user guide

Records a version of your Live project every time you save.

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, Apple Silicon.

Ableton Live, .als projects.

No account. No network. No subscription.

Restoring takes a snapshot of where you are first. Going back is never destructive.

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

ARMED warns before touching a project that is open in Live.

History is a standard git repository inside your project folder.

Audio is stored once, in a local cache at ~/.armed.

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-S in Live, it reads the file you just saved and works out what actually changed: tracks, clips, devices, automation. Then it writes the version, with that summary attached.

Saves with no musical change are skipped, so scrolling around and saving out of habit doesn't pollute the history. Nothing is uploaded. The daemon never talks to a server.

One pass, every save, under 50 ms. Two versions of one song can be spliced back together later (see 05).

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

No sign-up, no licence key. Choosing the folder is the whole setup.

• 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. There is no preferences pane to learn and nothing to keep 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 row

4.1go back to a version

Press ↺ on any version to restore it. ARMED snapshots where you are first, so going back is never destructive. The version you left is still in the list when you want it again.

4.2name 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.

4.3variations

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.

4.4read 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 version that restores like any other.

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

Your history sits in your project folder as a standard git repository. If ARMED disappeared tomorrow, every version would still open with any git tool.

Audio files are stored once in a local cache at ~/.armed and referenced by every version that needs them, so history stays light even when the project is heavy.

Nothing leaves your machine. No account, no telemetry, no upload. 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.