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How to · Engine DJ

Create Smartlists in Engine DJ.

Smartlists fill themselves from rules, so a list stays current as your library grows. Here is how to build them in Engine DJ, and how to give them better data to work with.

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An expanded vibe in Vibes listing every track tagged with it, working like a smart playlist

Lists that maintain themselves from your own rules.

Building a Smartlist in Engine DJ.

Smartlists arrived in Engine DJ 3.1. They are rule-based lists that Engine keeps populated automatically as your collection changes.

01

Create the Smartlist

Right-click your collection or a playlist and choose Create Smartlist to open the rule builder. You can also click the Create Smartlist button directly on the Collection folder.

02

Add rules

Set conditions on Engine's native fields: title, artist, album, genre, label, and comment for text; BPM, year, length, and rating for numbers, with in-range operators; plus date added and file type. The key rule is the standout, offering is compatible with alongside an exact match, so one rule can cover the harmonic neighbors of a key. Use the Match All Rules checkbox for AND logic, or leave it off for OR.

03

Combine for precision

Stack rules to express a real idea, for example BPM 120 to 126, genre House, and key compatible with 8A, so the list is exactly the pocket you intend to play from.

04

Let it update, and convert when you need order

As you add matching tracks, the Smartlist updates itself. One limit to know: a Smartlist cannot be manually reordered. When a list is ready to become a fixed running order, right-click it and choose Convert to Playlist, then arrange it by hand.

The catch

Smartlist rules are confined to Engine's native fields: title, artist, album, genre, label, comment, BPM, key, year, rating, length, date added, and file type. There is no color rule, no energy field, and no custom vibe or mood tags, so the rules cannot reason about how a track feels.

Mood
EuphoricMelancholicMysterious
Energy
AggressivePeacefulRave
Function
AfterhoursClubHome

The faster way

What Smartlists cannot tag, Vibes can.

Vibes auto-tags energy, mood, and role, attributes Engine DJ has no field for, then exports them back so your Smartlist rules can finally filter on how tracks actually feel.

See how it works
Auto-Tag adds energy, mood, and role that Engine has no field for
Combinations surface useful tag overlaps as ready lists
Build your taxonomy once and reuse it across the library
Export tags back into Engine DJ for richer Smartlists

Organize in Vibes, export to Engine DJ.

Your playlists, tags, ratings, and cue points travel back to the gear you play on, so nothing you do in Vibes is locked away.

Track 001 by Artist A

Track 001

Artist A

128
3A
Track 002 by Artist B

Track 002

Artist B

124
5B
Track 003 by Artist C

Track 003

Artist C

132
8A
Vibes App
Playlists
Vibes
Mood
Aggressive
Euphoric
Melancholic
Mysterious
Peaceful
Playful
Tense
Function
Arrangement
Sets
Club Night 12/28
NYE Closing Set
Rooftop 01/04

Frequently asked questions

The honest answers, including the trade-offs.

A Smartlist, added in Engine DJ 3.1, is a rule-based list. You set conditions like BPM range, key, or genre, and Engine keeps it populated with matching tracks automatically.
Not natively. Smartlist rules only see Engine's existing fields, and there is no energy or custom-tag field. Vibes can auto-tag those attributes and export them into Engine so the rules can use them.
Yes. Vibes auto-tags energy, mood, and role from the audio and exports them back into Engine DJ, giving your Smartlist rules far richer data to filter on.
Yes, and it is one of Engine's best rules: the key condition offers is compatible with, not just an exact match, so a single rule gathers the harmonic neighbors of your anchor key. Pair it with a BPM range and you have a self-updating harmonic pool for a set.
Smartlists on your main collection include tracks from every connected drive, while a Smartlist created inside a drive's panel only sees that drive. For the standalone player itself, convert the Smartlist to a regular playlist and sync it across with Sync Manager.

Methodology

How we keep this honest.

Verified against the app

Every step is checked against the current version of Engine DJ.

We own our bias

We make Vibes. We show the native way first and honestly, then where Vibes genuinely helps, and we say when it does not.

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The Vibes price shown comes straight from our checkout, never a hardcoded marketing number.

Kept current

Last reviewed June 2026.

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