Ship it

Exporting plugins

Run the setup check, pick your formats, build the plugin, and load it in your DAW.

For anyone ready to take their plugin out of Patchwerk and into a session.

Patchwerk builds real, native plugins on your own machine. Exporting takes your DSP graph and your designed UI and compiles them into formats any modern DAW can load.

Before your first export: the setup check

Patchwerk compiles plugins locally, which needs a few tools on your Mac. Open the app menu and choose Setup Check to see where you stand:

Cmajor SDK and CMake — these ship with Patchwerk and should already show a green check.
Xcode Command Line Tools — Apple's free compiler package. If it's missing, click Install, follow the system installer that appears, then click Re-check.

The Export… menu item stays disabled until every item is green, and the menu shows a "setup needed" hint if something is missing.

Note Plugin export is currently supported on macOS.

Setting your plugin's identity

Before shipping, open Project Settings from the app menu and check the plugin name, manufacturer, and version. This is what DAWs display in their plugin browsers, and it's the single source of truth — the export dialog reads it directly.

Running an export

Open the app menu and choose Export….

Pick your formats — all four are selected by default:

Format	Where it works
CLAP	Bitwig, Reaper, and other CLAP hosts
VST3	Most DAWs: Cubase, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Reaper, and more
Audio Unit	Logic Pro and GarageBand
Standalone app	Runs on its own, no DAW needed

Choose code signing. Ad-hoc signing is the default and fine for your own machine; choose Developer ID if you have an Apple developer certificate and want to share the plugin with others.
Leave Install to system on if you want Patchwerk to place the finished plugins where your DAW will find them.
Click export and watch the steps run: preflight, emitting the patch, generating code, building the UI, compiling, signing, validating, and installing.

The build also runs a quick audio smoke test on the finished plugin — it actually plays it and checks that sound comes out — so a green run means a working plugin, not just a compiled one.

If a step fails, the dialog shows which one and the reason from the build log. The most common fix is re-running the Setup Check.

Finding the built plugin

With Install to system on, plugins are copied into your user plugin folders, where DAWs scan automatically: Library/Audio/Plug-Ins in your home folder, under CLAP, VST3, and Components (for Audio Units).
Every export also keeps its output inside your project folder, in a timestamped folder under the project's build/export area — useful if you want to grab the files and move them somewhere yourself.
The standalone app version sits in that same export folder, ready to launch like any other application.

Loading it in your DAW

Restart your DAW or trigger a plugin rescan (most DAWs scan on startup).
Find your plugin in the browser under the manufacturer name you set in Project Settings.
Drop it on a track and play.

Tip Logic Pro validates Audio Units before listing them, so the first scan can take a moment. If your plugin doesn't appear, rescan plugins in your DAW's preferences and check that the format you're looking for was selected in the export dialog.

Updating an exported plugin

Changed your patch or UI? Just export again — the new build replaces the installed plugin. Bump the version in Project Settings when you're sharing updates with other people, so hosts and users can tell builds apart.