Offline • deterministic • agent-friendly

Make beats from the terminal—then diff, validate, and rerun them.

claw-daw is a terminal-first MIDI DAW designed for automation. Drive it with a TUI or headless scripts, export audio + MIDI + JSON, and keep everything Git-friendly.

No cloud. No accounts. Just fluidsynth, ffmpeg, and a SoundFont.

from-scratch — script, validate, export

# install (Linux)
$ curl -fsSL https://www.clawdaw.com/install.sh -o /tmp/clawdaw-install.sh
$ bash /tmp/clawdaw-install.sh

# sanity check
$ claw-daw doctor

# pick a SoundFont
$ claw-daw paths --soundfont

# write a new script (no template)
$ cat > tools/my_first_beat.txt <&lt 'EOF'
new_project my_first_beat 140
add_track Drums 0
set_kit 0 tight
new_pattern 0 d1 2:0
add_note_pat 0 d1 36 0:0 0:0:120 110
add_note_pat 0 d1 38 0:2 0:0:120 108
place_pattern 0 d1 0:0 8
export_project out/my_first_beat.json
export_midi out/my_first_beat.mid
export_mp3 out/my_first_beat.mp3 preset=clean
EOF

# validate + render
$ claw-daw --headless --soundfont /usr/share/sounds/sf2/default-GM.sf2 --script tools/my_first_beat.txt

Built for agent pipelines

If you’re wiring music generation into an agent workflow, claw-daw is optimized for:

Open source, automation-friendly

claw-daw is intentionally lightweight and predictable.

claw-daw doctor
claw-daw validate_project out/project.json
claw-daw diff_projects out/prev.json out/project.json
claw-daw --headless --soundfont <SF2> --script tools/run.txt

Deterministic by design

Same script + same seed → same beat. Great for iteration, A/B tests, and agent pipelines.

reproducible exports

One-shot building blocks

Use Drum Kits + 808 presets as first-class choices in scripts. Keep “sound” separate from “notes” so revisions are cheap.

set_kit / set_808 / set_glide

Genre Packs + novelty control

Offline prompt→script scaffolding with style presets (genre defaults) and similarity scoring so iterative attempts don’t collapse into duplicates.

prompt --max-similarity

Run your first headless render

Copy/paste these commands to generate a minimal project and export audio + MIDI + JSON.

claw-daw doctor
SF2=$(claw-daw paths --soundfont | head -n 1)
mkdir -p tools out
cat > tools/first_render.txt <&lt 'EOF'
new_project first_render 140
set_swing 14
add_track Drums 0
set_kit 0 tight
new_pattern 0 d1 2:0
add_note_pat 0 d1 36 0:0 0:0:120 112
add_note_pat 0 d1 38 0:2 0:0:120 108
place_pattern 0 d1 0:0 8
export_project out/first_render.json
export_midi out/first_render.mid
export_mp3 out/first_render.mp3 preset=clean
EOF
claw-daw --headless --soundfont "$SF2" --script tools/first_render.txt

Determinism scope (important)

Copy/paste prompt template

Make a 2:45 instrumental with a late-night, introspective vibe
(think Drake “Views” era, but original—no melodies from the reference).

BPM: 74. Key: A minor-ish (dark/ambiguous). Time sig: 4/4.

Sections (bars):
- Intro: 8 bars (pad + soft keys only, lots of space)
- Hook: 8 bars (add drums + 808/sub + simple top motif)
- Verse: 16 bars (strip the top motif, keep drums sparse)
- Final hook/outro: 8 bars (bring motif back, then fade)

Sound palette: drums sampler + 808/sub + warm pad + EP/keys + light bell/pluck.
Drums: snare on 3, hats quiet, occasional ghost snare, simple kick pattern.
Mix targets: mono low end, gentle reverb, smooth highs.

Deliverables:
- tools/views_style_v1.txt
- out/views_style_v1.mp3 (preset=clean)
- plus project JSON + MIDI

# Best results: prompt an agent, then let the agent use claw-daw like a DAW.
# (Optional helper for scaffolding)
# Styles act like "genre packs": hiphop | lofi | house | techno | ambient
claw-daw prompt --out views_style_v1 --prompt-file prompt.txt --iters 3 --max-similarity 0.92

What’s a SoundFont?
It’s a .sf2 file that turns MIDI notes into actual instrument audio. claw-daw uses it via fluidsynth.

Why do I get “command not found” after install?
The install uses a user-level bin directory. Restart your terminal, or add $HOME/.local/bin (Linux) / $HOME/bin (some mac installs) to your PATH. On Windows, run pipx ensurepath then restart PowerShell.

Is this a full DAW?
No—intentionally. It’s built for fast, reproducible sketches and automation.

How do I sanity-check my setup?
Run claw-daw doctor to verify fluidsynth, ffmpeg, and a SoundFont.

Get started

You’ll need fluidsynth, ffmpeg, and a SoundFont (.sf2). The installers below try to set this up for you.

curl -fsSL https://www.clawdaw.com/install.sh -o /tmp/clawdaw-install.sh && bash /tmp/clawdaw-install.sh

curl -fsSL https://www.clawdaw.com/install_mac.sh -o /tmp/clawdaw-install.sh && bash /tmp/clawdaw-install.sh

iwr https://www.clawdaw.com/install_win.ps1 -UseBasicParsing -OutFile $env:TEMP\clawdaw-install.ps1; & $env:TEMP\clawdaw-install.ps1

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y fluidsynth ffmpeg fluid-soundfont-gm pipx
pipx install claw-daw

claw-daw --version
claw-daw doctor

Prefer automation? Run headless scripts and export to out/.

What to expect (v1)