Libraries#
A library is what you browse: a named, saved filter over everything that was scanned — not a directory. The same album can sit in several libraries, and deleting a library never deletes music. Subsonic apps see each library as a music folder.
Create one under Settings → Libraries → Add library. Besides a name and an icon, a library sets:
- which views it offers — Discover, Artists, Albums — and the one it opens on;
- whether the sidebar gives it one entry or one per view;
- whether its artists are hidden from the main Artists page;
- up to 20 filters.
Filters#
| Filter | Matches tracks… |
|---|---|
| Scan folder | indexed under one of the chosen scan folders |
| Folder path | stored under one of the chosen directories |
| File format | with one of the chosen extensions (flac, mp3, …) |
| Release type | on an album of one of the chosen types; “(none)” means untyped albums |
| Compilation | on a compilation album (Yes) or on any other album (No) |
| Genre | tagged with one of the chosen genres |
A track must pass every filter; within one filter, any of its values is enough. A library without filters is the whole catalog. While you edit, the dialog shows how many tracks and albums the filters match.
Worth knowing#
- Scan first. Formats, genres and release types are picked from what the catalog already holds, so before the first scan the pick-lists are empty.
- Lists narrow, detail pages do not. A “Lossless” library lists only albums that have a FLAC track — but an album page shows all of its tracks, MP3 included, and an artist page shows all of the artist’s albums.
- Filters only include. There is no “everything except”: for all your music but the audiobooks, select the other scan folders, or the other genres. Compilation is the one exception — No leaves compilations out.
- Hidden artists are hidden from the whole catalog only. They stay off the main Artists page, but the Artists view of any library with filters still lists them when it holds some of their tracks. On a very large catalog, hiding artists also slows down the whole catalog’s artist list, in the web player and in apps: it takes several seconds at around 100,000 tracks.
- Renaming a scan folder orphans the filters that name it. The library is marked “Needs attention” and cannot be saved until that value is removed or replaced.
- A value that leaves the catalog shrinks a library silently. When no track carries a genre, format or release type any more — after a retag, say — the library just matches less, and the edit dialog marks the value “(not in the catalog)”.
- Folder paths are matched as stored. Pick directories with Browse…. A directory that is a symbolic link, or sits below one, matches nothing, and a path filter does not follow a scan folder whose
Pathyou change — edit it afterwards.
The whole catalog has a setting of its own on Settings → Libraries, the main library: whether the sidebar lists its three views or a single “All music” entry.
