CLI usage · Manual · Anode Labs

The Bitcrust Standalone binary doubles as a command-line interface. Run it with no arguments to open the GUI app; run it with a subcommand to drop into headless CLI mode — useful for scripting, CI, offline rendering, and preset validation.

The CLI is embedded in the same binary that hosts the Standalone plugin; there is no separate download or install step beyond the regular installer.

Invocation

The binary name depends on the platform:

macOS — /Applications/Bitcrust.app/Contents/MacOS/Bitcrust
Linux — bitcrust (in ~/.local/bin after bin/install.sh)
Windows — C:\Program Files\Bitcrust\bitcrust.exe

Examples below use bitcrust as a shorthand; substitute the full path for your platform (or add the install dir to your PATH).

bitcrust <command> [options]
bitcrust --help
bitcrust <command> --help

The top-level commands are:

Command	Purpose
`info`	Print build and environment information
`params`	List and inspect APVTS parameters
`preset`	List, inspect, validate, and diff presets
`render`	Render a preset to a WAV file (offline)

`info`

Prints the Bitcrust build version, JUCE version, plugin format support, sample rate / block size defaults, and other environment info. No options.

bitcrust info

Use it as a sanity check that the binary runs and reports the version you expect.

`params`

Lists every parameter exposed through the JUCE AudioProcessorValueTreeState (APVTS) — the same parameters the GUI exposes, the same the host automates.

bitcrust params [--verbose] [--group PREFIX] [--format text|json]

Option	Purpose
`-v`, `--verbose`	Show range, default, and display name alongside the ID
`--group PREFIX`	Filter by parameter ID prefix (e.g. `voice1_`, `fx_slot2_`)
`--format text \| json`	Machine-readable JSON or human-readable text (default `text`)

# Every parameter ID
bitcrust params

# Only VCO 1 parameters, verbose
bitcrust params --verbose --group voice1_

# Machine-readable for a scripted rig
bitcrust params --format json

`preset`

Works with factory and user presets. Has four subcommands:

bitcrust preset list     [--group G] [--tag T] [--format text|json]
bitcrust preset show     <name>     [--format text|json]
bitcrust preset validate <path>
bitcrust preset diff     <name1> <name2>

list — enumerate available presets, optionally filtered by group (Bass, Lead, …) or by tag (see the Tag vocabulary in Presets).
show — print every parameter value for a preset. Good for ad-hoc inspection or for piping into jq.
validate — load a user preset XML from <path> and report whether it parses, whether all referenced parameters exist, and whether its tags and group string match the controlled vocabulary.
diff — print parameter-level differences between two presets, handy when tracing “what changed?” between A/B snapshots or between two of your own saves.

# List leads, JSON
bitcrust preset list --group Lead --format json

# Dump one preset
bitcrust preset show "Classic Saw Lead"

# CI gate: fail if a user preset is malformed
bitcrust preset validate my-patch.xml

# Compare two factory presets
bitcrust preset diff "Classic Saw Lead" "PWM Lead"

`render`

Renders a preset to a WAV file offline — no audio device needed. Plays a note (or chord, or a supplied MIDI file), captures the output, writes the WAV.

bitcrust render -p <preset> -o <path> [options]
bitcrust render --all-presets -o <dir>  [options]

Input

Option	Purpose
`-p`, `--preset NAME`	Preset name to load (required unless `--all-presets`)
`--all-presets`	Batch mode — render every factory preset into `<dir>`
`--group NAME`	In batch mode, restrict to one preset group (e.g. `--group Lead`)

What to play

Option	Default	Purpose
`-m`, `--midi FILE`	—	MIDI file input (overrides `--note`/`--chord`)
`--track N`	merge all	Pick a specific track in the MIDI file
`--note NOTE`	`C3`	Single note, scientific pitch (`C3`, `F#4`…)
`--chord N1,N2,…`	—	Comma-separated chord, e.g. `C3,E3,G3`
`--velocity N`	`100`	MIDI velocity 1–127
`--duration DUR`	`2s`	Note-on length (s / ms / beats)
`--tail DUR`	`1s`	Post-note-off tail captured in the render
`--tempo BPM`	`120`	Host BPM used by the arp, sequencer, and MIDI

Output format

Option	Default	Purpose
`-o`, `--output P`	—	WAV file (single preset) or directory (`--all-presets`). Required.
`--sample-rate HZ`	`44100`	Render sample rate
`--bit-depth N`	`24`	`16` or `24` bit PCM
`--block-size N`	`512`	Processing block size

Parameter overrides

--param KEY=VALUE (repeatable) overrides an APVTS parameter for this render after the preset loads. Use bitcrust params to discover the keys.

Examples

# Quick audition of one preset at C3
bitcrust render -p "Classic Saw Lead" -o lead.wav

# A chord with more tail
bitcrust render -p "PWM Strings" --chord C3,E3,G3 --duration 4s --tail 3s \
                -o strings.wav

# Drive a preset from a MIDI file at 92 BPM, 48 kHz
bitcrust render -p "FM Sub" -m bassline.mid --tempo 92 --sample-rate 48000 \
                -o bassline.wav

# Override parameters on top of a preset
bitcrust render -p "Wobble Bass" \
                --param voice1_cutoff=0.7 \
                --param fx_slot1_enabled=1 \
                -o wobble.wav

# Batch-render every lead into a folder
bitcrust render --all-presets --group Lead -o renders/leads/

Batch mode is useful for building preset demo reels, smoke-testing after a DSP change, or producing A/B regression corpora against a reference build.

Exit codes

0 — success
1 — any error (bad flag, missing required argument, preset not found, output path unwritable, MIDI file invalid, validation failure)

Scripts can branch on $? / %ERRORLEVEL% for CI gates.

Tips

Pipe --format json output through jq for structured queries.
Pair bitcrust render --all-presets with a small post-process script to tag and organise renders into your sample library.
bitcrust preset validate is a lightweight pre-commit hook if you version user presets alongside a project.