NI Directory

Search your installed Native Instruments expansions by name, genre, or style tags — from Alfred or the terminal.

Features

• Instant search — type nidr followed by any keyword to filter expansions by name, genre, or style
• Type labels — see at a glance whether an expansion is for Maschine, Kontakt, Massive X, Leap, or other platforms
• Recent history — your last 5 selections appear at the top (★) when you open nidr with no query
• Auto-setup — on first run, scans your installed NI products and builds a local expansion list
• Curated tags database — 150+ expansions tagged with genres and styles
• Ignore list — automatically filters out NI instruments, libraries, and factory content so only expansions appear
• Copy to clipboard — press Enter to copy an expansion name
• Large type — press Cmd+L for a full-screen view with all tags

Installation

CLI (no Alfred required)

git clone https://github.com/micro-JAY/ni-directory.git
cd ni-directory
sudo ./install-cli.sh

The install script symlinks nidr to /usr/local/bin/.

Requirements: macOS, Python 3 (included with macOS)

Alfred Workflow

1. Download the latest NI-Directory.alfredworkflow from Releases
2. Double-click to install in Alfred
3. Type nidr — the workflow will auto-detect your installed expansions on first run

Requirements: Alfred 5 with Powerpack, macOS, Python 3 (included with macOS)

Usage

CLI

Command	Description
nidr	Show recents, then all expansions
nidr funk	Find all funk-tagged expansions
nidr techno dark	Multi-word search (matches all terms)
nidr leap	Filter by expansion type
nidr --refresh	Rescan installed NI products
nidr --help	Show help

Output is colored in the terminal and automatically plain when piped, so nidr | fzf just works.

Alfred

Command	Description
nidr funk	Find all funk-tagged expansions
nidr techno dark	Multi-word search (matches all terms)
nidr leap	Filter by expansion type
nidr massive x	Find all Massive X expansions
nidr !refresh	Rescan installed NI products

Just typing nidr with no query shows your recently selected expansions first, then all installed expansions.

How It Works

Native Instruments stores product metadata at /Users/Shared/Native Instruments/installed_products/. On first run (or when you use nidr !refresh), the workflow:

1. Scans that directory for installed products
2. Cross-references against the curated tags_database.json
3. Filters out non-expansion products using ignore_list.json
4. Generates a local expansions.json with only your installed expansions

Your local expansions.json and recents.json are gitignored — they're personal to your setup.

Contributing

Adding missing expansions

If the workflow shows an expansion with "(tags unavailable)", it means it's installed but not yet in the tags database. To add it:

1. Fork this repo
2. Add an entry to src/tags_database.json:

   "Expansion Name": {
     "tags": "genre1, genre2, style1, style2, descriptive keywords",
     "type": "Maschine"
   }

   Valid types: Maschine, Kontakt, Massive X, Leap, Artist, Play Series
3. Submit a PR

Updating the ignore list

If a non-expansion product (instrument, library, factory content) is showing up in results:

1. Add its exact name to src/ignore_list.json
2. Submit a PR

File Structure

cli/
└── nidr.py              # CLI entry point
src/
├── search.py            # Alfred search logic + auto-setup
├── tags_database.json   # Curated genre/style tags (152 expansions)
├── ignore_list.json     # NI products to exclude (instruments, libraries)
├── info.plist           # Alfred workflow configuration
└── icon.png             # Workflow icon
install-cli.sh           # CLI installer (symlink or alias)

Generated locally (gitignored):

• expansions.json — your installed expansions (built from tags_database + scan)
• recents.json — your recently selected expansions

License

MIT — see LICENSE

TONARI LABS