Add Linux GUI, audio, and LV2 plugin port by jopdorp · Pull Request #272 · dsharlet/LiveSPICE

jopdorp · 2026-05-07T09:13:20Z

Summary

Adds a Linux-focused LiveSPICE port alongside the existing Windows application instead of replacing it.

This branch introduces an Avalonia desktop editor, Linux audio configuration and live simulation support, a shared plugin core for Linux plugin experiments, and native LV2 plugin bundles with a GTK3 UI. The main Windows solution and Windows WPF/VST UI paths are intentionally left unchanged; Linux-specific projects live in LiveSPICE.Linux.sln.

Highlights

Adds LiveSPICE.Avalonia as a Linux desktop editor with schematic loading, editing, property inspection, waveform viewing, and live audio controls.
Adds Linux audio backends and configuration flow, including JACK-oriented device naming and a virtual audio mode for validation.
Adds LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests coverage for editor interaction, launch/open behavior, settings, audio simulation flow, plugin port behavior, and GUI parity checks.
Adds LiveSPICE.PluginCore and LiveSPICE.PluginLinux for Linux plugin-facing simulation/control logic without changing the Windows VST UI.
Adds native LV2 plugin bundles under Native/LiveSPICE.LV2, including an MXR Phase 90 plugin and a generic schematic-loader plugin shell.
Adds a GTK3 LV2 UI with schematic selection, discovered controls, Windows-style plugin presentation, knob scales/ticks/labels, and host smoke-test support.
Adds LiveSPICE.Linux.sln so Linux-specific projects can be built independently from the Windows WPF solution.
Keeps Windows-facing paths unchanged relative to the linux base after the final cleanup commit.

Validation

dotnet build LiveSPICE.Linux.sln --no-restore
Focused Avalonia tests for schematic interaction, settings, and menu-open behavior passed: 17 tests.
Native LV2 build/test/UI smoke/install flow passed with make -C Native/LiveSPICE.LV2 clean all test ui-smoke install.
Carla was able to load the generic LV2 plugin with carla-single lv2 https://livespice.org/plugins/generic.
Codacy analysis was clean on edited C# files where supported. .sln, .xaml, and .csproj files were reported unsupported by the configured Codacy tools.

Notes for reviewers

The Linux GUI/plugin work is intentionally additive. Reviewers can focus on:

LiveSPICE.Avalonia/*
LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests/*
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/*
LiveSPICE.PluginLinux/*
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/*
LiveSPICE.Linux.sln

The native generic LV2 plugin currently provides host-loadable state/UI plumbing and pass-through audio; full schematic DSP execution inside the native LV2 shell remains follow-up work.

The existing Windows WPF application and Windows VST UI are not part of this port and were verified unchanged against the linux branch for LiveSPICE.sln, LiveSPICE/, LiveSPICEVst/, MockVst/, and SchematicControls/.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds an additive Linux port of LiveSPICE alongside the existing Windows/WPF application: a new Avalonia-based editor, Linux audio backends, a shared plugin-core for Linux plugin experiments, a native LV2 bundle (GTK3 UI + example plugins), and a Linux-focused solution file. It also factors shared audio-simulation construction into Circuit.AudioSimulationFactory and wires it into the existing VST simulation path.

Changes:

Added LiveSPICE.Avalonia (GUI editor + simulation scope + Linux audio configuration, including JACK/PipeWire discovery) and LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests.
Added Linux-facing plugin components (LiveSPICE.PluginCore, LiveSPICE.PluginLinux) plus a native LV2 bundle under Native/LiveSPICE.LV2.
Added/updated solution and documentation for Linux/headless builds, and introduced Circuit.AudioSimulationFactory to unify audio simulation setup.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 54 out of 54 changed files in this pull request and generated 9 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
README.md	Documents submodule init and headless Linux build/run examples.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/README.md	Documents native LV2 bundle, build/test/install, and URIs.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/manifest.ttl	Declares LV2 plugin entries for MXR Phase 90 and Generic shell.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/Makefile	Build/test/install targets for LV2 plugins and GTK UI.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/livespice_mxr_phase90.ttl	LV2 metadata for the MXR Phase 90-style plugin.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/livespice_mxr_phase90.c	Native LV2 DSP + state save/restore for the phaser.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/livespice_generic.ttl	LV2 metadata for the generic schematic-loader shell + GTK3 UI.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/livespice_generic.c	Native LV2 passthrough shell with atom event parsing and state.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/livespice_generic_ui.c	GTK3 LV2 UI for schematic loading and discovered controls.
Native/LiveSPICE.LV2/.gitignore	Ignores native LV2 build artifacts.
LiveSPICEVst/SimulationProcessor.cs	Uses `AudioSimulationFactory` for shared audio simulation setup.
LiveSPICE.sln	Adds `LiveSPICE.Headless` project to the main solution.
LiveSPICE.PluginLinux/LiveSPICELinuxPlugin.cs	Linux plugin host using shared processor + Avalonia editor window.
LiveSPICE.PluginLinux/LiveSPICE.PluginLinux.csproj	New net8 project for Linux plugin experiment (AudioPlugSharp).
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/Wrappers/PotWrapper.cs	Wrapper for grouped pot controls with update tracking.
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/Wrappers/MultiThrowWrapper.cs	Wrapper for multi-position switches with rebuild tracking.
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/Wrappers/IComponentWrapper.cs	Common wrapper interface for interactive components.
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/Wrappers/DoubleThrowWrapper.cs	Wrapper for 2-position switch behavior.
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/Wrappers/ComponentWrapper.cs	Base wrapper supporting multi-section grouping.
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/SimulationProcessor.cs	Shared processor for schematic load + async simulation rebuild/update.
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/PluginProgramParameters.cs	State serialization model for schematic path + controls/settings.
LiveSPICE.PluginCore/LiveSPICE.PluginCore.csproj	New shared plugin/core library project references.
LiveSPICE.Linux.sln	Adds a Linux-centric solution for Avalonia + plugin experiments.
LiveSPICE.Headless/WaveFile.cs	WAV IO for headless processing.
LiveSPICE.Headless/Program.cs	Console runner for headless simulation (sine or WAV input).
LiveSPICE.Headless/LiveSPICE.Headless.csproj	New net8 headless executable project.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/WaveformWindow.cs	Simulation scope UI + live audio streaming integration.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/VirtualAudioDriver.cs	Virtual loopback audio driver for testing/validation.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/SchematicDocument.cs	Document model with undo/redo and dirty/external-change tracking.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/SchematicCanvas.cs	Avalonia schematic renderer/editor interaction layer.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/SavePromptWindow.cs	Unsaved-changes prompt dialog.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/PropertyInspector.cs	Lightweight property editor for selected objects.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/Program.cs	Avalonia app entrypoint and platform configuration.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/PluginEditorWindow.cs	Plugin-style editor window with overlay controls.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/MainWindow.cs	Main Avalonia editor shell: tabs, menus, edit commands, simulation entry.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/LiveSPICE.Avalonia.csproj	New net8 Avalonia GUI project with references.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/LiveAudioProcessor.cs	Live audio processing wrapper around `AudioSimulationFactory`.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/LinuxAudioDriver.cs	JACK/PipeWire discovery + JACK callback stream implementation.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/ConfirmWindow.cs	Generic yes/no confirmation dialog.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/AvaloniaAudioDrivers.cs	Driver discovery/aggregation for Avalonia build.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/AudioConfigWindow.cs	UI for driver/device/channel selection + test stream.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/AppSettings.cs	Persistent settings (recent files, window size, audio selection).
LiveSPICE.Avalonia/App.cs	Avalonia Application initialization.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests/SimulationAndAudioTests.cs	Tests for simulation factory, drivers, and live processing.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests/SchematicCanvasInteractionTests.cs	Tests for selection, move, wire tool, undo/redo, copy/paste.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests/PluginPortTests.cs	Tests for Linux plugin editor + state round-tripping and processing.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests/MenuOpenPathTests.cs	Tests for file URI path decoding and startup doc behavior.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests/LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests.csproj	New xUnit test project for Avalonia + plugin components.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests/AssemblyInfo.cs	Disables parallelization for UI-sensitive tests.
LiveSPICE.Avalonia.Tests/AppSettingsTests.cs	Tests settings persistence and recent file behavior.
GUI_PORT_PLAN.md	Updated plan/notes for cross-platform GUI work.
Circuit/Components/Resistor.cs	Adjusts resistor label positioning for rendering parity.
Circuit/Circuit.csproj	Adds package references needed by new functionality.
Circuit/AudioSimulationFactory.cs	Centralizes “audio simulation” solve/create logic (inputs/outputs).

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+install: all
+	mkdir -p $(PREFIX)
+	rm -rf $(PREFIX)/LiveSPICE-MXR-Phase90.lv2
+	cp -r $(BUNDLE) $(PREFIX)/
+


+    uint8_t buffer[4096];
+    lv2_atom_forge_set_buffer(&self->forge, buffer, sizeof(buffer));
+    LV2_Atom_Forge_Ref ref = lv2_atom_forge_path(&self->forge, path, (uint32_t)strlen(path) + 1);
+    if (ref == 0)
+        return;
+
+    LV2_Atom* atom = lv2_atom_forge_deref(&self->forge, ref);
+    self->write(self->controller, PORT_CONTROL_EVENTS, lv2_atom_total_size(atom), self->atom_event_transfer, atom);
+}


+static gboolean knob_scroll(GtkWidget* widget, GdkEventScroll* event, gpointer data)
+{
+    KnobControl* knob = (KnobControl*)data;
+    double delta = event->direction == GDK_SCROLL_UP ? 0.025 : -0.025;
+    knob->value = clamp_unit(knob->value + delta);


+    lv2:extensionData state:interface ;
+    lv2:optionalFeature lv2:hardRTCapable ;
+    livespice:schematicPath "" ;


+            wrapper = button.NumPositions == 2
+                ? new DoubleThrowWrapper(button, button.Group)
+                : new MultiThrowWrapper(button, component.Name);
+            buttonGroups[button.Group] = wrapper;


+            case MultiThrowWrapper multiThrowWrapper:
+                ComboBox comboBox = CreateOptionBox(new[] { 0, 1, 2 }, multiThrowWrapper.Position);
+                comboBox.SelectionChanged += (_, _) =>


+		{51F8BCEC-5C29-46BA-8448-06B516715840}.Debug|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Debug|Any CPU
+		{51F8BCEC-5C29-46BA-8448-06B516715840}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU
+		{51F8BCEC-5C29-46BA-8448-06B516715840}.Release|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Release|Any CPU
+		{51F8BCEC-5C29-46BA-8448-06B516715840}.Release|Any CPU.Build.0 = Release|Any CPU


+                RedirectStandardError = true,
+                UseShellExecute = false,
+                CreateNoWindow = true
+            };
+            using Process process = Process.Start(startInfo)!;
+            string output = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
+            if (!process.WaitForExit(1000) || process.ExitCode != 0)
+                return Array.Empty<string>();
+


+            JackNative.jack_connect(client, input[i].Name, JackNative.PortName(inputPorts[i]));
+        for (int i = 0; i < output.Length; i++)
+            JackNative.jack_connect(client, JackNative.PortName(outputPorts[i]), output[i].Name);


Stage 3: Avalonia GUI on macOS (adopt upstream PR dsharlet#272 + CoreAudio wiring)

Records the known problems in this fork, from the design and documentation adherence review, so they are not rediscovered. Each item is marked as originating in this fork or in upstream PR dsharlet#272, because the latter are worth reporting back rather than only fixing locally. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

ledogar · 2026-07-29T05:26:47Z

Not a maintainer — just a data point that might help this PR, plus some findings.

Your Avalonia port also works on macOS, essentially unmodified

I've been porting LiveSPICE to macOS (Apple Silicon) and evaluated this branch as a starting point rather than writing an Avalonia app from scratch. It went far better than expected:

LiveSPICE.Linux.sln builds clean on macOS arm64, first try — GUI, headless, plugin core and tests. The X11PlatformOptions in Program.cs is inert off X11 because UsePlatformDetect() picks the native backend.
The editor runs, loads schematics from the command line, and renders correctly. Here's an Ibanez TS-9 from Tests/Examples, rendered on macOS via your LIVESPICE_SCREENSHOT hook — component palette, symbols, values, pots, the lot.
36 of 39 tests pass when each class is run in isolation, including all 10 SchematicCanvasInteractionTests.
It merges cleanly with an independent macOS branch (Core Audio backend + a CLI player), no conflicts.

So the "Linux GUI port" label undersells it — it's a cross-platform GUI port that happens to have been developed on Linux. Might be worth saying so in the PR title/description, since that materially changes its value to the project.

A macOS audio backend drops straight in. AvaloniaAudioDrivers.Available() falling through to Audio.Driver.Drivers meant my Core Audio driver needed one ProjectReference and one line to force the assembly load — no changes to your code. That reflective fallback was a good call.

Things you'd probably want to know

Found while reviewing before adopting. All still present as of 4af7ef2:

The test suite hangs when run as a whole, and 3 tests fail even per-class. Each test class guards AppBuilder.Setup with its own class-local flag, but Setup is once-per-process ("Setup was already called"), and desktop SetupWithoutStarting never starts a dispatcher loop, so Dispatcher.UIThread.Invoke can block forever. Switching to Avalonia.Headless.XUnit — one [AvaloniaTestApplication] per process, [AvaloniaFact] on tests touching controls — got it to 41/41 in ~2s, headless, which also makes it CI-able without a display.
WaveformWindow.cs:221 posts to the Avalonia dispatcher from the audio callback, ~94×/sec. That's the one thing GUI_PORT_PLAN.md:176 explicitly rules out ("Keep audio callback code isolated from Avalonia dispatching"). Per callback it costs a closure allocation, a DispatcherOperation, a lock the UI thread also takes, and a run-loop wakeup — and the queue is unbounded while the UI can't sustain the post rate. A lock-free ring drained on a DispatcherTimer would fix it.
InteractiveComponents is enumerated under lock (sync) on the audio thread but mutated without it by SetCircuit/ClearSchematic from the UI thread. Loading a schematic while live — or the FileSystemWatcher firing on a save — throws Collection was modified out of the audio thread. A Volatile.Write-published array snapshot fixes this and also removes a per-buffer enumerator boxing (ObservableCollection<T> has no struct enumerator).
WaveformWindow.cs:190-193 solves and compiles twice on the UI thread — once at a hardcoded 48000, then again at the device's real rate, discarding the first — while audio is already running from line 192.
Minor: SimulationProcessor's bypass path uses Array.CopyTo (whole source array, ignoring numSamples, throws if input is longer than output) and writes only channel 0.

Happy to open PRs against your branch for any of these if useful — the test-isolation fix in particular is self-contained. My working versions are at https://github.com/ledogar/LiveSPICE if you want to lift anything; treat it as reference rather than something to merge, since it's tangled with macOS-specific work.

Thanks for doing this — it saved me weeks.

jopdorp · 2026-07-31T20:11:28Z

@ledogar yeah please do open those pr's! thanks for the find and fixes! :)

jopdorp added 30 commits March 12, 2021 12:59

create linux-compatible simulate.cs

4a5686a

created SimulateSimple

acc97e0

implemented simulate simple

b795a95

managed to get some simulation working

534c1f1

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into linux

010f063

Add headless Linux runner

49591b4

Add Avalonia GUI port checkpoint

90eb8b4

Add virtual audio configuration flow

0969481

Add live audio simulation mode

e035476

Open all schematic launch arguments

e5184cc

Add Avalonia editor interaction tests

1797f2e

Show named waveform output traces

6b4b035

Fix Avalonia menu open and schematic layout

9c9998e

Expand Avalonia coverage suite

328b12d

Add Linux plugin core and audio backend

b740084

Improve Avalonia plugin editor parity

016da0b

Add node probes to Avalonia scope

cd9f21e

Add expression inputs to Avalonia scope

32b82fa

Fix Avalonia Linux audio driver selection

6171d46

Clarify Avalonia audio configuration labels

5f99ea9

Prefer JACK names for Linux audio ports

5c3cec9

Add JACK live mode hardware test

95b2c5b

Strengthen JACK live mode hardware assertions

991f540

Wire Linux plugin GUI parity tests

48d8aa4

Add MXR Phase 90 plugin coverage

5aebc6d

Support default schematic plugin builds

1c9634d

Add native Linux LV2 phaser plugin

ebb9ea2

Add LV2 schematic state hook

fe96c94

Add generic Linux LV2 plugin shell

d030240

Add GTK LV2 schematic loader UI

1a6059e

jopdorp added 11 commits May 7, 2026 09:45

Show schematic controls in LV2 UI

d09240c

Style LV2 UI like Windows VST

3a9dc7e

Refine LV2 UI layout testing

ce36533

Set LV2 knob zero to top

706c339

Add LV2 knob scale indicators

d7fef8d

Refine LV2 knob tick scale

13aea24

Enlarge LV2 knob scale labels

7507f43

Fix Linux editor and LV2 label spacing

90adb18

Center LV2 knob label area

169712f

Split Linux UI into dedicated solution

04df018

Keep Windows VST files unchanged

3d03188

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings May 7, 2026 09:13

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of jopdorp May 7, 2026 09:14 View session

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This was referenced May 7, 2026

Builds for non-ASIO systems: MacOS (CoreAudio) & Linux (JACK Audio) #262

Open

.NET Builds for non x64 (arm64 cross-plattform) [possibly: native VST builds for MacOSX to support low-latency DAW integration] #263

Open

jopdorp changed the title ~~Add Linux GUI, audio, and LV2 plugin por~~ Add Linux GUI, audio, and LV2 plugin port May 8, 2026

Address Linux GUI PR review comments

4af7ef2

ledogar added a commit to ledogar/LiveSPICE that referenced this pull request Jul 29, 2026

Merge pull request #3 from ledogar/avalonia-gui

e5fbf73

Stage 3: Avalonia GUI on macOS (adopt upstream PR dsharlet#272 + CoreAudio wiring)

ledogar mentioned this pull request Jul 29, 2026

Keep the live simulation compiled and recoverable; unify hosts on PluginCore ledogar/LiveSPICE#4

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Add Linux GUI, audio, and LV2 plugin port - #272

Add Linux GUI, audio, and LV2 plugin port#272
jopdorp wants to merge 42 commits into
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jopdorp commented May 7, 2026

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ledogar commented Jul 29, 2026

Your Avalonia port also works on macOS, essentially unmodified

Things you'd probably want to know

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jopdorp commented Jul 31, 2026

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