ProGain — JUCE VST/AU/Standalone Boilerplate

A small, real‑time‑safe JUCE plugin boilerplate focused on clean separation between audio, UI, and infrastructure. The default example is a simple gain/trim plugin with a peak meter and optional SQLite‑backed presets.

Highlights

• JUCE pulled via CPM (no manual install)
• Plugin formats: VST3, AU, Standalone (AAX optional)
• Real‑time audio thread rules enforced by design
• Beginner‑friendly parameter registry (single source of truth)
• Optional presets stored in SQLite
• Optional integrations: Skia UI backend, GPU Audio SDK

Requirements

• CMake 3.20+
• C++17 compiler
• Git (for CPM to fetch JUCE)

Optional dependencies (only if enabled):

• SQLite3 development package
• Skia SDK
• GPU Audio SDK
• AAX SDK (for AAX builds)

Quick Start

Configure and build with CMake:

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build

CMake Options

• -DUSE_AAX=ON — enable AAX (requires AAX SDK)
• -DUSE_SKIA=ON -DSKIA_SDK_PATH=/path/to/skia — enable Skia UI backend
• -DUSE_GPU_AUDIO_SDK=ON -DGPU_AUDIO_SDK_PATH=/path/to/sdk — enable GPU Audio SDK
• -DUSE_SQLITE=OFF — disable SQLite presets (enabled by default)

Notes:

• If USE_SQLITE=ON but SQLite3 is not found, presets are disabled automatically at configure time.

Project Structure

assets/                 # SVGs, PNGs, fonts, IR samples
cmake/                  # Build logic (CPM, helpers)
docs/                   # Guides: setup, parameters, presets, stack
scripts/                # Deployment/signing scripts (macOS)
src/
  infra/                # Adapters + platform IO (parameters, presets)
  kernel/               # Real‑time DSP core (planned)
  modules/              # Domain logic (planned)
  ui/                   # UI components (planned)
tests/                  # Offline DSP rendering + benchmarks

Parameter System

Parameters live in src/infra/parameters/ParameterRegistry.* and are the single source of truth for:

• processor access (getRawParameterValue())
• UI bindings (APVTS attachments)
• presets

See docs/parameter-system.md for a beginner‑friendly walkthrough.

Presets (SQLite)

When USE_SQLITE=ON, presets are stored in a single SQLite database file under the user application data directory: AbeAudio/ProGain/presets.db.

See docs/presets.md for the schema and API.

Real‑Time Safety Rules

• No allocation, logging, file I/O, or locks on the audio thread.
• UI work stays on the UI thread.
• Parameters are accessed atomically.

Documentation

• docs/setup.md — build options and setup
• docs/parameter-system.md — parameter registry guide
• docs/presets.md — SQLite preset storage
• docs/stack.md — tech stack overview

Version

Current version: 0.1.0

License

License has not been specified yet.