Scripting reference
This page lists scripting commands.
Yes these are the same commands as in the menus, same as in "Commands and Shortcuts" too, just presented differently.
Presented in a format useful to people using:
Macros or
Python Scripting or
AUD-DO.
Most of this page is automatically generated.
A few commands are intentionally omitted from the Macro Manager (such as "Close:") because they are unsuitable for use in Macros.
This table shows the items in the menus that are scriptable.
The Scripting Ids, parameters and defaults are all likely to change between versions.
Boolean values must be given as 1 (true) or 0 (false).
File Menu
The File Menu provides commands for creating, opening and saving Audacity projects and importing and exporting audio files
File: Save Project
Various ways to save a project.
File: Export
For exporting audio files
File: Import
For importing audio files or label files into your project
Edit Menu
The Edit Menu provides standard edit commands (Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete) plus many other commands specific to editing audio or labels
Edit: Remove Special
For more "advanced" removal of audio
Edit: Clip Boundaries
Create or remove separate clips in the audio track. A clip inside an audio track is a separate section of that track which has been split so that it can be manipulated somewhat independently of the other clips in the track.
Edit: Labels
These commands are to add and edit labels.
Edit: Labeled Audio
Labeled Audio commands apply standard Edit Menu commands to the audio of one or more regions that are labeled. The labels themselves are not affected.
Select Menu
Select Menu has commands that enable you make selections of tracks or parts of the tracks in your project.
Select: Tracks
Tracks
Select: Region
For modifying, saving and restoring a selection.
Select: Spectral
For making a selection of a frequency range.
Select: Clip Boundaries
For modifying a selection, taking account of clips.
View Menu
View Menu has commands that determine the amount of detail you see in all the tracks in the project window. It also lets you show or hide Toolbars and some additional windows such as Undo History.
View: Zoom
Zoom in/out on the horizontal axis. Show more detail or show a longer length of time.
View: Track Size
Controls the sizes of tracks.
View: Skip to
Move forward/backwards through the audio
View: Toolbars
Toolbars can be used to determine which of the Audacity toolbars are displayed. By default all toolbars are shown except Spectral Selection and Scrub
Transport Menu
Transport Menu commands let you play or stop, loop play, scrub play or record (including timed and sound activated recordings).
Transport: Playing
These commands control playback in Audacity. You can Start, Stop or Pause playback of the audio in your project.
Transport: Recording
These commands control recording in Audacity. You can Start, Stop or Pause recording in your project. You can either start a recording on your existing track or on a new track.
Transport: Scrubbing
Scrubbing is the action of moving the mouse pointer right or left so as to adjust the position, speed or direction of playback, listening to the audio at the same time - a convenient way to quickly navigate the waveform to find a particular event of interest. Speed changes are made by rotating the mouse wheel while scrubbing.
Transport: Cursor to
These commands let you move the cursor to the start or end of the selection, track or any adjacent Clip that you may have
Transport: Transport Options
This submenu lets you manage and set various options for transport (playing and recording) in Audacity
Tracks Menu
Tracks Menu provides commands for creating and removing tracks, applying operations to selected tracks such as mixing, resampling or converting from stereo to mono, and lets you add or edit labels.
Tracks: Add New
Adds a new track
Tracks: Mix
Mixes down selected tracks to mono or stereo tracks
Tracks: Mute/Unmute
Mutes or unmutes audio tracks in the project
Tracks: Pan
Pans left right or center audio tracks in the project
Tracks: Align Tracks
Commands that provide an automatic way of aligning selected tracks with the cursor, the selection, or with the start of the project.
Tracks: Sort Tracks
Sorts all tracks in the project from top to bottom in the project window, by Start Time or by Name.
Generate Menu
Generate Menu lets you create audio containing tones, noise or silence.
Generate: Built-in
Shows the list of available Audacity built-in effects but only if the user has effects "Grouped by Type" in Effects Preferences.
Generate: Nyquist
Shows the list of available Nyquist effects but only if the user has effects "Grouped by Type" in Effects Preferences.
Effects Menu
Audacity includes many built-in effects and also lets you use a wide range of plugin effects.
Effect: Built-in
No special notes for Built-in
Effect: Nyquist
No special notes for Nyquist
Analyze Menu
The Analyze Menu contains tools for finding out about the characteristics of your audio, or labeling key feature.
Analyze: Nyquist
No special notes for Nyquist
Tools Menu
The Tools Menu contains customisable tools.
Tools: Apply Macro
Displays a menu with list of all your Macros. Selecting any of these Macros by clicking on it will cause that Macro to be applied to the current project.
Extra Menu
The Extra menu provides access to additional Commands that are not available in the normal default Audacity menus.
Extra: Transport
Extra commands related to play and record
Extra: Tools
Extra commands to select the tool, for example time-shift, envelopes, multi-tool.
Extra: Mixer
Extra commands related to volume
Extra: Mixer
Extra commands related to editing
Extra: Play-at-Speed
Extra commands related to play at speed
Extra: Seek
Extra commands related to seeking
Extra: Device
Extra commands related to selecting a device
Extra: Selection
Extra commands related to selecting.
Extra: Focus
Extra commands to set focus, usually focus on one track
Extra: Cursor
Extra commands to move the cursor
Extra: Track
Extra commands to operate on a track that has focus
Extra: Scriptables I
These commands were originally written for scripting Audacity, e.g via a Python script that uses mod-script-pipe. The commands though are also present in the menu, available from macros, and available from within Nyquist using (AUD-DO "command")
Extra: Scriptables II
Like Scriptables I, but these ones are less commonly used from the menu.
Help Menu
The Help Menu lets you find out more about the Audacity application and how to use it. It also includes some diagnostic tools.
Help: Diagnostics
A set of diagnostic tools
No Menu
These are additional commands that do not appear in any menu
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