# Lastfm Archive [](https://github.com/boonious/lastfm_archive/actions/workflows/elixir.yml) [](https://hex.pm/packages/lastfm_archive) [](https://coveralls.io/github/boonious/lastfm_archive?branch=master)
A tool for creating local Last.fm scrobble file archive and analytics.
The software is currently experimental and in preliminary development. It should
eventually provide capability to perform ETL and analytic tasks on Lastfm scrobble data.
## Current usage
Download and create a file archive of Lastfm scrobble tracks via an [Elixir](https://elixir-lang.org)
application or [interactive Elixir](https://elixir-lang.org/getting-started/introduction.html#interactive-mode)
by invoking `iex -S mix` command line action while in software home directory.
```elixir
# archive all data of a default user specified in configuration
LastfmArchive.sync # subsequent calls download only latest scrobbles
# archive all data of any Lastfm user
# the data is stored in directory named after the user
LastfmArchive.sync("a_lastfm_user")
```
Scrobbles are extracted and stored in the file archive on a daily basis (granularity).
The software has a built-in cache to remember and resume from the previous
downloads. It skips already downloaded scrobbles and does not make further
requests to Last.fm API.
The data is currently in raw Lastfm `recenttracks` JSON format,
chunked into 200-track (max) `gzip` compressed pages and stored within directories
corresponding to the days when tracks were scrobbled. The file archive in a main
directory specified in configuration - see below.
Scrobbles can be read from an archive of a Lastfm user.
This returns scrobbles for a single day or month period
in a lazy `t:Explorer.DataFrame.t/0` for further data manipulation
and visualisation.
```elixir
# read a single-day scrobbles from the configured
# archive (FileArchive) and default user
LastfmArchive.read(day: ~D[2022-12-31])
# read a single-month scrobbles for a user
LastfmArchive.read("a_lastfm_user", month: ~D[2022-12-31])
```
You can also load more data, i.e. the entire archive (forthcoming) and per-year data
from transformed archive - see below.
### Transform into columnar formats for storage and analytics
You can transform the file archive into other common storage formats such as CSV and
columnar data structure such as [Apache Parquet](https://parquet.apache.org).
These formats facilitate data interoperability, as well as OLAP, analytics use cases.
```elixir
# transform data from a file archive into columnar Apache Parquet files
LastfmArchive.transform("a_lastfm_user", format: :parquet)
# CSV format also available
LastfmArchive.transform("a_lastfm_user", format: :csv)
```
Available formats:
- CSV (tab-delimited)
- [Apache Arrow](https://arrow.apache.org) columnar format
- [Apache Parquet](https://parquet.apache.org) columnar format
See [`transform/2`](https://hexdocs.pm/lastfm_archive/LastfmArchive.html#transform/2).
### Read from columnar format for analytics
The read function can also be used to return a lazy data frame containing all (entire dataset)
or single-year scrobbles. A `columns` option is also available to retrieve only a subset of columns.
```elixir
# data frame containing 2023 data from a Parquet archive
LastfmArchive.read("a_lastfm_user", format: :parquet, year: 2023)
# data frame containing everything from an Arrow IPC archive
LastfmArchive.read("a_lastfm_user", format: :ipc_stream)
# from the Parquet archive, and only specific columns
LastfmArchive.read("a_lastfm_user", format: :parquet, year: 2023, columns: [:id, :artist, :album])
```
See [`read/2`](https://hexdocs.pm/lastfm_archive/LastfmArchive.html#read/2).
## Livebook guides
`LastfmArchive` provides the following [Livebook](https://livebook.dev) interactive and step-by-step guides:
- [Creating a file archive](https://hexdocs.pm/lastfm_archive/archiving.html) guide for creating a local file archive consisting data fetched from Lastfm API. It provides a heatmap and count visualisation for checking ongoing archiving status.
[](https://livebook.dev/run?url=https%3A%2F%2Fraw.githubusercontent.com%2Fboonious%2Flastfm_archive%2Fmaster%2Fguides%2Farchiving.livemd)
- [Columnar data transforms](https://hexdocs.pm/lastfm_archive/transforming.html) guide for transforming the local file archive to columnar data formats (Arrow, Parquet). It demonstrates how `read/2` can be used to load single-year single-column data, as well as an entire dataset into data frame for various analytics.
[](https://livebook.dev/run?url=https%3A%2F%2Fraw.githubusercontent.com%2Fboonious%2Flastfm_archive%2Fmaster%2Fguides%2Ftransforming.livemd)
## Other usage
To load all transformed CSV data from the archive into Solr:
```elixir
# define a Solr endpoint with %Hui.URL{} struct
headers = [{"Content-type", "application/json"}]
url = %Hui.URL{url: "http://localhost:8983/solr/lastfm_archive", handler: "update", headers: headers}
LastfmArchive.load_archive("a_lastfm_user", url)
```
The function finds CSV files from the archive and send them to
Solr for ingestion one at a time. It uses `Hui` client to interact
with Solr and the `t:Hui.URL.t/0` struct for Solr endpoint specification.
## Requirement
This tool requires Elixir and Erlang, see [installation](https://elixir-lang.org/install.html) details
for various operating systems.
## Installation
`lastfm_archive` is [available in Hex](https://hex.pm/packages/lastfm_archive),
the package can be installed by adding `lastfm_archive`
to your list of dependencies in `mix.exs`:
```elixir
def deps do
[
{:lastfm_archive, "~> 0.10"}
]
end
```
Documentation can be found at [https://hexdocs.pm/lastfm_archive](https://hexdocs.pm/lastfm_archive).
## Configuration
Add the following entries in your config - `config/config.exs`. For example,
the following specifies an Lastfm `user` and a main file location for
multiple user archives, `./lastfm_data/` relative to the software home directory.
You also need to specify an `lastfm_api_key` in the config, so that the application can
[access Lastfm API](https://www.last.fm/api/authentication).
```elixir
config :lastfm_archive,
user: "default_user", # the default user
data_dir: "./lastfm_data/", # main directory for multiple archives
lastfm_api_key: "api_key_provided_by_lastfm",
per_page: 200, # 200 is max no. of tracks per call permitted by Lastfm API
interval: 1000 # milliseconds between requests cf. Lastfm's max 5 reqs/s rate limit
# optional: Solr endpoint for Lastfm data loading
config :hui, :lastfm_archive,
url: "http://localhost:8983/solr/lastfm_archive",
handler: "update",
headers: [{"Content-type", "application/json"}]
```
See [`sync/2`](https://hexdocs.pm/lastfm_archive/LastfmArchive.html#sync/2)
for other configurable archiving options, e.g. `interval`, `per_page`.
See [`Hui`](https://hexdocs.pm/hui/readme.html#content) for more details on Solr configuration.
An `api_key` must be configured to enable Lastfm API requests,
see [https://www.last.fm/api](https://www.last.fm/api) ("Get an API account").
