vvvv-startup

name	vvvv-startup
description	Covers launching vvvv gamma from the command line or programmatically -- normal startup, opening specific .vl patches, command-line arguments, package repositories, and key filesystem paths (install directory, user data, sketches, exports, packages). Use when starting vvvv, configuring launch arguments, setting up package repositories, or finding vvvv's data directories.
license	CC-BY-SA-4.0
compatibility	Designed for coding AI agents assisting with vvvv gamma development
metadata	{"author":"Tebjan Halm","version":"1.0"}

Launching vvvv gamma

Filesystem Paths

Location	Path
Install directory	C:\Program Files\vvvv\vvvv_gamma_X.Y-win-x64\
User data (AppData)	%LOCALAPPDATA%\vvvv\gamma\
Documents root	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\vvvv\gamma\
Sketches	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\vvvv\gamma\Sketches
Exports	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\vvvv\gamma\Exports
User packages	%LOCALAPPDATA%\vvvv\gamma\nugets
Log file (when enabled)	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\vvvv\gamma\vvvv.log

Preview builds use gamma-preview instead of gamma in the above paths.

Normal Launch

# Launch vvvv (opens with default empty patch)
"C:\Program Files\vvvv\vvvv_gamma_7.0-win-x64\vvvv.exe"

# Open a specific patch
vvvv.exe MyProject.vl

# Open multiple files
vvvv.exe --open "FileA.vl;FileB.vl"

Package Repositories and Editable Packages

These two arguments work together and are the most important for development:

• --package-repositories tells vvvv where to look for packages. Provide the parent folder of each package (the folder containing the package directory, not the package directory itself).
• --editable-packages tells vvvv which packages from those repositories to load from source instead of pre-compiled cache (read-only). Glob patterns are supported.

You must use both together when working on a package from source:

# Given this folder structure:
#   D:\Projects\
#     VL.MyLib\           <-- the package
#       VL.MyLib.vl
#     VL.MyOtherLib\      <-- another package
#       VL.MyOtherLib.vl

# The parent folder "D:\Projects" is the package repository
vvvv.exe --package-repositories "D:\Projects" --editable-packages "VL.MyLib*" --debug

# Multiple repositories (semi-colon separated)
vvvv.exe --package-repositories "D:\Projects;D:\SharedLibs" --editable-packages "VL.MyLib*;VL.SharedUtils" --debug

# Open a specific help patch for testing
vvvv.exe --package-repositories "D:\Projects" --editable-packages "VL.MyLib*" -o "D:\Projects\VL.MyLib\help\HowTo Use Feature.vl" --debug

Without --package-repositories, vvvv won't find your local package sources, and --editable-packages will have no effect.

Common Argument Combinations

# Development: debug symbols + allow multiple instances
vvvv.exe MyProject.vl --debug --allowmultiple

# Troubleshooting: skip cache, enable logging
vvvv.exe MyProject.vl --nocache --log

# Minimal startup: no extensions, no backend (fast launch for patch editing)
vvvv.exe --noextensions --disable-backend

# Paused on startup (runtime won't start until you press play)
vvvv.exe MyProject.vl --stoppedonstartup

# Skip splash screen
vvvv.exe --no-splash

For the complete argument reference, see cli-reference.md.

Detecting vvvv Installations

To find vvvv programmatically:

1. Windows Registry: Enumerate HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for subkeys starting with vvvv_gamma_. Read the InstallLocation value.
2. Default path: Scan C:\Program Files\vvvv\ for directories matching vvvv_gamma_*.
3. Version parsing: Extract version from directory name format vvvv_gamma_MAJOR.MINOR[-PREVIEW-HASH-PLATFORM].
4. Filtering: Exclude -beta, -alpha, -rc, -test, -dev, etc. variants if not explicitly requested.
5. Selection: Sort by major DESC, minor DESC, preview number DESC. Pick the latest and ask the user if that or another one should be used.

The executable is at <install-dir>\vvvv.exe.