# Command line options

**URL:** <https://community.mp3tag.de/t/command-line-options/17262>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [September 26, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/command-line-options/17262 "2015-09-26T15:28:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bobsbrewery](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@bobsbrewery](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/bobsbrewery)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/command-line-options/17262/1 "2015-09-26T15:28:17Z")

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I was wondering if there is a way to start up MP3TAG to perform various functions automatically. Specifically, I want to export my entire music library to a CSV (or other format) file without starting up the GUI. Any help would be appreciated.

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**Author:** ![ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ryerman/32/5285_2.png) [@ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ryerman)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/command-line-options/17262/2 "2015-09-27T00:59:02Z")

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Nope.  
This is the only command line documentation I've found: [https://docs.mp3tag.de/command-line](https://docs.mp3tag.de/command-line)

For command line export work, **Exiftool** is powerful, versatile and well documented.  
[http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/](http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/)

It has an option to write a csv file. It also supports exporting metadata in user-defined formats.  
However, it had a steep learning curve for me.

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**Author:** ![bobsbrewery](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@bobsbrewery](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/bobsbrewery)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/command-line-options/17262/3 "2015-09-27T03:12:06Z")

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So close to being exactly what I need, but not quite. Basically I have 2 options with it. CSV format, which isn't quite right since it's comma delimited, and some filenames and titles contain commas. Makes parsing it properly impossible. Or I could format it using the -p option, but then there is no way to get the path and file information I need. That's only available when you use the CSV format. Looks like an extremely powerful tool though...

Update: Actually, I might be able to use it after all with the -p option. Seems there's a $Directory variable I can use to get the path. Only thing I have to overcome is that it uses a forward slash instead of a back slash...Thanks ryerman!

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**Author:** ![ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ryerman/32/5285_2.png) [@ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ryerman)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 11:08am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/command-line-options/17262/4 "2015-09-27T11:08:18Z")

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You're welcome. Sounds like you are well on your way.

The -p option allows for PERL regex substitutions which might solve your concerns about a forward slash.

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**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 12:25pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/command-line-options/17262/5 "2026-02-09T12:25:53Z")

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Closed on February 9, 2026, 12:25pm UTC