cyrus-remote

Python tools for controlling the Cyrus ONE integrated amplifier over Bluetooth Low Energy, replacing the official Android/iOS app.

_{This is not Cyrus.}

Architecture

BLE only allows one connection at a time. The recommended setup is a server/client model: a small headless machine (Pi, NUC, Proxmox host, etc.) near the amp holds the single BLE connection, and every desktop/laptop connects to it as a client.

[ Cyrus ONE amp ]
       │ BLE
[ server running cyrus-daemon --no-ipc ]
       │ TCP :9876
  ┌────┴────┐
  │         │
[ desktop ] [ laptop ]
cyrus-proxy  cyrus-proxy
  │               │
Noctalia       Noctalia
bar widget     bar widget

Each client machine runs cyrus-proxy, which:

• Receives live state pushes from the daemon (volume, mute, input) and feeds them to the local Noctalia bar widget via IPC
• Forwards commands from the local bar widget (vol+/-, mute, input switch) back to the daemon over TCP

Components

File	Purpose
cyrus_daemon.py	BLE daemon — connects to amp, serves Unix socket + TCP
cyrus_proxy.py	Client proxy — relays state and commands between daemon and local Noctalia
cyrus_cmd.py	One-shot command sender (used by the bar widget)
cyrus.py	Interactive REPL (optional, for direct local use)
plugin/	Noctalia shell plugin (bar widget + IPC handler)

Server setup

Requirements (server)

• Linux with BlueZ
• Python 3.10+
• bleak: pip install bleak

Install

git clone https://github.com/slatkin/cyrus-remote
cd cyrus-remote
sudo make install-service
sudo systemctl start cyrus-daemon

install-service copies cyrus-daemon to /usr/local/bin, installs the systemd unit to /etc/systemd/system/, and enables it on boot.

The service runs with --no-ipc by default (no Noctalia on the server) and binds TCP port 9876.

Verify

sudo systemctl status cyrus-daemon
sudo journalctl -u cyrus-daemon -f

You should see Scanning for … then Connected to ONE-xxx once the amp is on.

Client setup (desktop / laptop)

Requirements

• Python 3.10+, bleak: pip install bleak
• Noctalia shell

Install

git clone https://github.com/slatkin/cyrus-remote
cd cyrus-remote
make install

Installs cyrus-proxy, cyrus-cmd, and the Noctalia plugin to ~/.local/bin and ~/.config/noctalia/plugins/cyrus-remote/.

Configure

Set CYRUS_PROXY_HOST to the server's IP or hostname. In fish:

set -Ux CYRUS_PROXY_HOST 192.168.1.x

In bash/zsh (add to your profile):

export CYRUS_PROXY_HOST=192.168.1.x

Then add the plugin to ~/.config/noctalia/plugins.json:

"states": {
    "cyrus-remote": { "enabled": true }
}

Restart Noctalia. The plugin detects CYRUS_PROXY_HOST and auto-starts cyrus-proxy instead of a local daemon.

Firewall

Open port 9876/TCP on the server if needed:

# ufw
ufw allow 9876/tcp

Single-machine setup

If the amp is always near your desktop and you don't need the server model, skip cyrus-proxy and run the daemon locally without --no-ipc:

cyrus-daemon &

Leave CYRUS_PROXY_HOST unset. The plugin auto-starts the daemon and pushes state via local Noctalia IPC.

Bar widget

The Noctalia bar widget shows volume % and input source. Updates arrive as live BLE notifications — no polling.

• Left click — toggle mute
• Right click — input source menu
• Scroll wheel — volume up/down (throttled to one step per 300 ms)

REPL (optional)

For direct interactive control without the widget:

cyrus-remote          # or: cr

Connected to ONE-888. Type 'help' for commands, 'quit' to exit.

> help
  commands: mute  unmute  volume <0-90>  input <bt|usb|optical|spdif|phono|aux5|aux6>  status  quit
>
 vol: 80%  |  input: optical  |  mute: off

The status bar updates live from BLE notifications. Command history persists in $XDG_STATE_HOME/cyrus-remote/history.

Commands

Command	Aliases	Description
mute	m	Mute
unmute	um	Unmute
volume <0-90>	vol, v	Set volume step
input <name>	i	Switch input source
status	s	Refresh all state from device
quit	q, exit	Disconnect and exit

Graceful shutdown

The daemon handles SIGTERM cleanly — it disconnects BLE before exiting, so you don't need to restart Bluetooth:

pkill cyrus-daemon

Do not use kill -9 (SIGKILL cannot be caught and will leave the BLE connection open).

Finding your device address

python3 - <<'EOF'
import asyncio
from bleak import BleakScanner

SERVICE_UUID = "bc2f4cc6-aaef-4351-9034-d66268e328f0"

async def main():
    devices = await BleakScanner.discover(timeout=15.0, return_adv=True)
    for d, adv in devices.values():
        if SERVICE_UUID.lower() in [str(u).lower() for u in adv.service_uuids]:
            print(f"{d.address}  {d.name}")

asyncio.run(main())
EOF

The amp advertises as ONE-888 or similar. Pass a custom address with -a AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF.

How it works

The Cyrus ONE uses a MelodySmart BLE-to-UART bridge (Blue Creation / Dialog Semiconductor). All communication goes through a single GATT characteristic:

Role	UUID
Service	bc2f4cc6-aaef-4351-9034-d66268e328f0
Data characteristic	06d1e5e7-79ad-4a71-8faa-373789f7d93c

Wire format

@+  <CMD>  <subtype>  <data...>  %

Action	Bytes
Mute on	@+M11%
Mute off	@+M10%
Set volume (step 0–90)	@+V2<NN>%
Switch input (1–8)	@+I1<N>%
Fetch volume / mute / input	@+F1V% / @+F1M% / @+F1I%

The amp echoes commands back as notifications and sends unsolicited updates when physical controls are used. Volume steps 0–90 map linearly to 0–100%.

Reverse engineering

Protocol recovered by decompiling Cyrus ONE Remote_1.4_APKPure.apk with androguard, tracing fill-array-data-payload literals in MainControlActivity and CyrusONEModel, and decoding the DEX static-values section of the Const class.