WAVEDRIVE

Sync

Sync Folders

A Sync Folder is a named local directory that WaveDrive monitors and syncs to your WavePlan library. You can have multiple sync folders, each with its own type, file extension filter, and sync mode.

Each folder is configured independently. A "Bounces" folder might be upload-only while a "Commercial References" folder is bidirectional — all from the same WaveDrive installation.

Adding a Sync Folder

  1. 1

    Open the WaveDrive window and go to the Sync Folders tab.

  2. 2

    Click Add Folder and choose a directory using the system folder picker.

  3. 3

    Give the folder a name, choose its Folder Type, and confirm the Sync Mode.

  4. 4

    WaveDrive saves a security-scoped bookmark so the folder remains accessible across restarts — even without re-granting permission.

To temporarily stop syncing a folder without removing it, use the Enable / Disable toggle in the folder row. The folder's settings and bookmark are preserved.

Sync

Folder Types

Each sync folder is assigned a Folder Type that tells WavePlan how to interpret and organize the files it receives. The type is set once when you create the folder and can be changed at any time.

Choose the type that best matches the content of the folder. WavePlan uses this signal to auto-organize files into the right part of your library. See the WavePlan Music Library documentation for details on how the library sidebar presents these files.

Audio

Generic audio files — stems, samples, recordings. Synced to your WavePlan library without special auto-organization.

Bounces

Exported mixes and stems. WavePlan auto-organizes Bounces into your project Plans so they're immediately available for comparison and annotation.

Commercial References

Reference tracks for A/B comparison. These appear in WavePlan's References library so you can pull them into any Plan without re-importing.

Sync

File Extensions

WaveDrive filters files by extension before uploading them to WavePlan. By default it watches for the most common audio formats; you can expand or restrict the list per sync folder.

Extension filtering runs before upload — files that don't match are silently ignored and never consume bandwidth or storage quota.

Default Extensions

Out of the box, every sync folder watches for:

  • .wav — Uncompressed PCM, all sample rates and bit depths
  • .mp3 — Compressed audio, useful for reference tracks
  • .aiff / .aif — Apple Interchange File Format
  • .flac — Lossless compressed audio
  • .m4a — AAC in MPEG-4 container

Custom Configuration

Open a sync folder's settings and edit the File Extensions field to add or remove extensions. Each entry is a dot-prefixed string (e.g. .ogg, .opus). Changes take effect on the next sync cycle — files already uploaded are not affected.

Case Sensitivity

Extension matching is case-insensitive. .WAV, .Wav, and .wav are all treated identically regardless of the filesystem's own case handling.

Sync

Sync Modes

Each sync folder operates in one of two modes: Upload Only or Bidirectional. The mode controls whether WaveDrive only sends files to WavePlan, or also receives files back to your Mac.

Upload Only

Files created or modified locally are uploaded to WavePlan. Nothing is ever written back to your Mac from this folder. Ideal for Bounces and Audio folders where your DAW is the source of truth.

Bidirectional

Files flow in both directions. Additions on WavePlan are downloaded to your Mac, and local additions are uploaded. Useful for Commercial References or shared folders where multiple collaborators contribute files.

Choosing a Mode

Most production workflows work best with Upload Only for Bounces — your DAW produces files, WaveDrive ships them to WavePlan, and nothing unexpected lands in your project folder mid-session. Use Bidirectional for reference libraries or folders shared with collaborators where you want remote additions to appear locally.

The mode can be changed at any time from the folder's settings row. Switching from Bidirectional to Upload Only does not delete any files that were previously synced down — it only stops future downloads.

Sync

Sync Rules

Sync rules give you fine-grained control over which files WaveDrive acts on and when. Rules are evaluated in priority order before any file action is taken.

The rule engine sits between the FSEvents watcher and the upload queue. A file that matches a blocking rule is skipped without error — it simply isn't queued.

Rule Priority

Rules are processed top-to-bottom. The first matching rule wins. You can reorder rules in the sync folder's settings panel by dragging rows. A file that matches no rule proceeds with the default behaviour for its folder mode.

Built-in Rules

  • Hidden files — Files beginning with . are always skipped (e.g. .DS_Store).
  • Temp write files — Files ending in .tmp or ~ are skipped until the DAW finalises them.
  • Extension filter — Only files matching the folder's configured File Extensions are considered.

DAW Performance Guard

When a detected DAW process is active, WaveDrive can defer non-urgent uploads to avoid competing for disk I/O. This is configured per-DAW in the DAW Configuration settings. The guard delays the sync queue but does not drop events — files are uploaded as soon as the guard is lifted.

Custom Path Rules

You can add glob-pattern rules to skip or always-include specific paths within a sync folder. For example, a rule of **/Autosave/** set to Skip will prevent your DAW's autosave directory from being synced even if it contains audio files.

Sync

Conflict Resolution

A conflict occurs when the same file is modified both locally and on WavePlan before either side has synced. WaveDrive uses a last-write-wins strategy to resolve conflicts automatically.

Conflict resolution only applies to folders running in Bidirectional mode. Upload Only folders cannot produce conflicts because nothing is ever written back to them.

Last-Write-Wins

When a conflict is detected, WaveDrive compares the modification timestamps of both versions. The version with the more recent timestamp becomes the canonical file. The older version is not deleted — it is preserved as a conflict copy alongside the winner.

Conflict Copies

A conflict copy is saved in the same directory as the original with the suffix _conflict_<timestamp> appended before the file extension. For example:

bounce_v2.wav

bounce_v2_conflict_20250604T143200.wav

Review and delete conflict copies manually once you've confirmed which version you want to keep.

Manual Resolution

Conflict copies appear in the Activity Log with a Conflict status badge. You can open the containing folder directly from the log entry to compare and clean up the files.