BingBong

A webhook-triggered audio player. Send an HTTP request to the server and it plays a sound on a specific speaker connected to a Windows machine. Think: a noise maker that dings an external speaker whenever someone makes a purchase.

How It Works

HTTP GET /bingbong/:sound  →  Node.js Server  →  WebSocket Broadcast  →  C# Windows Client  →  Audio on Selected Speaker

The server exposes an HTTP endpoint that accepts a sound name. It broadcasts the command over WebSocket to all connected clients. The client is a Windows app that listens for these commands and plays the matching audio file through a chosen output device (e.g., a USB speaker).

Server Setup

The server runs via Docker.

1. Navigate to the server directory:

   cd server

2. Copy the example environment file and configure it:

   cp .env.example .env

   Variable	Default	Description
   HTTP_PORT	3000	Port for the HTTP webhook endpoint
   WS_PORT	8080	Port for WebSocket client connections
   PIN	(empty)	Optional PIN to authenticate clients

3. Start the server:

   docker-compose up --build -d

Client Setup

The client is a C# WPF app targeting .NET 8 (Windows only).

Building

cd client
dotnet restore
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true

This produces a single standalone bingbong.exe — no .NET runtime installation required.

Configuring

Launch the app and configure it through the UI:

1. WebSocket URL — Point to your server (e.g., ws://yourserver:8080)
2. PIN — If the server has a PIN set, enter it here
3. Audio Device — Select which speaker/output device to play sounds on
4. Volume — Adjust playback volume
5. Sound Mappings — Map trigger names to audio files on disk (WAV, MP3, AIFF)

Configuration is saved to %APPDATA%\bingbong\config.json.

Features

• System tray support — minimizes to tray instead of closing
• Auto-reconnect with exponential backoff (3s–30s)
• Optional launch at Windows startup
• Dark-themed UI

Usage

Trigger a sound by hitting the HTTP endpoint:

curl http://yourserver:3260/bingbong/bing_bong

The server broadcasts "Play bing_bong" to all connected clients. Any client with a sound mapping named bing_bong will play the associated audio file.

The response tells you how many clients received the command:

{"sound": "bing_bong", "clients": 1}

Integration

Call the endpoint from anything that can make HTTP requests — Shopify webhooks, Zapier, IFTTT, a cron job, or a simple script.

Security

The optional PIN prevents unauthorized clients from connecting. Set PIN in the server's .env and enter the same PIN in the client UI. Clients that don't provide the correct PIN are rejected.

This is basic authentication — if you're exposing the server to the internet, put it behind a reverse proxy with HTTPS.