Hi all,
Small add-on (community edition) for mb-music I’ve been using myself for a while now.
The idea is simple — when I’m browsing and finding new tracks I want to add to my YT playlist, I don’t want to open the CSV, find the right category, paste the URL… that kills the flow completely.
So I wrote mb-music-add-url add-on.
- Copy the URL
- hit the hotkey to launch the gui
- fill in artist and title
- pick a category from the dropdown (or type a new one)
Back to browsing. 
What it does:
- reads the URL from your clipboard
- lets you pick an existing category from your yt_music_list.csv or create a new one on the spot
- inserts the track at the bottom of that category
- duplicate check within the category
- i18n: EN / PL / ES
Standalone script, no changes needed to mb-music itself.
Just drop it in ~/bin, bind a hotkey and go.
#!/bin/bash
# mb-music-add-url
# Add a YouTube/stream URL to the mb-music YT playlist CSV.
# User can pick an existing category or type a new one.
CSV_FILE="$HOME/.config/mabox/mb-music/yt_music_list.csv"
LAST_CAT_FILE="$HOME/.config/mabox/mb-music/last_category"
LOGO="$HOME/.config/mabox/mb-music/mabox-ce.svg"
# Ensure config dir, CSV and logo exist
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$CSV_FILE")"
touch "$CSV_FILE"
[ -f "$LOGO" ] || cat > "$LOGO" << 'SVGEOF'
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="256" height="256">
<rect width="256" height="256" fill="#1a1a1a"/>
<path fill="#F5C400" fill-opacity="0.9" d="M80 240H16V16h224v224h-64V80h-16v160H96V80H80z"/>
<path fill="#1a1a1a" fill-opacity="0.9" d="M0 0v256h256V0Zm16 16h224v224h-64V80h-16v160H96V80H80v160H16Z"/>
<rect x="28" y="150" width="200" height="68" rx="6" ry="6" fill="#1a1a1a" fill-opacity="0.72"/>
<text x="128" y="208"
font-family="'DejaVu Sans','Liberation Sans',Arial,sans-serif"
font-size="62" font-weight="700" letter-spacing="6"
text-anchor="middle" fill="#F5C400">CE</text>
</svg>
SVGEOF
# Use CE logo if available, fall back to theme icon
[ -f "$LOGO" ] && YAD_ICON="$LOGO" || YAD_ICON="media-tape"
# ── i18n ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
case "$LANG" in
pl*)
NEW_CAT_LABEL="[+ Nowa kategoria]"
_TITLE="Dodaj utwór do listy mb-music"
_MSG="Uzupełnij pola i wybierz kategorię.\nWpisz nową nazwę lub wybierz z listy."
_F_URL="URL :"
_F_ARTIST="Artysta :"
_F_TITLE="Tytuł :"
_F_CAT="Kategoria :"
_F_NEWCAT="Nowa kategoria :"
_ERR_CLIP="Schowek nie zawiera prawidłowego adresu URL."
_ERR_FIELDS="Pola URL, Artysta i Tytuł są wymagane."
_ERR_NEWCAT="Podaj nazwę nowej kategorii."
_ERR_DUP="Ten utwór już istnieje w tej kategorii."
_NOTIFY_ADDED="Dodano do kategorii"
_TITLE_NEWCAT="Nowa kategoria"
;;
es*)
NEW_CAT_LABEL="[+ Nueva categoría]"
_TITLE="Añadir pista a la lista mb-music"
_MSG="Rellena los campos y elige una categoría.\nEscribe un nombre nuevo o elige de la lista."
_F_URL="URL :"
_F_ARTIST="Artista :"
_F_TITLE="Título :"
_F_CAT="Categoría :"
_F_NEWCAT="Nueva categoría :"
_ERR_CLIP="El portapapeles no contiene una URL válida."
_ERR_FIELDS="Los campos URL, Artista y Título son obligatorios."
_ERR_NEWCAT="Escribe un nombre para la nueva categoría."
_ERR_DUP="Esta pista ya existe en esa categoría."
_NOTIFY_ADDED="Añadido a la categoría"
_TITLE_NEWCAT="Nueva categoría"
;;
*)
NEW_CAT_LABEL="[+ New category]"
_TITLE="Add track to mb-music list"
_MSG="Fill in the fields and pick a category.\nType a new name or choose from the list."
_F_URL="URL :"
_F_ARTIST="Artist :"
_F_TITLE="Title :"
_F_CAT="Category :"
_F_NEWCAT="New category name :"
_ERR_CLIP="Clipboard does not contain a valid URL."
_ERR_FIELDS="URL, Artist and Title are all required."
_ERR_NEWCAT="Please enter a name for the new category."
_ERR_DUP="This track already exists in that category."
_NOTIFY_ADDED="Added to category"
_TITLE_NEWCAT="New category"
;;
esac
# ── helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
warn() {
yad --warning \
--center \
--title="$_TITLE" \
--window-icon="$YAD_ICON" \
--image="dialog-error" \
--text="$1" \
--button="OK:0" 2>/dev/null
}
# Extract category names (lines ending with ,-) from CSV
get_categories() {
grep -E ',-$' "$CSV_FILE" | sed 's/,-$//' | sed '/^\s*$/d'
}
# Build a !-separated list for yad combo: "New category" first,
# then last-used category (pre-selected with ^), then the rest.
build_combo() {
local cats last list
cats=$(get_categories)
last=$(cat "$LAST_CAT_FILE" 2>/dev/null | xargs)
list="$NEW_CAT_LABEL"
# Add last-used first (pre-selected), skip it in the main loop below
if [ -n "$last" ] && echo "$cats" | grep -qxF "$last"; then
list+="!^$last"
fi
while IFS= read -r cat; do
[ -n "$cat" ] || continue
[ "$cat" = "$last" ] && continue # already added above
list+="!$cat"
done <<< "$cats"
echo "$list"
}
# Insert $entry right before the next category header after $category,
# or at end of file if it is the last category.
insert_into_category() {
local category="$1"
local entry="$2"
local tmp
tmp=$(mktemp) || { echo "mktemp failed"; return 1; }
awk -v cat="$category" -v newline="$entry" '
BEGIN { found=0; done=0 }
{
# When we hit the next category header while inside the target, insert first
if (!done && found && /,-$/) {
print newline
done=1
}
print
# Detect entry into our target category
if ($0 == cat ",-") found=1
}
END {
# Target was the last category in file
if (found && !done) print newline
}
' "$CSV_FILE" > "$tmp"
mv "$tmp" "$CSV_FILE"
}
# Append a new category header + entry at end of file
append_new_category() {
local category="$1"
local entry="$2"
# Add blank line before new category if file is not empty and last line is not blank
if [ -s "$CSV_FILE" ] && [ -n "$(tail -c1 "$CSV_FILE")" ]; then
echo "" >> "$CSV_FILE"
fi
echo " $category,-" >> "$CSV_FILE"
echo "$entry" >> "$CSV_FILE"
}
# Check for duplicate entry within a category block
is_duplicate() {
local category="$1"
local entry="$2"
awk -v cat="$category" -v needle="$entry" '
BEGIN { found=0 }
{ if ($0 == cat ",-") found=1; else if (/,-$/) found=0 }
found && $0 == needle { exit 1 }
' "$CSV_FILE"
return $?
}
# ── clipboard ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CLIPBOARD=$(xclip -o -selection clipboard 2>/dev/null)
# Accept: http(s) URLs or local playable files
if [[ -z "$CLIPBOARD" ]] || \
[[ ! "$CLIPBOARD" =~ ^https?:// && ! -f "$CLIPBOARD" ]]; then
CLIPBOARD=""
fi
# Focus URL field when empty so user can paste; otherwise jump to Artist
FOCUS_FIELD=2
[[ -z "$CLIPBOARD" ]] && FOCUS_FIELD=1
# ── main form ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
COMBO=$(build_combo)
ENTRY=$(yad --form \
--center \
--title="$_TITLE" \
--window-icon="$YAD_ICON" \
--image="document-save" \
--text="$_MSG" \
--width=480 \
--focus-field="$FOCUS_FIELD" \
--field="$_F_URL" "$CLIPBOARD" \
--field="$_F_ARTIST" "" \
--field="$_F_TITLE" "" \
--field="$_F_CAT:CB" "$COMBO" \
2>/dev/null)
[ -z "$ENTRY" ] && exit 0 # user cancelled
URL=$(echo "$ENTRY" | cut -d'|' -f1 | xargs)
ARTIST=$(echo "$ENTRY" | cut -d'|' -f2 | xargs)
TITLE=$(echo "$ENTRY" | cut -d'|' -f3 | xargs)
CATEGORY=$(echo "$ENTRY" | cut -d'|' -f4 | xargs)
# Strip trailing | if yad adds one
CATEGORY="${CATEGORY%|}"
# ── validate required fields ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
if [[ -z "$URL" || -z "$ARTIST" || -z "$TITLE" ]]; then
warn "$_ERR_FIELDS"
exit 1
fi
TRACK_ENTRY="$ARTIST - $TITLE,$URL"
# ── category logic ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
if [[ "$CATEGORY" == "$NEW_CAT_LABEL" || -z "$CATEGORY" ]]; then
# Ask for new category name
NEW_CAT=$(yad --entry \
--center \
--title="$_TITLE_NEWCAT" \
--window-icon="$YAD_ICON" \
--image="folder-new" \
--text="$_F_NEWCAT" \
2>/dev/null)
[ -z "$NEW_CAT" ] && exit 0 # cancelled
NEW_CAT=$(echo "$NEW_CAT" | xargs)
if [[ -z "$NEW_CAT" ]]; then
warn "$_ERR_NEWCAT"
exit 1
fi
append_new_category "$NEW_CAT" "$TRACK_ENTRY"
CATEGORY="$NEW_CAT"
else
# Check if category actually exists (user may have typed a new name in combo)
if grep -qF "${CATEGORY},-" "$CSV_FILE"; then
# Duplicate check
if ! is_duplicate "$CATEGORY" "$TRACK_ENTRY"; then
warn "$_ERR_DUP"
exit 1
fi
insert_into_category "$CATEGORY" "$TRACK_ENTRY"
else
# Typed a new name not in the list
append_new_category "$CATEGORY" "$TRACK_ENTRY"
fi
fi
echo "$CATEGORY" > "$LAST_CAT_FILE"
notify-send -i "$YAD_ICON" -t 5000 "$ARTIST - $TITLE" "$_NOTIFY_ADDED: $CATEGORY"
Here at the time the idea started
EDIT: Added Category dropdown translation
EDIT 02: Added - Last used category
EDIT 03: Added Mabox community edition logo (notification) 
