How to · Serato DJ

Set up smart crates in Serato.

Smart crates fill themselves from rules, so a crate stays current as your library grows. Here is how to build them, and how to give them better data to filter on.

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Crates that maintain themselves from your own rules.

Building a smart crate in Serato.

A smart crate is rule-based. You set conditions and Serato keeps it populated automatically as your library changes.

Create the smart crate

Click Add Smart Crate in the crates panel, then click Add Rule in the popup that appears to begin setting your conditions.

Set your conditions

Add rules on fields like BPM, key, genre, label, comment, or added date, and choose whether tracks must match All or Any of them using the dropdown in the top right of the popup. Note: Serato does not offer a release year rule field; the only date-based field filters by when a track was added to your Serato library.

Combine rules

Stack conditions to express a real idea, for example BPM 122 to 126 and genre House and comment energy3, so the crate is exactly what you want.

Check the Live Update checkbox

In the lower left of the smart crate editor popup, you will see a Live Update checkbox. Tick it to have the crate update automatically whenever your library changes. If left unchecked, the crate will only refresh when you manually trigger it using the refresh button next to the crate.

The catch

Smart crate rules can only filter on fields that already exist in your metadata. The documented rule fields are: BPM, Key, Genre, Comment, Label, Album, Artist, Filename, Remixer, and Added date (the date you added a track to Serato, not the release year). If your tracks are not tagged for energy, mood, or role, there is little for the rules to work with beyond BPM, key, and genre.

Mood

Euphoric

Melancholic

Mysterious

Energy

Aggressive

Peaceful

Rave

Function

Afterhours

Club

Home

The faster way

Give the rules richer data.

Vibes auto-tags energy, mood, and role from the audio, attributes Serato cannot generate on its own, then exports them back so your smart crate rules finally have something meaningful to filter on.

See how it works

Auto-Tag fills in energy, mood, and role data rules depend on

Combinations surface useful tag overlaps as ready crates

Build your taxonomy once and reuse it across the library

Export tags back into Serato for smarter smart crates

Organize in Vibes, export to Serato 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

Artist A

128

Afterhours

Mysterious

Introspective

Track 002

Artist B

124

Cozy Floor

Peaceful

Home

Track 003

Artist C

132

Rave

Aggressive

Festival

Build & Release

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 smart crate is defined by rules instead of a hand-picked list. You set conditions like BPM range, key, genre, or comment, and Serato keeps it populated with matching tracks automatically.

Because they can only filter on metadata that exists. Without energy, mood, or role tags, the rules fall back to BPM, key, and genre. Vibes can auto-tag those richer attributes and export them into Serato.

Yes. Vibes auto-tags from the audio and exports the tags back into Serato, so smart-crate rules can filter on real energy, mood, and role data.

Methodology