Asset Grove User Manual

Draft for Asset Grove 1.0

Last reviewed: July 13, 2026

About Asset Grove

Asset Grove catalogs photos, videos, and audio in folders you choose, then creates local captions, keywords, transcripts, previews, and a search index. Analysis and search run on your Mac. Your media is not uploaded to a cloud library, and Asset Grove does not move, rename, delete, or modify your original files.

Projects are working sets inside Asset Grove. Exporting a project creates copies in a destination you choose.

Requirements

• A Mac with Apple silicon.
• macOS 14 or later.
• An active Asset Grove account and subscription or trial entitlement.
• Free storage for local intelligence, previews, and analysis working files. The core local intelligence downloads are approximately 3.4 GB in total; allow additional space for derived media.
• Read access to every folder or external drive you want Asset Grove to catalog.

Asset Grove can continue to verify an active entitlement offline for up to 28 days after a successful account refresh.

1. Sign in and unlock Asset Grove

Asset Grove uses a one-time email link instead of a password.

1. Open Asset Grove.
2. Select Continue with email.
3. In the browser, enter the email address you want to use for Asset Grove.
4. Open the sign-in email and select the one-time link.
5. Allow the browser to return to Asset Grove if macOS asks.
6. Once your account is connected, select View plans and continue if you still need a plan.
7. Complete checkout in the secure browser page, return to Asset Grove, and select Refresh access if the app does not update automatically.

Use the same email address for sign-in and checkout. Sign-in verifies your account; it does not upload your media.

Manage account access later

Open Asset Grove > Settings > General. The Access section lets you:

• Refresh account access.
• Open subscription management.
• Update the payment method through the provider's secure page.
• Sign out.

2. Complete first-time setup

The setup flow has five parts: Welcome, Local intelligence, First analysis, Your library, and Quick tour.

Prepare local intelligence

Asset Grove downloads three components:

• Grove Vision creates local captions and keywords for photos and videos. Its download is approximately 3.1 GB.
• Grove Listen creates local speech transcripts for audio and video. Its download is approximately 220 MB.
• Grove Find powers natural-language search over local analysis. Its download is approximately 20 MB.

To set them up:

1. On the Local intelligence step, review the hardware check.
2. Keep the default storage location or select Choose Storage to use another folder or drive.
3. If the selected location needs renewed permission, select Authorize and choose it again.
4. Select Prepare Local Intelligence.
5. You may continue to library setup after preparation begins. Downloads can continue in the background.

If internal storage is limited, choose an external location before starting setup. Keep that drive connected whenever Asset Grove needs to load local intelligence.

Understand the first analysis

Files enter the browser as they are discovered. Captions, keywords, transcripts, and meaning-based search become available as analysis completes.

The first pass depends on the Mac and library:

• 1,000 files: usually 1-2 hours.
• 5,000 files: an afternoon or overnight.
• 20,000 files: often 1-2 days of idle time.
• 50,000 files: a few days, mostly overnight.

You can browse and search completed items while the rest of the library is still being processed.

Choose library locations

1. On the Your library step, expand folders or drives in the folder tree.
2. Check every location you want Asset Grove to catalog.
3. Select Catalog Selected.
4. Confirm the active location summary.
5. Select Start App Tutorial, then Open Asset Grove.

Asset Grove watches the selected locations in place. It does not import or relocate the originals.

3. Learn the main window

The main window has three primary areas:

• Sidebar: library locations and counts, projects, export, and pipeline status.
• Browser: search controls, filters, grid or list results, and selection tools.
• Inspector: preview, analysis, user keywords, metadata, and original-file actions for the focused item.

Use the toolbar buttons to collapse or show the sidebar, filter panel, and Inspector. The browser keeps the search bar available even when both side panels are open.

4. Add, change, or remove library locations

Use Library Locations

1. Select the gear button in the Library card in the sidebar.
2. Check folders or drives to add them.
3. Uncheck a location to remove it from the catalog.
4. Select Apply Locations.
5. Confirm removal when prompted.

Removing a library location removes its items, previews, and analysis from Asset Grove. It does not delete the original files.

You can also manage the primary location and additional locations in Settings > General.

External drives

When a selected drive is disconnected, Asset Grove marks the location offline and pauses work that depends on it. Reconnect the same drive and allow time for Asset Grove to detect it. If authorization is requested, select Authorize and choose the same folder again.

Scan and rescan

• Scan Library reads every active location and adds or updates changed media.
• Reset and Rescan clears Asset Grove's derived catalog for the active library, then reads the same locations again. It does not modify originals or local intelligence downloads.

Use Reset and Rescan only for a catalog problem that a normal scan does not resolve.

5. Understand scanning and local analysis

The pipeline card at the bottom of the sidebar shows discovery, preview generation, analysis, and search-index work.

• Queued items are waiting for analysis.
• Analyzing items are in progress.
• Done items have completed.
• Needs review items can be retried.
• Unavailable items refer to originals Asset Grove can no longer find.

Select Details for more information. Use Analyze, Pause or Resume, and Health for the most common controls.

Choose when analysis runs

Open Settings > Processing and choose a Scheduling mode:

• Always: analyze whenever work is available.
• Overnight or Idle: analyze while the Mac is idle or during the selected overnight window. This is the default.
• Manual: run only when you select Analyze.

Enable Pause on battery to suspend heavy local analysis while the Mac is on battery or in Low Power Mode.

The first time Grove Vision loads, preparation can take up to three minutes before analysis begins.

6. Search your library

Natural Language

Use Natural Language when you want to describe an idea or scene, for example:

• night shots near water
• a speaker discussing the launch plan
• warm outdoor wedding portraits
• calm instrumental music

Natural Language search uses the meaning of completed captions, keywords, and transcripts. Results improve as more of the library finishes analysis.

Keywords

Select the search-mode button and choose Keywords when you want exact terms from:

• Filenames and folder paths.
• Captions.
• Keywords.
• Transcripts.
• File metadata represented in the catalog.

Use Keywords for a person's name that you added manually, a filename fragment, or a phrase you know appears in a transcript.

Clear a search

Select the close button inside the search field or use Edit > Clear Search. Clearing the search does not clear media-type or date filters.

Search within a project

When a project is active, use:

• Project Items to search only media already in the project.
• Add From Library to search the full library while keeping the project active, so you can add more items.

7. Filter, sort, and change the browser

Select Filter to open the filter panel.

Available filters

• Media type: Photos, Videos, and Audio.
• Start date.
• End date.
• Compact density.

Active filters appear above the results as removable chips. Select Clear Filters to return to all media. Search text and filters work together.

Sort results

Choose Sorted by and select:

• Analyzed.
• Relevance.
• Newest.
• Oldest.
• Content.
• Media Type.
• Largest.
• Name.

Relevance is most useful when a search is active. Analyzed keeps the browser aligned with the state of local analysis.

Grid and list views

• Grid emphasizes previews and is useful for visual review.
• List shows more filename, caption, date, and size context at once.

Use View > Use Compact Density when you want more results on screen.

8. Select and inspect media

Selection and inspection are separate:

• Select the checkbox on a tile or row to add it to the current selection.
• Select the item body or Inspect control to focus it in the Inspector without replacing the selection.

Use Select All to select all current results. Press Escape or choose Edit > Clear Selection to clear the selection.

The Inspector can show:

• A local preview.
• Analysis state and media duration.
• Why an item matched the current search, including transcript timestamps.
• Caption.
• Searchable keywords.
• Transcript and timed segments when speech is present.
• File type, relative path, size, date, dimensions, duration, camera, and analysis state.

Add your own keywords

1. Select one or more items.
2. In the Inspector, enter comma-separated terms in Add keywords separated by commas.
3. Select Add.

When more than one item is selected, the keywords are added to every selected item. Only user-added keywords show a remove control; Asset Grove's analysis keywords remain intact.

Work with an original

The Inspector and an item's context menu provide:

• Preview opens a system preview of the item.
• Open Original opens the source file in its default app.
• Reveal in Finder shows the source file in Finder.
• Retry Analysis appears for an item that needs another analysis attempt.

These actions are unavailable when the original is missing or its drive is offline.

9. Build projects

Projects are local working sets. They do not create folders or duplicate media until you export.

Create an empty project

1. Select the plus button beside Projects in the sidebar.
2. Enter a project name.
3. Select Create.

Create a project from a selection

1. Select media in the browser.
2. Open the Add to Project control.
3. Choose New Project from Selection.
4. Name the project.

Add or remove media

1. Make the project active in the sidebar.
2. Choose Add From Library if you need to browse outside the project.
3. Select the items.
4. Use Add to Project.

In Project Items view, select items and use Remove from Project to remove their membership. You can also drag selected items onto a project in the sidebar.

Rename or delete a project

Control-click a project in the sidebar, then choose Rename Project or Delete Project. Deleting a project removes only the local project record. Original media remains in the library locations.

10. Export project copies

1. Make a non-empty project active.
2. Select Export Project in the sidebar or use Project > Export Project.
3. Choose a folder structure:
   • Preserve folders keeps each item's library subfolder path inside the export folder.
   • Flat copy places all project media in one folder.
4. Choose what to do when a filename already exists:
   • Rename keeps both files by adding a number to the new copy.
   • Skip keeps the existing destination file and reports the skipped item.
   • Overwrite replaces the matching file in the export folder only.
5. Select Export.
6. Choose the destination folder.
7. Review the progress and completion report, then select Open Export Folder if needed.

Asset Grove exports the original media files as copies. It never moves or changes the source files. For safety, an export destination cannot be inside an active library location.

Set default export behavior in Settings > Export. You can cancel an active export; the report shows copied, skipped, and failed items.

11. Review missing files

Asset Grove preserves derived data when an original disappears so you can review the situation before cleanup.

1. Open pipeline Details.
2. Select Review Unavailable, or use Library > Review Missing Files.
3. Reconnect an offline drive or restore moved files, then select Scan Again.
4. If the originals are intentionally gone, select Clean Up Derived Data and confirm.

Cleanup removes catalog records, previews, captions, keywords, transcripts, and embeddings for the missing originals. It does not modify any media file.

12. Use Library Health

Select Health in the pipeline card or open Library > Library Health.

Library Health shows:

• Current catalog count and overall health.
• Library scan, metadata, preview, analysis, search, browser, and derived-storage activity.
• Derived media storage totals.
• Memory, thermal state, Low Power Mode, cache limits, and queue counts.
• Items that need attention.

Select Reclaim Space to remove completed analysis working files and stale untracked files while retaining display thumbnails and motion previews. This does not remove originals.

13. Settings reference

General

• Appearance: Follow System, Light, or Dark.
• Primary and additional library locations.
• Saved storage authorization status.
• Hardware summary.
• Software update checks.
• Account access and subscription management.

Processing

• Analysis schedule and overnight window.
• Pause on battery.
• Scan Now and Reset and Rescan.
• Analyze, Pause, and Resume.
• Video proxy profile and rebuilding existing video proxies.

Changing the video proxy profile affects newly scanned videos. Use Rebuild Video Proxies to apply it to existing active-library videos.

Intelligence

• Installation status for Grove Vision, Grove Listen, and Grove Find.
• Refresh, prepare, or cancel local-intelligence setup.
• View third-party model notices.
• Choose, authorize, open, or reset the local-intelligence storage location.

Export

• Default folder structure.
• Default collision policy.
• Export the active project.
• Review the latest export report and destination.

Diagnostics

• Export a local diagnostic bundle.
• Open the most recent local export.

The bundle contains recent JSONL diagnostic events, host details, scheduling settings, queue counts, and power state. It does not include media contents, captions, transcripts, embeddings, or license keys. Exporting does not upload the bundle. Under the launch support policy, do not send a diagnostic bundle unless Asset Grove support explicitly changes that guidance.

14. Software updates

Choose Asset Grove > Check for Updates or open Settings > General > Software updates. Asset Grove accepts only signed updates from the configured update feed.

15. Supported file types

Asset Grove recognizes these filename extensions. Actual preview or analysis support can also depend on the codecs available on the Mac.

Photos

jpg, jpeg, png, heic, heif, avif, jxl, tif, tiff, gif, webp, bmp, psd

Camera RAW

raw, dng, arw, cr2, cr3, nef, nrw, orf, rw2, raf, rwl, srw, srf, sr2, pef, 3fr, erf, mef, mos, mrw, x3f, kdc, dcr, iiq

Video

mov, mp4, m4v, avi, mkv, webm, mts, m2ts, mxf, r3d, braw, ari, crm, dv, 3gp, 3g2, mpg, mpeg, vob, ogv

Audio

wav, wave, aif, aiff, mp3, m4a, m4b, aac, flac, ogg, oga, opus, caf, wma, amr, mka, ape, aifc, ac3, eac3, au, snd

16. Keyboard shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Settings	Command-,
Focus Search	Command-F
Natural Language search	Control-Command-N
Keyword search	Control-Command-K
Grid view	Command-1
List view	Command-2
Show or collapse sidebar	Option-Command-S
Show or hide filters	Option-Command-F
Show or hide Inspector	Option-Command-I
Scan Library	Command-R
Analyze Now	Shift-Command-A
Pause or resume analysis	Option-Command-.
Preview selected	Space
Open selected original	Option-Command-O
Reveal selected original	Option-Command-R
Select all results	Option-Command-A
Clear selection	Escape
New project	Option-Command-N
New project from selection	Shift-Option-Command-N
Add selected to project	Option-Command-P
Remove selected from project	Shift-Option-Command-P
Export project	Option-Command-E
Show app tutorial	Shift-Command-?

17. Troubleshooting

The sign-in email did not arrive

• Check Spam or Junk.
• Confirm the email spelling.
• Wait two minutes, then start sign-in again.
• Do not forward or publish the one-time sign-in link.

The magic link expired or was already used

Return to Asset Grove and request a new link. A one-time link cannot be reused.

Checkout completed but Asset Grove still shows the access screen

• Confirm sign-in and checkout used the same email.
• Select Refresh access and wait a few seconds.
• Check the internet connection.
• If access is still missing, contact [email protected] with the purchase email and Paddle receipt or transaction number. Never send card details.

A library folder needs authorization

Select Authorize and choose the same folder again. Clicking Allow in a general macOS removable-volume alert does not save Asset Grove's folder bookmark.

An external library drive is offline

Reconnect the drive and wait for the offline badge to clear. Confirm the drive mounted with the same name. Run Scan Library after it returns.

Local intelligence will not prepare

• Open Settings > Intelligence.
• Confirm the storage folder is available and authorized.
• Confirm there is enough free space.
• Select Refresh, then Prepare.
• If the storage folder is on an external drive, reconnect it before retrying.

Analysis is not starting

• Check whether the pipeline is paused.
• Review Settings > Processing > Scheduling.
• In Manual mode, select Analyze Now.
• If Pause on battery is enabled, connect power and exit Low Power Mode.
• Expand pipeline Details for a waiting message.
• Allow up to three minutes the first time Grove Vision loads.

New files are not appearing

• Confirm the files are inside an active library location.
• Confirm their extensions are supported.
• Select Scan Library.
• If the folder is on an external drive, confirm it is online and authorized.

Search results look incomplete or too broad

• Check the pipeline count; unanalyzed items have less searchable context.
• Use Natural Language for concepts and Keywords for exact terms.
• Clear accidental media-type or date filters.
• In a project, confirm whether the scope is Project Items or Add From Library.
• Try a shorter, more concrete query.

A transcript is missing

Not every audio or video file contains speech. If the item shows Needs Transcript or Failed, select Retry Analysis. Confirm Grove Listen is installed in Settings > Intelligence.

Preview, Open Original, or Reveal in Finder is unavailable

The original is missing, the drive is offline, or the file is no longer readable. Reconnect the drive or restore the file, then run a scan.

Export skipped or failed for some items

• Review the export report.
• Confirm every source drive is online.
• Confirm the destination is writable and is not inside a library location.
• Review the filename-collision choice.
• Retry into a new empty destination when diagnosing a collision problem.

Asset Grove is using more disk space than expected

Open Library Health, refresh the storage measurement, and select Reclaim Space when available. This removes safe-to-delete derived working files, not originals.

Still stuck

Email [email protected] with:

• Asset Grove version and build.
• macOS version.
• Mac model and chip.
• Steps that reproduce the problem.
• Exact error text.
• A non-sensitive screenshot if useful.

Do not send source media, full local paths, captions, transcripts, search queries, sign-in links, access tokens, passwords, recovery codes, or payment-card data.