# quodlibet/mutagen

Python module for handling audio metadata

Repository: https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/quodlibet-mutagen
Homepage: https://mutagen.readthedocs.io
Language: Python
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: tagging, python, music, id3v1, id3v2, apev2, opus, flac, ogg, mp3, mp4, id3
Last push: 2026-08-20T05:18:15+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 96/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 90, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3800, "days_push": 13, "days_rel": 69, "gap_med": 2, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1949, forks 195 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:58.072354+00:00)

## What it is
Mutagen is a Python library for reading and writing audio metadata (tags) across many formats including MP3/ID3, FLAC, MP4, Ogg, and APEv2. It has no dependencies outside the Python standard library and supports Python 3.10+ on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

## Use cases
- read and write ID3 tags on MP3 files
- edit FLAC or Ogg Vorbis metadata in Python
- extract track title and artist from audio files
- calculate MP3 bitrate and length from Xing headers
- batch-update music library tags
- manipulate Ogg streams at the packet level

## When to choose
- you need dependency-free audio tagging in Python
- you must support many audio formats with one library
- you need full ID3v2.4 frame support

## When to avoid
- you need audio transcoding or playback, not just metadata
- you need a non-Python solution
- GPL-2.0 licensing is incompatible with your project

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: parser, serialization
- domain: media, developer-tools
- platform: python, windows, cross-platform
- tags: audio-metadata, id3, tagging, flac, mp3, ogg, mp4, apev2, no-dependencies, audio, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- quodlibet/mutagen (main) score 96

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:58.072354+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:06:54.783566+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/quodlibet/mutagen (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:58.072354+00:00, sha 29cf1a0b032d)
  - registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/mutagen/json (fetched 2026-08-29T10:47:11.074706+00:00, sha 86e73ba25b28)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.