---
name: "tracker-extract"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "tracker-extract"
version: "2.3.5-2.1"
release: "Debian 11 (Bullseye)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/tracker-extract"
---

# tracker-extract(1)

Extract metadata from a file.

## NAME

tracker-extract - Extract metadata from a file.

## SYNOPSYS

**tracker extract** *FILE*

## DESCRIPTION

**tracker extract** reads the file provided and extracts any metadata it can from this file, then displays the metadata on standard output.

The metadata is displayed as a SPARQL update command, that can be run against a SPARQL endpoint to update its copy of the metadata.

The actual extraction is done by a separate process. This is done to isolate the calling process from any memory leaks or crashes in the libraries Tracker uses to extract metadata.

For more information see the libtracker-extract reference documentation.

## OPTIONS

- **-v, --verbosity=\<*LEVEL*\>**

  This sets the log verbosity for the extractor process.

  The possible *LEVEL* options are:

  • *debug* - Show EVERYTHING, from debug messages to errors.

  • *detailed* - Show enough detail to understand what is happening.

  • *minimal* - Show an overview of what is going on

  • *errors* - Show only warnings, criticals, errors or fatal events.

- **-o, --output-format=\<*FORMAT*\>**

  Choose which format to use to output results. Supported formats are *sparql*, *turtle* and *json-ld*.

## EXAMPLES

- Using command line to extract metadata from a file:

  $ tracker extract /path/to/some/file.mp3

## ENVIRONMENT

- **TRACKER\_EXTRACTORS\_DIR**

  This is the directory which tracker uses to load the shared libraries from (used for extracting metadata for specific file types). These are needed on each invocation of tracker-store. If unset it will default to the correct place. This is used mainly for testing purposes. The default location is /usr/lib/tracker-1.0/extract-modules/.

- **TRACKER\_EXTRACTOR\_RULES\_DIR**

  This is the directory which tracker uses to load the rules files from. The rules files describe extractor modules and their supported MIME types. The default location is /usr/share/tracker/extract-rules/.

- **TRACKER\_USE\_CONFIG\_FILES**

  Don't use GSettings, instead use a config file similar to how settings were saved in 0.10.x. That is, a file which is much like an .ini file. These are saved to $HOME/.config/tracker/

## SEE ALSO

[**tracker-store**(1)](/tracker-store/1.md), [**tracker-sparql**(1)](/tracker-sparql/1.md), [**tracker-stats**(1)](/tracker-stats/1.md), [**tracker-info**(1)](/tracker-info/1.md).

- **/usr/lib/tracker-1.0/extract-modules/**

  - **/usr/share/tracker/extract-rules/**