macOS
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brew install abcdeprovider-native install command
brew / rank 4786
Install abcde with Homebrew
Better CD Encoder. Version 2.9.3 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Better CD Encoder
Project links
Commands and aliases
- abcde
- abcde-musicbrainz-tool
- cddb-tool
history
Project history and usage
abcde, short for A Better CD Encoder, is a long-running shell-based audio CD ripping and encoding workflow. Its official wiki describes it as a tool that grabs an entire CD, looks up metadata through CDDB or MusicBrainz, encodes to formats such as Ogg/Vorbis, MP3, FLAC, AAC, Opus, and others, tags files, and produces sensible filenames.
Project history
The official abcde wiki records multiple contributors over the years, including Robert Woodcock, Jesus Climent, Colin Tuckley, Steve McIntyre, Andrew Strong, and others, with Steve McIntyre listed as current maintainer. The project moved older release hosting away from Google Code and names abcde.einval.com/download as the canonical download location.
Adoption history
abcde became a familiar Unix package because it automated a full CD-to-files pipeline around existing encoders and metadata tools rather than replacing them. The supplied package-manager metadata lists it across APK, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Ubuntu, and zypper.
How it is used
Typical use is a single command that performs metadata lookup, reading, optional normalization, encoding, tagging, moving, replaygain, playlist generation, and cleanup. The manpage documents configuration through /etc/abcde.conf, $HOME/.abcde.conf, and an optional extra file passed with -c.
Why package nerds care
abcde is package-nerd material because it is a classic glue program: a shell front end that depends on external encoders, CD readers, metadata services, and taggers, making distro dependency choices and sensible defaults central to the user experience.
Timeline
- 2014: Older 2.4.x and 2.5.x tarballs appear in the official download archive.
- 2015: 2.7 release line appears in the official download archive.
- 2018: 2.9 release line appears in the official download archive.
- 2019: 2.9.3 released as the most recent official tarball listed by the wiki.
- 2021: Git repository summary shows later development commits after 2.9.3.
Related projects
- abcde orchestrates CDDB, MusicBrainz, CD-TEXT, audio encoders such as LAME, FLAC, Ogg/Vorbis, Opus, and related tagging or replaygain tools.
Sources
- Official wiki, official download archive, official gitweb summary, official manpage, and source_facts.package-manager.
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
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
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Unix
~/.abcde.conf/etc/abcde.conf
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
abcde | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
abcde-musicbrainz-tool | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
cddb-tool | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version2.9.3
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:abcde |
|---|---|
| Version | 2.9.3 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://abcde.einval.com |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation