MetaMorph

Transform your file metadata with ease. A cross-platform Python CLI tool to view and edit metadata for various file types including PDFs, images, audio files, and general file attributes.

Features

• PDF Files: Edit metadata like Title, Author, Subject, Creator, Producer, etc.
• Image Files: View EXIF data (JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, GIF)
• Audio Files: Edit tags for MP3, MP4, M4A, FLAC, OGG, WAV
• General Files: Modify timestamps and permissions
• macOS Extended Attributes: View and edit "Where from" URLs, Finder comments, and view Finder tags

Installation

Option 1: Install via pip (Recommended)

pip install metamorph-cli

After installation, you can use it anywhere:

metamorph yourfile.pdf

Option 2: Install from source

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/metamorph.git
cd metamorph
./install.sh

Option 3: Run locally (Development)

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/metamorph.git
cd metamorph
pip install -r requirements.txt
./mm yourfile.pdf

Usage

Interactive Mode (Edit Metadata)

metamorph document.pdf

This will:

1. Display all current metadata
2. Prompt you to edit each field
3. Ask for confirmation before saving

View-Only Mode

metamorph --view-only document.pdf
metamorph -v photo.jpg

JSON Output

metamorph --json song.mp3

Examples

Edit PDF metadata

metamorph invoice.pdf

View image EXIF data

metamorph --view-only vacation.jpg

Edit audio tags

metamorph song.mp3

View file attributes as JSON

metamorph --json document.txt

Supported File Types

• PDF: .pdf
• Images: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tiff, .bmp, .gif
• Audio: .mp3, .mp4, .m4a, .flac, .ogg, .wav
• General: Any file (for basic attributes)

How It Works

The tool automatically detects the file type and uses the appropriate library:

• PyPDF2 for PDF files
• Pillow for image EXIF data
• Mutagen for audio file tags
• os/pathlib for general file attributes
• xattr (macOS) for extended attributes like "Where from" and Finder comments

Metadata Types

macOS Extended Attributes

On macOS, MetaMorph can read and edit special Finder metadata:

• WhereFrom: The URL where a file was downloaded from
• FinderComment: Comments visible in Finder's Get Info panel
• FinderTags: View color tags (read-only)

PDF Metadata

Standard PDF fields like Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, etc.

Image EXIF

View EXIF data including camera settings, GPS coordinates, timestamps (editing limited)

Audio Tags

Common ID3 tags: title, artist, album, date, genre, track number, etc.

Notes

• Image EXIF editing is limited (view-only for most fields)
• Some metadata fields are read-only (e.g., file size, page count, Finder tags)
• macOS extended attributes require macOS (uses xattr command)
• Always backup important files before editing metadata
• Press Ctrl+C or type 'q' to cancel editing at any time

License

MIT