make-playlist 1.26.0

Make M3U format playlist from command line.

make_playlist: Playlist maker

mkpl is a command line tool to create playlist files (M3U format), automatically.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Command Arguments
• Examples
• Python Module Usage
• Contributing
• License & Acknowledgments

Installation

To install mkpl, choose one of the following methods:

Option 1: PyPI Installation (Recommended)

$ pip install make_playlist

Option 2: From Source

$ git clone https://github.com/MatteoGuadrini/mkpl.git
$ cd mkpl
$ pip install .

Command Arguments

mkpl supports numerous command-line arguments for flexible playlist creation. Below is a comprehensive reference:

Basic Options

Short	Long	Description	Arguments
-d	--directories	Directories containing multimedia files	Path of directories
-e	--exclude-dirs	Exclude specific directory paths	Path of directories
-r	--recursive	Recursively search directories	—

File Format Options

Short	Long	Description	Arguments
-f	--format	Select only a specific file format	Format (e.g., mp3, mkv)
-i	--include	Include additional file formats	Format list (e.g., mp3 mp4)
-p	--pattern	Include files matching regex pattern	Regular expression
-P	--exclude-pattern	Exclude files matching regex pattern	Regular expression

File Size, BPM & Duration Filters

Short	Long	Description	Arguments
-z	--size	Minimum file size	Bytes, kb, mb, gb (e.g., 2mb)
-A	--max-size	Maximum file size	Bytes, kb, mb, gb (e.g., 4mb)
-M	--length	Minimum track length	Seconds
-X	--max-length	Maximum track length	Seconds
-b	--bpm	Minimum beats per minute	BPM
-B	--max-bpm	Maximum beats per minute	BPM

Playlist Configuration

Short	Long	Description	Arguments
-t	--title	Set playlist title	Title string
-g	--encoding	Set text encoding	UTF-8, ASCII, UNICODE
-I	--image	Set playlist cover image	Image file path
-m	--max-tracks	Limit number of tracks	Number

File Management

Short	Long	Description	Arguments
-F	--file	Add additional files	File paths
-Q	--audio	Include only audio files
-W	--video	Include only video files
-l	--link	Add remote file links	HTTP/HTTPS URLs
-j	--join	Join other playlist files	Playlist file paths
-k	--other-playlists	Include other playlists	Playlist file paths

Sorting & Ordering

Short	Long	Description
-o	--orderby-name	Sort by filename
-O	--orderby-date	Sort by creation date
-T	--orderby-track	Sort by track number
-y	--orderby-year	Sort by year metadata
-Z	--orderby-size	Sort by file size
-L	--orderby-length	Sort by track duration
-G	--orderby-bpm	Sort by BPM (beat per minute)
-H	--orderby-publisher	Sort by publisher
-s	--shuffle	Randomize track order
-D	--descending	Reverse sort order

Output & Processing

Short	Long	Description
-a	--absolute	Use absolute file paths
-u	--unique	Remove duplicate files
-c	--append	Append to existing playlist
-w	--windows	Use Windows path separators
-x	--unix	Use Unix path separators
-U	--url-chars	Apply URL encoding to paths
-N	--add-info	Include file metadata (#EXTINF)

Interactive & Utility Options

Short	Long	Description
-R	--interactive	Confirm each file before adding
-C	--count	Count files when creating playlist
-S	--split	Split into separate playlists by directory
-Y	--filter	Filter by metadata (artist, album, etc.)
-n	--cache	Cache results (seconds)
-v	--verbose	Enable debug output
-E	--explain-error	Show detailed error traceback
-V	--version	Display version information

Examples

Basic Usage

1. Create a playlist for one music album:

   cd myalbum
   mkpl myalbum.m3u
   # or use default naming
   mkpl
   

Directory & Format Filtering

2. Create playlist from specific format:

   mkpl -d HarryPotter -f mkv HP_saga.m3u
   

3. Create shuffled playlist with size filters:

   mkpl -d "my_mp3_collection" "my_mp4_collection" -rs -z 2mb -A 4mb "my music.m3u"
   

4. Exclude specific directories:

   mkpl -d "my_mp3_collection" "my_mp4_collection" -r -s -e "my_mp3_collection/metallica" "my_mp3_collection/dk" -- "my music.m3u"
   

Advanced Filtering

5. Limit by track count:

   mkpl -d "my_series/GOT" -m 15 "got_first_15.m3u"
   

6. Filter by track number with regex:

   mkpl -d "my_mp3_collection" -r -p "^[12]|[012]{2}" "my music.m3u"
   

7. Filter by duration range:

   mkpl -d "music_collection" -M 42 -X 300 "My new collection"
   

8. Filter by BPM range:

   mkpl -d "music_collection" -r -b 120 -B 140 "upbeat_tracks.m3u"
   

File Management

9. Add external files to playlist:

   cd myalbum_special
   mkpl myalbum_special.m3u -F music_video.mp4 other_stuff/song1.mp3 other_stuff/song2.mp3
   

10. Add remote file links:

    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -l http://192.168.1.123/mp3/song1.mp3 http://192.168.1.123/mp3/song2.mp4
    

11. Merge playlists:

    mkpl -d "Rock'n'Roll" -- "RockNRoll.m3u"
    mkpl -d "Hard Rock" -j "RockNRoll.m3u" -- "Rock.m3u"
    

Metadata & Formatting

12. Add playlist metadata:

    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -t "My Collection" -g "UTF-8" -I "new_collection/cover.jpg"
    

13. Include track information (#EXTINF):

    mkpl -d "HeavyMetal/Master of Puppets" -N "master"
    cat "master.m3u"
    #EXTM3U
    #EXTINF:516,Metallica - Master of Puppets
    HeavyMetal/Master Of Puppets/02 - Master Of Puppets.mp3
    

Sorting & Organization

14. Sort by various criteria:

    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -o        # by name
    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -O        # by date
    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -T        # by track
    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -y        # by year
    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -Z        # by size
    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -G        # by bpm
    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -H        # by publisher
    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r "my music.m3u" -L -D     # by length (descending)
    

15. Split into multiple playlists:

    mkpl -d "folder1" "folder2" "folder3" -r "my_music.m3u" -S
    # Results in: my_music.m3u, folder1.m3u, folder2.m3u, folder3.m3u
    

Metadata Filtering

16. Filter by artist and album:

    mkpl -d "HeavyMetal" -Y artist=Metallica -Y album="Master of Puppets" -- "MoP.m3u"
    

Interactive & Utility Operations

17. Count files:

    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r -C
    # Output: 4023
    

18. Interactive confirmation for each file:

    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r -R
    Add file new_collection/sample1.mp3 to playlist? [Y/n]: y
    

19. Append to existing playlist without duplicates:

    mkpl -d "new_collection" -rsu "my music.m3u" -a
    

20. Speed process with cache:

    mkpl -d "new_collection" -r -n 300 "my music.m3u" -a # for 5 minutes read the cache if playlist is same
    

List of filter tags

Name	Supported
album	mp3, mp4, flac, wma
artist	mp3, mp4, flac, wma
genre	mp3, mp4, flac, wma
title	mp3, mp4, flac, wma
year	mp3, mp4, flac, wma
track	mp3, mp4, flac, wma
bpm	mp3, mp4, flac, wma
publisher	mp3, mp4, flac, wma

Use it like Python module

You can use mkpl programmatically in your Python projects to build and write playlists dynamically.

Quick Start

Import the main functions:

from make_playlist import make_playlist, write_playlist

Basic example — create and write a playlist:

# Find multimedia files whose names start with a-f
playlist = make_playlist(
    '/Music/collections',
    ('mp3', 'mp4', 'aac'),
    pattern='^[a-f].*',
    recursive=True,
    unique=True
)

write_playlist('/Music/AtoF.m3u', 'wt', playlist)

Important Notes

• make_playlist() returns a Playlist object containing PlaylistEntry items
• You can iterate, filter, or convert results to a list before writing
• Most CLI flags are exposed as keyword arguments (e.g., recursive, unique, add_info, encoding, title, image)
• Use encoding='utf-8' parameter for UTF-8 encoded output
• pathlib.Path objects are fully supported

Python Examples

Example 1: Write UTF-8 playlist with metadata

from pathlib import Path

plist = make_playlist(
    Path('/Music/collections'),
    ('mp3',),
    recursive=True
)

write_playlist(
    Path('/Music/AtoF.m3u'),
    'wt',
    plist,
    encoding='utf-8',
    title='A–F Collection',
    image=Path('/Music/cover.jpg')
)

Example 2: Inspect and filter results

results = make_playlist(
    '/Music/collections',
    ('mp3', 'flac'),
    recursive=True
)

for entry in results:
    print(f"File: {entry.file}")
    if entry.extinf:
        print(f"Info: {entry.extinf}")

Example 3: Advanced filtering with metadata

playlist = make_playlist(
    '/Music/HeavyMetal',
    ('mp3',),
    recursive=True,
    filters=[
        ('artist', 'Metallica'),
        ('album', 'Master of Puppets')
    ],
    add_info=True
)

write_playlist('/Music/MoP.m3u', 'wt', playlist)

API Reference

See function docstrings for complete parameter documentation:

help(make_playlist)
help(write_playlist)

Open source

mkpl is an open source project. Any contribute, It's welcome.

A great thanks.

For donations, press this

For me

For Telethon

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Treeware

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to:

• Mark Lutz — Learning Python and Programming Python books
• Kenneth Reitz & Tanya Schlusser — The Hitchhiker's Guide to Python
• Dane Hillard — Practices of the Python Pro
• My family — For continuous support and inspiration

Thanks, Python!