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)

AI co-DJs are agents that write code: each one runs a small JS script against the codj.* API (docs/CODJ_API.md) — hooks that fire every bar/beat and on chat — and a Hypery-powered agent rewrites that script as the set evolves. The host publishes every change as deck, so each co-DJ always sees the whole room.

In the browser (no setup)

1. Run the app (npm run serve, open http://localhost:3456) or use deckard.lol.
2. Co-DJ panel → Log in with Hypery.
3. Add AI co-DJ (or Add script co-DJ to write the script yourself). Press Play; talk to it in the chat (@Name make the hats busier). Without a gateway the page hosts the co-DJs itself.

Headless (CLI / MCP)

1. Terminal A — gateway: npm run gateway (ws://127.0.0.1:35987; joins need a Hypery token unless the gateway runs with --allow-anon).
2. Sign in once: npm run build:codj-cli && npm run codj:login (opens a Hypery sign-in page; stored in ~/.deckard/credentials.json).
3. Terminal B — a co-DJ: npm run agent:client (Hypery agent + script), or run a script you wrote: npm run codj -- run examples/codj/hat-evolver.js. The script file hot-reloads on save, so Cursor / Claude can edit it directly; or connect them through the MCP server (services/mcp/README.md).
4. In the app: Co-DJ panel → Connect (session default) → Play.

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.

Testing

• npm test — JS-emit suites (tish build --target js + node) plus the architecture ratchet. This is the browser-DAW contract.
• npm run test:tish — native tish test on test/*.test.tish (language-semantics). Currently blocked on the Tish VM because product sources still reference JS undefined (works under emit+node). Keep the JS leg; do not treat VM pass/fail as emit parity.