[fix] Change to $XDG_DATA_HOME instead of $HOME

[Sarthak-Bhagat]

Hi, I'm switching from Trakt to Simkl and came across this project. Thanks for making it.

While setting up the scrobbler on Linux, I noticed that the application is saving the access token at:

$HOME/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/

According to the documentation, the expected location is:

~/.local/share/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/

Here’s snippets from the simkl-scrobbler init log showing the behavior(lmk if you want screenshots):

[*] Using Access Token file: /home/[ME]/kavinthangavel/simkl-scrobbler/.simkl_scrobbler.env
[*] Saving new access token to: /home/[ME]/kavinthangavel/simkl-scrobbler/.simkl_scrobbler.env

Root cause

From a cursory look at your code I noticed that in config_manager.py, the data directory is currently defined as:

APP_DATA_DIR = Path.home() / USER_SUBDIR / APP_NAME

Path.home() is the equivalent of $HOME on linux, not ~/.local/share. I might be wrong though, because afaik the above code would result in your app data going to %USERPROFILE% instead of %APPDATA%, and a Windows user should have noticed that by now. Not sure about MacOS.

Recommendation

Instead of using Path.home() I recommend using the platformdirs library (or implementing a similar function).

from platformdirs import user_data_dir

DATA_HOME = Path(user_data_dir)
APP_DATA_DIR = DATA_HOME / USER_SUBDIR / APP_NAME

I understand this might be a very low priority issue, but just want to point it out because my OCD is driving me insane because of the data folder in my $HOME. Also, you're basically lying about being XDG Base Directory Specification compliant right now which is a bad look for any app.

Happy to help test or contribute a patch if needed. Thanks again.

[itskavin]

Hey @Sarthak-Bhagat !!
Thank you for pointing out this bug, I'll fix this soon.

[itskavin]

Hi @Sarthak-Bhagat! 👋

Thank you for the detailed bug report and the excellent suggestion to use platformdirs! You were absolutely right about the XDG compliance issue.

I've been working on implementing your recommended fix, but I've run into some complications during the migration process and directory visibility issues on Windows. Since you have a good understanding of the problem and suggested the solution, would you be interested in creating a pull request to implement the fix?

What needs to be done:

1. Fix the XDG compliance issue (main bug):

• Replace Path.home() / "kavinthangavel" / "simkl-mps" with proper platformdirs usage
• Use platformdirs.user_data_dir() for cross-platform data directories
• Implement migration from old location to new location
• Ensure directories are properly visible in file explorers

2. Author name change:

I also need to update the project to change the author name from "kavinthangavel" to "bytetrix" throughout the codebase. This includes:

• Directory names: kavinthangavel/simkl-mps → bytetrix/simkl-mps
• Author fields in pyproject.toml, setup.iss, documentation
• Registry keys on Windows
• All file paths and references

Implementation approach:

Based on your suggestion, the fix should:

1. Add platformdirs as a dependency in pyproject.toml
2. Update config_manager.py and credentials.py to use:

   from platformdirs import user_data_dir
   APP_DATA_DIR = Path(user_data_dir()) / "bytetrix" / "simkl-mps"

3. Implement migration logic to move data from old location to new location
4. Update all documentation with new paths

Benefits:

• ✅ Proper XDG compliance on Linux
• ✅ Platform-appropriate directories on all OS
• ✅ Your OCD can finally rest easy! 😄
• ✅ Updated Author throughout

If you're interested in implementing this, I'd be happy to review and test the PR! Let me know if you'd like to take this on, or if you need any additional context about the codebase structure.

Thanks again for the excellent bug report! 🚀

[itskavin]

UPDATE: I've done a comprehensive codebase analysis and found all the directories and files that need to be updated for both the XDG compliance fix and the author rebranding. Here's the complete scope:

🔍 Full Directory Analysis

Current State (all using old Path.home() approach):

Main Application Data Directories:

• Config/Settings: ~/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/.simkl_mps.env
• Settings file: ~/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/settings.json
• Log files: ~/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/simkl_mps.log
• Backlog database: ~/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/backlog.db

Watch History Directory:

• Watch history JSON: ~/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/watch_history.json
• Watch history viewer: ~/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/watch-history-viewer/ (HTML/JS files)

Media Cache:

• Media cache file: ~/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/media_cache.json

Platform-Specific Registry/Plist Files:

• Windows Registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\kavinthangavel\Media Player Scrobbler for SIMKL
• Windows AppUserModelID: kavinthangavel.simkl-mps
• macOS LaunchAgent: com.kavinthangavel.simkl-mps.updater.plist
• Windows Task: kavinthangavel.MediaPlayerScrobblerForSIMKL.UpdateCheck

Files That Need Updates:

Python Files with Hard-coded Paths:

1. simkl_mps/config_manager.py - Main directory logic
2. simkl_mps/credentials.py - ENV file path
3. simkl_mps/watch_history_manager.py - Watch history viewer directory
4. simkl_mps/media_cache.py - Media cache file location
5. simkl_mps/tray_win.py - Windows registry paths, AppUserModelID
6. simkl_mps/tray_mac.py - macOS plist identifiers
7. simkl_mps/tray_linux.py - Author references
8. simkl_mps/cli.py - Registry paths
9. simkl_mps/utils/updater.sh - Config directory paths
10. simkl_mps/utils/updater.ps1 - Publisher name

Configuration Files:

11. setup.iss - Windows installer paths and registry keys
12. pyproject.toml - Author field
13. simkl_mps/__init__.py - Author field

Documentation Files:

14. docs/windows-guide.md - Directory paths
15. docs/linux-guide.md - Directory paths
16. docs/configuration.md - Directory paths
17. docs/troubleshooting.md - Directory paths
18. docs/watch-history.md - Directory paths
19. README.md - Author references
20. mkdocs.yml - Site URL

---

🛠 Implementation Requirements:

1. XDG Compliance Fix:

# Replace this everywhere:
Path.home() / "kavinthangavel" / "simkl-mps"

# With:
from platformdirs import user_data_dir
Path(user_data_dir()) / "bytetrix" / "simkl-mps"

2. All Author References:

• kavinthangavel → bytetrix
• com.kavinthangavel.* → com.bytetrix.*
• Registry paths: Software\kavinthangavel\* → Software\bytetrix\*

3. Migration Strategy:

The implementation should include migration logic to:

• Detect old directory: ~/kavinthangavel/simkl-mps/
• Move all files to new XDG-compliant location
• Update registry/plist entries
• Preserve all user data (env, settings, logs, watch history, cache)

4. Cross-Platform Directory Targets:

• Linux: ~/.local/share/bytetrix/simkl-mps/
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/bytetrix/simkl-mps/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\bytetrix\simkl-mps\

---

This is a significant refactoring that touches multiple core files.

[Sarthak-Bhagat]

Happy to help out with this. I can take care of the basic changes (switching to platformdirs, migrating existing data, updating any docs I touch). Not sure how much of this you’ve already started, so just let me know what you'd like help with.

I can help with Windows and macOS parts as well, but I don’t know much about their internals (registry, plist, etc.), though I guess most of that is already up to the mark.

While looking through the code, I noticed the data directory paths and related variables are rebuilt in a bunch of places (config_manager.py, credentials.py, watch_history_manager.py, media_cache.py, etc.), and the variables even get different names depending on where they’re used. Might make sense to stick all of that in one place (like a paths.py or constants.py) so every module just imports from there instead of repeating it.

Also, I didn’t see a linter or formatter in the repo. When my editor applied my default rules, it triggered about 8k lines of changes 😅, so I’ll try to make my changes without a formatter enabled, but I do recommend adding one eventually.

[itskavin]

Not sure how much of this you’ve already started, so just let me know what you'd like help with.

I haven't started it yet, I'm working on other issues right now.
You can start working on this issue.
Thanks for helping me ☺️

[itskavin]

@Sarthak-Bhagat any updates ?