Cloud sync

What this does: pairs Helm Cues with Helm Cloud at app.helm.show, links a project, settles conflicts, and sets how much media goes up.

The show, Live and the desk never depend on the cloud. The file on this Mac is the source. See What works offline.

What syncs

Goes to the cloud	Stays on this Mac
Each track: cues, stacks, lanes, offsets, beat grid	Waveforms
Show-level fields: name, frame rate, settings, running orders, media list	The daily upload limit and the data counts
Media files, under the project’s upload mode	Networks marked Not on this network
The project’s upload mode	The sync conflict list

Each Mac keeps its own media locations.

Pair this Mac

1. Helm Cues → Account… Settings opens on Helm Cloud.

2. Sign in to Helm Cloud. Cues opens app.helm.show/pair in the browser and shows “Authorize this device in your browser”.

3. In the browser, sign in if asked. Check the product, device and account. Authorize.

4. Within a few seconds the Cues panel shows your name and email.

Browser didn’t open? Open the disclosure. It shows the code. Go to app.helm.show/pair, type it, Approve & pair. Copy puts the code on the clipboard.

• Codes last 10 minutes. After that: Pairing code expired — try again. Press Try again.
• The device pairs to whichever account approves it. Wrong account in the browser? Sign out there first.
• Sign out: Settings → Helm Cloud → Sign out. Cloud sync stops on this Mac. Local projects stay.

Link a project

A project is linked when it has a cloud project behind it. Two ways:

Way	Steps
Push a local project	File → Push to Helm Cloud (⇧⌘U), or Push to Cloud on the Project page. Cues creates a cloud project with the project’s name and pushes it.
Open a cloud project	Project Manager → Cloud only → Download, or Open Project… → Cloud Projects. A local project already linked to it opens instead.

Unlink: File → Unlink from Cloud…, the Project Manager’s Unlink, or Settings → Cloud (Project group) → Unlink from cloud. “Local data stays as-is. Cloud project is NOT deleted. Auto-sync stops.”

See Projects and shows for the Project page and the Project Manager.

When it pushes

• Auto-push: 2 s after your last change to a linked project. Nothing changed, nothing sent.
• Push by hand: File → Push to Helm Cloud (⇧⌘U), or Push now on the Project page. It sends. It pulls nothing.
• A session peer never pushes. The host does.
• On open: a linked project pulls tracks that changed in the cloud. The toast reads Pulled n track(s) from Helm Cloud.
• A failed push: Cloud sync failed: … with Retry.

The Project page header reads Syncing…, Sync failed, Cloud v12 or Local only.

Per-track sync and conflicts

Each track syncs on its own. Show-level fields (name, frame rate, settings, running orders): when two Macs both change them, the last push wins.

A track changed here and in the cloud since the last sync is a conflict. Other tracks keep syncing. Cues shows Sync conflict · n track(s).

1. Read the row.

Row	Means
Changed here and in the cloud	Both sides edited it
Changed here and by <name>	Both sides edited it; the cloud names who
Deleted here, changed in the cloud	You deleted it; someone edited it
Deleted in the cloud, still here	Someone deleted it; you still have it

2. Pick one.

Button	Does	Name the risk
Keep mine	Writes this Mac’s copy over the cloud’s, puts it back, or deletes it in the cloud	Their edits to this track are lost
Keep theirs	Replaces this Mac’s copy with the cloud’s, brings it back, or removes it here	Your edits to this track are lost

3. Changed in the cloud again — check it and pick again. Someone edited it meanwhile. Pick again.

• Settle conflicts before you quit. A relaunch clears the list; the next change finds them again.
• A deleted cloud track is never removed here without asking.
• another device is writing this project — will retry on the next change. Settle it on the web under Sync conflict. See the Cloud app guide.

Media uploads

These rules cover every upload: a save, an import, a Push or the Media Library.

Upload mode, per project

Settings → Helm Cloud → Uploads → Upload media to Helm Cloud — <project name>.

Mode	Does
Automatic	Every new or changed file uploads in the background.
Ask for batches over 1 GB	One prompt before more than 1 GB goes. Smaller batches upload in the background. The default.
Off	Media stays on this Mac. Show data still syncs. Upload a file from the Media Library by hand.

• The mode travels with the project.
• No project open: “Open a project to set this. New projects ask for batches over 1 GB.”
• A file you pick by hand in the Media Library uploads whatever the mode.

The 1 GB prompt

A batch over 1 GB asks first: Upload n files (X GB) to Helm Cloud now? “On a metered line (5G router, hotspot) this counts against the data allowance.”

Button	Does
Now	Starts these uploads. A retry of the same files does not ask again this session.
Later	Sends nothing until the next launch or a Push by hand.
Not on this network	Never uploads automatically on this network. Asks again on any other network. A Push by hand still asks.

If Cues cannot tell which network it is on, Not on this network acts as Later.

Forget under Networks where uploads wait clears the list.

Keep a file on this Mac

1. Media Library (⇧⌘L). Right-click the file.

2. Keep on this Mac (don’t upload). The row shows ON THIS MAC. It is never uploaded.

3. To undo: right-click → Allow upload.

Daily limit and bytes sent

Settings → Helm Cloud → Uploads. These settings are per Mac.

Control	Default	Does
Daily upload limit	10 GB	When reached, uploads pause until midnight.
No limit	Off	Asks first. “With no limit, a stuck upload can use a whole data plan on a metered line (5G router, hotspot) before anyone notices.”
Uploaded from this Mac		Today, This week (today and the 6 days before), This session
Upload engine		Uploads open, or why they are paused, with Resume

Pauses

One pause holds every upload.

Cause	Pauses for	Resume
The cloud asks Cues to slow down	A few minutes at most	Waits it out
The network keeps failing	10 min	Resume sends again
The daily limit	Until midnight	Resume sends anyway for the rest of today

The upload pill reads Uploads paused — network (resumes 14:20), — rate limited or — daily limit reached.

A relaunch clears a rate-limit or network pause. A daily limit already spent today starts paused.

Retries and Upload failed

1. A failed file is tried again a few times, further apart each time.

2. Then it stops: Upload failed — Retry, badge UPLOAD FAILED.

3. Only you restart it: Retry in the Media Library, or Retry all in the upload pill.

• Signed out, or storage full, stops every upload of the project with one message.

Details: Technical reference

Big files and resume

• A stalled upload restarts on its own.
• A relaunch resumes. Cues sends only what has not arrived yet.

The upload pill

Bottom-left, on every page. Hidden when there is nothing to say.

Pill	Means
Uploading <file> · x / y MB · n more	Running. × stops it; the file stays in the library.
n upload(s) queued	Waiting their turn
Upload retry at 14:20 — <file>	Waiting to try again
Upload failed — <file>	Tries spent. Retry, Hide.
Uploads paused — …	See Pauses
Uploads stopped — cloud storage full	See Storage full
Uploads stopped — sign in to Helm Cloud	Pair again, then Retry

Downloads: the local-only rule

A show plays from disk, never from the cloud. Live and arming wait until every file the show uses is on this Mac and checks out.

1. Open a project. Cues checks every file and downloads what is missing.

2. The pill reads Downloading media 2/7 · <file> · x / y MB, then Verifying media.

3. Each file is checked as it lands. A damaged copy downloads again.

4. Missing files block Live: n media files not local — Live is blocked, with Download or Locate in Media Library.

• Signed out: “Sign in to Helm Cloud to download this project’s media”.
• Downloads fail: n media download(s) failed with Retry.

See Media and lanes for Locate…, Trash and Reclaim space.

Storage full

The cloud refused an upload: the storage pool is full.

1. Cues stops the project’s uploads and says once: Uploads stopped: cloud storage full — 9.80 GB of 10.00 GB used. Free space or upgrade the plan, then Retry. The upload pill shows the same figures.

2. Settings → Licence → Storage pool shows X of Y · N%. The bar warns at 90 %.

3. Free space on app.helm.show. Older file versions count.

4. Retry in the upload pill.

Cues, lanes and show data keep syncing. Only media waits.

Lost edit access

The cloud refused a push: your role on the project no longer allows edits, or a folder permission denies it.

• Cues says once: You no longer have edit access to this cloud project — changes stay on this Mac, with Unlink.
• The project stays linked. Auto-push stops for it until you push by hand or relaunch.
• Every change stays on this Mac.

1. Ask a project owner to restore your Editor role.

2. File → Push to Helm Cloud (⇧⌘U).

Or press Unlink to keep the project local only.

Signed out after 90 days

A paired Mac unused for 90 days is signed out. Cues shows “Signed out of Helm Cloud after 90 days without use —” with Pair again.

1. Pair again. Cues shows Approve this device in the browser · code … and opens the browser.

2. Authorize on app.helm.show/pair. Cues is signed in within a few seconds.

3. Not now? × hides it. Pair later from Settings → Helm Cloud.

Sync, uploads and media downloads stop until you pair. The show, Live and the desk carry on.

When it goes wrong

• “Can’t reach Helm Cloud at …”. The Mac cannot reach app.helm.show: a Wi-Fi login page, a proxy or a blocked network. “Your sign-in is kept. Nothing syncs until the cloud answers.” Retry.
• “Pairing was rejected.” Someone pressed Deny or Reject on the browser page. Try again.
• “Device paired” in the browser, Cues still waiting. The Mac cannot reach the cloud. Cues keeps trying; fix the network and it signs in.
• A project downloaded twice. Fixed: opening a cloud project that a local project already links opens the local one.
• Files show as long strings of letters and numbers. Fixed in Cues and in the cloud. Update Cues and push once; the cloud puts the real names back.
• Data use is high. Settings → Helm Cloud → Uploads: read Today and This week. Set Ask for batches over 1 GB or Off, keep the daily limit on, and mark the venue line Not on this network.
• Uploads never start. Check the mode is not Off, the file is not ON THIS MAC, the pill is not paused, and the network is not on the wait list.
• Push button missing. Signed out. Pair first.