.lock-quantum = false
When this node is active, the quantum of the graph is locked and not allowed to change automatically.
It can still be changed forcibly with metadata or when a node forces a quantum.
JACK clients use this property to avoid unexpected quantum changes.
node.force-quantum = INTEGER
While the node is active, force a quantum in the graph. The last node to be activated with this
property wins.
A value of 0 unforces the quantum.
node.rate = RATE
Suggest a rate (samplerate) for the graph. The suggested rate will only be applied when doing so
would not cause interruptions (devices are idle) and when the rate is in the list of allowed rates in
the server.
node.lock-rate = false
When the node is active, the rate of the graph will not change automatically. It is still possible to
force a rate change with metadata or with a node property.
node.force-rate = RATE
When the node is active, force a specific sample rate on the graph. The last node to activate with
this property wins.
A RATE of 0 means to force the rate in node.rate denominator.
node.always-process = false
When the node is active, it will always be joined with a driver node, even when nothing is linked to
the node. Setting this property to true also implies node.want-driver = true.
This is the default for JACK nodes, that always need their process callback called.
node.want-driver = true
The node wants to be linked to a driver so that it can start processing. This is the default for
streams and filters since 0.3.51. Nodes that are not linked to anything will still be set to the idle
state, unless node.always-process is set to true.
node.pause-on-idle = false
node.suspend-on-idle = false
When the node is not linked anymore, it becomes idle. Normally idle nodes keep processing and are
suspended by the session manager after some timeout. It is possible to immediately pause a node when
idle with this property.
When the session manager does not suspend nodes (or when there is no session manager), the
node.suspend-on-idle property can be used instead.
node.loop.name = null
node.loop.class = data.rt
Add the node to a specific loop name or loop class. By default the node is added to the data.rt loop
class. You can make more specific data loops and then assign the nodes to those.
Other well known names are main-loop.0 and the main node.loop.class which runs the node data
processing in the main loop.
priority.driver # integer
The priority of choosing this device as the driver in the graph. The driver is selected from all
linked devices by selecting the device with the highest priority.
Normally, the session manager assigns higher priority to sources so that they become the driver in
the graph. The reason for this is that adaptive resampling should be done on the sinks rather than
the source to avoid signal distortion when capturing audio.
clock.name # string
The name of the clock. This name is auto generated from the card index and stream direction. Devices
with the same clock name will not use a resampler to align the clocks. This can be used to link
devices together with a shared word clock.
In Pro Audio mode, nodes from the same device are assumed to have the same clock and no resampling
will happen when linked together. So, linking a capture port to a playback port will not use any
adaptive resampling in Pro Audio mode.
In Non Pro Audio profile, no such assumption is made and adaptive resampling is done in all cases by
default. This can also be disabled by setting the same clock.name on the nodes.
Session Manager Properties
node.autoconnect = true
Instructs the session manager to automatically connect this node to some other node, usually a sink
or source.
node.exclusive = false
If this node wants to be linked exclusively to the sink/source.
node.target = <node.name|object.id>
Where this node should be linked to. This can be a node.name or an object.id of a node. This property
is deprecated, the target.object property should be used instead, which uses the more unique
object.serial as a possible target.
target.object = <node.name|object.serial>
Where the node should link to, this can be a node.name or an object.serial.
node.dont-reconnect = false
When the node has a target configured and the target is destroyed, destroy the node as well. This
property also inhibits that the node is moved to another sink/source.
Note that if a stream should appear/disappear in sync with the target, a session manager
(WirePlumber) script should be written instead.
node.passive = false
This is a passive node and so it should not keep sinks/sources busy. This property makes the session
manager create passive links to the sink/sources. If the node is not otherwise linked (via a non-
passive link), the node and the sink it is linked to are idle (and eventually suspended).
This is used for filter nodes that sit in front of sinks/sources and need to suspend together with
the sink/source.
node.link-group = ID
Add the node to a certain link group. Nodes from the same link group are not automatically linked to
each other by the session manager. And example is a coupled stream where you don't want the output to
link to the input streams, making a useless loop.
stream.dont-remix = false
Instruct the session manager to not remix the channels of a stream. Normally the stream channel
configuration is changed to match the sink/source it is connected to. With this property set to true,
the stream will keep its original channel layout and the session manager will link matching channels
with the sink.
priority.session # integer
The priority for selecting this node as the default source or sink.
Format Properties
Streams and also most device nodes can be configured in a certain format with properties.
audio.rate = RATE
Forces a samplerate on the node.
audio.channels = INTEGER
The number of audio channels to use. Must be a value between 1 and 64.
audio.format = FORMAT
Forces an audio format on the node. This is the format used internally in the node because the graph
processing format is always float 32.
Valid formats include: S16, S32, F32, F64, S16LE, S16BE, ...
audio.allowed-rates
An array of allowed samplerates for the node. ex. '[ 44100 48000 ]'
Other Properties
node.param.PARAM = { ... } # JSON
Set value of a node Param to a JSON value when the device is loaded. This works similarly as pw-
cli(1) set-param command. The PARAM should be replaced with the name of the Param to set, ie. for
example node.param.Props = { ... } to set Props.
node.disabled = false # boolean
Disable the creation of this node in session manager.
AUDIO ADAPTER PROPERTIES
Most audio nodes (ALSA, Bluetooth, audio streams from applications, ...) have common properties for the
audio adapter. The adapter performs sample format, sample rate and channel mixing operations.
All properties listed below are node properties.
Merger Parameters
The merger is used as the input for a sink device node or a capture stream. It takes the various channels
and merges them into a single stream for further processing.
The merger will also provide the monitor ports of the input channels and can apply a software volume on
the monitor signal.
monitor.channel-volumes = false
The volume of the input channels is applied to the volume of the monitor ports. Normally the monitor
ports expose the raw unmodified signal on the input ports.
Resampler Parameters
Source, sinks, capture and playback streams contain a high quality adaptive resampler. It uses sinc based
resampling with linear interpolation of filter banks to perform arbitrary resample factors. The resampler
is activated in the following cases:
• The hardware of a device node does not support the graph samplerate. Resampling will occur from the
graph samplerate to the hardware samplerate.
• The hardware clock of a device does not run at the same speed as the graph clock and adaptive
resampling is required to match the clocks.
• A stream does not have the same samplerate as the graph and needs to be resampled.
• An application wants to activate adaptive resampling in a stream to make it match some other clock.
PipeWire performs most of the sample conversions and resampling in the client (Or in the case of the
PulseAudio server, in the pipewire-pulse server that creates the streams). This ensures all the
conversions are offloaded to the clients and the server can deal with one single format for performance
reasons.
Below is an explanation of the options that can be tuned in the sample converter.
resample.quality = 4
The quality of the resampler. from 0 to 14, the default is 4.
Increasing the quality will result in better cutoff and less aliasing at the expense of (much) more
CPU consumption. The default quality of 4 has been selected as a good compromise between quality and
performance with no artifacts that are well below the audible range.
See Infinite Wave for a comparison of the performance.
resample.disable = false
Disable the resampler entirely. The node will only be able to negotiate with the graph when the
samplerates are compatible.
Channel Mixer Parameters
Source, sinks, capture and playback streams can apply channel mixing on the incoming signal.
Normally the channel mixer is not used for devices, the device channels are usually exposed as they are.
This policy is usually enforced by the session manager, so we refer to its documentation there.
Playback and capture streams are usually configured to the channel layout of the sink/source they connect
to and will thus perform channel mixing.
The channel mixer also implements a software volume. This volume adjustment is performed on the original
channel layout. ex: A stereo playback stream that is up-mixed to 5.1 has 2 a left an right volume
control.
channelmix.disable = false
Disables the channel mixer completely. The stream will only be able to link to compatible
sources/sinks with the exact same channel layout.
channelmix.min-volume = 0.0
channelmix.max-volume = 10.0
Gives the min and max volume values allowed. Any volume that is set will be clamped to these values.
channelmix.normalize = false
Makes sure that during such mixing & resampling original 0 dB level is preserved, so nothing sounds
wildly quieter/louder.
While this options prevents clipping, it can in some cases produce too low volume. Increase the
volume in that case or disable normalization.
channelmix.lock-volumes = false
Completely disable volume or mute changes. Defaults to false.
channelmix.mix-lfe = true
Mixes the low frequency effect channel into the front center or stereo pair. This might enhance the
dynamic range of the signal if there is no subwoofer and the speakers can reproduce the low frequency
signal.
channelmix.upmix = true
Enables up-mixing of the front center (FC) when the target has a FC channel. The sum of the stereo
channels is used and an optional lowpass filter can be used (see channelmix.fc-cutoff).
Also enabled up-mixing of LFE when channelmix.lfe-cutoff is set to something else than 0 and the
target has an LFE channel. The LFE channel is produced by adding the stereo channels.
If channelmix.upmix is true, the up-mixing of the rear channels is also enabled and controlled with
the channelmix-upmix-method property.
channelmix.upmix-method = psd
3 methods are provided to produce the rear channels in a surround sound:
1. none. No rear channels are produced.
2. simple. Front channels are copied to the rear. This is fast but can produce phasing effects.
3. psd. The rear channels as produced from the front left and right ambient sound (the difference
between the channels). A delay and optional phase shift are added to the rear signal to make the
sound bigger.
channelmix.lfe-cutoff = 150
Apply a lowpass filter to the low frequency effects. The value is expressed in Hz. Typical subwoofers
have a cutoff at around 150 and 200. The default value of 0 disables the feature.
channelmix.fc-cutoff = 12000
Apply a lowpass filter to the front center frequency. The value is expressed in Hz.
Since the front center contains the dialogs, a typical cutoff frequency is 12000 Hz.
This option is only active when the up-mix is enabled.
channelmix.rear-delay = 12.0
Apply a delay in milliseconds when up-mixing the rear channels. This improves specialization of the
sound. A typical delay of 12 milliseconds is the default.
This is only active when the psd up-mix method is used.
channelmix.stereo-widen = 0.0
Subtracts some of the front center signal from the stereo channels. This moves the dialogs more to
the center speaker and leaves the ambient sound in the stereo channels.
This is only active when up-mix is enabled and a Front Center channel is mixed.
channelmix.hilbert-taps = 0
This option will apply a 90 degree phase shift to the rear channels to improve specialization. Taps
needs to be between 15 and 255 with more accurate results (and more CPU consumption) for higher
values.
This is only active when the psd up-mix method is used.
dither.noise = 0
This option will add N bits of random data to the signal. When no dither.method is specified, the
random data will flip between [-(1<<(N-1)), 0] every 1024 samples. With a dither.method, the dither
noise is amplified with 1<<(N-1) bits.
This can be used to keep some amplifiers alive during silent periods. One or two bits of noise is
usually enough, otherwise the noise will become audible. This is usually used together with
session.suspend-timeout-seconds to disable suspend in the session manager.
Note that PipeWire uses floating point operations with 24 bits precission for all of the audio
processing. Conversion to 24 bits integer sample formats is lossless and conversion to 32 bits
integer sample formats are simply padded with 0 bits at the end. This means that the dither noise is
always only in the 24 most significant bits.
dither.method = none
Optional dithering can be done on the quantized output signal.
There are 6 modes available:
1. none No dithering is done.
2. rectangular Dithering with a rectangular noise distribution. This adds random bits in the [-0.5,
0.5] range to the signal with even distribution.
3. triangular Dithering with a triangular noise distribution. This add random bits in the [-1.0,
1.0] range to the signal with triangular distribution around 0.0.
4. triangular-hf Dithering with a sloped triangular noise distribution.
5. wannamaker3 Additional noise shaping is performed on the sloped triangular dithering to move the
noise to the more inaudible range. This is using the 'F-Weighted' noise filter described by
Wannamaker.
6. shaped5 Additional noise shaping is performed on the triangular dithering to move the noise to
the more inaudible range. This is using the Lipshitz filter.
Dithering is only useful for conversion to a format with less than 24 bits and will be disabled
otherwise.
Debug Parameters
debug.wav-path = ''
Make the stream to also write the raw samples to a WAV file for debugging purposes.
Other Parameters
These control low-level technical features:
clock.quantum-limit
See pipewire.conf(5)
resample.peaks = false # boolean
Instead of actually resampling, produce peak amplitude values as output. This is used for volume
monitoring, where it is set as a property of the 'recording' stream.
resample.prefill = false # boolean
Prefill resampler buffers with silence. This affects the initial samples produced by the resampler.
adapter.auto-port-config = null # JSON
If specified, configure the ports of the node when it is created, instead of leaving that to the
session manager to do. This is useful (only) for minimal configurations without a session manager.
Value is SPA JSON of the form:
{
mode = "none", # "none", "passthrough", "convert", "dsp"
monitor = false, # boolean
control = false, # boolean
position = "preserve" # "unknown", "aux", "preserve"
}
See spa_param_port_config for the meaning.
ALSA PROPERTIES
Monitor properties
alsa.use-acp # boolean
Use ALSA Card Profiles (ACP) for device configuration.
alsa.udev.expose-busy # boolean
Expose the ALSA card even if it is busy/in use. Default false. This can be useful when some of the
PCMs are in use by other applications but the other free PCMs should still be exposed.
Device properties
api.alsa.path # string
ALSA device path as can be used in snd_pcm_open() and snd_ctl_open().
api.alsa.use-ucm = true # boolean
When ACP is enabled and a UCM configuration is available for a device, by default it is used instead
of the ACP profiles. This option allows you to disable this and use the ACP profiles instead.
This option does nothing if api.alsa.use-acp is set to false.
api.alsa.soft-mixer = false # boolean
Setting this option to true will disable the hardware mixer for volume control and mute. All volume
handling will then use software volume and mute, leaving the hardware mixer untouched. The hardware
mixer will still be used to mute unused audio paths in the device.
api.alsa.ignore-dB = false # boolean
Setting this option to true will ignore the decibel setting configured by the driver. Use this when
the driver reports wrong settings.
device.profile-set # string
This option can be used to select a custom ACP profile-set name for the device. This can be
configured in UDev rules, but it can also be specified here. The default is to use 'default.conf'
unless there is a matching udev rule.
device.profile # string
The initial active profile name. The default is to start from the 'Off' profile and then let session
manager select the best profile based on its policy.
api.acp.auto-profile = true # boolean
Automatically select the best profile for the device. The session manager usually disables this, as
it handles this task instead. This can be enabled in custom configurations without the session
manager handling this.
api.acp.auto-port = true # boolean
Automatically select the highest priority port that is available ('port' is a PulseAudio/ACP term,
the equivalent of a 'Route' in PipeWire). The session manager usually disables this, as it handles
this task instead. This can be enabled in custom configurations without the session manager handling
this.
api.acp.probe-rate # integer
Sets the samplerate used for probing the ALSA devices and collecting the profiles and ports.
api.acp.pro-channels # integer
Sets the number of channels to use when probing the 'Pro Audio' profile. Normally, the maximum amount
of channels will be used but with this setting this can be reduced, which can make it possible to use
other samplerates on some devices.
Node properties
audio.channels # integer
The number of audio channels to open the device with. Defaults depends on the profile of the device.
audio.rate # integer
The audio rate to open the device with. Default is 0, which means to open the device with a rate as
close to the graph rate as possible.
audio.format # string
The audio format to open the device in. By default this is 'UNKNOWN', which will open the device in
the best possible bits (32/24/16/8..). You can force a format like S16_LE or S32_LE.
audio.position # JSON array of strings
The audio position of the channels in the device. This is auto detected based on the profile. You can
configure an array of channel positions, like '[ FL, FR ]'.
audio.allowed-rates # JSON array of integers
The allowed audio rates to open the device with. Default is '[ ]', which means the device can be
opened in any supported rate.
Only rates from the array will be used to open the device. When the graph is running with a rate not
listed in the allowed-rates, the resampler will be used to resample to the nearest allowed rate.
api.alsa.period-size # integer
The period size to open the device in. By default this is 0, which will open the device in the
default period size to minimize latency.
api.alsa.period-num # integer
The amount of periods to use in the device. By default this is 0, which means to use as many as
possible.
api.alsa.headroom # integer
The amount of extra space to keep in the ringbuffer. The default is 0. Higher values can be
configured when the device read and write pointers are not accurately reported.
api.alsa.start-delay = 0 # integer
Some devices need some time before they can report accurate hardware pointer positions. In those
cases, an extra start delay can be added to compensate for this startup delay. This sets the startup
delay in samples.
api.alsa.disable-mmap = false # boolean
Disable mmap operation of the device and use the ALSA read/write API instead. Default is false, mmap
is preferred.
api.alsa.disable-batch # boolean
Ignore the ALSA batch flag. If the batch flag is set, ALSA will need an extra period to update the
read/write pointers. Ignore this flag from ALSA can reduce the latency. Default is false.
api.alsa.use-chmap # boolean
Use the driver provided channel map. Default is true when using UCM, false otherwise because many
driver don't report this correctly.
api.alsa.multi-rate # boolean
Allow devices from the same card to be opened in multiple sample rates. Default is true. Some older
drivers did not properly advertise the capabilities of the device and only really supported opening
the device in one rate.
api.alsa.htimestamp = false # boolean
Use ALSA htimestamps in scheduling, instead of the system clock. Some ALSA drivers produce bad
timestamps, so this is not enabled by default and will be disabled at runtime if it looks like the
ALSA timestamps are bad.
api.alsa.htimestamp.max-errors # integer
Specify the number of consecutive errors before htimestamp is disabled. Setting this to 0 makes
htimestamp never get disabled.
api.alsa.disable-tsched = false # boolean
Disable timer-based scheduling, and use IRQ for scheduling instead. The 'Pro Audio' profile will
usually enable this setting, if it is expected it works on the hardware.
api.alsa.auto-link = false # boolean
Link follower PCM devices to the driver PCM device when using IRQ-based scheduling. The 'Pro Audio'
profile will usually enable this setting, if it is expected it works on the hardware.
latency.internal.rate # integer
Static set the device systemic latency, in samples at playback rate.
latency.internal.ns # integer
Static set the device systemic latency, in nanoseconds.
api.alsa.path # string
UNDOCUMENTED
api.alsa.open.ucm # boolean
Open device using UCM.
api.alsa.bind-ctls # boolean
UNDOCUMENTED
iec958.codecs # JSON array of string
Enable only specific IEC958 codecs. This can be used to disable some codecs the hardware supports.
Available values: PCM, AC3, DTS, MPEG, MPEG2-AAC, EAC3, TRUEHD, DTSHD
BLUETOOTH PROPERTIES
Monitor properties
The following are settings for the Bluetooth device monitor, not device or node properties:
bluez5.roles = [ a2dp_sink a2dp_source bap_sink bap_source bap_bcast_sink bap_bcast_source hfp_hf hfp_ag
] # JSON array of string
Enabled roles.
Currently some headsets (Sony WH-1000XM3) are not working with both hsp_ag and hfp_ag enabled, so by
default we enable only HFP.
Supported roles:
• hsp_hs (HSP Headset),
• hsp_ag (HSP Audio Gateway),
• hfp_hf (HFP Hands-Free),
• hfp_ag (HFP Audio Gateway)
• a2dp_sink (A2DP Audio Sink)
• a2dp_source (A2DP Audio Source)
• bap_sink (LE Audio Basic Audio Profile Sink)
• bap_source (LE Audio Basic Audio Profile Source)
• bap_bcast_sink (LE Audio Basic Audio Profile Broadcast Sink)
• bap_bcast_source (LE Audio Basic Audio Profile Broadcast Source)
bluez5.codecs # JSON array of string
Enabled A2DP codecs (default: all). Possible values: sbc, sbc_xq, aac, aac_eld, aptx, aptx_hd,
aptx_ll, aptx_ll_duplex, faststream, faststream_duplex, lc3plus_h3, ldac, opus_05, opus_05_51,
opus_05_71, opus_05_duplex, opus_05_pro, opus_g, lc3.
bluez5.default.rate # integer
Default audio rate.
bluez5.default.channels # integer
Default audio channels.
bluez5.hfphsp-backend # integer
HFP/HSP backend (default: native). Available values: any, none, hsphfpd, ofono, native
bluez5.hfphsp-backend-native-modem # string
bluez5.dummy-avrcp player # boolean
Register dummy AVRCP player. Some devices have wrongly functioning volume or playback controls if
this is not enabled. Default: false
bluez5.enable-sbc-xq # boolean
Override device quirk list and enable SBC-XQ for devices for which it is disabled.
bluez5.enable-msbc # boolean
Override device quirk list and enable MSBC for devices for which it is disabled.
bluez5.enable-hw-volume # boolean
Override device quirk list and enable hardware volume fo devices for which it is disabled.
bluez5.hw-offload-sco # boolean
HFP/HSP hardware offload SCO support (default: false).
This feature requires a custom configuration that routes SCO audio to ALSA nodes, in a platform-
specific way. See tests/examples/bt-pinephone.lua in WirePlumber for an example. Do not enable this
setting if you don't know what all this means, as it won't work.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.channels = 3 # integer
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile channel count.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.coupled-streams = 1 # integer
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile coupled stream count.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.locations = 'FL,FR,LFE' # string
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile audio channel locations.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.max-bitrate = 600000 # integer
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile max bitrate.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.frame-dms = 50 # integer
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile frame duration (1/10 ms).
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.channels = 1 # integer
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex channels.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.coupled-streams = 0 # integer
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex coupled stream count.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.locations = 'FC' # string
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex coupled channel locations.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.max-bitrate = 160000 # integer
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex max bitrate.
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.frame-dms = 400 # integer
PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex frame duration (1/10 ms).
bluez5.bcast_source.config = [] # JSON
Example:
bluez5.bcast_source.config = [
{
"broadcast_code": "Børne House",
"encryption: false,
"bis": [
{ # BIS configuration
"qos_preset": "16_2_1", # QOS preset name from table Table 6.4 from BAP_v1.0.1.
"audio_channel_allocation": 1, # audio channel allocation configuration for the BIS
"metadata": [ # metadata configurations for the BIS
{ "type": 1, "value": [ 1, 1 ] }
]
}
]
}
]
Device properties
bluez5.auto-connect # boolean
Auto-connect devices on start up. Disabled by default if the property is not specified.
bluez5.hw-volume = [ hfp_ag hsp_ag a2dp_source ] # JSON array of string
Profiles for which to enable hardware volume control.
bluez5.profile # string
Initial device profile. This usually has no effect as the session manager overrides it.
bluez5.a2dp.ldac.quality = 'auto' # string
LDAC encoding quality Available values:
• auto (Adaptive Bitrate, default)
• hq (High Quality, 990/909kbps)
• sq (Standard Quality, 660/606kbps)
• mq (Mobile use Quality, 330/303kbps)
bluez5.a2dp.aac.bitratemode = 0 # integer
AAC variable bitrate mode. Available values: 0 (cbr, default), 1-5 (quality level)
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.application = 'audio' # string
PipeWire Opus Pro Audio encoding mode: audio, voip, lowdelay
bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.application = 'audio' # string
PipeWire Opus Pro Audio duplex encoding mode: audio, voip, lowdelay
bluez5.bap.cig = 'auto' # integer, or 'auto'
Set CIG ID for BAP unicast streams of the device.
Node properties
bluez5.media-source-role # string
Media source role for Bluetooth clients connecting to this instance. Available values:
• playback: playing stream to speakers
• input: appear as source node.
PORT PROPERTIES
Port properties are usually not directly configurable via PipeWire configuration files, as they are
determined by applications creating them. Below are some port properties may interesting for users:
port.name # string
port name
port.alias # string
port alias
See also
Key Names in the API documentation for a full list.
LINK PROPERTIES
Link properties are usually not directly configurable via PipeWire configuration files, as they are
determined by applications creating them.
See also
Key Names in the API documentation for a full list.
CLIENT PROPERTIES
Client properties are usually not directly configurable via PipeWire configuration files, as they are
determined by the application connecting to PipeWire. Clients are however affected by the settings in
pipewire.conf(5) and session manager settings.
Note
Only the properties pipewire.* are safe to use for security purposes such as identifying applications
and their capabilities, as clients can set and change other properties freely.
Below are some client properties may interesting for users.
application.name # string
application keys
application name. Ex: 'Totem Music Player'
application.process.id # integer
process id (pid)
pipewire.sec.pid # integer
Client pid, set by protocol.
Note that for PulseAudio applications, this is the PID of the pipewire-pulse process.
See also
Key Names in the API documentation for a full list.
RUNTIME SETTINGS
Objects such as devices and nodes also have parameters that can be modified after the object has been
created. For example, the active device profile, channel volumes, and so on.
For some objects, the parameters also allow changing some of the properties. The settings of most ALSA
and virtual device parameters can be configured also at runtime.
These settings are available in device parameter called Props in its params field. They can be seen e.g.
using pw-dump <id> for an ALSA device:
{
...
"Props": [
{
...
"params": [
"audio.channels",
2,
"audio.rate",
0,
"audio.format",
"UNKNOWN",
"audio.position",
"[ FL, FR ]",
"audio.allowed-rates",
"[ ]",
"api.alsa.period-size",
0,
"api.alsa.period-num",
0,
"api.alsa.headroom",
0,
"api.alsa.start-delay",
0,
"api.alsa.disable-mmap",
false,
"api.alsa.disable-batch",
false,
"api.alsa.use-chmap",
false,
"api.alsa.multi-rate",
true,
"latency.internal.rate",
0,
"latency.internal.ns",
0,
"clock.name",
"api.alsa.c-1"
]
}
...
They generally have the same names and meaning as the corresponding properties.
One or more params can be changed using pw-cli(1):
pw-cli s <id> Props '{ params = [ "api.alsa.headroom" 1024 ] }'
These settings are not saved and need to be reapplied for each session manager restart.
ALSA CARD PROFILES
The sound card profiles ('Analog stereo', 'Analog stereo duplex', ...) except 'Pro Audio' come from two
sources:
• UCM: ALSA Use Case Manager: the profile configuration system from ALSA. See https://github.com/alsa-
project/alsa-ucm-conf/
• ACP ('Alsa Card Profiles'): Pulseaudio's profile system ported to PipeWire. See
https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/PulseAudio/Backends/ALSA/Profiles/
See the above links on how to configure these systems.
For ACP, PipeWire looks for the profile configuration files under
• ~/.config/alsa-card-profile
• /etc/alsa-card-profile
• /usr/share/alsa-card-profile/mixer`.
The path and profile-set files are in subdirectories paths and profile-sets of these directories. It is
possible to override individual files locally by putting a modified copy into the ACP directories under
~/.config or /etc.
OTHER OBJECT TYPES
Technically, PipeWire objects is what are manipulated by applications using the PipeWire API.
The list of object types that are usually 'exported' (i.e. appear in pw-dump(1) output) is larger than
considered above:
• Node
• Device
• Port
• Link
• Client
• Metadata
• Module
• Profiler
• SecurityContext
Monitors do not appear in this list; they are not usually exported, and technically also Device objects.
They are considered above as a separate object type because they have configurable properties.
Metadata objects are what is manipulated with pw-metadata(1)
Modules can be loaded in configuration files, or by PipeWire applications.
The Profiler and SecurityContext objects only provide corresponding PipeWire APIs.
INDEX
Monitor properties
• alsa.udev.expose-busy
• alsa.use-acp
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.channels
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.coupled-streams
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.frame-dms
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.locations
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.max-bitrate
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.channels
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.coupled-streams
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.frame-dms
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.locations
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.max-bitrate
• bluez5.bcast_source.config
• bluez5.codecs
• bluez5.default.channels
• bluez5.default.rate
• bluez5.dummy-avrcp
• bluez5.enable-hw-volume
• bluez5.enable-msbc
• bluez5.enable-sbc-xq
• bluez5.hfphsp-backend
• bluez5.hfphsp-backend-native-modem
• bluez5.hw-offload-sco
• bluez5.roles
Device properties
• api.acp.auto-port
• api.acp.auto-profile
• api.acp.pro-channels
• api.acp.probe-rate
• api.alsa.ignore-dB
• api.alsa.path
• api.alsa.soft-mixer
• api.alsa.use-ucm
• bluez5.a2dp.aac.bitratemode
• bluez5.a2dp.ldac.quality
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.application
• bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.application
• bluez5.auto-connect
• bluez5.bap.cig
• bluez5.hw-volume
• bluez5.profile
• device.class
• device.description
• device.disabled
• device.form-factor
• device.icon
• device.icon-name
• device.intended-roles
• device.name
• device.nick
• device.param.PARAM
• device.plugged
• device.product.id
• device.product.name
• device.profile
• device.profile-set
• device.serial
• device.vendor.id
• device.vendor.name
Node properties
• adapter.auto-port-config
• api.alsa.auto-link
• api.alsa.bind-ctls
• api.alsa.disable-batch
• api.alsa.disable-mmap
• api.alsa.disable-tsched
• api.alsa.headroom
• api.alsa.htimestamp
• api.alsa.htimestamp.max-errors
• api.alsa.multi-rate
• api.alsa.open.ucm
• api.alsa.path
• api.alsa.period-num
• api.alsa.period-size
• api.alsa.start-delay
• api.alsa.use-chmap
• audio.allowed-rates
• audio.channels
• audio.format
• audio.position
• audio.rate
• bluez5.media-source-role
• channelmix.disable
• channelmix.fc-cutoff
• channelmix.hilbert-taps
• channelmix.lfe-cutoff
• channelmix.lock-volumes
• channelmix.max-volume
• channelmix.min-volume
• channelmix.mix-lfe
• channelmix.normalize
• channelmix.rear-delay
• channelmix.stereo-widen
• channelmix.upmix
• channelmix.upmix-method
• clock.name
• clock.quantum-limit
• debug.wav-path
• device.id
• dither.method
• dither.noise
• iec958.codecs
• latency.internal.ns
• latency.internal.rate
• media.artist
• media.category
• media.class
• media.comment
• media.copyright
• media.date
• media.filename
• media.format
• media.icon
• media.icon-name
• media.language
• media.name
• media.role
• media.software
• media.title
• media.type
• monitor.channel-volumes
• node.always-process
• node.autoconnect
• node.description
• node.disabled
• node.dont-reconnect
• node.exclusive
• node.force-quantum
• node.force-rate
• node.latency
• node.link-group
• node.lock-quantum
• node.lock-rate
• node.loop.class
• node.loop.name
• node.name
• node.param.PARAM
• node.passive
• node.pause-on-idle
• node.rate
• node.suspend-on-idle
• node.target
• node.want-driver
• object.linger
• priority.driver
• priority.session
• resample.disable
• resample.peaks
• resample.prefill
• resample.quality
• stream.dont-remix
• target.object
Port properties
• port.alias
• port.name
Client properties
• application.name
• application.process.id
• pipewire.sec.pid
AUTHORS
The PipeWire Developers <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/pipewire/issues>; PipeWire is available
from <https://pipewire.org>
SEE ALSO
pipewire.conf(5)
PipeWire 1.2.7 pipewire-props(7)