surgery 0.1.1

Precision-focused media metadata inspection tool built in Go and distributed via Python

Media Metadata Surgery

Media Metadata Surgery is a precision‑focused, offline CLI tool for inspecting and modifying metadata in media files.

The core engine is written in Go for performance, safety, and correctness. A lightweight Python wrapper is used only for distribution, making the tool easy to install via pip while keeping the actual logic native and fast.

v0.1.1 is the beginning. The project is intentionally small, strict, and correct. More formats and operations will be added incrementally.

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Why Media Metadata Surgery exists

Media files silently carry far more information than most users realize:

• GPS location and timestamps
• Device make, model, and camera internals
• Processing pipelines, filters, and AI hints
• Hidden user comments and sensor data

This project exists to:

• Expose metadata clearly
• Operate fully offline
• Avoid heavy external dependencies
• Favor correctness over convenience

No cloud. No telemetry. No shelling out to system tools.

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Current status

Version: 0.1.1 (initial release)

This version intentionally supports only one format and one operation:

• JPG / JPEG
• EXIF metadata inspection (read‑only)

This narrow scope allows the foundation to remain clean and extensible.

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Installation

Install via pip (recommended)

pip install surgery

This installs the surgery command globally. The Go binary is bundled inside the Python package.

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Build from source (Go)

Requirements:

• Go 1.20+

git clone https://github.com/ankit-chaubey/media-metadata-surgery
cd media-metadata-surgery
go build -o surgery ./cli

Run directly:

./surgery view image.jpg

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Usage

View EXIF metadata from a JPG image

surgery view image.jpg

Example output:

EXIF Metadata:
Make: "vivo"
Model: "vivo T1 5G"
DateTimeOriginal: "2026:02:04 18:44:10"
GPSLatitude: ["18/1","20/1","4247/900"]
GPSLongitude: ["84/1","25/1","4824/190"]
UserComment: "filter: 104; ..."

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Supported formats (v0.1.1)

Media type	Format	Operation
Image	JPG / JPEG	View EXIF metadata

More formats will be added only when they can be handled correctly.

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Project structure

media-metadata-surgery/
├── cli/                # Go CLI entry point
├── core/               # Core metadata logic
│   └── jpg/            # JPG / EXIF handling
├── surgery/            # Python wrapper package
│   └── bin/surgery     # Go binary (bundled)
├── setup.py            # PyPI configuration
├── pyproject.toml
└── README.md

Design principles:

• Go does all real work
• Python only launches the binary
• No CGO
• No external system tools

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Security & privacy notes

• All operations are offline
• No network access
• No background processes
• Viewing metadata does not modify files

Metadata removal, when added, will be explicit and opt‑in.

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Roadmap

Planned, in order of correctness priority:

• GPS metadata removal (JPG)
• Structured JSON output
• Audio metadata (MP3 / FLAC)
• Video containers (MP4 / MKV)
• Batch processing
• Integrity and diff reporting

The project will grow conservatively.

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License

Apache License 2.0

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Developed by

Ankit Chaubey
GitHub: https://github.com/ankit-chaubey
Project repository: https://github.com/ankit-chaubey/media-metadata-surgery

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Philosophy

Precision over features. Correctness over speed. Transparency over magic.

Media Metadata Surgery is built as a long‑term, trustworthy utility — not a shortcut tool.