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Overview

TagQt provides comprehensive metadata editing capabilities through the MetadataHandler class, supporting multiple audio formats including MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, and WAV files.

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Supported Formats

TagQt uses the mutagen library to handle various audio formats:
  • MP3 - ID3 tags (Easy ID3 and full ID3)
  • FLAC - Vorbis comments
  • OGG - Vorbis comments
  • M4A/MP4 - iTunes-style atoms
  • WAV - ID3 tags

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Standard Metadata Fields

The following fields are available for editing in the sidebar:

Basic Tags

  • Title - Track title (title)
  • Artist - Track artist (artist)
  • Album - Album name (album)
  • Album Artist - Album artist (albumartist)
  • Year - Release date (date)
  • Genre - Music genre (genre)

Track Info

  • Track Number - Track position (tracknumber)
  • Disc Number - Disc position (discnumber)
  • Track Total - Total tracks (FLAC/OGG: TRACKTOTAL)
  • Disc Total - Total discs (FLAC/OGG: DISCTOTAL)

Extended Metadata

  • BPM - Beats per minute (bpm)
  • Initial Key - Musical key (initialkey)
  • ISRC - International Standard Recording Code (isrc)
  • Publisher - Record label (organization)
  • Comment - Free-form comment (comment)

Media Content

  • Lyrics - Song lyrics (embedded)
  • Cover Art - Album artwork (embedded)

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Single File Editing

When a single file is selected, the sidebar displays all metadata fields for editing: 
# From tagqt/ui/main.py - Loading metadata into sidebar
def populate_sidebar(self):
    if not self.metadata:
        return
    
    self.sidebar.title_edit.setText(self.metadata.title)
    self.sidebar.artist_edit.setText(self.metadata.artist)
    self.sidebar.album_edit.setText(self.metadata.album)
    self.sidebar.album_artist_edit.setText(self.metadata.album_artist)
    self.sidebar.year_edit.setText(self.metadata.year)
    self.sidebar.genre_edit.setText(self.metadata.genre)

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Saving Changes

Save changes using Ctrl+S or the Save button: 
# From tagqt/ui/main.py - Single file save
self.metadata.title = self.sidebar.title_edit.text()
self.metadata.artist = self.sidebar.artist_edit.text()
self.metadata.album = self.sidebar.album_edit.text()
# ... other fields ...

self.metadata.save()
When saving, TagQt automatically saves cover art to cover.jpg in the same directory if cover art exists in the file.

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Format-Specific Handling

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Disc Numbers (FLAC/OGG)

For FLAC and OGG formats, disc numbers support the number/total format: 
# From tagqt/core/tags.py
@disc_number.setter
def disc_number(self, value):
    if self.audio and isinstance(self.audio, (FLAC, OggVorbis)) and value and '/' in str(value):
        try:
            num, total = str(value).split('/')
            self.set_tag('discnumber', num)
            self.audio['DISCTOTAL'] = [str(total)]
            return
        except ValueError:
            pass
    self.set_tag('discnumber', value)

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Track Totals

FLAC and OGG files support the TRACKTOTAL field: 
# From tagqt/core/tags.py
@track_total.setter
def track_total(self, value):
    if self.audio and isinstance(self.audio, (FLAC, OggVorbis)):
        if value:
            self.audio['TRACKTOTAL'] = [str(value)]
        elif 'TRACKTOTAL' in self.audio:
            del self.audio['TRACKTOTAL']

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File Information

The sidebar displays read-only file information:

Bitrate

Audio bitrate in kbps

Sample Rate

Sample rate in kHz

File Size

File size in MB
# From tagqt/core/tags.py - File properties
@property
def bitrate(self):
    try:
        if self.audio and hasattr(self.audio, 'info') and hasattr(self.audio.info, 'bitrate'):
            return int(self.audio.info.bitrate / 1000) # kbps
    except Exception:
        pass
    return 0

@property
def filesize(self):
    try:
        size_bytes = os.path.getsize(self.filepath)
        return round(size_bytes / (1024 * 1024), 2) # MB
    except Exception:
        pass
    return 0.0

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Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Ctrl+S - Save changes
  • Ctrl+O - Open folder
  • Escape - Exit global edit mode

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Next Steps

Batch Operations

Learn about editing multiple files at once

Auto-Tagging

Automatically fetch metadata from MusicBrainz

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