reel-sync 1.0.0

Fully-local sync tool for the Sony ICD-UX570 voice recorder

REEL

A fully-local, automatic sync tool for the Sony ICD-UX570. Plug in the recorder, and Reel pulls every new recording onto your PC, names it by the moment you hit record, and files it into the right category — Interviews, Songs, Memes, Podcasts, Voice Notes. Re-plug the same stick and nothing copies twice. A clean terminal, a progress bar, done.

Everything stays on your machine. The recorder is never wiped. The library is just folders — open it in Explorer any time.

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What it does

• Detects the recorder the moment it mounts (by volume label or by spotting its REC_FILE folder — works even if the label changes).
• Copies only what's new. Each file is fingerprinted; already-synced recordings are skipped.
• Names everything cleanly — 2026-06-08_1432_reel-7F3A.mp3 (date-first, sorts forever).
• Auto-categorises using simple, tunable rules:
  • device MUSIC folder → Songs, PODCASTS → Podcasts
  • a filename keyword (interview, meme, …) wins if present
  • otherwise by length: very short → Memes, very long → Interviews, else Voice Notes
• Mirrors to any extra drives you list (USB / cloud), so sync doubles as backup.
• Runs automatically in watch mode — leave it running and every plug-in just syncs.

Files land here:

Reel/
├── Interviews/2026/2026-06-08_1432_reel-7F3A.mp3
├── Songs/2026/2026-05-30_2011_reel-A1C9.mp3
├── Memes/2026/…
└── .reel/manifest.json      ← dedup index (so nothing copies twice)

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Install

Once it's published, anyone can install it from PyPI:

pip install reel-sync

(The package is reel-sync; the command you run is just reel.)

From this folder (for development)

1. Install Python 3.11+ (python.org → tick Add Python to PATH).
2. Install Reel as a command — open a terminal in this folder once:

   pip install -e .
   

   That puts a reel command on your PATH, so you can run it from any folder (including C:\Users\YOU>), not just this one.
3. Set your path in config.toml:

   [library]
   sync_root = "C:/Users/YOURNAME/Reel"
   

   Point sync_root at a cloud-synced folder (pCloud / OneDrive / Dropbox) and your off-site backup is automatic.

Reel finds this config.toml automatically wherever you run it from (it also checks ./config.toml and ~/.reel/config.toml first). No config at all? It falls back to sensible defaults (~/Reel).

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Use it

You really only need two commands. Run them from anywhere — your home prompt is fine.

First time — run this, then plug in the recorder when it asks:

reel setup

A short welcome, then it waits for your ICD-UX570, does the big initial copy, and stays running as auto-sync from there. (Run reel setup again later and it just says "Already set up :)".)

Every day after — start auto-sync and leave it running:

reel start

It does the initial sync, then keeps syncing automatically whenever you drop a file onto the recorder from your PC — and it stops by itself the moment you unplug the recorder. (Press Ctrl + C to stop sooner.)

That's the whole flow. The rest is optional:

reel sync              # a single one-off sync, then exit (rarely needed)
reel sort <path>       # auto-filter a folder/files you drop in (or use the .bat)
reel status            # what's in your library, per category
reel devices           # is the recorder detected right now?
reel open              # open the Reel library in Explorer
reel reset             # clear first-time setup (to see the welcome again)
reel --theme dark start# dark terminal theme

(python -m reel start and python run.py start work identically.)

Make it truly hands-off (optional)

Put a shortcut to reel start in your Startup folder (Win+R → shell:startup). Reel will be running and watching from the moment you log in.

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Branding

Light by default — colours tuned for a white terminal. Want dark? theme = "dark" in config.toml, or --theme dark on any command. Identity lives in reel/branding.py.

Notes

• Privacy: nothing leaves your machine except the copies you put in your own mirror/cloud folders.
• Safety: delete_after_sync = false by default — Reel copies off the recorder and never deletes from it.
• Coming later: built-in playback, a podcast queue, smarter song-vs-voice detection. See ROADMAP.md.

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REEL v1.0.0 — plug in, walk away.