tabslx - a Tabs-Lite extractor

Extract guitar tabs from a TabsLite Android app backup file using the Ultimate Guitar API.

UG has an IP-hostile API, and throttles requests in a sophisticated pattern with a release rotation. You get a couple shots a day to perform a full extraction. Sometimes, you may need to just wait awhile (a week) before you can sync again.

Setup

In Tabs Lite on your android phone, go to Settings (Guitar in search field) > Export favorits and playlists. This will save tabslite_backup.json on your phone. Copy this to your computer.

1. Install dependencies

   git clone https://github.com/brege/tabslx
   npm install -g

2. Configure the extractor

   cp config.default.yaml config.yaml

   Then edit config.yaml

   json: "tabslite_backup.json"
   data: "tabslite-export"
   cache: true
   filename:
     lowercase: false
     space: "-"
     id: true
     format: "{artist}---{song}-{id}.txt"

   • json is the exported TabsLite backup.
   • data is the output directory (device id cache lives here).
   • filename.space replaces whitespace with the given string.
   • filename.id toggles whether {id} stays in the template.

Usage

Basic extraction

# npm install
node cli.js --help

or

npm install -g
tabslx --help

Force re-download (overwrite files on disk)

tabslx --force

Rotate device identity

tabslx --refresh

Deletes <data>/.device_id before starting so a new ID is generated for that output directory.

Use custom config

tabslx --config config.yaml

Config hierarchy: config.yaml > --config > config.default.yaml.

Filename pattern

• With filename.id: true

  # "{artist} - {song} [{id}].txt"
  'The Weakerthans - Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure [1068619].txt'
  

• With filename.id: false

  # "{artist} - {song}.txt"
  'The Weakerthans - Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure.txt'
  

• Lowercase plus dash spacing:

  # "{artist}---{song}-{id}.txt"
  the-weakerthans---virtute-the-cat-explains-her-departure-1068619.txt
  

Acknowledgements

TabsLite

License

GPLv3