Droider

DROID patches without the guesswork.
A free VS Code extension for DROID Eurorack patches: live error checking, autocompletion, hover docs, rainbow cables, hardware and circuit-graph views, megacircuits and one-click SD-card upload.

▶ Watch the one-minute tour

Features

• Live error checking. The checks the DROID master runs when it loads a patch, run as you type: unknown circuits, parameters and registers, cables with no source or no reader, outputs written twice, inputs used as outputs, A * B + C violations and lines over 63 characters.
• Autocompletion. Circuits after [, each circuit's parameters, the registers your declared hardware has, and the cables already in the patch.
• Docs on hover. Every circuit, parameter and register, with type, default, range and description, from the official manual.
• Colours that mean something. Inputs and outputs in different colours, and a unique colour per internal cable.
• Forge label legends. Validated and autocompleted, and shown in the views.
• Hardware view. Your master, expanders and controllers drawn with your labels.
• Circuit graph. The patch as an interactive signal-flow graph. Click a node to jump to its line.
• Write to DROID. Insert the SD card and click the status-bar button: the patch is checked, written, verified and the card ejected safely. Works on macOS, Windows and Linux.
• .droider patches. Reusable megacircuits (.blueprint files) and free arithmetic on any input, compiled into a plain droid.ini.

Free, open source, works offline, no account.

Install

1. Install VS Code (free, Windows, macOS and Linux).
2. Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X, or ⌘+⇧+X on a Mac), search for Droider and click Install.
3. Open the folder with your patches (File → Open Folder…). Droider handles every .ini, .droider and .blueprint file.

New to VS Code? The guide walks you through every step, from installing VS Code to writing your first patch. For Cursor, VSCodium and other VS Code-based editors, install the .vsix from the latest release with Install from VSIX….

A taste of .droider

A megacircuit is a piece of patch you define once and reuse like any circuit:

# blueprints/pluck.blueprint — a plucky voice
[input]
    clock
    beats = 5          # inputs with a default are optional
    decay = 0.25
[output]
    pitch
    gate
    env

[euklid]
    clock  = clock
    length = 16
    beats  = beats
    output = _GATE     # private: each copy gets its own cable
# ...

# duet.droider
[pluck]
    clock = _CLOCK
    beats = P1.2 * 10 + 3
    pitch = O1
    gate  = O2
    env   = _ENV_LEAD

[copy]  # any arithmetic, not just A * B + C
    input  = (_ENV_LEAD - _ENV_BASS) * P1.2 + _ENV_BASS
    output = O5

Droider expands megacircuits, splits the arithmetic into native [copy] circuits and checks the resulting plain .ini before it goes to the card. The complete examples are in examples/.

Documentation

• Guide: step by step, organised by what you want to do.
• Language reference: the DROID patch language as Droider understands it.
• Development: build from source, architecture, tests, the command-line linter and releases.

Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue.

Made by Óliver L. Sanz. Code under the MIT license. DROID is made by Der Mann mit der Maschine; Droider is not affiliated with it. The circuit documentation is adapted from the official DROID manual with the author's written permission and is not covered by the MIT license.