# Install beets with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper Music library manager and tagger. Version 2.12.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-12. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install beets. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:beets ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install beets ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install beets ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: audio/beets/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add beets ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: beets from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install beets ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: beets from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install beets ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: beets from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#beets ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/be/beets/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S beets ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: beets from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install beets ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: beets from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:beets - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.12.0 - **Source summary:** Music library manager and tagger - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-12T13:05:05-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-25T07:20:51+00:00 ## Executables - beet (cli) - beet (alias) ## Dependencies - certifi - libyaml - llvm - numpy - python@3.14 - scipy - zstd ## Build dependencies - cmake - cython - python-setuptools - rust ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-25 - Package-manager version: 2.12.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-07-12 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://beets.io/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage beets is a Python command-line music library manager and MusicBrainz tagger for users who want a curated, queryable, correctly tagged local music collection. ### Project history beets was created by Adrian Sampson and the GitHub repository was opened in August 2010. The project describes itself as a media library management system for obsessive music users, with automatic metadata improvement as the core import workflow. The changelog records the early beta series beginning with 1.0b1 on June 17, 2010, followed by many beta releases and two release candidates before 1.0.0 shipped on January 29, 2013. The 1.0 release marked beets as stable while new development continued. The plugin system became central to the project's identity, with plugins for album art, lyrics, ReplayGain, acoustic fingerprints, transcoding, duplicates, web access, MPD, and several metadata sources. The project reached 2.0.0 in May 2024 and continued active 2.x releases through 2026, including 2.12.0 in June 2026. ### Adoption history The supplied package metadata lists beets across Alpine, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Ubuntu, and openSUSE package names. The README also notes PyPI installation and distribution repository packaging. beets adoption grew around the MusicBrainz-centered local-music workflow: import files, correct tags, move or copy into a library layout, then query and manipulate the collection through the beet CLI and plugins. ### How it is used The standard workflow is beet import followed by interactive metadata matching, file organization, and database-backed querying. Users customize behavior with config.yaml, path templates, plugins, and metadata-source credentials where individual plugins require them. beets is especially useful for large local music collections because it combines tagging, library layout, duplicate checks, album art, lyrics, ReplayGain, transcoding, and scripting-friendly command-line access. ### Why package nerds care beets is package-nerd significant because it is one of the enduring examples of a personal-data CLI that wraps a rich Python application, a SQLite-ish local library model, a plugin ecosystem, external metadata services, and distro packaging into one command called beet. It sits at the intersection of package managers and hobbyist media preservation: PyPI, Linux distributions, Homebrew, and Nix all carry it because music-library users want the same tool available on servers, laptops, and long-lived archival machines. For CLI collectors, beets also has the satisfying trait of turning messy filesystem culture into explicit configuration: tags, templates, metadata sources, plugins, and output paths are all package-managed and scriptable. ### Timeline - 2010: 1.0b1 released and GitHub repository created. - 2013: 1.0.0 released after fifteen betas and two release candidates. - 2024: 2.0.0 released. - 2026: 2.12.0 released. ### Related projects - MusicBrainz is the central metadata source named throughout beets' documentation and README. - Discogs, Beatport, ReplayGain, MPD, and acoustic-fingerprint tooling are related services or workflows exposed through plugins. - Picard is a related MusicBrainz-oriented tagger, while beets occupies the scriptable command-line library-manager niche. ### Sources - - - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for beets. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL. ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: ~/.config/beets/config.yaml - Windows: %APPDATA%\beets\config.yaml, C:\Users\You\AppData\Roaming\beets\config.yaml, macos? ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** beets - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - beets - 2.2.0-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: beets from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | music tagger and library organizer | https://beets.io/ - Debian apt - beets-doc - 2.2.0-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: beets-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | music tagger and library organizer - documentation | https://beets.io/ - Nix - beets: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/be/beets/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - beets - 1.6.0-8: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: beets from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | music tagger and library organizer | https://beets.io/ - Ubuntu apt - beets-doc - 1.6.0-8: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: beets-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | music tagger and library organizer - documentation | https://beets.io/ - apk - beets - 2.11.0-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: beets from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Music library manager and MusicBrainz tagger | https://beets.io - apk - beets-doc - 2.11.0-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: beets-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Music library manager and MusicBrainz tagger (documentation) | https://beets.io - apk - beets-pyc - 2.11.0-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: beets-pyc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Precompiled Python bytecode for beets | https://beets.io - apk - beets-zsh-completion - 2.11.0-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: beets-zsh-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Zsh completions for beets | https://beets.io - dnf - beets - 2.11.0-3.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: beets from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Music library manager and MusicBrainz tagger | http://pypi.org/project/beets/ - dnf - beets-doc - 2.11.0-3.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: beets-doc from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Documentation for beets | http://pypi.org/project/beets/ - pacman - beets - 2.11.0-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: beets from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Flexible music library manager and tagger | https://beets.io/ - zypper - beets - 2.11.0-1.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: beets from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Music tagger and library organizer | http://beets.io/ - MacPorts - beets: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: audio/beets/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Media and graphics packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/media-graphics-tools/) - Matched media, image, audio, video, or graphics metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [llvm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/llvm/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [numpy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/numpy/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [zstd](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/zstd/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [cython](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cython/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [rust](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rust/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [flactag](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/flactag/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, metadata, musicbrainz, tagging. - [cd-discid](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cd-discid/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, metadata, musicbrainz. - [glyr](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/glyr/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, metadata, music. - [rsgain](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rsgain/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, metadata, tagging. - [sacad](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sacad/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, metadata, music. - [abcde](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/abcde/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, musicbrainz. - [atomicparsley](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/atomicparsley/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, metadata. - [aubio](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/aubio/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, music. - [bandcamp-dl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bandcamp-dl/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: certifi, cli, media, music, python. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/beets.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/beets.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph