---
title: "import"
description: "Import your listening history from a Spotify or Last.fm export."
icon: "file-import"
---

Bulk-import your past listens into Rocksky from a **Spotify Extended Streaming
History** or **Last.fm** export. The command autodetects the format, enriches
each play with full metadata, and publishes it to your PDS as a scrobble —
throttled to stay within Bluesky's write limits and safe to stop and resume.

## Usage

```bash
rocksky import <file> [options]
```

`<file>` is a Spotify or Last.fm export — a JSON/CSV file, or the whole
**Spotify Extended Streaming History** folder (the format is autodetected from
the contents).

## Import your history

<Steps>
<Step title="Request your data export">
- **Spotify** — request your *Extended Streaming History* from
  [Privacy settings](https://www.spotify.com/account/privacy/). Spotify emails
  a `my_spotify_data.zip`; unzip it and keep the
  **Spotify Extended Streaming History** folder.
- **Last.fm** — export your scrobbles as CSV with a tool such as [ghan64's export](https://lastfm.ghan.nl/export/).
</Step>

<Step title="Create a Bluesky App Password">
`import` writes scrobbles to your repo on your PDS, so it needs to sign in.
Use a **dedicated App Password** — never your main account password.

1. Sign in at [bsky.app](https://bsky.app).
2. Go to **Settings → Privacy and Security → App Passwords**
   ([direct link](https://bsky.app/settings/app-passwords)).
3. Click **Add App Password**, name it (e.g. `rocksky-import`), and copy the
   generated password (format `xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx`).

<Warning>
An App Password is scoped and revocable — you can delete it any time without
changing your main password. Do not use your account password here.
</Warning>
</Step>

<Step title="Set the required environment variables">
`import` reads your credentials from the environment (or a `.env` file in the
current directory):

```bash
export ROCKSKY_IDENTIFIER=alice.bsky.social   # your handle or DID
export ROCKSKY_PASSWORD=xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx    # the App Password from step 2
```

| Variable             | Required | Description                                        |
| -------------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| `ROCKSKY_IDENTIFIER` | Yes      | Your Bluesky handle or DID                          |
| `ROCKSKY_PASSWORD`   | Yes      | A Bluesky **App Password** (not your login password) |

Both are **required** — the import aborts with an error if either is missing.
</Step>

<Step title="Preview with a dry run">
Always dry-run first. This parses the export and prints exactly what would be
published — **without writing anything** to your PDS and without needing your
credentials:

```bash
rocksky import "Spotify Extended Streaming History" --dry-run
```

A dry run always previews the full import from the beginning, regardless of any
earlier partial run.
</Step>

<Step title="Run the import">
When the preview looks right, drop `--dry-run`:

```bash
rocksky import "Spotify Extended Streaming History"
```

The command logs each step — reading, authenticating, building a dedup index,
then publishing — with a live progress bar showing the scrobble currently
being written. A large history is throttled and can take a while; it is safe to
stop with `Ctrl-C` and re-run to **resume exactly where it left off**.
</Step>
</Steps>

## Options

| Flag                       | Default          | Description                                                             |
| -------------------------- | ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `-f, --format <format>`    | autodetect       | Force the format: `spotify` or `lastfm`                                 |
| `-n, --dry-run`            | off              | Parse and print what would be published, without writing to your PDS    |
| `-c, --concurrency <n>`    | `4`              | Number of scrobbles to publish in parallel                              |
| `-r, --rate <perHour>`     | max safe         | Scrobbles published per hour (hard-capped under the PDS write limit)    |
| `-l, --limit <n>`          | all              | Only import the first N scrobbles                                       |
| `--min-seconds <seconds>`  | `30`             | Skip Spotify plays shorter than this many seconds                       |
| `--from <date>`            | —                | Only import scrobbles on or after this date (e.g. `2024-01-01`)         |
| `--to <date>`              | —                | Only import scrobbles on or before this date                           |
| `--restart`                | off              | Ignore the saved checkpoint and import from the beginning               |

## How it works

- **Autodetection** — a Spotify export folder, a Spotify JSON file, or a
  Last.fm CSV/JSON file are all recognized automatically. Podcasts, audiobooks,
  and very short Spotify plays (under `--min-seconds`) are skipped and reported.
- **Metadata enrichment** — the exports carry only title, artist, and album, so
  each play is matched against Rocksky's catalog to fill in duration, album art,
  MusicBrainz IDs, and streaming links before it is written.
- **Rate limiting** — Bluesky rate-limits repo writes, and each scrobble also
  publishes its artist, album, and song records (deduplicated). The publish rate
  is **hard-capped** below that budget, so neither the default nor any
  `--rate` you pass can exceed the PDS write limit.
- **Deduplication** — a local index of your existing repo is built first (and
  kept live off the firehose during the run), so re-imports never republish a
  scrobble you already have.
- **Resumable** — a checkpoint tracks the last imported scrobble. Interrupt the
  import at any time and re-run the same command to continue from exactly where
  it stopped; use `--restart` to start over from the beginning.

## Examples

```bash
# Preview a Last.fm CSV export
rocksky import scrobbles.csv --dry-run

# Import only 2024 plays, forcing the Spotify parser
rocksky import history.json --format spotify --from 2024-01-01 --to 2024-12-31

# Import the first 100 scrobbles as a small test run
rocksky import "Spotify Extended Streaming History" --limit 100
```

<Note>
Prefer to point an existing app at Rocksky instead of a one-time import? See
[Migrating from Last.fm](/migrations/from-lastfm) and
[Migrating from ListenBrainz](/migrations/from-listenbrainz).
</Note>