plugindev — Claude Code skill for nih-plug audio plugin development

Battle-tested patterns for building audio plugins with nih-plug and egui in Rust. Distilled from shipping two commercial plugins.

What it covers

• Real-time safety (assert_process_allocs, permit_alloc discipline)
• Audio/GUI sync (atomics, try_lock, DisplaySnapshot pattern)
• DAW persistence (persist race gotcha and fix)
• Host transport (standalone vs DAW, host_ever_stopped)
• Voice pool (pre-allocation, age-based stealing, constant-power pan)
• Elektron-style sequencer (p-locks, pattern queueing, swing)
• Parameters (gain skew, smoothing, knob readback)
• egui editor (aspect-lock, double-click workaround, state versioning)
• Master bus DSP (compressor, saturator, limiter — RT-safe)
• Macro-knob compressor surface (3 musical knobs instead of 5 technical ones)
• Metering (atomic f32 round-trip, visual smoothing)
• Multi-stage distortion design (distinct-by-construction matrix)
• Testing (Goertzel fundamental extraction, drive=0 bypass, frequency response)
• Build, install, and DAW-specific gotchas (Renoise, PipeWire)

Install

Claude Code CLI

claude --plugin-dir /path/to/plugindev-plugin

Or clone into your plugins directory and reference from settings.

From GitHub

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/plugindev-plugin.git
claude --plugin-dir ./plugindev-plugin

Structure

plugindev-plugin/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json
├── skills/
│   └── plugindev/
│       └── SKILL.md          # Main skill (320 lines)
├── references/
│   └── patterns.md           # Deep-dive patterns (237 lines)
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

License

MIT