Importing tags from TagSpaces
Import Tags from TagSpaces reads file and folder tags from TagSpaces into tessoa. Review the scan results before importing; the import can be undone afterward.
This feature is available from tessoa 0.26.0 on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Before starting, make sure the folder managed by TagSpaces is accessible from this computer. If TagSpaces stores tags in hidden .ts folders, keep those folders with the files.
Import scope
tessoa scans the root folder you choose and its subfolders. Importing is a manual, one-way operation: it only reads TagSpaces data. It does not modify source files, file names, or .ts folders, and it does not write tessoa tags back to TagSpaces.
| Tag source | Import behavior |
|---|---|
| Tags applied to a file | Reads tags from .ts/<file name>.json in the file's containing folder |
| Tags applied to a folder | Reads tags from .ts/tsm.json inside that folder |
| Tags in square brackets in file names | Excluded by default; enable them in the summary, then uncheck individual tags you do not want |
| TagSpaces tag groups and tags not applied to files or folders | Not imported; new tags appear at the top level of tessoa's tag list |
tessoa does not read the TagSpaces location list. Choose each root folder you want to import separately; cloud locations such as S3 are outside the scan's scope. The scan does not follow symbolic links into other folders.
Scanning and importing
- Open Settings.
- Select System and find the Maintenance & Setup group.
- Click Import Tags from TagSpaces….
- Select the root folder in Choose the TagSpaces Folder.
- Click Scan This Folder and wait for the scan to finish.
- Review the counts of tagged files and folders, new tags, and tags to be merged into existing ones.
- Click Import. When it finishes, open the sidebar's Tags page to view the imported tags.
The Import button is unavailable during scanning. Click Cancel to close the dialog and leave your current tags unchanged. You can also type TagSpaces into the search field at the top of Settings to find the import action directly.
If a file referenced by a TagSpaces tag record no longer exists, the summary shows the number of skipped records. This usually happens after another program renames or deletes a file; tessoa does not guess its new location from the old record.
Choosing tags from file names
TagSpaces can also store tags in file names, such as photo[holiday mountains].jpg. tessoa reads the first pair of square brackets and splits its contents at spaces into the tags holiday and mountains.
- In the scan summary, check Also read [tags] from file names (untick anything that is not a tag).
- Review each tag name and its source file count in the expanded list.
- Uncheck tags you do not want to import. For example,
1080pinMovie [1080p].mkvmay describe the video format rather than a tag. - Review the new and merged tag counts, which update as you change the selection, then click Import.
The list groups entries by tag name. Unchecking a name excludes that tag from all file names; it does not exclude the same tag found in .ts data. File name tags are disabled by default each time you open the import dialog.
Matching tags and importing again
| Situation | Import result |
|---|---|
| tessoa already has a tag with the same name | Merges into that tag and keeps its existing color and hierarchy |
| Several tags at different levels share the same name | Uses the first matching tag in the tag tree |
| tessoa has no matching tag | Creates a top-level tag using a recognized color from the source |
| Tags are imported from file names | Creates uncolored tags; if .ts data also contains a matching name, its color is used |
| The same data is imported again | Existing tags and their associations with files are not duplicated |
| A tag is deleted in TagSpaces | Tags already imported into tessoa remain in place |
If a source color is not recognized, the new tag is uncolored; you can change its color after importing. Importing only adds tags and their associations with files. It does not remove tags you have already applied in tessoa. If nothing is added, tessoa displays No new tags found in that folder.
Undoing an import
After importing, click Undo in the success notification to restore the tags to their state before the import.
Undoing an import restores the entire tag library. Any other tag changes made after the import are also undone. tessoa retains only the state before the most recent tag import; TagSpaces imports and Finder imports on macOS share this one undo state, which is lost when tessoa exits. Use the notification's button before making further tag changes or starting another import.
If the notification has disappeared or tessoa has exited, manually remove file tags or delete unwanted tags as described in Tags, or restore a pre-import tags.ini backup using Backing up and migrating tags. Restoring a backup also replaces any tag changes made after that backup.