Quick Start

Get your music on your iPod in 5 minutes. This guide walks you through each step — from first install to hearing your music play.

Prerequisites

• podkit installed — the quickest way is brew install jvgomg/podkit/podkit (see Installation for other methods)
• A supported iPod connected to your computer
• Music files on your computer (or a Subsonic-compatible server)

1. Initialize Configuration

Create your config file:

podkit init

This creates ~/.config/podkit/config.toml — the central place where podkit stores your collections, devices, and preferences.

2. Add Your Music

Register a local music directory:

podkit collection add music main /path/to/your/music

podkit scans this directory for audio files (FLAC, MP3, M4A, WAV, and more) and reads their metadata. Since this is your first music collection, it’s automatically set as the default.

Other sources

You can also sync from a Navidrome or other Subsonic-compatible server — see Subsonic Source. For video, see Video Transcoding. You can add as many collections as you need — see Media Sources for an overview.

3. Register Your iPod

1. Connect your iPod and wait for it to mount (it should appear in Finder on macOS)
2. Register it with podkit:

podkit device add myipod

podkit auto-detects the connected iPod and saves its identity to your config. Since this is your first device, it’s set as the default.

You can manage multiple devices with different quality settings — see Managing Devices for more.

4. Preview with Dry Run

See what podkit will do before it does anything:

podkit sync --dry-run

This shows how many tracks will be added, what needs transcoding (e.g., FLAC to AAC), and estimated size. Nothing is written to your iPod.

5. Sync

When you’re happy with the plan:

podkit sync

podkit scans your collection, transcodes lossless files to AAC if needed, copies everything to your iPod, and updates the iPod database. Lossy files that are already iPod-compatible (MP3, AAC) are copied directly without re-encoding.

6. Eject and Enjoy

Safely eject before disconnecting:

podkit device eject

Or combine sync and eject in one step:

podkit sync --eject

Disconnect your iPod and enjoy your music!

Explore More

# See everything podkit can do
podkit --help

# Get help for a specific command
podkit sync --help
podkit device --help

Next Steps

Now that you’ve completed your first sync, here are some things to explore:

• Tips & Next Steps — Quality presets, incremental syncs, removing deleted tracks, and troubleshooting
• Configuration — Customize quality, artwork, and transforms
• CLI Reference — All available commands
• Audio Transcoding — Quality settings and encoder options