Mink-db

A metadata-link between iTunes and MusicBrainz. A CLI tool that catalogs a music library by scanning iTunes libraries and retrieving MusicBrainz artist IDs.

How It Works

1. Reads iTunes XML: Parses iTunes Music Library.xml for album metadata
2. Deduplicates: Groups tracks by (artist, album) to avoid duplicate queries
3. Queries MusicBrainz: Searches release groups using exact artist + album matching
4. Caches Results: Stores album and artist data in .minkdb/album.json and .minkdb/artist.json
5. Outputs: Prints matched IDs to stdout or file

On subsequent runs, Mink-db will skip already-matched albums and only query MusicBrainz for new ones.

Installation

Mink-db requires Python 3.13 or later.

# Run directly with uvx (no installation required)
uvx minkdb --help

# Or install as a tool
git clone https://github.com/thomaseleff/minkdb.git
cd minkdb
uv tool install .

Quick Start

Catalog your iTunes library and get MusicBrainz IDs:

minkdb --path "M:\Music\iTunes"

Usage

# Basic usage (defaults to current directory)
minkdb

# Specify iTunes library path
minkdb --path "M:\Music\iTunes"

# Limit number of albums processed
minkdb --path "M:\Music\iTunes" --limit 10

# Save output to file
minkdb --path "M:\Music\iTunes" -o ids.json

# Retry matching for previously unmatched albums
minkdb --path "M:\Music\iTunes" --rematch

# Publish curated exact albums to Lidarr
LIDARR_API_KEY="<your-api-key>" minkdb publish --path "M:\Music\iTunes"

# Publish to a non-default Lidarr URL
LIDARR_API_KEY="<your-api-key>" minkdb publish --path "M:\Music\iTunes" --url "http://lidarr.local:8686"

Output Format

Mink-db outputs a JSON array of unique matched MusicBrainz artist IDs:

[
  {"MusicBrainzArtistId": "11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111"},
  {"MusicBrainzArtistId": "22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222"}
]

Data Storage

• Album database: <library_path>/.minkdb/album.json
• Artist database: <library_path>/.minkdb/artist.json (unique by artist MusicBrainz ID)
• Album FK: Each album row includes artist_musicbrainz_id referencing artist.json

Lidarr Publish

• Uses lidarr-py for API integration
• Reads curated matched album metadata from .minkdb/album.json
• Requires LIDARR_API_KEY in environment
• Adds artists with broad monitoring disabled and monitors only exact albums from Mink-db

Requirements

• Python 3.13+
• iTunes Music Library.xml file
• Internet connection (for MusicBrainz queries)