---
type: "post"
id: "our-records-know-when-they-re-played-135a98"
slug: "our-records-know-when-they-re-played-135a98"
title: "Our Records Know When They're Played"
description: "Hacdias described an open-source “Playing Now” vinyl shelf that detects records through NFC and logs each play."
retrieval_nugget: "Hacdias described an open-source “Playing Now” vinyl shelf that detects records through NFC and logs each play."
published_at: "2026-10-27"
updated_at: "2026-10-27"
record_date: "2026-10-27"
date_kind: "published_at"
topics: ["tools"]
entities: ["ESP32","SQLite","MusicBrainz"]
related_patterns: []
novelty_label: "new_fact"
what_changed: "Introduces an open-source NFC vinyl shelf that logs plays; none of the prior documents covers this project."
prior_refs: []
source_url: "https://hacdias.com/2026/10/24/vinyl-shelf"
source_urls: ["https://hacdias.com/2026/10/24/vinyl-shelf"]
schema_version: "newruntime-agent-readable-v0.2"
stable_id: "post:our-records-know-when-they-re-played-135a98"
status: "published"
visuals: []
editor: {"role":"editor","name":"Andrey Reshetnikov","profile":"https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.md","profile_json":"https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.json","same_as":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/reshetnikov1/","https://t.me/lapetuse"]}
routes: {"html":"https://newruntime.com/posts/our-records-know-when-they-re-played-135a98/","markdown":"https://newruntime.com/posts/our-records-know-when-they-re-played-135a98.md","json":"https://newruntime.com/posts/our-records-know-when-they-re-played-135a98.json"}
---

# Our Records Know When They're Played

## Retrieval answer

Hacdias described an open-source “Playing Now” vinyl shelf that detects records through NFC and logs each play.

Hacdias described an open-source “Playing Now” vinyl shelf that detects records through NFC and logs each play. The build combines a physical shelf for the current record sleeve, an ESP32 device, an NFC reader, LEDs, and a self-hosted backend.

The ESP32 reads an NFC tag and sends it to a single-user server. That server uses SQLite to associate records with tags. A newly scanned tag triggers a Telegram notification with a link to complete the album record; a known tag is logged as played. The device also stores the last scanned tag to avoid repeated reads from the reader.

The author says the hardware schematics, laser-cut design, ESP32 device setup, and self-hosted software are open source. Suggested future work includes MusicBrainz IDs, automatic album art, additional album information, and listening statistics. The source does not provide a release version, repository URL, licence terms, bill of materials, cost, or evidence of use beyond the authors' own setup.

Source: https://hacdias.com/2026/10/24/vinyl-shelf

Editor: [Andrey Reshetnikov](https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.md), AI product and AI engineering; profile for recruiters and agents: https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.json

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