Storage Overview
Release files can live in up to three places. When you import a release, you choose between managed and unmanaged. Managed files are copied into bae’s storage; unmanaged files stay where they are.
At a Glance
Section titled “At a Glance”| Unmanaged | Managed — local | Managed — cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Files live at | Your location | ~/.bae/libraries/ | Cloud provider |
| bae copies files on import | No | Yes | Yes (encrypted) |
| Available offline | Yes | Yes | No |
| Encrypted at rest | No | No | Yes |
| Can sync to cloud | No | Yes | — |
| Syncs to other devices | No | No | Yes |
| Delete release removes files | No | Yes | Yes |
A managed release can have files locally, in the cloud, or both. If you have a cloud home configured, managed imports go to both.
Unmanaged
Section titled “Unmanaged”Point bae at files you already have organized. bae indexes them but doesn’t move, copy, or touch anything. If you already have terabytes of music arranged your way, this lets you catalog it without duplicating a single byte.
The tradeoff: bae can’t encrypt, sync, or back up unmanaged files.
Managed — local
Section titled “Managed — local”Every library has a home directory on your machine (~/.bae/libraries/{uuid}/). This is where bae keeps its database, images, and — for managed releases — a local copy of the release files.
When you import a release as managed, bae copies the files into the library home. Your originals are untouched. The local copy is what bae plays from.
Managed — cloud
Section titled “Managed — cloud”A cloud home is a single remote storage location that holds encrypted release files, metadata changesets, artwork, and snapshots. Setting one up enables multi-device sync and cloud backup.
When you import a managed release with a cloud home configured, bae copies files to the library home and encrypts and uploads them to the cloud home. Both happen at import time.
A release that only exists in the cloud home (e.g., synced from another device that hasn’t downloaded it yet) is not available for offline playback until the files are pulled locally.
Supported providers
Section titled “Supported providers”- Google Drive — sign in with OAuth, bae creates a folder in your Drive
- Dropbox — sign in with OAuth
- OneDrive — sign in with OAuth
- iCloud Drive (macOS) — uses your iCloud container, no sign-in needed
- S3-compatible — any bucket (AWS S3, Backblaze B2, Cloudflare R2, Wasabi, MinIO, etc.)
Consumer cloud providers (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) use OAuth sign-in — no API keys or bucket configuration. iCloud Drive (macOS only) uses your existing iCloud container with no sign-in. S3-compatible providers require manual credential setup and are aimed at more technical users.
How It Works
Section titled “How It Works”- Import a release — choose managed or unmanaged
- Managed imports copy files to the library home (local)
- If a cloud home is configured, managed imports also encrypt and upload files there
- Other devices connected to the same cloud home sync automatically
See Sync for how multi-device sync works and Encryption for how files are encrypted.