Vault Manual

01Overview

Vault is a desktop application for music producers to organise, tag, and pitch their catalogue. All data is stored locally — your audio files are never moved, copied, or uploaded anywhere. Vault references them wherever they live on your drive.

The interface is split into three main areas:

• Sidebar — navigation, genres, moods, playlists and pitches
• Track Library — your full catalogue with filtering, search and batch editing
• Music Player — playback controls pinned to the bottom of the window

02Installation

1. Download the .dmg file from the Downloads page.
2. Open the .dmg and drag Vault into your Applications folder.
3. Double-click Vault to launch it.
4. If macOS blocks the app, right-click → Open → Open again to bypass Gatekeeper. You only need to do this once.

System requirements: macOS 10.15 Catalina or later. Native builds for both Apple Silicon and Intel.

03Activating a License

Vault runs in Trial mode by default, which supports up to 50 tracks. Purchasing a license unlocks more tracks and removes all limits on the Pro plan.

Activating

1. Open Vault and click the Settings icon in the bottom-left sidebar.
2. Navigate to the License tab.
3. Paste your license key into the input field. Keys follow the format BV-PR-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXX.
4. Click Activate. An internet connection is required for the first activation only.

Transferring to a new machine

A license is tied to one machine at a time. To move it:

1. On your old machine, go to Settings → License → Deactivate on this machine.
2. Confirm the deactivation. Your catalogue and tracks are unaffected.
3. On your new machine, activate with the same key.

04Importing Tracks

There are three ways to add tracks to your library:

Import Files

Click Import Files in the top-right of the library. A file picker opens — select one or more audio files. After selecting, a modal asks for default genre, type, mood and producer to apply to the whole batch. Leave any field blank to skip it.

Import Folder

Click Import Folder to import every supported audio file inside a folder recursively. The same bulk-import modal appears to set shared metadata before import begins.

Drag and Drop

Drag audio files or a folder directly onto the Vault window. A drop zone overlay appears confirming the action. Release to import.

Supported formats

05The Track Library

The library is the main view showing all tracks in your catalogue. Each row displays:

• Title & producer — track name with collaborators listed below
• Tags — up to two tags shown as small pills
• Mood — coloured badge
• Genre — coloured badge; right-click to change inline
• Type — Beat, Song, Loop, or Sample
• BPM — right-click to edit inline
• Key — musical key (e.g. C maj); right-click to edit inline
• Duration
• Play count
• Date — toggle between Date Created and Date Added via the column header
• Favourite — click the heart icon to star a track

Sorting

Click any column header to sort ascending or descending. An arrow indicator shows the active sort direction.

Selecting tracks

Batch editing

Select two or more tracks and a batch action bar slides in at the top of the library. From here you can set genre, type, producer, key, or add selected tracks to a playlist or pitch all at once. You can also group selected tracks as versions or remove them from your library.

Right-click context menu

• Play
• Edit Info
• Add to / Remove from Favourites
• Re-analyse
• Add to a specific Playlist or Pitch
• Remove from Library

06Editing Track Info

Click the three-dot icon on any track row (or right-click → Edit Info) to open the track editor. Changes apply immediately on Save.

Info tab

• Title — rename the track
• Genre & Type — dropdown and four-button selector
• BPM — decimal precision supported
• Key — dropdown of all 24 major/minor keys
• Mood — free-text with suggestions
• Year — production year
• Sub-genre — e.g. UK Drill, Lo-Fi Hip-Hop

Tags tab

Tags are free-text labels that make searching faster. Press Enter or , to add a tag. A set of quick-add suggestions (melodic, dark, banger, etc.) appear below the input. Click any to add it instantly.

Credits tab

Set the primary producer name and add collaborators. Collaborators appear as secondary text beneath the track title in the library.

Notes tab

A free-text field for anything — recording notes, sample clearance info, intended artist, inspiration. Also shows the full file path and technical audio specs.

07Audio Analysis

Vault can automatically detect BPM, genre, type and key from the audio of your tracks. Analysis runs in the background and doesn't block playback or editing.

Auto-analyse on import

With Auto-Analyse on Import turned on (Settings → Audio Analysis), every new track is analysed as soon as it's added. This is on by default.

Analysis depth

• Fast — BPM and basic energy detection only
• Standard — full feature extraction including spectral analysis (recommended)
• Deep — extended analysis; slower but most accurate

Analysing pending tracks

If auto-analyse is off, or you imported tracks before enabling it, the Analyse All button appears in the library toolbar showing the number of pending tracks. Click it to start a batch run. You can also re-analyse individual tracks via right-click → Re-analyse.

Finding unanalysed tracks

The Not Analysed smart collection in the sidebar shows all tracks with pending or failed analysis, so nothing slips through.

08Filtering & Searching

Search

The search bar in the library toolbar searches across track titles, genres, tags, producer names and musical keys in real time.

Filter panel

Click Filters to expand the filter panel. Available filters:

• Genre — filter chips, one or more selectable
• Type — Beat, Song, Loop, Sample
• Producer — shown when two or more producers exist
• BPM range — min and max fields
• Mood — filter chips
• Key mode — All, Major, Minor
• Key root — C, C#, D … B

Active filters appear as removable chips below the filter panel. Click the × on any chip, or Clear all, to reset.

Smart Collections

The sidebar contains four built-in smart views that update automatically:

• Favourites — all starred tracks
• Recently Added — tracks added in the last 7 days
• Not Analysed — tracks pending or failed analysis
• Missing Data — tracks with no genre, mood, BPM or key

09Sidebar — Genres & Moods

The sidebar organises your catalogue beyond simple filtering. Sections can be collapsed by clicking their header.

Genres

Every genre in your library is listed with a track count. Click a genre to filter the library to that genre. Right-click a genre to change its colour or delete it.

To create a custom genre, click New Genre at the top of the section, type a name, and press Enter.

You can bulk-assign a genre by dragging one or more tracks from the library and dropping them onto a genre in the sidebar.

Moods

Moods work the same way as genres — filterable, colour-customisable, and drag-assignable. Create custom moods with the New Mood button.

Producers

All producer and collaborator names are listed here. Click a name to filter the library to tracks associated with that producer.

10Playlists

Playlists are ordered collections of tracks — useful for grouping tracks by project, session or vibe.

Creating a playlist

1. Click New Playlist in the Playlists section of the sidebar.
2. Type a name and choose a colour.
3. Press Enter to save.

Adding tracks

Drag tracks from the library and drop them onto a playlist in the sidebar. Or select tracks, open the batch action bar, and use the Add to Playlist dropdown.

Exporting a playlist

Right-click the playlist in the sidebar → Export to Folder. Choose a destination and Vault copies all tracks there. The original files are untouched.

11Version Groups

If you have multiple versions of a beat (v1, v2, tagged, untagged…), Vault can group them into a single collapsible row so your library stays clean.

Automatic grouping

Vault detects common version suffixes (v1, v2, [v3], (version 1), etc.) and groups them automatically on import.

Manual grouping

1. Select two or more tracks using ⌘ + Click.
2. In the batch action bar, click Group as Versions.

Expanding and collapsing

Grouped tracks show a version pill (e.g. ▶ 3 ver) on the lead track. Click it to expand the group and see all versions. Click again to collapse.

Setting the lead version

Right-click any child version → Set as Lead Version to promote it to the canonical track shown when the group is collapsed.

12What is a Pitch?

A Pitch is a curated pack of tracks you're putting together for a specific client, sync placement, or session. It's separate from your main library — you build it by adding tracks from recommendations, then export the whole pack to a folder ready to send.

Think of a Pitch as a proposal: set the filters to describe what you're looking for (genre, BPM, mood), see what in your catalogue fits, cherry-pick the best, and export.

13Building a Pitch

Creating a pitch

1. In the sidebar, click New Pitch under the Pitches section.
2. Give it a name (e.g. the client's name or brief) and choose a colour.
3. Press Enter to save.

Finding tracks with filters

Open the pitch by clicking it in the sidebar. The top section is a filter panel — set genre, type, BPM range, mood, key and a search term to narrow recommendations from your library.

The Recommendations section below updates in real time to show matching tracks. Double-click any track to preview it in the player.

Adding and removing tracks

Click Add on a recommendation to move it into the pitch. Click Remove on a track already in the pitch to take it out. You can also drag tracks from the main library directly onto a pitch in the sidebar.

Selecting for partial export

Click individual tracks inside the pitch to select them. Use Shift + Click for a range. The Export to folder… button will export only the selected tracks if a selection is active, or all tracks if nothing is selected.

14Exporting

Vault can export tracks from a pitch or playlist to a folder on your drive. The originals are never modified.

• Export all — use the Export button at the bottom of any pitch or playlist view
• Export selection — select specific tracks first, then click Export to folder
• Version-aware — when exporting a group, only the lead version is included unless you expand the group and select individual versions

After choosing a destination folder, Vault copies the files and the export is done — ready to zip and send.

15Music Player

The player is pinned to the bottom of the Vault window and is always visible.

• Play / Pause — or double-click any track row
• Previous / Next — skips within the current view's track order
• Shuffle — randomises playback order
• Repeat — cycles through Off → Repeat All → Repeat One
• Progress bar — click anywhere to seek
• Volume — drag the slider or click the speaker icon to mute/unmute

16Settings

Open Settings by clicking the gear icon at the bottom of the sidebar.

Appearance

Choose from six visual themes — Cloud, Ocean, Forest, Sunset, Twilight and Sky. Each changes the accent colour and interface tones throughout the app.

Producer Identity

Set your default producer name. This is applied to every new track on import. Changing it will also update all existing tracks that still have your old name.

Audio Analysis

Toggle auto-analyse on import on or off. Set the analysis depth (Fast, Standard, Deep). The stats panel shows a breakdown of your library's analysis status at a glance.

Import Defaults

Set the default track type applied to newly imported tracks before analysis has run.

License

View your current plan, activate a license key, or deactivate the license on this machine to transfer it to another computer. See Activating a License for the full workflow.

17Keyboard Shortcuts

Library

Track Editor

Drag & Drop

18Supported Formats

Additional format support is planned for future releases. If you need a specific format, email support@circuit-theory.com.