Boombox Audio Engine
How the three-tier conversion engine works and how to keep it reliable.
Boombox converts external music links into audio that SA-MP's in-game /boombox can play.
Sources
YouTube, TikTok, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Music (resolved through YouTube search), plus direct .mp3 / .wav / .ogg uploads via /uploadbb.
The three-tier fallback
| Tier | Engine | When it runs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Native InnerTube (youtubei.js) and TikWM | First choice: fastest, 1-2 seconds |
| 2 | yt-dlp with rotating client profiles and a cookie pool | When tier 1 is rate-limited or blocked |
| 3 | Public Invidious instances | Last resort, auto-discovered and cached |
Each tier has optional authentication (OAuth accounts, cookies, PO tokens). The engine works without any setup, but adding accounts on a busy server improves reliability under bot-detection pressure.
You only see an error when everything fails
A request only errors after all tiers for that platform fail. One failing route never surfaces to members.
Upload targets
Converted audio goes to fast file hosts with automatic fallback: Catbox, Top4Top, Uguu. Results are cached by URL for CACHE_TTL_MS, so repeat requests are instant.
Ops notes for admins
/setup-boomboxgives members a paste-and-play channel.- Quotas: Free converts with a daily limit, Pro is unlimited and prioritized (see tiers).
- Boombox conversions never store your audio: links point to the CDN upload only.