# Development

**URL:** https://discourse.beets.io/c/development/6.md

[Latest](https://discourse.beets.io/latest.md) · [Categories](https://discourse.beets.io/categories.md)

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## [About the Development category](https://discourse.beets.io/t/about-the-development-category/1376)

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**Author:** [@jtpavlock](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jtpavlock)\
**Replies:** 0

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Discussion regarding the development of beets.

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## [I think we're losing most potential contributors before they make their first contribution](https://discourse.beets.io/t/i-think-were-losing-most-potential-contributors-before-they-make-their-first-contribution/2148)

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**Author:** [@RollingStar](https://discourse.beets.io/u/RollingStar)\
**Replies:** 6\
**Last updated:** [August 19, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/i-think-were-losing-most-potential-contributors-before-they-make-their-first-contribution/2148 "2025-08-19T18:10:08Z")

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Continuing what I said here: I think we’re losing people at pretty “easy” parts of the contributor acquisition funnel. Awareness Not much to do here for a free project. Having users who love your project and think it…

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## ["The system cannot move the file to a different disk drive"](https://discourse.beets.io/t/the-system-cannot-move-the-file-to-a-different-disk-drive/1945)

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**Author:** [@hydroel](https://discourse.beets.io/u/hydroel)\
**Replies:** 4\
**Last updated:** [April 3, 2024, 12:33pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/the-system-cannot-move-the-file-to-a-different-disk-drive/1945 "2024-04-03T12:33:26Z")

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I’ve stumbled upon a bug seemingly related to the use of the os.replace function and the import: move option, as using the copy option instead fixes the bug. Note that the same config was working correctly with a previo…

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## [Next release](https://discourse.beets.io/t/next-release/2460)

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**Author:** [@trolley](https://discourse.beets.io/u/trolley)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [January 20, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/next-release/2460 "2024-01-20T14:42:04Z")

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The first line at the top of the last release on Github says: This release is our first experiment with time-based releases! We are aiming to publish a new release of beets every 3 months. That release was made almos…

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## [Help with improving the Acoustid database quality](https://discourse.beets.io/t/help-with-improving-the-acoustid-database-quality/1888)

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**Author:** [@ijabz](https://discourse.beets.io/u/ijabz)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [December 19, 2023, 10:17am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/help-with-improving-the-acoustid-database-quality/1888 "2023-12-19T10:17:44Z")

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beets is one of a number of application that use the Acoustid database to fingerprinting and identify songs, but there are many other including MusicBrainz Picard and SongKong I (the author of SongKong) have been lookin…

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## [A (reasonably) new commandline UI for Beets!](https://discourse.beets.io/t/a-reasonably-new-commandline-ui-for-beets/1831)

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**Author:** [@davidswarbrick](https://discourse.beets.io/u/davidswarbrick)\
**Replies:** 6\
**Last updated:** [August 27, 2023, 6:47am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/a-reasonably-new-commandline-ui-for-beets/1831 "2023-08-27T06:47:40Z")

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Hey everyone, I’ve recently put what I hope are the finishing touches to a hefty pull request initially started by @mxmerz 5 years ago to refresh the beets commandline UI! The finished product looks like this on my mac…

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## [Multiple tags with only 1 letter](https://discourse.beets.io/t/multiple-tags-with-only-1-letter/2360)

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**Author:** [@may](https://discourse.beets.io/u/may)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [June 3, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/multiple-tags-with-only-1-letter/2360 "2023-06-03T18:55:18Z")

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I did an import of my collection and I noticed the RELEASETYPE tag showing multiple times. When checking the tags using Mp3Tag. The filetypes are FLAC or MP3. ep: RELEASETYPE: e RELEASETYPE: p single: RELEASETYPE: …

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## [Trimming some lyrics sources](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381)

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**Author:** [@jtpavlock](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jtpavlock)\
**Replies:** 8\
**Last updated:** [April 28, 2023, 12:10pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/trimming-some-lyrics-sources/1381 "2023-04-28T12:10:05Z")

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In an effort to cut down on maintenance/testing of some of the lyrics sources and provide a reasonable default for users, I thought I’d start a discussion on which lyrics sources are worth keeping vs which can be cut (if…

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## [Accessing Items based on Path](https://discourse.beets.io/t/accessing-items-based-on-path/2320)

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**Author:** [@vtwarrior25](https://discourse.beets.io/u/vtwarrior25)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [April 7, 2023, 11:41pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/accessing-items-based-on-path/2320 "2023-04-07T23:41:40Z")

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Hello, I am currently working on a plugin for Beets. I am attempting to access metadata of a file that is stored within the Beets library based on the path of the file. In short, I have a list of file paths that corres…

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## [UX Observations from New Users or YouTubers](https://discourse.beets.io/t/ux-observations-from-new-users-or-youtubers/2229)

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**Author:** [@RollingStar](https://discourse.beets.io/u/RollingStar)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [April 7, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/ux-observations-from-new-users-or-youtubers/2229 "2023-04-07T17:21:26Z")

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I found a few videos on Beets by searching like “beets music organizer” “beets music python”. There are at least 2 semi popular setup videos. Does anyone have any observations of when they started using beets? Or know an…

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## [Code help on launching an import from within a plugin](https://discourse.beets.io/t/code-help-on-launching-an-import-from-within-a-plugin/2298)

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**Author:** [@wcage](https://discourse.beets.io/u/wcage)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [March 21, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/code-help-on-launching-an-import-from-within-a-plugin/2298 "2023-03-21T23:20:02Z")

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I am working on a plugin and I would like to launch an import session from code. I have a specific staging directory that I would like to point the import to and have it run in the normal interactive mode. I have been tr…

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## [Beets competitors](https://discourse.beets.io/t/beets-competitors/2260)

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**Author:** [@RollingStar](https://discourse.beets.io/u/RollingStar)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [March 17, 2023, 9:42am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/beets-competitors/2260 "2023-03-17T09:42:15Z")

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Found this on Reddit and I think it’s a good list of the state of modern music tagging. I’m using “competitor” because “alternatives” is already the name of a plugin. But I don’t think any of the free projects mind which…

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## [A message to members of the Beets project](https://discourse.beets.io/t/a-message-to-members-of-the-beets-project/2286)

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**Author:** [@jojo](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jojo)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [March 13, 2023, 12:59pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/a-message-to-members-of-the-beets-project/2286 "2023-03-13T12:59:23Z")

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I’ve started a discussion thread over at GitHub reaching out to fellow members of the Beetbox project. Please take a minute and head over there to read it: A message to members of the Beets project · beetbox/beets · Disc…

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## [Project roadmap?](https://discourse.beets.io/t/project-roadmap/1291)

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**Author:** [@grygabrielphon](https://discourse.beets.io/u/grygabrielphon)\
**Replies:** 26\
**Last updated:** [February 5, 2023, 12:46am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/project-roadmap/1291 "2023-02-05T00:46:19Z")

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Is there a roadmap of planned features for Beets? There is some mention of new functionality like web UI and attachments in the wiki, but it looks fairly old. I’m not seeing evidence of how work toward these features is …

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## [Semi-solved the box set problem](https://discourse.beets.io/t/semi-solved-the-box-set-problem/2246)

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**Author:** [@RollingStar](https://discourse.beets.io/u/RollingStar)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [January 23, 2023, 3:48am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/semi-solved-the-box-set-problem/2246 "2023-01-23T03:48:36Z")

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If you’ve ever imported a box set or multi disc/record release, you might have had this problem: beets not being able to find the release for you. If you import in --flat mode and send the ID manually, you can probably g…

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## [Time to rethink path formats?](https://discourse.beets.io/t/time-to-rethink-path-formats/1402)

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**Author:** [@RollingStar](https://discourse.beets.io/u/RollingStar)\
**Replies:** 5\
**Last updated:** [January 14, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/time-to-rethink-path-formats/1402 "2023-01-14T17:48:11Z")

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The path formats feature is great for basic use, but it gets messy quickly. I want my music library organized just-so, and the way I do that in beets is cumbersome. Maybe it’s my Python bias speaking, but I think a pure …

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## [Rewriting beet-fs](https://discourse.beets.io/t/rewriting-beet-fs/2122)

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**Author:** [@Abbott](https://discourse.beets.io/u/Abbott)\
**Replies:** 6\
**Last updated:** [January 5, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/rewriting-beet-fs/2122 "2023-01-05T08:37:29Z")

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Hi, all. I have written an implementation of beetfs from the ground up using pyfuse3 after not being able to get the old beetfs to work some time ago and it is in a kind-of functioning state. I am looking for any more ex…

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## [Ideas for Potential Partnerships with Beets](https://discourse.beets.io/t/ideas-for-potential-partnerships-with-beets/2227)

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**Author:** [@RollingStar](https://discourse.beets.io/u/RollingStar)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [December 25, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/ideas-for-potential-partnerships-with-beets/2227 "2022-12-25T22:36:59Z")

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No one in the beets inner circle is an expert in the peculiarities of healthily running a healthy open-source project. I’m not. I wonder if other projects could provide advice here. I also wonder if sponsorships or partn…

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## [Forming a beets "core team"](https://discourse.beets.io/t/forming-a-beets-core-team/639)

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**Author:** [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Replies:** 9\
**Last updated:** [June 28, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/forming-a-beets-core-team/639 "2020-06-28T15:28:50Z")

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Hi, everybody, To my utter shock, I’ve been working on beets for more than 10 years now. I’ve learned a ridiculous amount through developing beets and have deeply enjoyed meeting all of the people in the beets community…

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## [Is there a roadmap for beets?](https://discourse.beets.io/t/is-there-a-roadmap-for-beets/2200)

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**Author:** [@JoeJoeTV](https://discourse.beets.io/u/JoeJoeTV)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [November 27, 2022, 11:38am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/is-there-a-roadmap-for-beets/2200 "2022-11-27T11:38:51Z")

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Hi, I’m currently trying to get a structure going for correctly tagging my music library and found beets. It looks really useful and I want to integrate it into my library, so I can easily search, manage and export my …

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## [Feature Request - in Quiet mode, skip = delete (or move to deleted folder)](https://discourse.beets.io/t/feature-request-in-quiet-mode-skip-delete-or-move-to-deleted-folder/1552)

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**Author:** [@cs\_legend\_93](https://discourse.beets.io/u/cs_legend_93)\
**Replies:** 4\
**Last updated:** [November 15, 2022, 8:24am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/feature-request-in-quiet-mode-skip-delete-or-move-to-deleted-folder/1552 "2022-11-15T08:24:59Z")

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Hello! I think this would be a great feature to add. During the import process - currently when your not in quiet mode, when there is a duplicate, you are prompted to skip, merge, as-is, keep new, keep old, or delete. …

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## [How can we make beets easier to develop for?](https://discourse.beets.io/t/how-can-we-make-beets-easier-to-develop-for/2155)

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**Author:** [@RollingStar](https://discourse.beets.io/u/RollingStar)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [September 10, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/how-can-we-make-beets-easier-to-develop-for/2155 "2022-09-10T15:05:31Z")

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See also: For me, my tricks of the python trade are debugging line by line (pdb.set\_trace()) and lots of print / logging statements. In pdb, I also like inspecting the relevant objects. iirc, all of these are a lit…

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## [Using iTunes API also for metadata](https://discourse.beets.io/t/using-itunes-api-also-for-metadata/2097)

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**Author:** [@b5i](https://discourse.beets.io/u/b5i)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [May 23, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/using-itunes-api-also-for-metadata/2097 "2022-05-23T17:03:10Z")

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Hey ! I’m writing JavaScript programs to tag songs and I wonder if include iTunes API data in addition to MusicBrainz, Discogs, and Beatport would be possible. If yes I’d like to work on it. Let me know your thoughts ! …

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## [Looking to help out!](https://discourse.beets.io/t/looking-to-help-out/2062)

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**Author:** [@jogo](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jogo)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [March 23, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/looking-to-help-out/2062 "2022-03-23T17:00:28Z")

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Hi, I am looking to contribute to my first open source project, and beets is very interesting to me. I was wondering if there were any open issues that would be a good starter task for me. Please let me know, thanks!

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## [Plans for matching MusicBrainz using disc\_id?](https://discourse.beets.io/t/plans-for-matching-musicbrainz-using-disc-id/2010)

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**Author:** [@dlevy](https://discourse.beets.io/u/dlevy)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [January 30, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/plans-for-matching-musicbrainz-using-disc-id/2010 "2022-01-30T15:46:53Z")

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Are there any plans to add a feature to match MusicBrainz or CDDB disc\_id signatures calculated from the raw CD? I like to rip my CDs to an archival format. This means a lossless encoding and including absolutely no in…

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## [Temporary field rewrite rules](https://discourse.beets.io/t/temporary-field-rewrite-rules/1914)

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**Author:** [@kergoth](https://discourse.beets.io/u/kergoth)\
**Replies:** 6\
**Last updated:** [November 3, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/temporary-field-rewrite-rules/1914 "2021-11-03T15:50:02Z")

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Greetings, tldr: Musings on a possible feature for alternatives, eventually realizing it wasn’t worth the hassle of doing at all, feel free to ignore this :slight\_smile: I’m looking at the possibility of per-alternativ…

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## [No event after plugin types/queries are merged](https://discourse.beets.io/t/no-event-after-plugin-types-queries-are-merged/1913)

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**Author:** [@kergoth](https://discourse.beets.io/u/kergoth)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [October 30, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/no-event-after-plugin-types-queries-are-merged/1913 "2021-10-30T01:09:44Z")

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I’ve noticed that both pluginload and library\_loaded are run prior to plugin types and queries being merged to the models (see beets.ui:\_setup), so if a plugin has logic that depends on those, it has to postpone it until…

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## [Template function access to item](https://discourse.beets.io/t/template-function-access-to-item/1909)

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**Author:** [@kergoth](https://discourse.beets.io/u/kergoth)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [October 22, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/template-function-access-to-item/1909 "2021-10-22T05:27:17Z")

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Greetings, Would there be any objection to the possibility of allowing access to the item from plugin template functions, if it’s viable? I know the default template functions have it saved in their object, but this isn…

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## [Proposal: Drop Windows support in favor of WSL](https://discourse.beets.io/t/proposal-drop-windows-support-in-favor-of-wsl/1394)

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**Author:** [@jtpavlock](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jtpavlock)\
**Replies:** 13\
**Last updated:** [June 20, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/proposal-drop-windows-support-in-favor-of-wsl/1394 "2021-06-20T15:35:58Z")

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It’s no secret Windows can cause a lot of headache when developing and debugging beets. I’d be curious to know the actual percentage, but I would wager the majority of users and contributors run \*nix. I am proposing we …

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## [Poll: What's your expected behavior of set\_fields and --set?](https://discourse.beets.io/t/poll-whats-your-expected-behavior-of-set-fields-and-set/1764)

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**Author:** [@bebe](https://discourse.beets.io/u/bebe)\
**Replies:** 6\
**Last updated:** [May 22, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/poll-whats-your-expected-behavior-of-set-fields-and-set/1764 "2021-05-22T05:50:22Z")

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Hi everybody, we are discussing the expected behavior of the set\_fields configuration, which uses the set\_fields configuration file block and the --set command line option. Question: Should fields be set on the importe…

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