Library

Add your video folders

Skagway indexes the folders you point it at. The video files stay in those folders. A folder you add becomes a Data Source, which is the list Scan for New Videos checks later.

1. In an empty library, drop files or folders on Drag videos here, or click Add Files…, select them, and click Add.
2. To add a watched folder from anywhere in the library, choose File → Add Folder… (⇧⌘O), select one or more folders, and click Scan.
3. Scan indexes recognized videos in those folders and their subfolders, then builds thumbnails in the background. The folders are registered as Data Sources as part of that scan.
4. On Settings → Data Sources, Add Folder… only puts the folder on the list. Index it with File → Scan for New Videos.

Manage the folder list under Settings → Data Sources. Removing a source there leaves videos that are already indexed in the library.

Keep the library current

Scans are manual. Skagway checks a folder when you tell it to, including after you copy new files into a Data Source.

1. Choose File → Scan for New Videos, or click Scan for New Videos in the toolbar. Skagway looks through watched folders for files added since the last scan. Videos it finds show up in the Last Added smart library.
2. After you add .srt files beside videos that are already in the library, choose File → Scan for Subtitles. Skagway re-checks the current view and updates the subtitle badges.

The toolbar button for Scan for New Videos sits with the other library controls.

Create, open, and switch libraries

Each library is a .machii file: one catalog, with its own cache. Switching libraries leaves the previous file on disk. Skagway restarts briefly to open the one you chose.

1. Open Home Library opens the home library you created. Before that library exists, the same command reads Create Home Library.
2. New Library… creates another .machii catalog. Open Library… opens a .machii file you already have. Open Recent lists libraries you have used lately.
3. Change Library Location… moves this library’s catalog. The window is in the next section. On the welcome screen, Advanced Options… opens that same chooser before a library exists.
4. Change Thumbnail Cache Location… points this library at a different cache folder. Other libraries are left alone. The command retargets the pointer; existing cache files stay in the old folder.
5. Close (⌘W) closes the window. Close Library… closes the catalog. Open it again with Open Home Library, Open Library…, or Open Recent.

Play in External Player and Show in Finder stay dimmed in the File menu until a video is selected. Both are also on the video’s right-click menu.

Change Library Location…

Add Videos on the welcome screen keeps the new library in the video folder. Choose File → Change Library Location… when a library already exists and you want its catalog somewhere else — an external drive, or an encrypted volume. Skagway quits and opens a window titled “Choose where Skagway stores its data.” Advanced Options… on the welcome screen opens that same window before any library exists. Your video files stay where they are. Each library keeps its own thumbnail cache, so this choice does not affect any other library.

1. The line under the title says Skagway is not a vault: it does not modify or protect your video files. Four notes on that window are the rules.
   1. Nothing leaves your Mac. There is no account, no cloud sync, and no usage analytics. Optional update checks stay off until you turn them on. A check only asks whether a newer Skagway build exists.
   2. You control the catalog and cache. The catalog holds paths, titles, tags, ratings, albums, smart collections, bookmarks, and play history. Each library remembers its own cache location.
   3. Media on an encrypted volume is how you protect the files themselves. Choose Folder… can put the catalog on that volume with the videos. While the volume is locked or offline, that library’s catalog and previews are unavailable. Other libraries keep working with their own caches.
   4. Use defaults on this Mac is the standard placement: the library in Application Support, and the cache in ~/Library/Caches/Skagway/. Add Videos does not use this placement.
2. Click Use standard location on this Mac to store this library under Application Support, with the cache under ~/Library/Caches/Skagway/. Click Choose Folder… when you want a folder of your own, and choose it in the system open panel. Either button finishes the chooser. Skagway does not ask where the cache should live, and it does not ask how to find the library the next time you open the app.
3. Skagway relaunches once when the chooser finishes. That quit and reopen are expected. If the .machii catalog is not at the place you picked yet, Skagway creates an empty one.

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Reconnect missing files

When a video’s path no longer exists, Skagway marks it Missing. That happens if the file moved, or if its volume is unplugged. Reconnect points the catalog at the new folders. Ratings, tags, bookmarks, and album memberships stay on the video.

1. A banner appears when clips cannot be found. Focusing a clip in the Missing smart library brings the banner up as well. Click Reconnect… on the banner, or choose File → Reconnect…. Both open the same sheet.
2. Click Add destination… once for each folder that now holds the missing clips. Those folders are Evidence Destinations. Skagway matches by filename, and by soft size, only inside the folders you add.
3. Read the preview before you apply it. Matches are grouped into Ready, Needs attention, and Unmatched. The Ready summary turns green when every missing clip in this session has a match.
4. Click Confirm reconnect. Skagway updates library paths for the Ready matches. Unmatched clips stay Missing.
5. Choose Edit → Undo Reconnect. That reverses the last reconnect session.

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An unplugged drive shows as Missing. Plug the volume back in before you reconnect. Skagway never changes paths on its own. When you try to play a missing file, it suggests running Reconnect. See Smart Libraries.

Copy or delete the library file

1. Choose File → Save Copy… and pick a destination. Skagway writes a timestamped duplicate of the .machii file. The library you had open stays open. Open the copy later with File → Open Library….
2. Choose File → Delete This Library… and confirm. Skagway deletes that .machii catalog. Your video files stay on disk.

Save Copy keeps the original cache pointer. Export and import are how you move ratings and tags, or edit metadata in a spreadsheet and bring it back. See Export / Import.

Which files count as video

1. A scan picks up these extensions: mp4, mov, m4v, avi, mkv, wmv, flv, webm, mpg, mpeg, 3gp, ts, mts, vob, ogv, divx, dv, m2t, m2ts, and mxf. .m2t is on by default, for an HDV capture.
2. To treat another extension as video, or to ignore one of these, open Settings → Extensions. Check or uncheck the list, or add an extension that is not there yet.