MusicBee Clouseau - Uncovering clues with MusicBee Clouseau

MusicBee Clouseau

Uncovering clues with MusicBee Clouseau

A trace/debug utility for plugin developers.Like Inspector Clouseau investigating a case, this plugin observes and logs everything happening inside MusicBee - every event, every API call, every notification. Perfect for understanding the MusicBee plugin API and debugging your own plugins.

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The Problem

Developing MusicBee plugins is like working on the Dark Side of the MoonTrackChanged EventArtist:Pink FloydTitle:Speak to Me/BreatheAlbum:Dark Side of the MoonYear:1973Duration:3:58Bitrate:320 kbpsFormat:FLACGenre:Progressive Rock. When your plugin hits radio silence—no events, no callbacks, just the Sound of SilenceTrackChanged EventArtist:Simon & GarfunkelTitle:The Sound of SilenceAlbum:Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.Year:1964Duration:3:05Bitrate:256 kbpsFormat:MP3Genre:Folk Rock—you're left guessing.

What events fire when a track changes? What data is available? When you need to look under the hood and DriveTrackChanged EventArtist:The CarsTitle:DriveAlbum:Heartbeat CityYear:1984Duration:3:55Bitrate:320 kbpsFormat:FLACGenre:New Wave into MusicBee's internals, visibility is everything.

The Solution: Inspector Clouseau

Like Inspector Clouseau investigating a case, this plugin observes everything happening inside MusicBee: every event, every API call, every notification. Perfect for understanding the MusicBee plugin API and debugging your own plugins.

Subscribe to ALL events — All 4 notification flags, all 40 event types
Log everything — Timestamped, categorized, searchable
Real-time view — Watch events as they happen in a dockable panel
Export logs — Save for analysis or sharing

Perfect for: Plugin development, debugging, API exploration, and understanding MusicBee internals.

What Makes Clouseau Unique

Plugin Spy Mode

See what other plugins are doing — their API calls, resource usage, errors. Debug plugin conflicts.

API Call Interception

Hook into MusicBee's API to log all plugin interactions. See every call as it happens.

Deep State Dumps

Capture complete application state for debugging. Snapshot everything when issues occur.

CLR/.NET Internals

GC collection counts, heap sizes, % time in GC. Detects GC pressure (when garbage collection works too hard and causes pauses).

Historical Correlation

Correlate events with metrics to find performance issues. See patterns across time.

Anomaly Detection

Alert when patterns deviate from baseline. Catch problems before they become visible.

Handle Leak Detection

Track GDI, USER, and Kernel handles. Identifies which type is leaking before your app crashes.

What You Get

All 40 Event Types

Full subscription to PlayerEvents, DataStreamEvents, TagEvents, and DownloadEvents.

Full Context Logging

ALL event data saved to disk: Artist, Title, Album, Duration, Bitrate, Position, and more.

JSON Lines Export

events.jsonl file with complete event context. Parse with jq, Python, or any JSON tool.

Rich Details Dialog

Double-click any event to see full context in a scrollable dialog with all captured data.

Live Event Panel

Dockable panel with category filter, Clear, Dashboard, Pop Out, Settings links.

Plugin Discovery

Lists all loaded plugins with their status. See what's running alongside your code.

Flyout Menu

Tools > Clouseau submenu with Dashboard, Settings, and Live Events options.

Single DLL Deploy

One merged DLL file. Drop it in your plugins folder and go.

Advanced Introspection

UI Gallery

Screenshot mode capturing all plugin dialogs. Auto-refresh to see UI changes in real-time.

App Spy Overlay

Transparent click-through overlay highlighting UI elements under cursor. See control names, types, and bounds.

Method Invoker

Browse loaded assemblies, find methods, and invoke them via reflection. Test API calls interactively.

Event Inspector

View event handlers attached to controls. Inspect, invoke, or detach handlers for debugging.

Menu Inspector

Walk MusicBee's menu hierarchy. See all menu items, shortcuts, and invoke items programmatically.

Reflection Explorer

Deep .NET introspection for UI trees, properties, fields. Explore any object at runtime.

Key Features

✓ Plugin loads and receives all 40 notification types

✓ Events logged to file with structured format

✓ System/process metrics collected every 5 seconds

✓ Dockable panel shows live event stream

✓ Plugin discovery lists all loaded plugins

✓ Build produces single merged DLL

Event Categories

Player

Track, state, volume

Queue

Now Playing list

Library

Files, additions

Playlist

Create, update, delete

Download

Completed downloads

Quick Start

Install

Copy the DLL to your MusicBee plugins folder and restart MusicBee.

Enable Panel

View > Arrange Panels > Enable Clouseau panel.

Investigate

Interact with MusicBee and watch the clues appear.

Sample Log Output

14:32:01.234 [Player]   TrackChanged         "Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd"
14:32:01.235 [Player]   PlayStateChanged     Playing
14:32:01.240 [Queue]    PlayingTracksChanged count=847
14:32:05.112 [Player]   VolumeLevelChanged   0.75
14:32:15.445 [Tags]     RatingChanged        4 stars
14:33:42.001 [Player]   TrackChanging        next="Wish You Were Here"
14:33:42.156 [Player]   TrackChanged         "Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd"

Real-time log view with timestamps, categories, and context.

events.jsonl (Full Context for Parsing)

{"ts":"2026-01-01 14:32:01","cat":"Player","event":"TrackChanged","Artist":"Pink Floyd","Title":"Dark Side of the Moon","Album":"DSOTM","Duration":"234000","Bitrate":"320","Format":"FLAC"}

JSON Lines format with ALL context data - parse with jq, Python, or any tool.

System Requirements

Component	Requirement
Operating System	Windows 7/8/10/11
MusicBee	Version 3.1 or later
Framework	.NET Framework 4.8

Ready to Investigate?

Download MusicBee Clouseau and uncover the clues in your MusicBee setup.

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MusicBee Clouseau