Discogs Import

Discogs import brings records from your Discogs collection or wantlist into DeepGrooves. It is the fastest way to start if you already track records on Discogs.

The import flow is designed to help you:

connect your Discogs account,
fetch collection or wantlist records,
review what is available,
choose what to import,
avoid exact duplicates,
and understand what was added, skipped, or failed.

Discogs import window showing album selection grid

Connect to Discogs

Before importing, connect your Discogs account.

Open Import.
Choose the Discogs connection action.
Sign in to Discogs if prompted.
Authorize DeepGrooves.
Return to DeepGrooves and confirm the connection state.

Connect to Discogs button and authorization flow

DeepGrooves should show a clear connected, disconnected, or error state. If authorization fails, try reconnecting after signing out of Discogs in the browser.

What DeepGrooves Reads

Discogs import needs access to release and user-list data so it can show your collection and wantlist.

DeepGrooves should not need to modify your Discogs account to import into DeepGrooves.

Discogs data	Why it is used
Collection releases	To import owned records
Wantlist releases	To import Wishlist items
Release metadata	To identify artist, title, label, catalog number, format, year, and artwork
User notes or folder data where available	To preserve useful collector context

Fetch Collection or Wantlist

After connecting, choose what to fetch.

Collection fetch is for records you own. Wantlist fetch is for records you are hunting.

Large accounts can take time. The app should show progress or loading feedback so you know it is working.

Review Available Records

Fetched records should appear as selectable import options.

Review:

artwork,
artist,
title,
format,
year,
label or catalog number where visible,
collection versus wantlist source,
and whether the record appears already imported.

Already Imported Records

DeepGrooves should avoid importing exact duplicate releases. A record should be hidden or marked already imported only when it matches an exact release identity already in DeepGrooves.

Different pressings under the same master can still matter. If you own or want a different release, it should remain reviewable unless that exact release already exists in the matching scope.

When fetching your Discogs collection, DeepGrooves skips exact releases you already own in Collection. If that exact release exists only as a Wishlist item, it can still appear so importing it as owned can move it from Wishlist to Collection.

If too many wanted records disappear from the import list, QA should check whether the duplicate filter is matching by master instead of exact release.

Import Wantlist Items

Wantlist import should create Wishlist items, not owned Collection records.

After import, the primary review action should take you to Wishlist or the correct Wishlist scope. Target fields such as priority, target price, max price, desired condition, notes, and alerts can be filled later where supported.

Select Records

Use selection controls to choose what to import.

Common selection choices may include:

select all visible,
select none,
select new only,
filter or search,
and manually choosing individual records.

Before importing, confirm the selected count and whether you are importing collection records or wantlist records.

Run the Import

Start the import when the selected records look right.

During import, the app should show progress. Avoid refreshing the page unless the app is clearly stuck or tells you it is safe.

DeepGrooves processes a few selected records at a time instead of sending every selected record at once. That keeps large imports steadier, makes progress easier to follow, and gives the Stop action a better chance to pause the remaining work.

Completion Summary

When import finishes, review the completion screen.

Discogs import completion screen showing added, skipped, and failed counts, cleanup reminders, per-item results, and follow-up actions

It should show:

added count,
skipped count,
failed count,
per-item results where possible,
cleanup reminders for owner-only or wishlist-only details,
and next-step actions.

For collection imports, useful next steps include Collection, Health, Stats, and Smart Collections. The completion screen may remind you that Discogs can identify a release, but it usually cannot know your personal copy details: condition, sleeve condition, price paid, purchase source, storage location, notes, value, and runouts.

For wantlist imports, the primary next step should point to Wishlist. Wishlist imports usually still need hunting details such as priority, target price, max price, desired condition, notes, and alert settings.

Partial and All-Failed Imports

Imports can partially fail because of network issues, Discogs rate limits, missing release data, duplicate detection, or app errors.

The completion screen should still help you understand what happened. Even if every selected item failed, DeepGrooves should show the same practical breakdown instead of only a generic error.

Use failed item details to decide whether to retry, import fewer records, reconnect Discogs, or report a bug.

What Gets Imported

Discogs metadata can vary by release, but a useful import may include:

artist,
title,
release year,
label,
catalog number,
format,
country,
Discogs release ID,
Discogs master ID,
artwork,
tracklist,
community have/want counts where supported,
user notes where available,
and collection or wantlist status.

After importing, review important records manually. Discogs data is community-maintained and may need cleanup.

Artwork During Import

Discogs artwork can sometimes fail to load temporarily. DeepGrooves should retry where supported and then show a clean fallback rather than a broken image.

If artwork fails during import but appears after refresh, the record data may still be fine. Open the record detail page and check whether artwork eventually resolves.

Tips for Large Imports

For large collections:

Import a small sample first.
Confirm folder, Wishlist, value, and artwork behavior.
Import in batches if the full import is slow.
Use Health afterward to find missing condition, value, storage, artwork, or runout data.
Export after cleanup so you have a backup.

DeepGrooves also includes CSV benchmark fixtures for mapping and progress checks at 100, 1,000, and 2,000 rows. These are helpful for testing the importer interface, but they do not replace a real connected Discogs account when you need to measure Discogs collection or wantlist fetch behavior.

The benchmark fixtures live in the app repository at:

docs/qa-fixtures/import-benchmarks/deepgrooves-import-benchmark-100.csv
docs/qa-fixtures/import-benchmarks/deepgrooves-import-benchmark-1000.csv
docs/qa-fixtures/import-benchmarks/deepgrooves-import-benchmark-2000.csv

They can be regenerated with:

node tools/generate-import-benchmark-fixtures.mjs

Troubleshooting

I do not see all Discogs wantlist records

Check whether the list is filtered or whether records are marked already imported. Different pressings should not disappear only because another release under the same master exists in DeepGrooves.

Import is slow

Large accounts and Discogs rate limits can slow down imports. Wait for progress if it is still moving. For very large accounts, try smaller batches.

Authorization failed

Sign out of Discogs in the browser, return to DeepGrooves, and reconnect. Also check whether pop-up or redirect blocking interfered with the OAuth flow.

Some rows failed

Review the per-item results. Retry only failed records if supported, or fetch again and select a smaller batch.

Imported records have incomplete metadata

Open the record and fill in missing copy-specific details such as condition, purchase notes, value, storage, or runouts. Discogs release data does not always include your ownership details.

Imported wantlist item should be owned

Open the Wishlist item or use Store Mode/add flows to move it to Collection when you buy it. Importing from wantlist should not silently make it owned.