🎵 FLAC Detective
A lossy file renamed to .flac looks lossless, weighs lossless, and fools every player you own. It can't fool the arithmetic the encoder left behind — and this reads it for you.
MP3, AAC, Vorbis and — partially — Opus, through three independent kinds of evidence. A conviction needs two of them to agree.
Find the fake FLACs in your music library.
A lossy codec throws away the top of the spectrum and never gives it back. FLAC Detective reads each file, spots the fingerprints that loss leaves behind, and tells you which files are real and which are fakes.
pip install flac-detective # needs Python 3.10+
flac-detective /path/to/music # scan a file or a whole folder
Every file gets a verdict, like a traffic light:
✅ AUTHENTIC real lossless → keep it
❓ WARNING borderline → give it a listen
⚠️ SUSPICIOUS probably a transcode → likely a fake
❌ FAKE_CERTAIN definitely a fake → replace it
The scan only reads your files — it never changes anything.
🟢 New to all this? → Start Here — the 5-minute beginner's guide No command line, no jargon. From "what is this?" to "I checked my music".
📚 More
- 📕 Reference — how it works, the three kinds of evidence, full usage, the ML case study
- 📖 Full documentation site — getting started, user guide, technical details, API
- 🚀 Getting Started — install, first analysis, accuracy & file-safety notes
- 📋 Changelog · 🤝 Contributing · 🔒 Security
- 💬 Issues
Licensed under the MIT License.
1 maintainer
Release files for flac-detective 1.14.1
For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.
Source distribution (sdist)
| File | Size | Uploaded | |
|---|---|---|---|
| flac_detective-1.14.1.tar.gz | 15.8 MB | Details |
Built distribution (wheel)
| File | Interpreter | ABI | Platform | Reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| flac_detective-1.14.1-py3-none-any.whl | Python 3 | none | any | Details |
Total release size: 31.4 MB
Release files / flac_detective-1.14.1.tar.gz
| Download URL | flac_detective-1.14.1.tar.gz |
|---|---|
| Size | 15.8 MB |
| Tags | Source |
|
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums |
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twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14
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Transparency logRelease files / flac_detective-1.14.1-py3-none-any.whl
| Download URL | flac_detective-1.14.1-py3-none-any.whl |
|---|---|
| Size | 15.6 MB |
| Tags | Python 3 |
|
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums |
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Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing? |
Yes |
| Uploaded via |
twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14
|
Provenance
Provenance describes where a file came from. On PyPI, provenance is shared via attestations, which provide a verifiable record of the build or publishing details. View details, limitations and caveats.
PyPI Publish Attestation
PyPI verified that this artifact, at this checksum, originated from the publisher listed below.
Signed by GitHub Actions, verified by PyPI on Sep 18, 2026.
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