CMake Reference¶

Source: tools/cmake/PulpUtils.cmake

pulp_add_plugin¶

Status: usable

Create plugin targets for multiple formats from a single declaration.

pulp_add_plugin(<target>
    FORMATS         <format-list>
    PLUGIN_NAME     <string>
    BUNDLE_ID       <string>
    MANUFACTURER    <string>
    VERSION         <string>
    CATEGORY        <Effect|Instrument|MidiEffect>
    PLUGIN_CODE     <4-char>
    MANUFACTURER_CODE <4-char>
    AAX_PRODUCT_CODE <4-char>
    AAX_NATIVE_CODE <4-char>
    SOURCES         <file-list>
    PROCESSOR_FACTORY <function-name>
    UI_SCRIPT       <path>
)

Parameters¶

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
`FORMATS`	Yes	--	Space-separated list: `VST3`, `AU`, `CLAP`, `AAX`, `Standalone`
`PLUGIN_NAME`	No	`<target>`	Display name for the plugin
`BUNDLE_ID`	No	--	Reverse-DNS identifier (e.g., `com.company.plugin`)
`MANUFACTURER`	No	`"Unknown"`	Manufacturer name
`VERSION`	No	`"1.0.0"`	Plugin version string
`CATEGORY`	No	`"Effect"`	Plugin category: `Effect`, `Instrument`, or `MidiEffect`
`PLUGIN_CODE`	AU only	--	4-character AU plugin code
`MANUFACTURER_CODE`	AU/AAX only	--	4-character manufacturer code used by AU and AAX
`AAX_PRODUCT_CODE`	AAX only	--	4-character stable AAX product identifier
`AAX_NATIVE_CODE`	AAX only	--	4-character stable AAX Native identifier
`SOURCES`	No	--	Source files for the core object library
`PROCESSOR_FACTORY`	No	--	Factory function name (for generated entry points)
`UI_SCRIPT`	No	--	Path to a JavaScript UI entry file. Pulp passes it through to VST3, AU, CLAP, and Standalone targets via `PULP_UI_SCRIPT_PATH`. Scripted-editor loading is supported in those targets; live JS/theme reload is currently only runtime-validated in the Standalone macOS lane.

Created Targets¶

Target	Type	Description
`${target}_Core`	OBJECT or INTERFACE	Shared processor code
`${target}_VST3`	MODULE	VST3 bundle (`.vst3`)
`${target}_AU`	MODULE	AU v2 component (`.component`), macOS only
`${target}_CLAP`	MODULE	CLAP bundle (`.clap`)
`${target}_AAX`	MODULE	AAX Native bundle (`.aaxplugin`), macOS/Windows with developer-supplied SDK
`${target}_Standalone`	EXECUTABLE	Standalone app
`pulp-install-${target}`	CUSTOM	Copies built plugins to system folders

File Conventions¶

Each format target looks for an entry-point source file by convention:

Format	Expected file
VST3	`vst3_entry.cpp`
CLAP	`clap_entry.cpp`
AU v2	`au_v2_entry.cpp`
AAX	`aax_entry.cpp`
Standalone	`main.cpp`

Info.plist files can be provided per-plugin or generated from templates:

Format	Custom plist	Template
VST3	`Info.plist.vst3`	`tools/cmake/PulpInfoPlist.vst3.in`
AU	`Info.plist.au`	`tools/cmake/PulpInfoPlist.au.in`
AAX	generated	`tools/cmake/PulpInfoPlist.aax.in`

Format Availability¶

Format targets are only created when the corresponding SDK is available:

VST3: requires PULP_HAS_VST3 (set when external/vst3sdk/ exists)
AU: requires APPLE and PULP_HAS_AUSDK (set when external/AudioUnitSDK/ exists)
CLAP: requires PULP_HAS_CLAP (fetched via FetchContent)
AAX: requires APPLE or WIN32, PULP_ENABLE_AAX=ON, and PULP_AAX_SDK_DIR pointing to a developer-supplied out-of-tree AAX SDK
Standalone: always available

On Linux and Ubuntu, requesting AAX in FORMATS is a configure-time error.

Install Target¶

pulp-install-${target} copies built bundles to platform-standard locations:

Platform	VST3	CLAP	AU	AAX
macOS	`~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/`	`~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/CLAP/`	`~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/`	`/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/`
Windows	`%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%/VST3/`	`%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%/CLAP/`	--	`%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/`
Linux	`~/.vst3/`	`~/.clap/`	--	--

pulp_add_app¶

Status: partial

Create a standalone application target.

pulp_add_app(<target>
    APP_NAME    <string>
    BUNDLE_ID   <string>
    VERSION     <string>
)

Creates a basic executable target with compile definitions for the app name and bundle ID. Minimal functionality compared to pulp_add_plugin().

pulp_add_binary_data¶

Status: usable

Embed binary assets as C++ arrays.

pulp_add_binary_data(MyResources
    SOURCES   logo.png preset.json font.ttf
    NAMESPACE myresources
)

Generates a static library with:

namespace myresources {
    extern const unsigned char logo_png[];
    extern const size_t logo_png_size;
}

Parameters¶

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
`SOURCES`	Yes	--	Files to embed
`NAMESPACE`	No	`<target>`	C++ namespace for the generated symbols