Getting started

You are here to turn a folder of audio files into something you can actually search. The payoff is a searchable map of your own music, plus a shortlist of candidates you would probably never find by browsing folders alone. No automatic DJ set comes out of it.

The shortest path runs install, scan, open the UI, analyze a small batch, search, then decide by ear. Your audio stays where it is. Scan and analysis add information to a local SQLite database without reorganizing or rewriting the source files.

The UI mixes Russian and English

Panel headings, button titles, tooltips, and notices are mostly Russian. Technical tokens are English: model names, the tab labels LAB, SONARA, SIMILARITY, PROMPT, and CLASS, mode names such as Balanced and DJ transition, and field labels such as Limit, Mode, Device, and Analyze limit. The split grew during development rather than by design, so it is not a rule you can predict from the kind of control.

These pages are English throughout and name every control by its English name. To find that control on screen, look it up in UI language, which carries the full mapping.

What each step gives you

1. Scan turns a folder tree into a library you can browse and filter.
2. Analysis adds the evidence behind sound-based search and preview.
3. Search reduces a large library to a listening shortlist.
4. Current Set collects useful candidates into an editable working list.
5. Export creates an M3U or CSV file for the next part of your workflow.

Pages

• Quickstart: the shortest path through install, scan, serve, and first analysis.
• Install: prerequisites, package extras, FFmpeg, frontend, and docs build notes.
• First library: how the scan dialog builds a catalog.
• First analysis: choose analysis by the result you want, then configure limits, modes, devices, and the SONARA BPM range.

What you need first

• A local folder of audio files.
• A local SQLite path where the app can create or open the library.
• FFmpeg 8.1.1 as a full shared build. Discovery checks DJ_TRACK_SIMILARITY_FFMPEG_SHARED_DIR, then a valid library directory on PATH. A bare ffmpeg.exe is not enough. Run dj-sim doctor after setup.
• Optional model dependencies for SONARA, MAEST, MERT, MuQ, MuQ-MuLan, or CLAP analysis.

Privacy habit

Treat the SQLite database, logs, reports, and promoted classifier artifacts as private library data. They can include paths, tags, model scores, and listening notes.