Deckard

A token-streamed, live-coding DAW in Tish (JS target + JSX). Humans and LLM agents co-DJ by streaming a small line-oriented language (deck) that the app decodes into live-synthesised stems — never WAV/audio files. MIDI × live-coding, designed for LLM token streams, with a traditional DAW on top.

FL-style surfaces sit on top of the language: step sequencer, piano roll (canvas), per-channel generator instruments (basic osc / noise burst / FM / matrix FM) with per-generator ADSR, a track → actor → master mixer (gain / pan / 3-band EQ / mute / solo), Ableton-style session/scene launcher, master scope, and JSON + deck import/export.

New here? Read docs/ARCHITECTURE.md — the full overview, vision, and end-to-end signal path. Run the tests with npm test.

Dev

npm install      # one-time (Vite + tish CLI)
npm run dev      # Vite dev server — save a .tish file and the browser auto-reloads

npm run dev runs Vite with a small local plugin (vite-plugin-tish.js) that compiles src/main.tish → dist/bundle.js with tish build --target js and full-reloads on any .tish / styles.css change. (Lattish re-mounts the whole tree each render, so a full reload is the right strategy — there's no HMR state to preserve.) Open the printed URL and click Play once to unlock audio.

Build

Requires the tish CLI (from the Tish repo).

npm run build    # tish build --target js src/main.tish -o dist/bundle.js
npm run serve    # static-serve the built folder (npx serve .)
npm test         # headless smoke test (deck round-trip, streaming, skills, permissions)

JSX is built into tish build --target js and lowers to Lattish runtime calls — no separate JSX flag. Click Play once to unlock audio.

Layout

Area	Tech
Transport, rack, mixer	DOM + CSS
Piano roll, scope	<canvas>

Reachability: src/main.tish → ui/App.tish pulls in model, audio, schedule, generators, @spacedevin/deck + src/deckfile/ (apply/emit/stream), and Lattish.

Co-DJ (WebSocket + actors)

Order: gateway → worker → browser.

Quick start

1. Tish CLI with ws (and for worker: http, fs, process). From the tish repo: cargo build -p tish --features full.
2. Terminal A — gateway:
   npm run gateway
   (listens on ws://127.0.0.1:35987; clients connect and send first message join with sessionId).
3. Terminal B — worker:
   npm run agent
   (or npm run agent -- --actor-id actor-1 --session default)
   • The worker buffers the host's streamed deck and, on debounce, snapshots it into one prompt, calls the LLM, and streams the real reply back as deck.stream_chunk → deck.block. Set GRADIENT_MODEL_ACCESS_KEY (DO inference; DO_MODEL / DO_INFERENCE_BASE optional) to enable it. Without a key it falls back to a built-in demo patch (euclid hat / fm bass) so the loop still runs offline. Direct messages are answered the same way.
4. Terminal C (or browser): run the app (npm run serve, open http://localhost:3456).
5. In the app: Co-DJ panel → Connect. Session should be default (same as the worker). You should see other actors when the worker is running.
6. Press Play. The app sends playing_start and streams the current project as deck.line to the gateway. The worker waits ~1.3s, then sends back deck.block (and deck.stream_chunk). The gateway forwards that to the browser; the app applies the block and you hear the new pattern.
7. Direct test: set Direct→ to the worker's actor, type e.g. euclid hi-hat, click Send test direct. The worker replies with a deck.block.

So: gateway + worker + Connect + Play (or Send test direct) is what makes the worker “work”.

Token stream demo (see docs/TOKEN_STREAM_DEMO.md): npm run token-demo — gateway + bot stream.

Specs: docs/WS_AND_AGENTS.md, docs/STREAM_PROTOCOL.md, docs/AUTHOR_TAGGING.md, docs/DJ_SKILLS.md, docs/CONTROLLER_PROFILES.md.

Web MIDI: note-on on MIDI channels maps note % 8 → channel index for temporary gain overlay (hear without committing deck).

Docs

Published (deckard.lol): https://deckard.lol/docs/ · /llms.txt · /llms-full.txt

Build locally with npm run build:docs (also runs as part of build:static / dev). Sources live in content/docs/ plus the canonical markdown under docs/.

In-repo:

• llms.txt — llmstxt.org index for agents in a checkout
• AGENTS.md — agent editing contract
• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md — overview, vision, subsystem map
• @spacedevin/deck grammar — canonical language
• docs/DECK_GRAMMAR.md — Deckard overlay (UI / ownership / clamps)
• docs/DECK_AGENT_GRAMMAR.md — co-DJ lane subset
• docs/GENERATORS.md — adding a new generator module
• docs/schema/project-v2.json — project shape
• docs/FL_STUDIO_GENERATORS.md — FL-style mapping
• docs/TISH_JS_BUILTINS.md — new for JS
• docs/LATTISH.md — Lattish hooks + h()

Upstream Tish changes

Deckard relies on Tish’s new support for the JS target (new AudioContext(), new Uint8Array(n)). Use a tish build that includes the new expression in the compiler.