Settings and help

Settings and help

Documentation home

Interface and playback settings

Settings in the sidebar contains playback recording, online sources and keys, automatic lookups and Tagcast update checks. Use the × at the right of the library information banner to hide it. This preference is remembered in the current browser. Restore it through Settings → Interface → Show library information banner. Hiding this banner does not hide save errors or review warnings, and changing these preferences does not restart the player.

Settings → Interface also lets you show or hide file format and stream quality and track artists in the compact player. Both are shown by default. These choices apply immediately and are remembered in the current browser. The title, album artist and album stay visible; track and album pages and fullscreen Now playing keep their information. Hiding the quality label does not change the streaming quality.

Contextual help

Choose ? in the top bar to start help for the page you are viewing. Album artists explains that artist list; 1001 Albums explains its analysis and matching. There is no topic chooser or unrelated tour. The ? inside the album editor, draft review, Settings and album chooser explains that dialog specifically.

Use Previous, Next, Finish, or × / Escape. Tours highlight controls within the current page or dialog. If content is not available yet, the explanation stays readable without opening another page. Tours never start playback, analysis or saves, change preferences, or add browser history. Open drafts stay intact; closing Help returns focus and the previous scroll position.

Appearance and sidebar

See Browsing and discovery for colour palettes, light/dark appearance and sidebar shortcuts. See Playback and queue for stream quality and optional play reporting.

Complete library metadata exports

Settings → Export library metadata now offers Prepare JSON export and Prepare CSV ZIP. When the file is ready, choose its separate Download button. No Save is needed. This exports the full loaded library, regardless of the current search, filter or selection. Open drafts and later iBroadcast changes are excluded; reload the library first if you need a fresh snapshot.

Both formats retain native album/disc and track IDs, separate primary/additional album artists and track credits, ordered roles and credit phrases, exact main and additional genres, ratings, artwork IDs and upload dates/times. The ZIP contains linked artists, albums, album_tracks, tracks, credits and genres CSVs, plus optional tag, playlist and local-favourite tables. IDs keep the relationships clear. Native disc records are exported without Tagcast's browser grouping.

Optional loaded tags/playlists and saved local album/artist hearts are selected by default. They are read only when already available; missing or damaged optional data is reported in the manifest rather than silently shown as empty. Playlist order, repeated track IDs and playlists over 10,000 positions are preserved.

Export schema 2 separates native playlist folders into playlist_folders and playlist_folder_items. Folder contents refer to playlist/folder IDs, never music track IDs; nesting, order, repeated and missing references are preserved. Schema 1 incorrectly placed folder contents in playlist_tracks; prepare a new export if you need folder relationships. CSV files use UTF-8 and quote multiline text, escape spreadsheet formulas and preserve null versus empty text; JSON preserves native scalar types.

Preparation uses the server's loaded library and a private temporary file, without extra iBroadcast requests or loading the complete archive into browser JavaScript. Close Settings and return to download; files expire 15 minutes after preparation starts. Library/account/connection changes invalidate an older export. Preparation can be cancelled. No music metadata, settings, change history or playback is changed. Audio, image binaries, credentials, signed file URLs and provider prose are excluded. This metadata archive has no restore function; CSV playlist import is a separate workflow. Export changes remains a separate browser-local change-history download.

See the format and completeness guide.

Settings and Help

Export changes moves from the top bar to Settings → Change history. It downloads the same browser-local JSON history and is disabled when there are no entries. Exporting does not submit Settings or change iBroadcast. The export action in Change history remains available.

In the Electron app, Help → Tagcast Help opens this Wiki.

Choose online sources

In Settings → Online sources & keys, select the providers used for metadata and image suggestions. All are selected by default. For example, uncheck Deezer and Apple Music / iTunes, then choose Save. Check them again and save to restore them. Choices are remembered locally across restarts and browsers using the same Tagcast settings folder.

Disabled sources are skipped for automatic lookups, manual Search and image suggestions. Turning off automatic lookup alone still allows manual searches; turning off a source excludes it from both. Sources requiring keys still need a key even when selected. Disabling a source keeps its saved or environment key; Remove remains a separate action. Late answers from earlier searches are ignored after source preferences change; an open editor can use Search to refresh without changing its draft, playback or queue.

The separate Artist biographies and Album information switches control TheAudioDB background texts. Source switches apply to suggestions. No music metadata is changed. Available in Tagcast 0.70.2.