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Filesystem

The Filesystem provider is the zero-dependency default: it needs nothing beyond your music folder. Pick it when you don't run Roon/Jellyfin/Emby/Plex/Subsonic, or when you just want library browsing and sync without a live server.

What you get

  • Full library browsing by artist and album, batch selection, and sync to any device — the whole core of Trobar.
  • Suggestions still work (they come from Last.fm/ListenBrainz and your library, not from a provider) — see Suggestions.
  • Local playlists, always — any .m3u/.m3u8 file anywhere under your music folder is picked up automatically, whichever provider is active. Entries are matched against your library by artist/album/title, or by exact path when the playlist file carries one. One folder outside your music library can be scanned the same way — see below.
  • iTunes/Apple Music libraries → see iTunes / Apple Music — an optional import source layered on this provider, also works whichever provider is active.

What you don't get

  • Server-side provider playlists — those come only from Roon, Jellyfin, Emby, Plex, or a Subsonic server. You can still get playlists onto devices via a personal Tidal or Spotify account, or the local sources above, all of which layer on independently of the active provider.

Playlists your player keeps somewhere else

Discovery walks your music folder, which is where most players that export .m3u will put a playlist if you point them at it. Some don't put it there at all: a player may keep its playlists in a directory of its own, next to its settings and database rather than inside your library. The files are usually ordinary .m3u — it is only the location that Trobar can't see.

Set Administration → Extra playlist folder to that directory and it is walked exactly as your music folder is: .m3u/.m3u8 at any depth, entries matched against your library the same way. It's editable live, no restart, and it takes effect whichever provider is active.

A few things worth knowing:

  • It is read-only. Trobar never writes there, and never touches the files it finds. That's the difference between this and the mirror output folder (Mirroring), which is the write side.
  • It must not overlap your music folder or the mirror folder — Trobar refuses the setting if it does, in either direction. Overlapping either one means the same playlist gets imported twice, once through each root.
  • Entries that aren't full paths are read as relative to your music folder, not to the playlist file — there's no music next to the playlist file, so that's the only reading that can mean anything.
  • One folder, not a list. If two players each keep their own, mount both underneath a single folder and point this at that.
  • A folder that isn't there is not an error — a volume you forgot to mount costs you those playlists, and changes nothing else.

Folder conventions

Trobar reads tags first and falls back to the Artist/Album/Track folder layout when tags are missing or malformed. Files that fit neither land under "Unknown Artist/Album" — the Library health panel counts these so you can fix the tags and rescan. More in Library & Selections.