Over the past few weeks I've been working on **Seek**, an open-source fork of **Nicotine+** that rethinks the desktop experience for Soulseek users without changing what makes the client useful.

[https://github.com/IvaKap/seek](https://github.com/IvaKap/seek)

# Why I started this

I've used Nicotine+ for years, and it's incredibly capable, but I always felt the interface made everyday tasks such as searching, browsing users, managing downloads, and organizing large music libraries more cumbersome than they needed to be.

# Current direction

* Native-feeling macOS-inspired UI (with cross-platform goals)
* Cleaner search and download workflows
* Improved library browsing
* Better visual hierarchy and accessibility

# Open-source first

The project is completely open source, and I'm treating it as a community-driven redesign rather than a commercial product. The project is open for everyone who wants to contribute. 

# Some key features

* Apple-native macOS desktop app (Tauri + React) wrapping the **unmodified Nicotine+ core**, so you get the full Soulseek network in a calm, fast, native shell.
* Auto-updates, open source (GPLv3), **no telemetry, analytics, or crash reporting**.

**Search**

* Live streaming Soulseek search with rich per-file metadata.
* Four ways to view results: comfortable cards, compact, a **classic dense table** (Nicotine-style), and a **cover-art grid**.
* Group by **Track, Release, or a flat Files list**; configurable, resizable columns.
* Filters (FLAC/WAV/AIFF/320, lossless-only, free slots, no transcodes, include/exclude), **search tabs** (several at once), autofocus, history, and saved searches.

**Quality verification — the differentiator**

* **Spectral verification** of finished downloads: decodes the file and shows an averaged spectrum + a Spek-style heatmap, catching encoder lowpass and transcodes a "FLAC" label can hide.
* **Checksum checks** against uploader-shipped `.ffp` (decoded-audio fingerprint) and `.md5` (whole-file) sidecars — kept distinct in meaning and colour.

**Discovery**

* **Dig Bar**: paste a YouTube, Bandcamp, or Discogs URL → a preview card → a real search.
* **YouTube → Discogs Library**: match your playlists/likes against Discogs to see what's missing from your collection (with Google sign-in for private playlists).
* **Wishlist that only announces what's new** — dedups the repeat results the server keeps returning; plus a Want list.

Genuinely want to hear what breaks. <3

  
P.S. The app is was initially vibe-coded for personal use, but I decided to share it with others who might find Seek useful. If you have any issues with vibe-coded projects, please refrain from negative comments and scroll along.



I’m building Seek — a modern open-source redesign of Nicotine+ for Soulseek users