Chive Desktop

Filing, without a form per piece

Chive Desktop puts a Chive folder in your home directory and watches it. Move a folder of parts into it and Chive files that folder as a piece. A loose PDF becomes a material once Chive knows what to call it; if it can't tell, it asks you. Each one waits thirty seconds first, so there is always a moment to cancel before anything leaves your Mac. The app also shows your library read-only, which is how you check what you already hold before scanning it again — everything past browsing, from editing a piece's details to reading a score, opens Chive here on the web.

Download

Version 0.7.0, released 7 October 2026. Universal disk image (.dmg) — Apple silicon and Intel, 231 MB.

SHA-256 ccfabd0f8086abd758cf6b30fe1481e4e0a71e18903eaeea290b0f6531022bbf

What you need

• A Mac — Apple silicon or Intel. One download works on both. There is no Windows version yet.
• macOS 12.0 or later.
• An internet connection. Chive files to your library as music arrives; it does not hold a queue for later.

Signing in

Sign in with the same account you use here. It files into your own library, and into any ensemble where you're an owner or admin. Members can browse their ensemble's music in the app. Chive Desktop does not create accounts, so if you do not have one yet, make it on the web first and then sign in on your Mac.

Joined through an invitation and never set a password? Set one first ↗

Your files stay where you put them

Chive never moves, renames or deletes anything on your disk. It reads what you put in the Chive folder and uploads a copy; the originals are left exactly as you left them, and you can keep your own folder structure inside. Music in your own library is visible only to you. Music in an ensemble's library is visible to its members.