hise-cli

Official command-line interface for HISE — a modal REPL and automation tool for building audio plugins.

What it does

hise-cli connects to a running HISE instance and gives you a fast, modal shell for editing modules, UI, scriptnode graphs, and HiseScript without leaving the terminal. Guided wizards cover the longer chores (HISE setup, plugin export, network compilation, audio rendering, installer packaging), and every command also runs one-shot from your shell with structured JSON output — so the same tool drives interactive workflows, CI pipelines, and LLM agents.

Install

Standalone binary (no Node.js required)

macOS (universal, Apple Silicon + Intel — signed + notarized):

curl -fsSL -o /tmp/hise-cli.pkg https://github.com/christophhart/hise-cli/releases/latest/download/hise-cli.pkg \
  && sudo installer -pkg /tmp/hise-cli.pkg -target /

Installs to /usr/local/bin/hise-cli (already on PATH).

Windows (PowerShell, x64):

irm https://github.com/christophhart/hise-cli/releases/latest/download/hise-cli-setup.exe -OutFile $env:TEMP\hise-cli-setup.exe
& $env:TEMP\hise-cli-setup.exe /VERYSILENT /NORESTART

Per-user install (no UAC). Adds hise-cli to your PATH. Open a new shell after install so the updated PATH is picked up.

Linux (via npm)

npm i -g @hise/cli
hise-cli

Or run without installing: npx @hise/cli.

Get HISE building on your machine — /setup

If you've never compiled HISE from source, this is your starting line. The /setup wizard is a fully automated replacement for the manual toolchain setup that has historically blocked new HISE developers — it detects what your system already has, installs only what's missing, then clones, configures, and builds HISE end-to-end.

hise-cli              # then
> /setup

What the wizard takes care of for you:

• Platform compiler toolchain (Xcode CLT on macOS, Visual Studio Build Tools on Windows, gcc/clang + dev headers on Linux)
• Optional tools: IPP (Windows), Faust
• Projucer (downloaded and built automatically)
• HISE source clone with the right submodules and branch
• First full build + smoke test that the resulting binary launches

Each step is detected idempotently — re-running /setup after a partial failure resumes from where it stopped instead of starting over. Pair with /update to pull the latest CI-green develop commit and rebuild whenever you want a fresh HISE.

Quickstart

hise-cli                              # launch the interactive REPL

Inside the REPL:

/help                                 # list every mode and wizard
/setup                                # build HISE from source (see above)
/builder                              # enter a mode
/wizard plugin_export                 # run a guided workflow

Run any mode command one-shot from your shell (JSON output by default, --pretty for terminal-friendly text):

hise-cli -builder "show tree"
hise-cli -script "Engine.getSampleRate()"
hise-cli -wizard run plugin_export --answers '{"projectType":"Instrument"}'

Connects to HISE at http://127.0.0.1:1900 (REST API must be enabled in HISE settings). Add --mock to test without a running HISE.

Feature catalog

REPL modes

Each mode has its own grammar, tab completion, and /help text. Enter with /<mode> (TUI) or run one-shot with hise-cli -<mode> "<command>".

Mode	What you do
/builder	Add, remove, move, clone modules in the signal chain; set parameters
/ui	Add, configure, reparent UI components (sliders, buttons, panels, …)
/dsp	Edit Scriptnode graphs — add nodes, connect modulation, set parameters
/script	Live HiseScript REPL with API completion and console capture
/project	Project lifecycle — list, switch, save/load, settings, preprocessor defines
/sequence	Compose and play timed MIDI sequences for synth testing
/inspect	Runtime monitor — HISE version, current project, processors
/assets	Install, manage, and publish HISE asset packages (store + local sources)
/undo	Undo/redo navigation, plan groups for atomic multi-step edits
/hise	Control the HISE process — launch, shutdown, screenshot, profile, playground
/publish	Build and sign installer packages from compiled binaries
/export	Export targets and build artifacts

Wizards

Multi-step guided workflows. Same definition serves the TUI (inline form) and the CLI (hise-cli -wizard run <id> --answers '{…}').

Wizard	What it does
setup	Featured above — fully automated HISE-from-source bootstrap (toolchain + Projucer + clone + build)
update	Pull latest CI-green develop commit and rebuild HISE
new_project	Create a HISE project from template (empty / HXI import / Rhapsody)
plugin_export	Compile project as VST3 / AU / AAX plugin or standalone
compile_networks	Compile Scriptnode networks to a C++ DLL
recompile	F5-style recompile with optional cache clearing
audio_export	Render audio output to WAV (realtime or offline)
install_package_maker	Author an installable asset package from the current project
build_installer	Sign and package binaries into platform installers

Automation & integrations

• Structured JSON output — every one-shot command emits { ok, result, logs, errors }. Exit code 0 on success, 1 on error. Designed for CI pipelines and LLM agents.
• .hsc test scripts — write multi-step scenarios with /builder, /script, and /expect assertions. Run with hise-cli --run script.hsc [--mock] [--dry-run] [--verbosity=…].
• --mock mode — exercise commands and tests without a running HISE instance.
• hise-cli update — self-update to the latest signed/notarized GitHub release.
• HiseScript diagnostics — hise-cli diagnose <file.js> runs the shadow parser and emits errors as JSON or pretty text. Plugs into Claude Code as a post-edit hook (see below).

HiseScript diagnostics in Claude Code

hise-cli diagnose doubles as a lightweight LSP — wire it into Claude Code so script errors surface after every file edit.

1. Create ~/.claude/hise-lsp.sh:

#!/bin/bash
INPUT=$(cat)
FILE=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.tool_input.file_path // empty')
if [[ "$FILE" == */Scripts/*.js ]]; then
  DIAG=$(hise-cli diagnose "$FILE" --format=pretty --errors-only 2>&1)
  if [ -n "$DIAG" ]; then
    echo "" >&2
    echo "$DIAG" >&2
    exit 2
  fi
fi

2. Add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Edit|Write",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "bash ~/.claude/hise-lsp.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

HISE must be running with the project open. Scripts must be included in a ScriptProcessor and compiled at least once for diagnostics to work.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+ (only for the npm install path; the standalone binary has none)
• A running HISE instance with the REST API enabled (default port 1900)

License

MIT