File Management

How Audyn discovers your projects, watches for changes, and handles moved or deleted files.

How projects are organized

Audyn groups project files by folder. All .als files in the same directory are treated as versions of one project. The project takes its name from the folder.

Music/ ├── My Track/ │ ├── My Track.als ← version 1 │ ├── My Track v2.als ← version 2 │ └── My Track final.als ← version 3 (current) ├── Remix Project/ │ └── Remix.als ← single version └── Collab/ ├── Collab draft.als ← version 1 └── Collab mixdown.als ← version 2

In this example, Audyn creates three projects: "My Track" with 3 versions, "Remix Project" with 1 version, and "Collab" with 2 versions. The most recently modified file in each folder becomes the current version, the one whose BPM, key, and track count appear in the project list.

Best practices

Audyn works with any folder structure, but these habits help keep your library clean:

One project per folder

Keep all .als files for the same project in one folder. This way Audyn correctly recognizes them as versions of a single project.

Use a single root folder

Point Audyn at your top-level production directory (e.g., ~/Music/Ableton). It handles all the subfolders automatically.

Don't mix unrelated projects

If two unrelated .als files share a folder, Audyn treats them as versions of the same project. Move them to separate directories to keep things clean.

Backup folders are skipped

Audyn automatically ignores Ableton's "Backup" directories, so auto-save copies don't clutter your version list.

Automatic change detection

Audyn watches your project folders in real time. When you create, modify, or delete an .als file, Audyn detects the change and updates your library accordingly.

When a file is saved or created, Audyn reads it and updates the project's metadata. When a file is deleted, the corresponding entry is flagged. Rapid changes (like Ableton saving multiple times in a row) are batched together automatically.

You can enable or disable folder watching in Settings > General. When disabled, you can trigger a manual rescan at any time.

Missing files

If a project file is moved or deleted from disk, Audyn marks the project as "missing" in your library. The project's metadata stays in the database so you don't lose your tags, notes, or collection assignments.

For example, if you move a project folder to an external drive that isn't currently connected, the project will show a "missing" badge. Once the drive is reconnected and the folder is within a scan directory, the project reappears on the next scan.

In Settings > General, you can enable automatic cleanup to remove missing projects from your library during scans. When disabled (the default), missing projects are kept until you manually delete them.

Moving projects

If you move a project folder to a new location within your scan directories, Audyn will find it at the new path on the next scan. The old entry will be marked as missing.

For large-scale moves (like migrating your entire library to a new drive), Audyn provides a relocation feature that updates all paths in the database at once, preserving your tags, notes, collections, and other metadata.