Crate

Until a folder is connected, the app is the wizard. Inbox, Board, Released, Insights, and Triage send you to Workspaces until then. On browsers that cannot scan, the marketing pages show a one-time notice that names the device and the fix, and inside the app those browsers get a full-page explainer with a link to carry to the computer. A second device on Studio is unaffected. The onboarding emails got a copy pass and a Studio note, and every mention of assistant access now reads: Assistants read your board, never your audio.

I retired the built-in pipeline. Every workspace that used it now owns a Classic pipeline it can edit. Checklists are no longer tied to a phase; a pipeline references them, and From Crate lists every catalog checklist so each can be adopted on its own. A Label release checklist joined the catalog. Crate also asks the browser to keep the local library so it is not cleared out.

I shipped From Crate, a catalog of pre-made pipelines and checklists. It opens from the Library's Pipelines and Checklists tabs and from the pipeline picker, so the Wizard, triage start, and the board chooser can all adopt one. Adopting makes an editable copy of your own. It launched with four pipelines, a loop-to-track pipeline, and two Releasing checklists. The same day I opened pipelines and checklists to every plan, including Free.

The create-workspace card became a Workspace Wizard that teaches Crate's concepts in order, and the card title opens Edit workspace. Browsers that cannot connect a folder now get an explanation of why scanning is blocked, and the guide deck opens with a card about the browser requirement.

I published a workflow manual at /manual with seven concept pages, and the app links into it from places like Inbox zero and the empty Released page. The guide deck now leads with checklists and links each card to its manual page. The onboarding email sequence is on. Crate also collects anonymous usage analytics, with no cookies and no session recording, and the privacy policy says so.

I cut the default checklists from 37 items to 7, outcomes only. Duplicate Released cards from using more than one device are fixed, and a first scan no longer leaves an empty inbox.

I shipped the guide deck, a set of cards that teach Crate's concepts in order. Each card shows once. The landing page got several passes and a pricing section.

I built a Released page. A project that has gone live leaves the board and gets a receipt that records the release. On Studio, receipts sync to the cloud and reach other devices right away. A receipt never changes once written, and the bounce's file path never leaves the computer. Every place a live project is locked offers the way to re-open it.

I added a Sessions card to the project page that reads Live's Backup folder to show recent working days and a save count. Notes an assistant adds now show up in an open project without a trip to the board, and a dropped connection catches up when it returns. A cloud update no longer reverts a checkbox you just clicked. The board's pipeline tag now opens the pipeline picker and previews each board on hover.

I replaced board layouts with pipelines. A workspace has a default pipeline, each project follows one, and the board draws its columns from it. Triage picks the pipeline at the start of a session and is now the only way onto the board; the inbox has its own page. Pipelines live in the Library, and checklists on a custom pipeline no longer vanish on reload.

I opened Crate to assistants. A Labs section in Settings shows one connect link that works for any assistant client, on the Studio plan. An assistant can read the board and add a note to a project; it can only append, never overwrite. The Labs card also holds a Coming soon slot for the Crate Sidecar download.

Launch day. I did a final cleanup, then fixed what the day turned up: a dialog regression, drag jitter on the board, and triage with custom phases. Rescan works again on healthy folders.

I closed the app to everyone but me ahead of launch. Crate installs as an app from the browser and prompts when an update is ready. Sign-up now verifies your email. The free plan is one workspace stored on your computer, and if a Studio subscription lapses, the extra workspaces lock with options for the data. The Getting Started flow was simplified, and Apple sign-in was removed.

I rebuilt the project page: a header band, a Details rail, a stack of peek cards, an activity timeline, and a rich text editor for notes. Scanning moved off the main thread, so the app stays responsive during a scan, and the parser now reads backup metadata and sample paths. The Library became a tabbed page with Workspaces, Collections, Checklists, and Layouts, with a layouts editor that stamps a layout onto a workspace. The landing page uses real product screenshots, Insights gained Consistency and Signature share cards, and a subscription can be cancelled and resumed from the pricing page.

I shipped bounces. Crate finds the bounced audio next to a Live set and plays it in a docked player. On Studio, a bounce syncs to the cloud so it plays on a phone; synced bounces expire after a while, and the project shows when one arrives. The Bounces card sits on the project page next to the activity timeline.

I retired the Solo plan. Crate now has two plans: Free, which is one workspace stored on your computer, and Studio, which adds sync across devices. I rebuilt the pricing page around the two, corrected claims that were no longer true, and removed the founder plan.

I added a Studio plan next to Solo, with a plan picker at checkout. Plan changes go through a confirmation, and a downgrade from Studio is capped to what the lower plan allows. The free tier is now one workspace. The project panel got a Notes tab and a desktop redesign, and the header collapses on a phone.

I added a guides section to the site with breadcrumbs. Project cards now show the song title with a subtitle. Deleted workspaces and projects are cleared out after a delay rather than at once, and duplicate detection was reworked to handle large folders. The board is blocked on mobile, where it did not work well.

I redesigned the landing page and applied a new design system across the app. There is an in-app support form and a feedback form in Settings. Triage got a filter, keyboard hints, and a filmstrip in place of the progress bar. Sets saved by the Live 12.4.5 beta read correctly.

I renamed Stats to Insights and rewrote the page as a grid of cards. Insights can be shared as portrait images, with the artist name pulled from Settings. Search is now one box that matches loosely, so a typo still finds the project. A workspace can hold up to 2,500 projects. Mobile triage was redesigned.

I pulled the Info Text out of each Live set, so notes written in Ableton show up on the project in Crate. I fixed key filter matching and removed the BPM range filter.

I added deadlines to project cards with a color key, and a Mark as Live action that records when a project shipped. Projects that had already gone live were marked. I built a roadmap page where people can vote. Scanning got a progress bar and an inline wizard instead of a separate page. The terms now name Paddle as merchant of record, and the emails Crate sends were redesigned.

I moved billing from Stripe to Paddle. Subscribing now goes through a Paddle checkout from the profile page. A pricing page went up the same week with a link in the footer.

I added collections, so projects can be grouped across the board, with assignment from the triage toolbar and an undo. The project page got three tabs, a description drawer, links, a Musical DNA section, and a two-column timeline. Triage now reports how many projects were sorted and skipped. Workspaces are capped at five, with a banner when you get close. I rebuilt the landing sections and added a consent checkbox to sign-up.

I renamed Inbox to Triage and gave the board a Trello-style layout, with a docked inbox panel and lanes that scroll on their own. The top bar went icon-only, with a command palette for search and a layout for tablets. Settings got a redesign with the danger zone tucked away, and sync now shows an indicator.

I added self-serve account deletion, with a confirmation step and an FAQ entry on the landing page. Billing now sends lifecycle emails, and Settings shows a history of what was sent. Sign-in checks the waitlist, so only approved people get in. A folder that is unreachable or not connected now says which, and restoring a workspace prefers the cloud copy over a stale local one.

I added workspaces. A folder on one computer is its own space with its own board template. I rewrote the password reset flow and added a reconnect screen for when a folder needs permission again. I redesigned the landing page, and it now says plainly that Safari and Firefox cannot scan. A pass on labels and copy brought the app in line with the Crate voice.

I made the scanner handle sets saved by older versions of Live. When a set uses the older tempo format, Crate still reads it and the card says so. BPM and key are no longer editable, since Crate reads them from the file. A scan can be stopped mid-run, and a failed file shows its error details.

I built the first version of Crate in three days. It reads a folder of Ableton Live sets with read-only access and lays the projects out on a board by phase, with drag and drop between columns. New sets land in an inbox and get sorted through a triage queue, with swipe triage on a phone. I added Google and Apple sign-in, cloud sync behind a paid Pro plan, a stats page, and a first landing page.