Build your own¶

The TBD platform is deeply hackable — you can build new audio code, new device-level apps, or whole new sound libraries on it, and develop / debug everything on your laptop with the desktop simulator before flashing real hardware.

The platform is open source (GPL 3.0). The audio engine compiles to both the ESP32-P4 firmware and the desktop simulator (~99 % shared code), so writing DSP doesn’t need a board on your desk.

Pick a path¶

There are three kinds of code you can write for the TBD-16. Each has its own complete section in the sidebar with its own catalogue, workflow docs, and tutorial.

Section	What you build	When to pick this
Apps	A device-level app on the RP2350 (bootloader, sequencer, UI, …)	You want to change how the TBD-16 itself behaves — boot flow, sequencer behaviour, the front-panel UI. Lives in C / C++ on the RP2350 side.
Plugins (legacy / standalone)	A Eurorack-style `ctagSoundProcessor` (CV / Trigger / Pot)	You want to write a single self-contained audio block: a synth voice, an effect, an oscillator. The 50+ existing plugins are all of this kind. Driven by CV / Trigger / Pot inputs from the WebUI’s `/ctrl` page; no MIDI. Most general-purpose audio work belongs here.
Machines (GrooveBoxRack voices)	A small mono DSP voice that lives inside the TBD-16’s MIDI-driven GrooveBoxRack instrument	You want to add a new drum, synth voice or sampler to the GrooveBoxRack — the rack engine handles level / pan / FX-sends / mixing and dispatches MIDI notes; you just write the DSP. 15 Machines ship today; this is the path most rack-style work takes.

Not sure yet? Read the :doc:`Plugins </plugins/index>` section first — it has the developer workflow (Quickstart, Simulator, Architecture, Build & Flash, Web API), and the :doc:`Quickstart <quickstart>` in particular has a side-by-side comparison that helps you decide between a Plugin and a Machine.

Machines build on top of the Plugins knowledge, so the natural reading order is: Plugins → Machines.

Tip

Just hear the device, not write code? Start at Get Started — that’s the play-the-instrument path, no laptop needed.

How to contribute back¶

Found a bug, want to upstream a plugin, want a Machine added to the official catalogue? Open an issue or PR on the ctag-tbd GitHub repo, or talk to us on the community channels listed under About / Community. The macro/preset/rack layer is GPL-3.0; a commercial licence is available — see LICENSE and CONTRIBUTING.md in the repo root.