Everything you need to get started with DAWShare and collaborate on music projects.
DAWShare is a version-controlled file sharing platform built for music production teams. It lets you push and pull DAW project folders (Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, and more) to a shared server, with automatic versioning, deduplication, and encryption.
The system has three main components:
Tip: Saving to Keychain is strongly recommended. It enables automatic web login and prevents SSH passphrase prompts after reboots. You can find your Login Key later in Keychain Access by searching for "DAWShare".
A Windows client (PowerShell-based) is in development. Contact your administrator for the latest status and installation package.
You can use DAWShare through the web interface alone for uploading, downloading, and managing projects. Navigate to your team's DAWShare URL and log in with your credentials. No desktop app is required for basic use.
DAWShare uses invite-only registration. Your administrator will provide a platform invite code. The installer handles registration directly — no browser needed:
Important: Your Login Key is hashed on the server and cannot be recovered from us. If you lose it and didn't save to Keychain, you can use "Forgot Key" on the login page (requires a verified email) or contact your administrator for a reset.
From your Profile page, click Send Verification Email to verify your email address. A verification link is sent (valid for 24 hours). Verifying your email enables the self-service "Forgot Key" recovery feature.
For web login security, you can enable TOTP-based 2FA from your Profile page:
If you saved your Login Key to Keychain, the desktop app can auto-login to the web interface using a secure one-time token (expires in 60 seconds, single use). No manual key entry is needed. If you didn't save to Keychain, you'll log in manually on the web with your Login Key.
Each device gets its own SSH key, registered to your account. You can manage all your devices from the SSH Keys section on your Profile page:
A Collab (short for collaboration group) is a workspace shared among team members. Each collab has its own:
From the web interface, click the Collabs icon in the navigation bar. Click Create Collab and enter a name. You'll be set as the owner.
On the collab page, you'll find an Invite Code. Share this with team members so they can join. Codes can be regenerated if compromised.
Projects are created automatically when you push a folder for the first time, or you can create them from the web interface by uploading a project archive.
Pushing sends your local project folder to the server, creating a new version.
For existing projects, the app remembers your folder location. It performs a dry-run comparison first and tells you how many files changed. You can add optional notes describing what changed before confirming the push.
Only changed bytes transfer over the wire (delta sync via rsync). A 2 GB project with a few tweaked audio files syncs in seconds, not minutes.
The entire contents of your selected folder are synced, excluding:
.DS_Store files (macOS metadata).dawshare marker files (internal tracking).musicapps-project-folder filesPulling downloads the latest version (or a specific version) from the server to your local folder.
Tip: You can pull a specific older version from the project's version history page, not just the latest.
The top navigation bar appears on every page. Each icon button is described below.
| Icon | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Projects | View all projects in the current collab | |
| Recent Projects | Quick-access dropdown of projects you've recently visited | |
| Upload Project | Upload a project archive (.zip, .tar.xz) via the browser | |
| Collabs | Manage collabs, view members, join or create collabs, and share invite codes | |
| Help | Tips, keyboard shortcuts, app settings, and links to this User Guide and the FAQ | |
| Terms of Use | Opens the Terms of Use in a new tab | |
| Profile | Your account settings, 2FA, email notifications, SSH key management, and sync preferences | |
| Logout | Sign out of the web interface |
When viewing a project, the toolbar at the top provides these actions:
| Icon | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sync from Local Folder (Push) | Opens the desktop app to sync your local project folder to the server, creating a new version | |
| Sync to Local Folder (Pull) | Opens the desktop app to download the latest version from the server to your local folder | |
| Upload New Version | Upload a project archive (.zip, .tar.xz) through the browser to add a new version | |
| Check Out Project | Lock the project while you're working. Others will see it's checked out and by whom | |
| Check In | Release the lock after you've finished working and pushed your changes | |
| Download Latest | Download the latest version as a .tar.xz archive directly in your browser | |
| Activity Log | View all sync, upload, download, and management events for this project | |
| View Local Backups | Browse files that were automatically backed up before previous pulls | |
| Rename Project | Change the project name | |
| Prune Old Versions | Delete older versions to free storage, keeping only the most recent N versions | |
| Mark as Final | Lock the project permanently as a finished product. No further versions can be added | |
| Reopen Project | Undo finalization and allow new versions to be added again | |
| Delete Project | Permanently delete the project and all its versions. This cannot be undone |
Each version row in the history table has these actions:
| Icon | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
| View Files | Browse the project's files for this version. Click audio files to preview them in the browser | |
| Download | Download this specific version as a .tar.xz archive | |
| Delete | Delete this version (only available when more than one version exists) |
You can upload project archives directly through the web interface without the desktop app. Click the Upload Project icon in the navigation bar, select a .zip or .tar.xz archive, and choose the target collab. The server will extract, deduplicate, and store the project.
Before a pull overwrites files in your local project folder, DAWShare automatically backs up any files that will be changed. Backups are stored in a timestamped subfolder:
~/DAWShare Backups/ProjectName/YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS/
You can view and access your backups from the project page in the web interface by clicking the View Local Backups button.
If you prefer not to keep local backups (to save disk space), you can disable them in your Profile settings on the web interface. When disabled, pulls will still overwrite files but won't create backup copies.
DAWShare provides a check-out system to prevent conflicting edits:
Think of check-out like putting a "Recording in Progress" sign on a studio door — it tells others to wait before making changes.
Stay informed about activity in your collabs without checking the web interface. From your Profile page, you can enable or disable notifications for each event type:
| Notification | When it fires |
|---|---|
| New Version Uploads | A collaborator pushes a new version to any project in your collabs |
| New Projects | A new project is created in one of your collabs |
| Project Check-out/in | A collaborator checks out or checks in a project |
| New Collab Members | Someone joins one of your collabs |
Tip: Verify your email address from your Profile page to ensure notifications are delivered. Unverified email addresses may not receive notifications.
Your SSH key isn't authorized on the server. Ensure your public key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub or ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub) has been added to the server's ~/.ssh/authorized_keys. Ask your administrator if unsure.
DAWShare uses rsync to detect changes by comparing file timestamps and sizes. If your DAW only modifies file contents without changing the timestamp, try saving the project again or touching the modified files.
dawshare:// links natively. If prompted, click "Allow" to open the appssh your-hostlsof -i :8420Initial pushes transfer the entire project. Subsequent pushes only send changed files (delta sync). If syncs remain slow, check your network connection and the size of the project. Large sample libraries will take longer.
If you switch to a new machine or accidentally delete ~/.dawshare_projects.json, DAWShare can recover your folder mappings from the server. The next time you try to sync a project, the app will check the server for your last known folder path and offer to use it.