Early alpha — expect breaking changes

Your music library, on your desktop.

Songnest is a desktop-first music library and player with a pluggable source system, built with Tauri, Rust, and React. Search metadata, keep a local library, and play saved tracks — no web account, no subscription. This site only describes the app and links downloads.

Browse all versions

Free and open source (MIT / Apache-2.0)

What Songnest does

What works today in alpha. Local-file import and loudness normalization are planned.

Metadata search + suggestions

Find tracks in the public catalog and grow a local library with likes.

Saved-track playback

Play tagged audio files stored in your data directory. Unsaved tracks stream via proxy.

Save-to-library queue

Paced queue (max 2 at a time) with progress, retries, and rate-limit handling.

Source health + diagnostics

Backend versions, update status, and cooldown state on one screen.

Desktop app, mobile experimental

Tauri desktop spawns and manages the backend. Android is a thin client over LAN.

You own your files

Local SQLite library. Optional yt-dlp is yours to install — never bundled.

How it works

1. Catalog metadata

Track metadata comes from a public catalog API — no hosting of music by Songnest.

2. Pluggable sources

A source layer matches catalog entries to playable audio, caching matches and stream URLs.

3. Local library

Saved tracks live as tagged audio files plus a local SQLite library. The UI talks to a local server over HTTP.

Songnest desktop library view prototype — Current prototype — desktop library view.

Download Songnest

Pick the bundle for your system. iOS builds are unsigned and only useful for local sideloading/testing.

Install with a package manager

Prefer the terminal? Every published version stays installable — pin any version, e.g. sudo apt install songnest=0.1.0-alpha.2

Debian / Ubuntu

apt repo, all versions kept

echo "deb [trusted=yes] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Smasduq/songnest/pkg stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/songnest.list

sudo apt update && sudo apt install songnest

Fedora / RHEL

dnf repo, all versions kept

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Smasduq/songnest/pkg/songnest.repo

sudo dnf install songnest

Arch Linux

AUR binary package

yay -S songnest

Rust

crates.io backend binary

cargo install songnest

Repos rebuild automatically from each release. Signing key + details in pkg/README.md.

Questions

Does this site play music?

No. This site only describes Songnest and links downloads. Listening happens inside the desktop/mobile app after you install it.

Which download do I need?

macOS Apple Silicon (arm64) for M1+, macOS Intel (x64) for older Macs, Windows .msi/.exe, Linux .AppImage/.deb, Android .apk (experimental thin client over your local network).

Is there an iOS build?

iOS is best-effort and unsigned — only useful for local sideloading/testing. It is not signed for the App Store.

Is Songnest free?

Yes, MIT or Apache-2.0. It does not host or distribute music — you are responsible for complying with copyright law and any connected service terms.

Responsible use

Songnest does not host, distribute, or provide any music. It is a player and library manager. Prefer sources with licenses that allow saving copies. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any streaming or video service.