Help & how it works
Cratefox downloads your whole playlist for you: paste a link or a screenshot, and it finds every track and pulls them over your own connection, onto your own machine, then reads real key + BPM from the audio and sorts the set to mix in key. This page covers everything after you install, what to do if something looks stuck, and how to stop or remove Cratefox.
👋New here? Start with this
Don't have Cratefox yet? It's invite-only. Ask the DJ who shared it for an access code, or request one at cratefox.app. A real person sends your code, usually within a day. It costs $5.99 a month, or $49 a year; the honest math is at cratefox.app/pricing.
Each code locks to the first computer that installs it, so it can't be shared or reused on another machine. Got a new computer? Just ask for a fresh code.
Already installed it? To reopen Cratefox any time, visit the address shown on the green line when it finished installing, usually localhost:5055 (occasionally a higher number like localhost:5056 if that port was busy). It's always running quietly in the background. Bookmark that page once and you're set.
📁Your music folder (what Cratefox reads)
You point Cratefox at your music folder, where your tracks live and where new downloads land. It reads your list, pulls the tracks you don't have yet over your own connection, and reads real key + BPM from the audio. Your existing library is read in place, never moved, copied out, or sent anywhere:
Paste a tracklist and Cratefox matches each track to a file already in that folder. Anything you don't own yet, it pulls in over your own connection, straight onto your own machine, then reads the key and sorts it into your crate. Cratefox does not host, store, supply, or sell the audio; it is the tool that does the finding and pulling you'd otherwise do by hand. You're responsible for what you pull.
One thing to know about the connection: Cratefox pulls tracks over Soulseek, a peer-to-peer network, so like every Soulseek app the tracks you download land in a folder that's shared back to the network, which is how the network keeps downloads flowing both ways. Only your downloads and shared folders are shared, never your wider music library, and you're responsible for what you share. To turn sharing off, use the Sharing switch at the bottom of the Cratefox app (or remove those folders from the shares list in ~/cratefox/slskd/slskd.yml).
🎹Key, BPM & energy: what to expect
Cratefox reads every track's audio on your own computer (the analysis runs locally, so the audio never leaves your machine to be analysed) and tags its BPM, musical key, and an energy level, then sorts the crate so it mixes in key.
BPM is reliable (right to within 1 BPM on house/techno). Key is a strong estimate, not perfect: blind key detection tops out near 70% even in pro tools. So Cratefox does the honest thing and flags the uncertain keys with a "check this" mark plus a second possible key, so you pre-listen just those few instead of trusting every tag. Roughly 1 in 8 keys is a real clash risk, and the flag catches most of them.
Energy (1-10) is a relative guide for shaping your set's arc, not an absolute score. Under each energy number you'll see four little bars: drive (punch), bass (low-end weight), groove (how locked the beat is), and vocal, a rough hint from the mid-range, not real vocal detection, so a mid-heavy instrumental can still read high. Cratefox is tuned for house/techno; other genres are rougher guesses. Online key lookup stays off by default and rarely helps on underground tracks, so the value is all in the local analysis.
A small E or C sits next to each key: E means the full key engine read it (with a second method cross-checking), C means a lighter fallback engine that flags more keys on purpose. Either way, if you know a key or energy is wrong, hit fix on that row and set it yourself. Cratefox then trusts your value everywhere and writes it into the file, so Rekordbox and Serato see it too.
Build a set lays your whole crate out sorted by key and tempo so neighbouring tracks mix, then you fine-tune by hand: drag any track to reorder, or hit ✕ to drop one. Each row shows its mix key, BPM and energy. The where-to-mix view (the small ⌁ button on a track) gives a rough read of the track's shape, where the intro ends, where the breakdown is, where to mix out. It's a guide from the track's energy, not a beat grid, so always trust your ears.
⏳If something looks stuck or blocked
The first install pulls in a lot (Python and a few standard free tools). As long as the window keeps showing activity, Terminal on a Mac or PowerShell on Windows, leave it, up to ~15 min is normal.
On a Mac you might see a popup that says it cannot verify the developer of one of Cratefox's helper tools. This is normal: Apple shows it for any app it didn't sell in its own store. Open System Settings, click Privacy & Security, scroll to the blocked item, and click Open Anyway. You only do this once.
On Windows you might see a blue "Windows protected your PC" box, or an antivirus warning, because Cratefox is a small indie tool that isn't signed yet. That's expected, nothing is wrong. Click More info then Run anyway; if your antivirus asks, choose Allow or Keep; and if Windows asks to make changes, click Yes. You only do this once.
If the app page doesn't open by itself, open the address from that same green line yourself, usually http://localhost:5055.
⏻How to stop or remove it
Cratefox runs quietly in the background and starts again when you log in. Stop it, or remove it completely, any time by pasting one line, into Terminal on a Mac or PowerShell on Windows. Your music library is never touched.
launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.cratefox.app 2>/dev/null; launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.cratefox.slskd 2>/dev/null; echo "✓ Cratefox stopped (it starts again next login)."echo "Removing Cratefox…"; launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.cratefox.app 2>/dev/null; launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.cratefox.slskd 2>/dev/null; rm -rf ~/cratefox ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.cratefox.*.plist; echo "✓ Cratefox fully removed. Thanks for trying it."Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter "Name='pythonw.exe' OR Name='slskd.exe'" | Where-Object { $_.CommandLine -like '*\cratefox\*' } | ForEach-Object { Stop-Process -Id $_.ProcessId -Force }; Write-Host "Cratefox stopped (it starts again next login)."Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter "Name='pythonw.exe' OR Name='slskd.exe'" | Where-Object { $_.CommandLine -like '*\cratefox\*' } | ForEach-Object { Stop-Process -Id $_.ProcessId -Force }; Start-Sleep -Seconds 3; $s=[Environment]::GetFolderPath('Startup'); Remove-Item "$s\cratefox-app.lnk","$s\cratefox-slskd.lnk" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'cratefox slskd' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; $h="$env:USERPROFILE\cratefox"; Get-ChildItem $h -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.Name -ne 'downloads' -and $_.Name -ne 'shared' } | Remove-Item -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; foreach($d in 'downloads','shared'){ $p=Join-Path $h $d; if((Test-Path $p) -and -not (Get-ChildItem $p -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)){ Remove-Item $p -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue } }; if((Test-Path $h) -and -not (Get-ChildItem $h -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)){ Remove-Item $h -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }; $kept=@("$env:USERPROFILE\Music\Cratefox","$h\downloads","$h\shared") | Where-Object { Test-Path $_ }; if($kept){ Write-Host ("Cratefox removed. Your music was left in place: " + ($kept -join ', ')) } else { Write-Host "Cratefox removed." }❓Quick answers
How much does Cratefox cost?
Cratefox is $5.99 a month, or $49 a year. Cancel anytime, and no account is needed to run the app. The full breakdown is at cratefox.app/pricing.
Is it safe to install?
The one-line installer is open to read, runs entirely on your own computer, sets up standard free tools, and never sends your files to us. It reads your existing files in place and pulls the missing tracks in over your own connection.
Does Cratefox need internet or an account?
For missing tracks, yes. Cratefox pulls anything you don't have yet over your own connection, and it analyses everything locally on your machine. There is no Cratefox account; you run the connection under your own identity.
How do I stop or remove it?
Stop it, or remove it completely, any time by pasting one line into Terminal on a Mac or PowerShell on Windows. Your music library is never touched.
Does it work on Windows?
Yes, Cratefox runs on macOS and Windows. Pick your system on the setup page at cratefox.app/install.