Droider
Free VS Code extension for DROID

DROID patches without the guesswork.

Droider turns VS Code into an editor that knows every DROID circuit. Errors show up as you type, not as blinking LEDs. Every parameter is documented under your cursor, and every cable has its own colour. And when you're ready, one click puts the patch on your card.

Install free Read the step-by-step guide

Windows · macOS · Linux · Open source (MIT) · No account, works offline

A DROID patch open in VS Code with Droider: circuit inputs in blue, outputs in magenta, registers in teal and every internal cable in its own colour.
Why Droider

Stop debugging with blinking LEDs.

A DROID patch is a text file. Without tools, a typo only shows up once the patch is on the module. Droider catches it while you write.

Before

  • Write the patch in a plain text editor
  • Look up parameter names in the manual
  • Copy it to the SD card, eject, insert, press Load
  • The LEDs blink an error code
  • Find line 37 and guess what's wrong. Repeat.

With Droider

  • Circuits, parameters and cables autocomplete
  • The manual's docs appear when you hover
  • Mistakes are underlined the moment you type them
  • See the rack and the signal flow as you go
  • Click “Write to DROID”: written, verified, ejected
Video tour

See it in action.

Prefer reading? Start the guide →
Features

Everything the manual knows, right in your editor.

Droider ships with the documentation of every DROID circuit, so it can check, complete and explain your patch as you write it.

01 — READ

See inputs, outputs and every cable.

Inputs and outputs get different colours, so you can tell at a glance what feeds a circuit and what it sends out. Each internal cable gets its own colour too, so you can follow _CLOCK through the whole patch.

input output register _cables
Semantic colours in a DROID patch: inputs blue, outputs magenta, registers teal, each cable its own colour
02 — WRITE

Autocomplete for every circuit.

Type [ to pick from all the circuits. Inside one, you get its parameters with their type and abbreviation, without the ones you've already used. Type _ for the cables already in the patch.

  • Indentation and closing ] are added for you.
  • Registers come from the hardware you declared: P1.1 exists only if a controller does.
Autocompletion listing the parameters of the slew circuit
03 — UNDERSTAND

The manual, under your cursor.

Hover any circuit, parameter or register to see what it does: its type, default value, range and description. The descriptions are adapted from the official DROID manual (used with permission).

Hover documentation for the minifonion circuit
04 — CHECK

Errors before the card, not after.

Droider checks the same things the DROID master checks when it loads a patch, while you type:

  • Unknown circuits, parameters and registers, like O9
  • Cables that nothing writes, nothing reads, or that two circuits write
  • Writing to an input such as a pot or a button
  • Values beyond A * B + C, and lines over 63 characters
A misspelled cable underlined, and two errors listed in the Problems panel
05 — VISUALISE

Your rack, with your labels.

The hardware view draws your master, expanders and controllers, with the labels from your patch's Forge-style legend on every jack, pot and button. The legend itself is checked and autocompleted too.

Hardware view: the DROID master and a P2B8 controller with labels RATE, DENS, OCT, RESET, PITCH, GATE and ENV
06 — FOLLOW THE SIGNAL

The patch as a graph.

The circuit graph lays out circuits, cables and jacks from left to right, in signal-flow order. Attenuation and offsets are shown on each input, and clicking a node takes you to its line.

Circuit graph of the melody patch
07 — LOAD

One click to the card.

Insert the SD card and a Write to DROID button appears in the status bar. Droider saves the patch as droid.ini and reads it back to check it. Then it ejects the card safely, ready for the module's Load button.

Notification: Patch written and verified on DROID; card ejected safely.
The .droider syntax

Build bigger patches with megacircuits.

.droider files are DROID patches with two extras: megacircuits (your own reusable circuits) and free arithmetic on any input. Droider compiles them into a plain droid.ini that runs on any DROID, and checks the result before it goes to the card.

blueprints/randomnote.blueprint
# A megacircuit is your own reusable circuit.
# This file defines [randomnote]: a random note
# in C minor on every clock.

[input]
    # a new note on each clock
    clock
    # how far it can jump (1V = one octave)
    range = 2V

[output]
    # the note, 1 V/oct
    pitch

[random]
    clock   = clock
    maximum = range
    output  = _VOLTAGE

[minifonion]
    input   = _VOLTAGE
    degree  = 7       # natural minor
    select1 = on
    select3 = on
    select5 = on
    output  = pitch
melodies.droider
# Use your megacircuit in any .droider
# patch, just like a built-in circuit.
[p2b8]

[lfo]
    hz     = 4
    square = _CLOCK

[euklid]
    clock  = _CLOCK
    length = 16
    beats  = 5
    output = _RHYTHM

# Two melodies from the same megacircuit
[randomnote]
    clock = _RHYTHM
    pitch = O1

[randomnote]
    clock = _CLOCK
    range = 1V
    pitch = O2

# Pot 1 morphs from one melody to the
# other: arithmetic plain DROID can't do
[copy]
    input  = (O1 - O2) * P1.1 + O2
    output = O3

Reusable, documented

A .blueprint has named inputs (with optional defaults) and outputs. Comments become hover docs wherever it's used.

Any arithmetic

Use +, -, * and parentheses on any input. Droider rewrites them into the fewest native copy circuits.

Plain .ini out

Private cables are renamed per instance, so two copies never collide. The output is a normal patch, checked before it's written.

All in one place

Everything included.

Autocompletion

Circuits, parameters, registers, cables and label-legend entries.

Hover docs

Every circuit's description, and each parameter's type, default and range.

Live error checking

The DROID master's own checks, while you type, with a Problems list.

Rainbow cables

Each internal cable gets its own colour, and inputs and outputs are coloured differently.

Forge labels

The # LABELS legend is validated and completed, and shown in the hardware view.

Hardware view

Master, G8 and X7 expanders and every controller type, drawn with your labels.

Circuit graph

Signal-flow layout of circuits and cables, and click a node to jump to its line.

Megacircuits

Reusable .blueprint sub-patches, nested as deep as you like.

Write to the card

Detects the SD card, writes, verifies and ejects on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Get started

Ready in three minutes.

Never used VS Code? No problem: the guide walks you through every step.

Install VS Code

The free code editor from Microsoft, for Windows, macOS and Linux.

How to install it →

Add Droider

Open the Extensions view, search for Droider and click Install.

Step by step →

Open your patch

Open the folder with your droid.ini, or write your first patch with the guide.

Your first patch →
FAQ

Questions.

Is it free?

Yes. Droider is free and open source under the MIT license, with no account and no tracking. It works offline.

Does it work with my existing patches?

Yes. Open any droid.ini (or any .ini patch) and Droider checks and colours it straight away. Plain .ini files stay plain: the extra syntax only works in .droider files.

Which DROID hardware is supported?

The MASTER and MASTER18, the G8 and X7 expanders and all controllers (P2B8, P4B2, P10, S10, P8S8, B32, M4, E4, DB8E). Circuit data follows the blue-7 firmware manual.

Does it replace the DROID Forge?

No, they work well together. Droider reads and writes the Forge's label legend, so you can switch between the two. Droider is for people who like to work with the patch as text.

Will a .droider patch run on my DROID?

Yes, once it's built. The DROID only reads plain .ini, so Droider compiles .droider files to a normal patch and checks that patch first. Writing to the card does this automatically.

Does it work in Cursor or VSCodium?

Droider is published on the VS Code Marketplace. In editors that use other extension stores, download the .vsix from the GitHub releases and choose “Install from VSIX…”.

Is this official?

No. Droider is a community project, not affiliated with Der Mann mit der Maschine. Circuit documentation is adapted from the official DROID manual with the author's written permission.

Write your next patch with confidence.

Free for Windows, macOS and Linux. Search “Droider” in the VS Code Extensions view, or click below.

Install Droider Open the guide