diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1707a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# sing_detect
+
+Singing/music-segment detection for long live-stream recordings: find the
+segments where someone is singing and export markers (CSV / EDL / JSON) for fast
+editing in DaVinci Resolve.
+
+**This branch is the latest version (v6).** A plain `git pull` gives you only the
+current code — no old versions clutter the working tree. The earlier iterations
+live in the git history and are tagged, so you can inspect or check out any of
+them:
+
+```bash
+git checkout v3   # or v1 … v6
+git checkout -    # back to latest
+```
+
+## Evolution
+
+The history is ordered by **technical & functional evolution** (not file
+timestamp). Each tag is a complete, standalone version at the repository root.
+
+| Tag | Engine | Interface | Leap |
+|-----|--------|-----------|------|
+| `v1` | HuggingFace `matthijs/svd` (torch.jit) | tkinter file picker | First prototype — single file, proves the idea |
+| `v2` | `transformers` pipeline + pyannote | CustomTkinter GUI | Overlapping-chunk inference, CSV timecode export |
+| `v3` | inaSpeechSegmenter | CLI (argparse) | Robust pipeline: gap-merge, min-duration, EDL+CSV |
+| `v4` | inaSpeechSegmenter | CLI batch | Process whole folders, `--recursive`, `--auto-cut` |
+| `v5` | inaSpeechSegmenter | CustomTkinter multi-tab app | Modular `core/` engine + UI tab, JSON + ffmpeg-script export |
+| `v6` | inaSpeechSegmenter (Python sidecar) | Tauri (Rust + TS) | Cross-platform rewrite; Python reduced to a thin ML sidecar emitting line-JSON |
+
+Engine evolution: `svd model` → `transformers pipeline` →
+**`inaSpeechSegmenter`** (settled from v3 on, which classifies singing voice as
+"music").
+
+## Notes
+- **v4** carries a copy of `detect_singing.py` because `batch_detect.py` imports it at runtime.
+- **v5** keeps the original package layout (`core/`, `ui/`, `utils/`) so the relative imports resolve; it was extracted from the larger `stream_tools` app.
+- **v6** is the detection slice only (`sidecar_detect.py`, `detect.rs`, `detect.ts`), extracted from the `stream-studio` Tauri app — `detect.ts` still references the app's `../dom`, `../ui`, `../api` modules.
+
+Excluded: `song_detection_cn.py` (an ACRCloud-style fingerprint *song-identification*
+client) — it names a track rather than detecting singing segments.