CrateMate

A command-line tool that cleans up downloaded music files and organizes them into a DJ-ready library. Parses filenames, fetches cover art and genre metadata from Spotify and Discogs, optionally uses Gemini AI for intelligent tagging, and copies everything to your library with clean names and embedded tags.

Your originals are never touched. CrateMate only copies — never moves or deletes source files during import.

Why this exists

Existing tools like beets and MusicBrainz Picard are built for general music libraries. They constantly mismatch remixes and extended mixes with original versions, require manual confirmation for every file, and don't handle the messy filenames you get from Bandcamp, Beatport, or various download sources. For electronic music — where the correct metadata is almost always already in the filename — they're overkill and often wrong.

CrateMate was built specifically for DJs who want to go from a messy downloads folder to a clean, tagged, cover-art-embedded library ready for Rekordbox, Traktor, or Serato — with zero manual matching.

Quick start

Requirements: Python 3.10+ and optionally FFmpeg (for FLAC conversion and bitrate analysis).

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/zarrebarre/CrateMate.git
cd CrateMate

# Install as a CLI command
pip install .

# Run
cratemate        # opens interactive menu with first-run setup wizard

Or run directly without installing:

git clone https://github.com/zarrebarre/CrateMate.git
cd CrateMate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python3 cratemate.py

On first run, a setup wizard walks you through configuring your library path and API keys. Everything is stored in ~/.config/cratemate/.

What it does

For each music file in a source folder:

1. Parses the filename to extract artist, title, and mix info (Extended Mix, Remix, etc.)
2. (Optional) Gemini AI fixing — sends filenames to Gemini to handle names that regex can't parse
3. Falls back to existing ID3/FLAC tags if the filename is missing info
4. Searches Spotify for album cover art and genre
5. Falls back to Discogs if Spotify has no result
6. Strips existing album art (removes promo images, low-res junk)
7. Copies the file to ~/Music/DJ_Library/Artist - Title (Mix).ext
8. Writes clean tags (artist, title, genre) and embeds high-quality cover art
9. Shows import statistics — files processed, art sources, genre breakdown, total size, duration

Features

Import pipeline

The core import flow: parse filenames, fetch metadata from Spotify/Discogs, copy to library with clean names and tags. Works with regex or Gemini AI for filename parsing.

Fix missing covers

Re-scans the library and fetches album art for any files missing cover images. Uses the same Spotify/Discogs lookup.

Fix tags from Spotify

Updates album, year, and genre tags from Spotify for existing library files. Never changes artist, title, or duration — only supplementary metadata.

Remove duplicates

Finds duplicate tracks by comparing normalized artist/title. Keeps the highest-quality version (FLAC > MP3, higher bitrate > lower).

Clean up source folder

Finds files in a source folder that already have a matching copy in the library and offers to delete them. Requires explicit typed confirmation.

FLAC to MP3 conversion

Convert FLAC files to 320kbps CBR MP3 using FFmpeg. Available during import (--mp3 flag) or as a batch operation on existing library files. Preserves all tags and cover art.

Batch rename (Gemini AI)

Re-parses existing library filenames using Gemini AI and renames files with cleaner names. Updates artist/title tags to match. Undoable.

AI genre tagging (Gemini AI)

Classifies tracks into ~30 curated electronic music genres using Gemini. Optionally reorganizes the library into genre subfolders. Processes in batches of 30. Undoable.

Fake bitrate detection (experimental)

Spectral analysis to identify files that claim to be high-quality but were transcoded from lower bitrate sources. Uses FFT-based frequency cutoff detection with confidence scoring. Requires FFmpeg and numpy.

Undo

Reverses the last destructive operation (batch rename, genre organize). Undo log stored at ~/.config/cratemate/undo_log.json.

Interactive menu

  Import
  1  Import folder
  2  Clean up source folder

  Library
  3  Fix missing covers
  4  Fix tags from Spotify
  5  Remove duplicates
  6  Convert FLACs to MP3
  7  Batch rename files (Gemini)

  AI & Analysis
  8  AI genre tagging (Gemini)
  9  Detect fake bitrates (experimental)

  u  Undo last    s  Settings    q  Quit

CLI reference

# Import
cratemate ~/Downloads/music                    # import with regex parser
cratemate ~/Downloads/music --gemini           # import with Gemini AI
cratemate ~/Downloads/music --dry-run          # preview without copying
cratemate ~/Downloads/music --mp3              # convert FLACs to MP3 during import
cratemate --library ~/Music/MyLibrary          # custom library path

# Library maintenance
cratemate --fix-covers                         # fetch missing cover art
cratemate --fix-tags                           # update tags from Spotify
cratemate --remove-dupes                       # remove duplicate tracks
cratemate --clean-source ~/Downloads/music     # delete already-imported source files
cratemate --convert-flac                       # batch convert library FLACs to MP3
cratemate --batch-rename                       # re-parse and rename files via Gemini

# AI features
cratemate --ai-genres                          # tag genres via Gemini
cratemate --ai-genres --organize               # tag + move to genre folders

# Quality analysis
cratemate --detect-fakes                       # scan lossy files for fake bitrates
cratemate --detect-fakes --lossless            # also scan FLAC/WAV/AIFF

# Undo
cratemate --undo                               # reverse last operation

# All flags support --dry-run for preview

Output format

Files are copied to the library with normalized names:

~/Music/DJ_Library/
    Mall Grab - You Thought (Original Mix).flac
    Peggy Gou - 1+1=11 (Spray Remix).mp3
    Sam Alfred - Suzuka (Extended).flac

Pattern: Artist - Title (Mix Info).ext

Configuration

All config lives in ~/.config/cratemate/:

File	Purpose
config.json	Library path and preferences
.env	API keys
undo_log.json	Last operation undo data

On first run, a setup wizard walks through everything. Change settings anytime via the s menu option.

API keys

All keys are optional — CrateMate degrades gracefully if any are missing.

Key	Purpose	Get it
SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID / SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET	Cover art + genre lookup	Spotify Developer Dashboard
DISCOGS_USER_TOKEN	Fallback cover art	Discogs Developer Settings
GEMINI_API_KEY	AI filename parsing, genre tagging	Google AI Studio

Copy .env.example to ~/.config/cratemate/.env and fill in your keys, or use the built-in setup wizard.

Dependencies

Package	Purpose
mediafile	Read/write audio metadata (ID3, FLAC, Vorbis tags)
requests	HTTP client for Spotify, Discogs, and Gemini APIs
Pillow	Resize album art before embedding
python-dotenv	Load API keys from .env files

Optional system dependencies:

Dependency	Purpose	Install
FFmpeg	FLAC-to-MP3 conversion, bitrate detection	brew install ffmpeg / apt install ffmpeg
numpy	Spectral analysis for fake bitrate detection	pip install numpy

Project structure

cratemate.py        # All application logic (single file)
pyproject.toml      # Package metadata and dependencies
requirements.txt    # Dependency list for pip install -r
.env.example        # Template for API keys
LICENSE             # MIT license

License

MIT

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