beets-filetote

Filetote plugin for beets

A plugin that moves non-music extra files, attachments, and artifacts during imports and CLI file manipulation actions (move, modify, reimport, etc.) for beets, a music library manager (and much more!).

This plugin is supported/runs in beets v1.6.0.

Installing

Stable

The stable version of the plugin is available from PyPI and can be installed using pip3:

pip3 install beets-filetote

Important Note: Python versions <3.7 will need to also install the dataclasses module.

Configuration

You will need to enable the plugin in beets' config.yaml:

plugins: filetote

It can copy files by file extension:

filetote:
  extensions: .cue .log

Or copy all non-music files:

filetote:
  extensions: .*

Or copy files by filename:

filetote:
  filenames: song.log

Or match based on a "pattern" (glob pattern):

filetote:
  patterns:
    artworkdir:
      - "[aA]rtwork/"

It can look for and target "pairs" (files having the same name as a matching or "paired" media item/track):

filetote:
  pairing:
    enabled: true

You can specify pairing to happen to certain extensions, and even target/include only paired files:

filetote:
  pairing:
    enabled: true
    pairing_only: true
    extensions: ".lrc"

It can also exclude files by name:

filetote:
  exclude: song_lyrics.nfo

And print what got left:

filetote:
  print_ignored: true

exclude-d files take precedence over other matching, meaning exclude will override other matches by either extensions or filenames.

File Handling & Renaming

In order to collect extra files and artifacts, Filetote needs to be told which types of files it should care about. This can be done using the following:

• Extensions (ext:): Specify individual extensions like .cue or .log, or catch all non-music files with .*.
• Filenames (filename:): Match specific filenames like cover.jpg or organize artwork with [aA]rtwork/*.
• Patterns (pattern:): Use flexible glob patterns for more control, like matching all logs in a subfolder: CD1/*.log.
• Pairing: Move files with the same name as imported music items, like .lrc lyrics or album logs.

Filetote Renaming Basics

Unless otherwise specified, the default name for artifacts and extra files is: $albumpath/$old_filename. This means that by default, the file is essentially moved/copied into destination directory of the music item it gets grabbed with. This also means that the album folder is flattened and any subdirectory is removed by default. To preserve subdirectories, see $subpath usage here.

Configuration for renaming works in much the same way as beets Path Formats, including the standard metadata values provided by beets. Filetote provides the below new path queries, which each takes a single corresponding value. These can be defined in either the top-level paths section of Beet's config or in the paths section of Filetote's config. Both of the following are equivalent:

paths:
  ext:.log: $albumpath/$artist - $album

filetote:
  paths:
    ext:.log: $albumpath/$artist - $album

New path queries

These are the new path queries added by Filetote, from most to least specific:

• filename:
• paired_ext:
• pattern:
• ext:

This means that the filename: path query will take precedence over paired_ext:, pattern:, and ext: if a given file qualifies for them. This also means that the value in paired_ext: will take precedence over pattern: and ext:, and pattern: is higher priority than ext:.

Renaming considerations

Renaming has the following considerations:

The fields available include the standard metadata values of the imported item ($albumartist, $album, $title, etc.), along with Filetote-specific values of:

• $albumpath: the entire path of the new destination of the item/track (a useful shorthand for when the extra/artifact file will be moved allongside the item/track).
  • Note: Beets doesn't have a strict "album" path concept. All references are relative to Items (the actual media files). This is especially relevant for multi-disc files/albums, but usually isn't a problem. Check the section on multi-discs here for more details.
• $subpath: Represents any subdirectories under the base album path where an extra/artifact file resides. For use when it is desirable to preserve the directory hierarchy in the albums. This respects the original capitalization of directory names. Defaults to an empty string when no subdirectories exist.
  • Example: If an extra file is located in a subdirectory named "Extras" under the album path, $subpath would be set to "Extras/" (with the same casing).
• $old_filename: the filename of the extra/artifact file before its renamed.
• $medianame_old: the filename of the item/track triggering it, before it's renamed.
• $medianame_new: the filename of the item/track triggering it, after it's renamed.

The full set of built in functions are also supported, with the exception of %aunique - which will return an empty string.

Note that the fields mentioned above are not usable within other plugins like inline. But inline and other plugins should be fine otherwise.

Important Note: if the rename is set and there are multiple files that qualify, only the first will be added to the library (new folder); other files that subsequently match will not be saved/renamed. To work around this, $old_filename can be used to help with adding uniqueness to the name.

Subpath Renaming Example

The following configuration or template string will be applied to .log files by using the $subpath and will rename log file to: ~/Music/Artist/2014 - Album/Extras/Artist - Album.log

This assumes that the original file is in the subdirectory (subpath) of Extras/. Any other .log files in other subdirectories or in the root of the album will be moved accordingly. If a more targeted approach is needed, this can be combined with the pattern: query.

Note: $subpath automatically adds in path separators including the end one if there are subdirectories.

paths:
  ext:.log: $albumpath/$subpath$artist - $album

Extension (ext:)

Filename can match on the extension of the file, in a space-delimited list (i.e., a string sequence). Use .* to match all file extensions.

Extension Example Configuration

This example will match any file which has an extension of either .lrc or .log, across all subfolders.

filetote:
  ext: .lrc .log

Extension Renaming Example

The following configuration or template string will be applied to .log files by using the ext: query and will rename log file to: ~/Music/Artist/2014 - Album/Artist - Album.log

paths:
  ext:.log: $albumpath/$artist - $album

Filename (filename:)

Filetote can match on the actual name (including extension) of the file, in a space-delimited list (string sequence). filename: will match across any subdirectories, meaning targeting a filename in a specific subdirectory will not work (this functionality can be achieved using a pattern, however).

Filename Example Configuration

This example will match if the filename of the given artifact or extra file matches the name exactly as specified, either cover.jpg or artifact.nfo.

filetote:
  filenames: cover.jpg artifact.nfo

Filename Renaming Example

The following configuration will rename the specific artifact.nfo file to: ~/Music/Artist/2014 - Album/Artist - Album.nfo

filetote:
  paths:
    filename:artifact.nfo: $albumpath/$artist - $album
  filenames: cover.jpg artifact.nfo

Pattern (pattern:)

Filetote can match on a given pattern as specified using glob patterns. This allows for more specific matching, like grabbing only PNG artwork files. Paths in the pattern are relative to the root of the importing album. Hence, if there are subdirectories in the album's folder (for multidisc setups, for instance, e.g., albumpath/CD1), the album's path would be the base/root for the pattern (ex: CD1/*.jpg). Patterns will work with or without the proceeding slash (/). Note: Windows users will need to use the appropriate slash (\).

Patterns specifying folders with a trailing slash will (ex: albumpath/) will match every file in that subdirectory irrespective of name or extension (it is equivalent to albumpath/*.*).

Patterns are defined by a name so that any customization for renaming can apply to the pattern when specifying the path (ex: pattern:artworkdir; see the section on renaming below).

Pattern Example Configuration

This example will match if the filename of the given artifact or extra file matches the name exactly as specified, either cover.jpg or artifact.nfo.

This example will match all files within the given subdirectory of either artwork/ or Artwork/. Since it's not otherwise specified, [aA]rtwork/ will grab all non-media files in that subdirectory irrespective of name or extension.

filetote:
  patterns:
    artworkdir:
      - "[aA]rtwork/"

Pattern Renaming Example

The following pattern configuration will rename the file artwork/cover.jpeg to: ~/Music/Artist/2014 - Album/artwork/cover.jpeg

filetote:
  paths:
    pattern:artworkdir: $albumpath/artwork/$old_filename
  patterns:
    artworkdir:
      - "[aA]rtwork/"

Pairing

Filetote can specially target related files like lyrics or logs with the same name as music files ("paired" files). This keeps related files together, making your library even more organized. When enabled, it will match and move those files having the same name as a matching music file. Pairing can be configured to target only certain extensions, such as .lrc.

Note: Pairing takes precedence over other Filetote rules like filename or patterns.

Pairing Example Configuration

This example configuration will grab paired .lrc files, along with any artwork files:

filetote:
  pairing:
    enabled: true
    extensions: ".lrc"
  patterns:
    artworkdir:
          - "[aA]rtwork/"

Filetote can also be configured to only target paired files, which will ignore other Filetote configurations such as filename or patterns as described above. The following configuration would only target .lrc files:

filetote:
  pairing:
    enabled: true
    pairing_only: true
    extensions: ".lrc"

Pairing Renaming

To mainting the concept of "pairs" after importing, it is strongly encouraged to set the path for the paired files to use the media files new name. This will ensure thet the file remains paired even after moving. E.g.:

paths:
  paired_ext:.lrc: $albumpath/$medianame_new

Import Operations

This plugin supports the same operations as beets:

• copy
• move
• link (symlink)
• harklink
• reflink

These options are mutually exclusive, and there are nuances to how beets (and thus this plugin) behave when there multiple set. See the beets import documentation and #36 for more details.

Reimporting has an additional nuance when copying of linking files that are already in the library, in which files will be moved rather than duplicated. This behavior in Filetote is identical to that of beets. See the beets reimport documentation for more details.

Other CLI Operations

Additional commands such such as move, modify, update, etc. will also trigger Filetote to handle files. These commands typically work with queries, targeting specific files that match the supplied query. Please note that the operation executed by beets for these commands do not use the value set in the config file under import, they instead are specified as part of the CLI command.

Examples of config.yaml

plugins: filetote

paths:
  default: $albumartist/$year - $album/$track - $title
  singleton: Singletons/$artist - $title
  ext:.log: $albumpath/$artist - $album
  ext:.cue: $albumpath/$artist - $album
  paired_ext:.lrc: $albumpath/$medianame_new
  filename:cover.jpg: $albumpath/cover

filetote:
  extensions: .cue .log .jpg
  filename: "cover.jpg"
  pairing:
    enabled: true
    extensions: ".lrc"
  print_ignored: true

Or:

plugins: filetote

paths:
  default: $albumartist/$year - $album/$track - $title
  singleton: Singletons/$artist - $title

filetote:
  extensions: .cue
  patterns:
    artworkdir:
      - "[sS]cans/"
      - "[aA]rtwork/"
  pairing:
    enabled: true
    extensions: ".lrc"
  paths:
    pattern:artworkdir: $albumpath/artwork
    paired_ext:.lrc: $albumpath/$medianame_old
    filename:cover.jpg: $albumpath/cover  

Multi-Disc and Nested Import Directories

beets imports multi-disc albums as a single unit (see beets documentation). By default, this results in the media importing to a single directory in the library. Artifacts and extra files in the initial subdirectories will brought by Filetote to the destination of the file's they're near, resulting in them landing where one would expect. Because of this, the files will also be moved by Filetote to any specified subdirectory in the library if the path definition creates "Disc N" subfolders as described in the beets documentation.

In short, artifacts and extra files in these scenarios should simply just move/copy as expected.

Advanced renaming for multi-disc albums

The value for $albumpath is actually based on the path for the Item (music file) the lead to the artifact to be moved. Since it's common to store multi-disc albums with subfolders, this means that by default the artifact or extra file in question will also be in a subfolder.

For macOS and Linux, to achieve a different location (say the media is in Artist/Disc 01 but artifacts are intended to be in Artist/Extras), .. can be used to navigate to the parent directory of the $albumpath so that the entirety of the media's path does not have to be recreated. For Windows, the entire media path would need to be recreated as Windows sees .. as an attempt to create a directory with the name .. within path instead of it being a path component representing the parent.

macOS & Linux

The following example will have the following results on macOS & Linux:

• Music: ~/Music/Artist/2014 - Album/Disc 1/media.mp3
• Artifact: ~/Music/Artist/2014 - Album/Extras/example.log

plugins: filetote

paths:
  default: $albumartist/$year - $album/$track - $title
  comp: $albumartist/$year - $album/Disc $disc/$track - $title

filetote:
  extensions: .log
  paths:
    ext:log: $albumpath/../Extras/$old_filename

Windows

The following example will have the following results on Windows:

• Music: ~/Music/Artist/2014 - Album/Disc 1/media.mp3
• Artifact: ~/Music/Artist/2014 - Album/Extras/example.log

plugins: filetote

paths:
  default: $albumartist/$year - $album/$track - $title
  comp: $albumartist/$year - $album/Disc $disc/$track - $title

filetote:
  extensions: .log
  paths:
    ext:log: $albumartist/$year - $album/Extras/$old_filename

Why Filetote and Not Other Plugins?

Filetote serves the same core purpose as the copyfilertifacts plugin and the extrafiles plugin, however both have lacked in maintenance over the last few years. There are outstanding bugs in each (though copyfilertifacts has seen some recent activity resolving some). In addition, each are lacking in certain features and abilities, such as hardlink/reflink support, "paired" file handling, and extending renaming options. What's more, significant focus has been provided to Filetote around Python3 conventions, linting, and typing in order to promote healthier code and easier maintenance.

Filetote strives to encompass all functionality that both copyfilertifacts and extrafiles provide, and then some!

Migrating from copyfilertifacts

Filetote can be configured using nearly identical configuration as copyfilertifacts, simply replacing the name of the plugin in its configuration settings. There is one change that's needed if all extensions are desired, as Filetote does not grab all extensions by default (as copyfilertifacts does). To accommodate, simply explicitly state all extension using .*:

filetote:
  extensions: .*

Otherwise, simply replacing the name in the config section will work. For example:

copyartifacts:
  extensions: .cue .log

Would become:

filetote:
  extensions: .cue .log

Path definitions can also be specified in the way that copyfileartifacts does, alongside other path definitions for beets. E.g.:

paths:
  ext:log: $albumpath/$artist - $album

Migrating from extrafiles

Filetote can be configured using nearly identical configuration as extrafiles, simply replacing the name of the plugin in its configuration settings. For example:

extrafiles:
  patterns:
    all: "*.*"

Would become:

filetote:
  patterns:
    all: "*.*"

Path definitions can also be specified in the way that extrafiles does, e.g.:

filetote:
  patterns:
    artworkdir:
      - '[sS]cans/'
      - '[aA]rtwork/'
  paths:
    artworkdir: $albumpath/artwork

Version Upgrade Instructions

Certain versoins require changes to configurations as upgrades occur. Please see below for specific steps for each version.

0.4.0

Default for extensions is now None

As of version 0.4.0, Filetote no longer set the default for extensions to .*. Instead, setting Filetote to collect all extensions needs to be explicitly defined, e.g.:

filetote:
  extensions: .*

Pairing Config Changes

pairing has been converted from a boolean to an object with other like-config. Take the following config:

filetote:
  pairing: true
  pairing_only: false

These will both now be represented as individual settings within pairing:

filetote:
  pairing:
    enabled: true
    pairing_only: false
    extensions: ".lrc"

Both remain optional and both default to false.

Development

The development version can be installed with Poetry, a Python dependency manager that provides dependency isolation, reproducibility, and streamlined packaging to PyPI.

Testing and linting is performed with Tox.

Filetote currently supports Python 3.6+, which aligns with the most recent version of beets (v1.6.0).

1. Install Poetry & Tox:

python3 -m pip install poetry tox

2. Clone the repository and install the plugin:

git clone https://github.com/gtronset/beets-filetote.git
cd beets-filetote
poetry install

3. Update the config.yaml to utilize the plugin:

pluginpath:
  - /path/to.../beets-filetote/beetsplug

4. Run or test with Poetry (and Tox):

Run beets with the following to locally develop:

poetry run beet

Testing can be run with Tox, ex.:

poetry run tox -e py312

For other linting environments, see tox.ini. Ex: black:

poetry run tox -e black

Docker:

A Docker Compose configuration is available for running the plugin in a controlled environment. Running the docker-compose.yml file for details.

Thanks

This plugin originated as a hard fork from beets-copyartifacts (copyartifacts3).

Thank you to the original work done by Sami Barakat and Adrian Sampson, along with the larger beets community.

Please report any issues you may have and feel free to contribute.

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Gavin Tronset

Licensed under the MIT license.