How to add URL for streaming radio when there isn't a Radio page at all?

[owldown]

The docs say this

Add radio stations to MA
If you use the [TuneIn provider](https://beta.music-assistant.io/music-providers/tunein/) then stations that are favourited in your account will appear.
If you use the [RadioBrowser provider](https://beta.music-assistant.io/music-providers/radio-browser/) then BROWSE the provider and select ADD TO LIBRARY for the station desired.
Direct entry of stations can be done by navigating to the radio stations page and selecting the menu top right and ADD ITEM FROM URL This will also work for locally hosted streams such as from Icecast.

• https://beta.music-assistant.io/faq/how-to/#add-radio-stations-to-ma

The User Interface docs include this screenshot:

I don't have a "radio stations page" to navigate to, but "Radio" is enabled in Settings/User Interface

Either the docs are misleading, or something is wrong. This is a new installation of MA, server version 2.7.8

How do I add a URL for a streaming station? I feel like this should be simple, not impossible.

[owldown]

I do see a "radios" folder under Browse - Music Assistant - radios, but there are not any contents, nor a button to add a URL:

[OzGav]

Yeah we need to address this at some point. The current logic is when a view has no contents then it is hidden. To work around this add the radio browser provider and add one station

[OzGav]

Update: I have just submitted a PR to change this behaviour. So expect that to flow through to the various server versions over the next couple of weeks.

[owldown]

Thank you so much! That workaround did the trick (sort of), and should have been named in the documentation (which I find generally to be poor compared to the docs for HA).

I think the proper thing to do if there are no radio stations is to show the Radio page anyway, and if there are no items, display text explaining how to add items.

In the meantime, this workaround should be listed in the documentation.

What still seems broken, even after the workaround, is that adding a station by URL doesn't add it to the list of Radio stations until one refreshes the page. The dialog box closes, and the user is left wondering why it still doesn't work, until they notice the blue dot added to the refresh icon at the top. Instead of adding a blue dot to the refresh icon, the right thing to do would be to simple refresh the list when the new item is added. This user interface is way better than when it was first released, but this is still downright bad.

[OzGav]

I think the proper thing to do if there are no radio stations is to show the Radio page anyway, and if there are no items, display text explaining how to add items.

I just said we are changing this.

Yes you do have to refresh the UI because additions to the database happen in the background and it isn’t practical to refresh pages when this completes as we can’t know what page the user is then on.

Also rather than being critical you can make PRs to the documentation or be constructive instead of saying “generally to be poor”.

[owldown]

"it isn’t practical to refresh pages when this completes as we can’t know what page the user is then on" If someone adds a radio station URL using the button in the list of radio stations, doesn't that itself tell us what page the user is on? AFAIK, there isn't another way to do that, so I guess I don't see the ambiguity. For example, when a user adds a new provider, the provider is added, and the user immediately sees a list of providers that has been updated with the new one, without having to click to refresh. When a user adds a new playlist, the list of playlists is immediately updated and the user sees that the new one has been added without having to click to refresh. Is there something unique about adding a radio station URL that makes it impossible for the app to display that same behavior when adding something there?

…

On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 3:53 PM OzGav ***@***.***> wrote: I think the proper thing to do if there are no radio stations is to show the Radio page anyway, and if there are no items, display text explaining how to add items. I just said we are changing this. Yes you do have to refresh the UI because additions to the database happen in the background and it isn’t practical to refresh pages when this completes as we can’t know what page the user is then on. Also rather than being critical you can make PRs to the documentation or be constructive instead of saying “generally to be poor”. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#4998 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AETK6XZ7UXOBQ6A67RKODAD4NYYXHAVCNFSM6AAAAACV7XRSO2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTKOJSHAZTGOI> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.*** com>

[OzGav]

No you will also see this behaviour if you add to a playlist as that activity is also done in the background. Or if you do a sync of a provider and updates are detected that will also cause the dot to appear on the refresh icon.

You are assuming that things happen immediately because they normally do but not always. Since it is not always we don’t optimistically refresh the list.