A native desktop application for the ksynth live-coding synthesis language. Write short vector-oriented programs, hear the result immediately, build kits and instruments, play them from a pad grid.

Sessions are compatible with ksynth web — save from the browser, load on the desktop, or vice versa.

git clone https://github.com/octetta/ksynth-desktop
cd ksynth-desktop
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
./ksynth-desktop

Type into the editor, press Ctrl+J to run. A cell appears in the notebook with a waveform preview. Click →0 to bank to slot 0. Click the slot to play it.

See BUILDING.md for full platform instructions and GUIDE.md for a complete tutorial.

ksynth-desktop is a two-pane live-coding environment:

• left — notebook — append-only log of every run, waveforms, bank buttons
• right — editor — write ksynth code, run it, inspect results in the REPL strip at the bottom

A slot strip across the top holds 16 audio buffers ready to trigger. A pad window turns them into a playable instrument. Sessions save and load as .json files that round-trip with the web app.

There is also a headless CLI tool (ksplay) for running .ks files directly from the command line.

• FLTK 1.4 — vendored as a git submodule
• miniaudio — single-header, vendored
• ksynth — vendored (ksynth.c / ksynth.h)
• CMake 3.16+, a C11 compiler, a C++17 compiler

No other dependencies. No package manager required.

MIT — see LICENSE.