Edit

An edit (previously called moderation) is a change entered by an editor into the MusicBrainz Database.

There are numerous different edit types, see the edit types page for a list.

Auto-edits

An auto-edit (previously called automod(eration)) is an edit that does not go through the normal voting process, but is instead automatically approved and instantly applied. All auto-edits are marked as such using an "(auto-edit)" notice. In general, only edits that add data to the database, not change or remove data, are eligible to be entered as an auto-edit.

Given a default data quality level, edits that add track lengths, change capitalization, or add certain types of missing release information are all examples of edits that are automatically approved as auto-edits.

Auto-editors are a trusted group of users who have been given "auto-editor" privileges, and as such the majority of their edits are entered as auto-edits. See the edit type documentation for more information.

Edit statuses

Open

An edit which has just been submitted will normally stay open for 2 weeks or until it receives enough votes. An edit which is open can be voted on by other editors or cancelled by the person who submitted the edit.

Change applied

This is the most common status. It means the edit was accepted and the changes were applied.

Failed vote

An edit which "failed vote" received more "no" votes than "yes" votes and was rejected.

No votes received

Normally an edit which does not receive any votes is applied and the status is "change applied". However, when the data quality is set to high, changes are rejected as "no votes received" unless the edit receives at least one vote.

Failed dependency, Failed prerequisite and Internal error

There is currently no real distinction between failed dependency and failed prerequisite, edits use them fairly interchangeably. However:

Failed dependency was originally used when the change can't be applied because the entity being edited does not exist any more, i.e. it was merged into something else, it was deleted or the original edit was cancelled.

Failed prerequisite was originally used when a change won't be applied because the data was already changed by another edit, i.e. there was already an open edit which was applied first or someone else entered an edit afterwards which was applied faster, either because it was an auto-edit or because it received more votes.

Internal error is rare but is used when an edit can't be applied for any other reason not listed above. An internal error is usually a bug which should be reported in our bug tracker.

Cancelled

A cancelled edit is an edit which is cancelled by the person who entered the edit.