Getting Started

Prerequisites

You need a paid Apple Developer Program membership ($99/yr).

Generate a MusicKit Key

Go to the Apple Developer Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles page.
Click Keys → Create a new key.
Enable MusicKit under Services.
Download the .p8 file. You can only download it once, so keep it safe.
Note the Key ID and your Team ID (found in your account’s membership details).

Installation

npm install node-musickit-api

yarn add node-musickit-api

bun add node-musickit-api

Key Security

Never hardcode your credentials. Use environment variables or a gitignored file:

// ✅ Recommended: environment variables
import { MusicKit } from "node-musickit-api"

const musicKit = new MusicKit({
  key: {
    id: process.env.MUSICKIT_KEY_ID!,
    teamId: process.env.MUSICKIT_TEAM_ID!,
    p8: process.env.MUSICKIT_P8!
  }
})

// ✅ Alternative: read from a gitignored file
import { MusicKit } from "node-musickit-api"

const p8 = await Bun.file("./AuthKey_XXXXXXXX.p8").text()

const musicKit = new MusicKit({
  key: {
    id: "YOUR_KEY_ID",
    teamId: "YOUR_TEAM_ID",
    p8
  }
})

Add the key file path to .gitignore:

AuthKey_*.p8

Authenticate

await musicKit.auth()

Call auth() before making any requests. It generates a JWT signed with your private key that expires every 180 days. Call auth() again to refresh it.

Test Authentication

Verify your token is valid without making a catalog request:

const status = await musicKit.testAuth()
// Returns 200 if the token is valid

testAuth() hits the Apple Music API’s /test endpoint. A 200 response means your credentials are working.

Custom Base URL

The client sends requests to https://api.music.apple.com/v1 by default. Override baseUrl to route through a proxy or local server:

const musicKit = new MusicKit({ key: { id, teamId, p8 } })
musicKit.baseUrl = "http://localhost:8080/v1"

This is useful for debugging, caching proxies, or environment-specific setups.