Project Safety
Never open a session to missing samples
Prod Crate watches what your Ableton sets point at. Move a folder or rename a pack and the references are repaired before you notice, with every previous version kept.
- Midnight_Drive_Kick_Am_140.wavDrums/Kicks
- Midnight_Drive_Clap_140.wavDrums/Claps
- Midnight_Drive_Bass_Am_140.wavBass
- Midnight_Drive_Vox_Chop_Am.wavVocals/Chops
- 44 more samples in this project
- Today, 11:42 PMArrangement locked · Studio Mac miniCurrent
- Today, 9:10 PMBefore arrangement edit · MacBook Pro
- Yesterday, 4:32 PM48 samples collected · MacBook Pro
- Sep 14, 1:05 AMAuto-save · MacBook Pro
How it works
Moved a folder, renamed a pack, lost a laptop. The set still opens.
- Step 01
Sets are read, not just stored
When a .als is saved into Prod Crate, its sample references are read out and recorded: which files, which paths, which project. A set with 48 samples has 48 tracked links.
Midnight Drive.als48 references · 0 missinglast read: today at 9:41 AM - Step 02
Something moves, it's repaired
Reorganise a folder or rename a pack and every set pointing into it is updated to the new path. The repair happens at the library level, so you do not open the set to find out.
Packs/Warehouse → Packs/2026/Warehouse12 references repaired in 3 setsno missing files - Step 03
Anything worse, roll back
Every save keeps the previous version for 90 days, and deleted files sit in the Recycle Bin for 30. Pick a version, restore it, and the samples it referenced come back with it.
Midnight Drive.als · 14 versionsrestore 2026-09-06 21:1048 references restored
What you get
Relinking happens without you
Moves and renames inside Prod Crate are tracked as moves, not as a delete and a create. Sets are rewritten to the new path, so the Ableton missing-files dialog stops appearing.
Every save is a version
90 days of versions per project, listed with their size and timestamp. Restore one and the set plus the samples it referenced come back together, as one operation.
Thirty days to change your mind
Deleted files go to a Recycle Bin for 30 days, including files deleted by another machine. Put Back returns them to the folder they came from, with their references intact.
A lost laptop is an afternoon, not a career
Every project, sample and version lives in the library, not on the machine. Sign in on a new Mac and the sets open with their samples attached; or, an hour before a set, sign in to the web app on any computer and pull tonight's folder onto a USB.
Why it works
An Ableton set does not contain its samples. It contains references to them — a path, a filename and a size — and the moment one of those paths stops resolving, Live shows the missing-files dialog and you spend an evening pointing it at folders. Prod Crate fixes this by reading the references out of every .als it stores, so the library knows which files each project depends on before anything breaks.
Because moves and renames inside Prod Crate are recorded as moves rather than as a delete plus a create, a file keeps its identity when it changes name or folder. When a tracked file moves, every set that referenced it is rewritten to the new path. The repair is done in the library, not in Live, so it is already true the next time you open the set — including on a different Mac.
Version history and the Recycle Bin cover everything that is not a move. Each save keeps the previous version for 90 days; deleted files are recoverable for 30, including deletions made from another device. Restoring a version restores the set and the samples it referenced as a single operation, because restoring a project whose samples are still missing would not be much of a restore.
Problems it prevents
- BeforeYou tidy the samples folder and twelve sets open with missing files.
- With Prod CrateThe move is tracked and every reference is rewritten before you open anything.
- BeforeA pack gets renamed and Ableton searches the whole drive on every load.
- With Prod CrateRenames keep file identity, so the reference follows the file instead of breaking.
- BeforeA bad save overwrites four hours of work.
- With Prod CrateNinety days of versions per project; restore the one from before the save.
- BeforeThe laptop is stolen the week of a deadline.
- With Prod CrateSign in on a new Mac, pin the project, and the set opens with its 48 samples attached.
“Our engineer's laptop was stolen in Lisbon. We restored 312 projects onto a rented Mac the same night and not one of them asked us to relink a sample.”
The rest of Prod Crate
Project Safety questions
01Which project formats are supported?
Ableton Live sets today, reading references out of the .als on save. Logic and FL Studio projects are stored, versioned and recycled like any other file, but their references are not yet tracked or repaired.
02Does it modify my project files?
Only to repair a reference, and only when the file it points at has moved or been renamed inside Prod Crate. Every rewrite keeps the previous version, so a repair you did not want is one restore away.
03How far back does version history go?
90 days of versions per project on paid plans, and the last 5 versions on the free plan. Deleted files are recoverable from the Recycle Bin for 30 days on every plan, including deletions made from another device.
04What if I move samples outside Prod Crate?
A file moved out of the library cannot be tracked, and the reference will break as it always would. Prod Crate flags the set as having missing references and shows you the last path it knew, which is usually enough to find it.
05What if my computer breaks right before a set?
The tracks are already in the library, sorted, so the machine that broke is not the only copy. Borrow any laptop with a browser and a USB port, sign in to the web app, and download the set folder onto the stick. No app to install, nothing to relink.
06Does restoring a version bring the samples back too?
Yes. A restore reinstates the set and the samples that version referenced as a single operation, pulling them out of the Recycle Bin if that is where they went.