The network layer for SoulSync
SoulSync works completely on its own. MetaSync is what SoulSync installs can choose to plug into: two shared networks that make every connected library smarter, while no install ever gives up control of its own data.
MetaSync is a small companion program that runs next to your SoulSync, with its own interface on its own port. It speaks to SoulSync only through SoulSync's API, and it is the bridge to two opt-in networks.
Every SoulSync install spends real work resolving metadata: matching tracks, albums and artists across providers. MetaSync lets installs pool that resolved metadata, keyed by the SoulID every track, album and artist already gets in SoulSync, so one install's work does not have to be redone by every other install. Records are checked against other installs before they are trusted, and your own library's data always wins over the pool's. The pool carries metadata only. Never audio, never your files.
SIN pools anonymous taste signals from connected installs: which artists get watchlisted, which albums get wishlisted, imported and kept, and which releases people are still hunting for. Those counts are combined across the whole network and turned into things your SoulSync can use: Trending, Most Wanted and Breakout lists, delivered back as global playlists that MetaSync creates in your SoulSync and keeps up to date. Signals are counted once per install per item per week, and a release only appears once enough installs stand behind it.
MetaSync is free and open source, like SoulSync. Run it as a Python program on the same machine as SoulSync, or as a Docker container next to it. SoulSync itself never depends on it: stop MetaSync, unplug it, or never install it, and SoulSync runs exactly as before. Joining a network is a separate step inside MetaSync, never a side effect of installing it.
Three steps. The first connects MetaSync to your SoulSync. Only the third one joins a network.
Run MetaSync next to your SoulSync and open its interface. In SoulSync, create an API key under Settings, then API keys. Paste your SoulSync address and that key into MetaSync and test the connection. MetaSync can now read your library through the API, and create playlists in it. Nothing has left your machine.
Create an account at the MetaSync portal, metasync.ssync.net. Your dashboard shows the pool address and your personal API key. That key is how the pool knows a real account is connecting. It can be regenerated or revoked at any time, and revoking it cuts that install off without affecting anyone else.
Back in MetaSync, open the Pools page and add the pool address and your key. Before anything is sent, MetaSync shows you the exact report it will send for the week, so you can read every line yourself. From then on it sends one report a week, pulls the network's playlists down, and keeps your local copies current.
SIN runs on counts, not on your data. This is the whole list of what a weekly SIN report contains: MusicBrainz IDs for artists you watchlisted, and releases you wishlisted, imported and kept, or are still hunting for, each counted once.
No listening history. No play counts. No file paths or library listings. No artist or album names as text, only IDs. No usernames, and no tracking of who reported what: your key checks you in at the door, and the report itself is stored under a token that rotates every week and cannot be traced back to your account.
MetaSync shows you the exact report before the first send, and the current week's report is always one click away in its interface. If you do not like what you see, do not join the pool, or leave it. Leaving takes effect immediately; the pool keeps only the anonymous counts already combined into past weeks.
The global playlists everyone receives are published by the network itself, from the combined counts. Individual installs can only send their own signals and pull the finished playlists down. Nobody can edit the shared lists, inject tracks into them, or publish on anyone else's behalf.