cuetag
TLDR
Tag FLAC files from CUE sheet
SYNOPSIS
cuetag file.cue audiofile...
DESCRIPTION
cuetag transfers metadata from a CUE sheet to audio files. It reads track information (title, performer, ISRC, etc.) from the CUE sheet and writes appropriate tags to the corresponding audio files.
The tool automatically detects file format and uses the appropriate tagging method: metaflac for FLAC, vorbiscomment for Ogg Vorbis, and id3v2/id3tag for MP3. Files must be named so that track order matches (typically from shnsplit output).
Tags transferred include: title, artist/performer, album, track number, genre, date, and ISRC codes if present in the CUE sheet.
SUPPORTED FORMATS
FLAC: Uses metaflac (standard tags)
Ogg Vorbis: Uses vorbiscomment
MP3: Uses id3v2 or id3tag
EXAMPLE WORKFLOW
cuebreakpoints album.cue | shnsplit -o flac album.flac
# Tag the resulting files
cuetag album.cue split-track*.flac
# Rename using tags
for f in split-track*.flac; do
title=$(metaflac --show-tag=TITLE "$f" | cut -d= -f2)
track=$(metaflac --show-tag=TRACKNUMBER "$f" | cut -d= -f2)
mv "$f" "$(printf '%02d' $track) - $title.flac"
done
CAVEATS
Requires format-specific tagging tools installed (metaflac, vorbiscomment, id3v2). Files must be in the same order as CUE sheet tracks. CUE sheets with limited metadata produce sparse tags. Encoding issues may occur with non-ASCII characters.
HISTORY
cuetag is part of cuetools, a collection of utilities for working with CUE sheet files. The tools were created by Svend Sorensen to facilitate working with CD images and their metadata. They remain essential for processing single-file album rips into tagged individual tracks.
SEE ALSO
cuebreakpoints(1), shnsplit(1), metaflac(1), id3v2(1)
