Alistral: Power tools for Listenbrainz

RustyNova · August 29, 2025, 7:12am

Small little announcement:

Alistral is now (mostly) officially distributed on nix! It won’t be as fast to come out as the GH release, but I’ll try to bump it fast

It was already available before, but not maintained by me.

RustyNova · September 1, 2025, 8:57am

Release v0.5.14

You can now pass a listenbrainz track url as a recording mbid

RustyNova · October 13, 2025, 7:52am

Release v0.6.0

Breaking release. Check your scripts !

This release is full of refactors and small command changes. Feel free to consult the help page to see if anything changed

Major features:

Reworked daily command (now slightly faster) to let the user choose the date to generate the report from
Improved lookup to be able to select a specific timeframe.

Minor features:

Added user lookup… That show the listen count of the user. More will come later…

boysmithers · February 2, 2026, 11:25am

Hello, reading through this thread, Alistral sounds like the sort of thing I would like to use.

Is there a complete beginners guide anywhere? Like the basic steps to get it running - or what I need to learn first.

Cheers!

RustyNova · February 3, 2026, 10:07am

That would be nice but I’m too lazy for it. I always get distracted in adding more features than making the docs

I only got a partial documentation here but the help reference is complete and autogenerated (thanks clap markdown). The app is a cli, so you only need to download the executable and use the cli

If you need specific help you can always message me here, make an issue, or the IRC/Matrix/Discord LB chat. That’ll motivate me to get up and write docs lol.

boysmithers · February 3, 2026, 2:08pm

Thanks! OK, I need to get au fait with command line - will message you if I have any specific questions once I’ve done that.

If I get it to work, maybe I can write an idiot’s guide…

RustyNova · February 4, 2026, 8:44am

RustyNova · February 4, 2026, 8:45am

Feel free! My docs are just markdown so it’s easy to add some

boysmithers · February 4, 2026, 10:12pm

I got a similar RUST_BACKTRACE=1 error - how did you fix this please?

My error:

PS C:\Users\c2103\Documents> & “C:\Users\c2103\Documents\alistral-windows.exe”
alistral-windows.exe : e[31mThe application panicked (crashed).e[0m
At line:1 char:1

& “C:\Users\c2103\Documents\alistral-windows.exe”

  + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (e[31mThe applic... (crashed).e[0m:String) [], RemoteException
  + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError

Message: e[36mcalled Result::unwrap() on an Err value: PoolInitError { source: MigrationError { backtrace: Backtrace [{ fn:
“BaseThreadInitThunk” }, { fn: “RtlUserThreadStart” }], source: VersionMismatch(1) } }e[0m
Location: e[35malistral_cli\src\models\client\mb_db.rse[0m:e[35m33e[0m
Backtrace omitted. Run with RUST_BACKTRACE=1 environment variable to display it.
Run with RUST_BACKTRACE=full to include source snippets.

RustyNova · February 6, 2026, 7:40am

This error happens when Alistral expect the database to be at version X, but is actually Y, with Y being later than X. Which is… odd. I haven’t made a schema change in a long while.

Are you using v0.6.6? If so, try deleting the C:\Users\{user}\AppData\Local\Alistral folder

boysmithers · February 6, 2026, 10:52pm

I tried deleting that folder, deleting the .exe and redownloading it.
I no longer get the error message, but I am still unable to open the .exe (nothing happens)
I’ve pasted my commands below if that helps (it is pointing to the correct location). The last line is what I get after I try to open it…

PS C:\Users\c2103> cd C:\Users\c2103\Documents
PS C:\Users\c2103\Documents> & "C:\Users\c2103\Documents\alistral-windows.exe"
PS C:\Users\c2103\Documents>

RustyNova · February 9, 2026, 7:37am

Oh it’s not an application with an interface. It uses the command line like Elbisaur.

You need to use it like this

"C:\Users\c2103\Documents\alistral-windows.exe" daily
// Or
"C:\Users\c2103\Documents\alistral-windows.exe" stats top recordings

boysmithers · February 11, 2026, 10:40am

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

volpit · February 22, 2026, 9:32am

What would this folder be on Linux?

RustyNova · February 24, 2026, 7:31am

~/.cache/Alistral

So simple that I need to add text to respond lol

RustyNova · February 24, 2026, 7:38am

Also progress update for those not in the weekly community meeting: I am swamped. I can’t do much work… And when I can I’m trying to make another project to save my friend group from the discord apocalypse.
Hopefully april should be quieter

jrx · April 28, 2026, 2:17pm

Alistral is crashing for me on this track:

And more specifically the coordinates of the Washington Square Church: Washington Square Church - MusicBrainz
The coordinates seem correct, so I have no clue what is happening

⠇ [Generating `Recording birthdays` Releases` report] | 4.6s                                                                                                                    The application panicked (crashed).
Message:  called `Result::unwrap()` on an `Err` value: DatabaseError { backtrace: Backtrace [{ fn: “aws_lc_0_40_0_jent_entropy_switch_notime_impl” }, { fn: “BaseThreadInitThunk” }, { fn: “RtlUserThreadStart” }], source: ApiEndpointError(ParsingError { source: ApiResponseError { source: JsonParsingError { source: Error(“data did not match any variant of untagged enum MusicbrainzResult”, line: 0, column: 0), data: “{"tags":
,"title":"Hear What I Feel","rating":{"votes-count":0,"value":null},"first-release-date":"2003","length":509426,"artist-credit":[{"joinphrase":"","artist":{"type-id":"b6e035f4-3ce9-331c-97df-83397230b0df","name":"Joan La Barbara","genres":[{"id":"463066ef-ac54-4dae-9c83-73824c2c8432","disambiguation":"","count":1,"name":"electroacoustic"},{"name":"experimental","disambiguation":"","count":1,"id":"68c81274-5770-4e7b-a4bf-ab0d7d425d99"},{"name":"modern classical","id":"e328c306-8e35-46d2-93c3-623412ec7c13","disambiguation":"","count":1},{"disambiguation":"","count":1,"id":"15570d3c-756e-429e-ad67-653cb29ae886","name":"poetry"},{"count":1,"disambiguation":"","id":"435ca3eb-0191-48d7-97ca-d45ba7b0f915","name":"post-minimalism"}],"type":"Person","tags":[{"name":"electroacoustic","count":1},{"count":1,"name":"experimental"},{"name":"modern classical","count":1},{"name":"poetry","count":1},{"count":1,"name":"post-minimalism"}],"country":"US","aliases":[{"locale":null,"type":null,"type-id":null,"name":"Joan LaBarbara","end":null,"begin":null,"primary":null,"ended":false,"sort-name":"LaBarbara, Joan"}],"id":"2aabf4be-f80b-4846-9689-6c0cd99614b4","sort-name":"Barbara, Joan La","disambiguation":"American vocalist and composer"},"name":"Joan La Barbara"}],"genres":
,"id":"b80974e2-3da3-4741-bdf4-f2072184aab8","aliases":
,"annotation":null,"relations":[{"type":"recording","target-type":"artist","attribute-values":{},"type-id":"a01ee869-80a8-45ef-9447-c59e91aa7926","attribute-ids":{},"target-credit":"","source-credit":"","attributes":
,"begin":null,"end":null,"ended":false,"artist":{"name":"Rich Cook","type-id":"b6e035f4-3ce9-331c-97df-83397230b0df","type":"Person","country":null,"id":"2fb635b1-512e-468e-b80e-10c3b63025c2","disambiguation":"","sort-name":"Cook, Rich"},"direction":"backward"},{"begin":"1975-01-15","end":"1975-01-15","direction":"backward","ended":true,"artist":{"id":"2aabf4be-f80b-4846-9689-6c0cd99614b4","country":"US","disambiguation":"American vocalist and composer","sort-name":"Barbara, Joan La","type-id":"b6e035f4-3ce9-331c-97df-83397230b0df","name":"Joan La Barbara","type":"Person"},"target-type":"artist","type":"vocal","type-id":"0fdbe3c6-7700-4a31-ae54-b53f06ae1cfa","attribute-values":{},"source-credit":"","attributes":
,"attribute-ids":{},"target-credit":""},{"attribute-values":{},"type-id":"ad462279-14b0-4180-9b58-571d0eef7c51","type":"recorded at","target-type":"place","attributes":
,"source-credit":"","target-credit":"","attribute-ids":{},"begin":"1975-01-15","place":{"coordinates":{"longitude":-74,"latitude":40.7314},"disambiguation":"","id":"799d4580-af51-4f1f-b569-b0580445721d","address":"","type":"Religious building","name":"Washington Square Church","type-id":"a120ca4a-69e9-3c0e-bc09-21cae26eb621","area":{"type":"City","type-id":"6fd8f29a-3d0a-32fc-980d-ea697b69da78","name":"New York","disambiguation":"","sort-name":"New York","id":"74e50e58-5deb-4b99-93a2-decbb365c07f"}},"end":"1975-01-15","direction":"backward","ended":true},{"direction":"forward","ended":true,"begin":"1975-01-15","end":"1975-01-15","work":{"type":null,"relations":[{"attribute-values":{},"type-id":"d59d99ea-23d4-4a80-b066-edca32ee158f","type":"composer","target-type":"artist","source-credit":"","attributes":
,"target-credit":"","attribute-ids":{},"begin":null,"end":null,"direction":"backward","artist":{"country":"US","id":"2aabf4be-f80b-4846-9689-6c0cd99614b4","disambiguation":"American vocalist and composer","sort-name":"Barbara, Joan La","type-id":"b6e035f4-3ce9-331c-97df-83397230b0df","name":"Joan La Barbara","type":"Person"},"ended":false},{"type":"premiere","target-type":"place","attribute-values":{},"type-id":"a4d2a7cb-365b-4b90-b52f-29469edf8ac0","attributes":
,"source-credit":"","attribute-ids":{},"target-credit":"","place":{"name":"Washington Square Church","type-id":"a120ca4a-69e9-3c0e-bc09-21cae26eb621","type":"Religious building","area":{"type-id":"6fd8f29a-3d0a-32fc-980d-ea697b69da78","name":"New York","type":"City","id":"74e50e58-5deb-4b99-93a2-decbb365c07f","disambiguation":"","sort-name":"New York"},"coordinates":{"latitude":40.7314,"longitude":-74},"address":"","id":"799d4580-af51-4f1f-b569-b0580445721d","disambiguation":""},"end":"1975-01-15","begin":"1975-01-15","direction":"backward","ended":true}],"type-id":null,"iswcs":
,"languages":
,"title":"Hear What I Feel","disambiguation":"","id":"e469d419-35f8-4dc4-ae7f-c83b24407700","language":null,"attributes":
},"attributes":["live"],"source-credit":"","target-credit":"","attribute-ids":{"live":"70007db6-a8bc-46d7-a770-80e6a0bb551a"},"attribute-values":{},"type-id":"a3005666-a872-32c3-ad06-98af558e99b0","type":"performance","target-type":"work"}],"isrcs":
,"releases":[{"id":"7a30a9d3-fdcd-4a1d-98b3-899dec6a9304","quality":"normal","text-representation":{"language":"eng","script":"Latn"},"tags":
,"title":"Voice Is the Original Instrument","packaging-id":null,"date":"2003","artist-credit":[{"joinphrase":"","name":"Joan La Barbara","artist":{"sort-name":"Barbara, Joan La","disambiguation":"American vocalist and composer","id":"2aabf4be-f80b-4846-9689-6c0cd99614b4","country":"US","tags":[{"count":1,"name":"electroacoustic"},{"name":"experimental","count":1},{"count":1,"name":"modern classical"},{"count":1,"name":"poetry"},{"name":"post-minimalism","count":1}],"aliases":[{"end":null,"begin":null,"type":null,"locale":null,"name":"Joan LaBarbara","type-id":null,"sort-name":"LaBarbara, Joan","ended":false,"primary":null}],"genres":[{"name":"electroacoustic","count":1,"disambiguation":"","id":"463066ef-ac54-4dae-9c83-73824c2c8432"},{"name":"experimental","disambiguation":"","count":1,"id":"68c81274-5770-4e7b-a4bf-ab0d7d425d99"},{"count":1,"disambiguation":"","id":"e328c306-8e35-46d2-93c3-623412ec7c13","name":"modern classical"},{"id":"15570d3c-756e-429e-ad67-653cb29ae886","disambiguation":"","count":1,"name":"poetry"},{"id":"435ca3eb-0191-48d7-97ca-d45ba7b0f915","disambiguation":"","count":1,"name":"post-minimalism"}],"type":"Person","type-id":"b6e035f4-3ce9-331c-97df-83397230b0df","name":"Joan La Barbara"}}],"genres":
,"disambiguation":"","status":"Official","release-events":[{"date":"2003","area":{"disambiguation":"","sort-name":"United States","iso-3166-1-codes":["US"],"id":"489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98","type":null,"name":"United States","type-id":null}}],"country":"US","media":[{"position":1,"id":"343a482f-18c4-3f85-856f-b1d5b5c815a7","format":"CD","format-id":"9712d52a-4509-3d4b-a1a2-67c88c643e31","tracks":[{"position":2,"id":"d2797e1c-0072-33a8-a5df-d497a4749d55","length":509426,"artist-credit":[{"joinphrase":"","artist":{"id":"2aabf4be-f80b-4846-9689-6c0cd99614b4","sort-name":"Barbara, Joan La","disambiguation":"American vocalist and composer","aliases":[{"primary":null,"ended":false,"sort-name":"LaBarbara, Joan","locale":null,"type":null,"type-id":null,"name":"Joan LaBarbara","begin":null,"end":null}],"country":"US","rating":{"value":null,"votes-count":0},"name":"Joan La Barbara","type-id":"b6e035f4-3ce9-331c-97df-83397230b0df","type":"Person"},"name":"Joan La Barbara"}],"number":"2","title":"Hear What I Feel"}],"track-count":5,"track-offset":1,"title":"Explorations"}],"aliases":
,"status-id":"4e304316-386d-3409-af2e-78857eec5cfe","barcode":"745295300328","packaging":null}],"disambiguation":"","video":false}”, location: Location { file: “C:\Users\runneradmin\.cargo\registry\src\index.crates.io-1949cf8c6b5b557f\api_bindium-0.4.0\src\parsers\json.rs”, line: 34, column: 18 } }, location: Location { file: “C:\Users\runneradmin\.cargo\git\checkouts\musicbrainz_rs-f098dd7881becbe6\d798ad7\src\api\parser\mod.rs”, line: 29, column: 14 } }, location: Location { file: “C:\Users\runneradmin\.cargo\git\checkouts\musicbrainz_rs-f098dd7881becbe6\d798ad7\src\api\fetch_query.rs”, line: 128, column: 14 } }) }
Location: alistral_cli\src\tools\daily\recording_birthdays.rs:59

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1: aws_lc_0_40_0_jent_entropy_switch_notime_impl
at :
2: aws_lc_0_40_0_jent_entropy_switch_notime_impl
at :
3: aws_lc_0_40_0_jent_entropy_switch_notime_impl
at :
4: BaseThreadInitThunk
at :
5: RtlUserThreadStart
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RustyNova · April 30, 2026, 6:56am

Good old MB giving me an edge case in the data. I’ll look into it when I got time…

RustyNova · May 6, 2026, 10:07am

So apparently -74 cannot be automatically read as a string or float. Need to specifically read as a integer. (TBF a float would be -74.0)

This has been fixed in the next Alistral version