Bose-SoundTouch

AfterTouch

Bose SoundTouch Toolkit

Independent project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or otherwise connected to Bose Corporation. See Disclaimer for the full statement.

The Bose Cloud Has Shut Down

Bose shut down SoundTouch cloud services on May 6, 2026. Presets, music service browsing, and stereo pairing no longer work through Bose’s infrastructure. AfterTouch restores all of these — no Bose infrastructure required.

See the Survival Guide for the full picture, or jump straight to Downloads to get the tools.

Tools

soundtouch-service — AfterTouch

A local server that replaces the Bose cloud (“AfterTouch”). Once your speaker is redirected to it, you have full control without any Bose cloud dependency. The built-in web UI at http://localhost:8000 handles all setup — no config files needed to get started.

Not sure which approach fits your situation? See the Deployment Overview — it compares running AfterTouch on a Raspberry Pi or other always-on host against running it directly on the SoundTouch speaker, with links to step-by-step walkthroughs for each path.

Getting started:

Already migrated before May 6 — your presets and credentials are preserved. AfterTouch picks up where the Bose cloud left off.

Starting fresh (or after a factory reset) — create a local account, configure your speakers, and start using them immediately.

Redirecting your speaker

The service needs a stable address on your local network (e.g. soundtouch.fritz.box or soundtouch.local). The speaker must then be redirected to resolve the Bose cloud hostnames to that address. Two supported methods:

The web UI walks you through each method. DNS redirect requires HTTPS — the service manages its own CA certificate and the web UI guides you through trusting it on each speaker.

Note: A hosts-file method (direct SSH edits to /etc/hosts) also exists in the codebase but is deprecated and not exposed in the web UI.

Enabling SSH via USB stick

Some setup steps require SSH access to the speaker. Enable it once per device: create a file named remote_services on a FAT-formatted USB drive (the drive may need its bootable flag set — see SoundCork issue #172), and insert it while the speaker is powered on. After reboot, root SSH is available with no password.

See Device Initial Setup and Migration Guide for step-by-step instructions.

soundtouch-backup

Backs up your Bose cloud account (presets, paired devices, music sources) and each speaker’s local state before the shutdown. Run soundtouch-backup all to capture everything in one step; it authenticates with the Bose cloud, then polls each paired speaker over the local network.

See the soundtouch-backup README for usage.

soundtouch-cli

Command-line control of any SoundTouch device: play/pause/volume, presets, source selection, multiroom zones, device discovery, and more. Works entirely over the local network — no cloud dependency. Well-suited for scripting and home automation.

See the CLI Reference for full usage, and the Downloads page to get the soundtouch-cli build for your OS.

soundtouch-player

Formerly soundtouch-web. The soundtouch-web binary, Docker image, and install script are no longer published; please use soundtouch-player. (If you still run the binary under its old name, it prints a rename notice and works as before.)

A standalone, LAN-resident web UI for device control — play, pause, volume, preset selection, real-time status — served from a local Go binary. Because it reaches speakers directly on your network and can delegate cloud-only features (e.g. TTS) to a remote AfterTouch service via --service-url, it stays useful when soundtouch-service runs off-LAN (for example in the cloud), where the embedded /app player cannot reach your speakers.

See the soundtouch-player README for usage.

Go library

pkg/client provides a Go API for all SoundTouch device endpoints: media control, volume, presets, sources, zones, real-time WebSocket events, and device discovery. Use it to build your own integrations.

go get github.com/gesellix/bose-soundtouch

See the API Reference and pkg.go.dev for documentation.

Documentation

• Getting Started (start here: service, migration, presets)
• Survival Guide
• Go client library quick start
• Migration Guide
• Device Initial Setup
• Migration & Safety Guide
• CLI Reference
• SoundTouch Service Guide
• HTTPS & CA Setup
• API Reference

Related projects

• SoundCork (Deborah Kaplan et al.) — Python service interception; pioneered the cloud emulation approach this project builds on
• SoundCork Stockholm App — Companion app for SoundCork
• SoundTouch Plus (Todd Lucas) — Home Assistant integration; extensive undocumented API documentation
• ÜberBöse API (Julius) — API research and advanced endpoint discovery
• Bose SoundTouch Hook (Adrian Böckenkamp) — LD_PRELOAD hooking for reverse engineering device internals
• STR, SoundTouch Reborn (st-reborn.de) — on-device agent plus desktop app; its published iptables REDIRECT technique is what makes AfterTouch’s on-device install reachable over the LAN on co-processor chassis (see Model Support Matrix)
• soundtouch-decloud (bitranox): a Claude Code skill that walks a non-technical owner through moving their speakers to AfterTouch, recovering each preset’s own stream, and checking that every preset plays

Other SoundTouch projects

Independent projects that keep SoundTouch speakers working in their own way, without AfterTouch.

• Air Drift for SoundTouch (spedmo): a Docker container that puts internet radio back on the preset buttons, either via the speaker’s WebSocket and UPnP or by answering the speaker in place of the Bose cloud

Support

• Bug reports: GitHub Issues
• Questions & discussions: GitHub Discussions

Star this project ⭐ if you find it useful!

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome — code, documentation, bug reports, and feature ideas all land in the same place. By submitting a contribution you agree to license it under MIT. For significant changes please open an issue first to discuss the approach. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide.

Support the project

If this toolkit kept a speaker (or several) of yours alive past the Bose cloud shutdown and you want to give back, GitHub Sponsors is open. No expectation — everything in this repo stays MIT regardless.

Disclaimer

This is an independent open-source project. Bose and SoundTouch are registered trademarks of Bose Corporation in the United States and other countries. This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or otherwise connected to Bose Corporation.

The toolkit exists solely to restore functionality of Bose SoundTouch speakers after the official cloud service shutdown on May 6, 2026. Reverse engineering for the sole purpose of interoperability is permitted under EU Directive 2009/24/EC, Article 6 (“Decompilation”), and comparable provisions in other jurisdictions.

The optional Stockholm frontend integration (STOCKHOLM_DIR) requires the user to supply the Stockholm web-app sources themselves; no Bose code is redistributed in this repository.

The software is provided AS IS, without warranty. Use at your own risk.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.