user guide

Records a version of your Live project each time a save changes something it reads.

Writes a sentence saying what changed: reverb decay 1.2s → 2.4s.

Merges two versions of one song into one, field by field.

macOS 14 or later. Intel or Apple Silicon.

Ableton Live, .als projects.

No account. No subscription.

Restoring is forward-only: it adds a save rather than rewinding, so the restore itself can be undone.

A save ARMED can't parse is stored whole, and still restores.

If Live has the project open when you switch or restore, ARMED tells you straight after, because Live still holds its own copy in memory.

Your history is plain git, written inside your own project folder.

Audio is left alone. ARMED versions the .als project file, not your samples.

Delete the app and the history stays. It was never ours.

ARMED is version control for Ableton Live. A small background process (the daemon) watches your project folder. When you press ⌘ SCommand-Sin Live, it reads the file you just saved and works out what actually changed: tracks, clips, automation, and the parameters of Ableton's own devices. Then it writes the version, with that summary attached.

Saves that change nothing ARMED reads are skipped, so scrolling around and saving out of habit doesn't pollute the history. Your projects are never uploaded, and the daemon never talks to a server.

One pass, on every save that changed something. Two variations of one song can be spliced back together later (see 06).

Close nothing, move nothing. ARMED reads your projects where they already are and writes its history alongside them.

No sign-up, no licence key. Pressing + on a project is the whole setup — and from that first press ARMED starts at login, which you can switch off behind the gear.

3.1make your first save

1. In Live, press ⌘ SCommand-S on a song ARMED is watching. The first save is the starting point — ARMED keeps the whole file and writes no sentence yet, because there is nothing to compare it with.
2. Change something. A clip, a fader, a device. Press ⌘ SCommand-S again.
3. Open the song in ARMED. CHANGES lists what moved, grouped by kind, with a count on each group. GRAPH has two dots now, one per save.

A save that changed nothing but the view — scrolling, zoom, what was selected — is skipped. So is one that only changed something ARMED doesn't read, such as a third-party plugin's own parameters. That edit is recorded with your next change ARMED does read, or when you switch or restore.

3.2name a version

1. When the song is somewhere worth coming back to, press Save in the song panel. It is greyed until something has changed since the last named version, and says so if you hover.
2. Type a name — rough-mix, pre-master, the-good-one — and press Save again. Spaces become dashes.
3. The name appears at the top of VERSIONS with the time. CHANGES now reads "since" that name, and counts from there.

Saves keep landing underneath, unnamed. A version is a save you pinned with a name so you can find it in a month.

3.3go back to an older version

1. In VERSIONS, press the restore mark on the version you want back. The row turns into a question: it will restore that version over the current save, and keep a safety save of where you are first.
2. Press Restore. Or Cancel, and nothing has happened.
3. If Live is running, ARMED tells you and offers Relaunch: Live still holds the old file in memory, and it has to reload the project to show the restored one. Say Don't Save if Live asks.

Restoring is forward-only. It writes the old state as a new save rather than rewinding, so nothing is overwritten, every named version stays in the list, and the restore itself can be undone the same way.

3.4make your first merge

1. You need two variations of one song. Press + under VARIATIONS, name one — dub, radio-edit — and you are on it. Work, save. Switch back with the switch mark on main; work, save.
2. Close the song in Live.
3. Press Merge in the song panel, pick the variation to merge in, and press Merge again. ARMED reads both sides.
4. If the two sides never touched the same thing, the merge just goes through and says so. Otherwise the review opens: AUTO is what ARMED did on its own, REVIEW is what you tick, PICKS is where both sides changed one field — KEEP yours or TAKE theirs. Press Apply.
5. The result is a save on the variation you were standing on. Name it right there if it is a keeper, then reopen the song in Live.

• Every album ARMED watches, with its songs underneath.
• A lit mark means the daemon is running and watching.
• Song rows show the last save and whether anything is pending.
• Click a song to open its panel.

One panel. Behind the gear: folders, discovery, autosave, start at login. Nothing has to stay open while you work.

Closing the popover doesn't stop anything. The daemon keeps watching whether the panel is open or not.

↺

restore this version

+

new variation

✎

rename

✕

delete variation

⌘ SCommand-S

in Live, writes the next save

5.1go back to a version

Press ↺ on any version to restore it. Restoring is forward-only — it writes the old state as a new save rather than rewinding, so nothing is overwritten and the restore itself can be undone. The version you left is still in the list when you want it again.

5.2name a version

Good take? Name it. A named version pins the exact state of the song so you can find it in a month. Automatic saves keep flowing underneath, unnamed.

5.3variations

A variation is a parallel line of work on the same song: a different drop, a radio edit. Press + to create one, switch between them, rename with ✎, delete with ✕. Each keeps its own history, and any two can be merged.

5.4read what changed

Every version carries a human summary: track added "Vocal Chops" · reverb decay 1.2s → 2.4s · drop moved bar 8 → 12. Read a session back like a logbook instead of guessing which file was the good one.

Most of it is automatic: the two sides touched different tracks, so both survive. Every splice is listed.

Where both sides touched the same field, ARMED stops and puts the decision in front of you: keep yours, or take theirs. Nothing is written until you apply, and the result is a normal save on the variation you merged into. Name it right there and it is a version that restores like any other.

1. Close the song in Live.
2. Open the song panel, press Merge, pick the variation to merge in, press Merge again.
3. Read the review. Resolve anything marked.
4. Apply.

Your history sits in your own project folder, in plain git format. If ARMED disappeared tomorrow, every version would still open with any git tool. The layout is written down, commands included.

ARMED versions the .als project file. Your samples and recordings are left where they are and are not copied into the history, which is why the history stays small. Back them up as you already do.

Your projects never leave your Mac. The app checks for updates once a day and, unless you switch it off in Settings, sends usage counts and crash reports with it. The privacy page lists every field. Cloud sync will be optional, and paid, if it ever arrives.

The history in your project folders. It's yours, in the open git format, and removing ARMED doesn't touch it.