claw-daw

name	claw-daw
version	0.2.2
description	Offline, deterministic, terminal-first MIDI DAW (TUI + headless scripts)
homepage	https://www.clawdaw.com/
metadata	{"clawdaw":{"category":"music","emoji":"🦞"}}

claw-daw

Offline, deterministic, terminal-first MIDI DAW. Drive it from a TUI or from headless scripts, export WAV/MP3/MIDI, and keep projects Git-friendly.

Important: claw-daw is the workstation. When a user prompts an agent, the agent should use claw-daw like a producer uses a DAW: write/edit scripts, iterate on arrangement/groove/sound choices, and export artifacts. The user is prompting the agent, not claw-daw.

• Homepage: https://www.clawdaw.com/
• Docs: https://www.clawdaw.com/USER_GUIDE.md
• GitHub: https://github.com/sdiaoune/claw-daw

Skill Changelog

Unreleased

• Clean exports are now the default for prompt, pack, stylepack, headless preview, and package export paths.
• Added audio sanity gates to the quality workflow so preview and master renders fail closed on obvious hiss, rumble, DC offset, and clipped/transient artifacts.
• Tightened guidance for avoiding broadband noise, clicks/pops, harsh transients, aliasing-like whine, low-end rumble, hanging notes, and unintended tails.

0.2.1 (2026-02-06)

• Synced quality workflow guidance with repo refactor (claw-daw quality ...).
• Updated export_package examples to use <name> prefix form.
• Added gated render guidance for claw-daw pack ... --render.
• Updated stylepack flow wording to include gated final export.

Quick install (one-go)

Linux

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

macOS

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

Windows (PowerShell)

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

Run in Administrator PowerShell to install system deps (Chocolatey). If claw-daw is not found after install, run pipx ensurepath and restart your terminal.

Quickstart

claw-daw --version
claw-daw doctor
claw-daw paths --soundfont

# Render a headless script
claw-daw --headless \
  --soundfont /path/to/your.sf2 \
  --script tools/<unique_name>.txt

Tip: set CLAW_DAW_SOUNDFONT=/path/to/your.sf2 to make renders less verbose.

Output naming / overwrite prevention (MANDATORY)

claw-daw exports are file-based. If you reuse the same <name> / --out prefix, you will overwrite:

• out/<name>.mp3
• out/<name>.mid
• out/<name>.json
• out/<name>.report.json (stylepacks)

Rule: every new beat/song must use a unique output prefix.

Recommended naming convention:

• <yyyy-mm-dd>_<genre>_<bpm>_v<nn> (example: 2026-02-02_trap_150_v1)

When revising the same song: increment the version (_v2, _v3) and keep prior files.

Agent requirement: before rendering, the agent must check whether any of these files already exist for the chosen prefix and, if so, pick a new prefix (or ask the user).

Agent-first workflow (what to do, every time)

When tasked to make a beat/song with claw-daw, agents should follow this workflow.

Best practice (recommended): for best musical results, spawn music-only subagents (isolated sessions) and run them in a pipeline. If your environment does not support subagents, proceed as a single agent and follow the same steps.

Recommended subagent roles (use these titles)

1. A&R / Reference Agent

• Clarifies genre lane + era, BPM/key, mood, 2–3 reference vibes (describe only).
• Outputs: creative brief + bar-based section map.

2. Drum & Perc Agent

• Programs the signature groove + 2 variations + fills (every 8 bars), with swing/microtiming notes.
• Uses supported drum roles only.

3. Harmony & Bass Agent

• Writes chord loop + bouncy bassline (+ turnaround variation).
• Avoids bass pitfalls (no drum_kit on melodic tracks; minimal bass reverb).

4. Melody / Lead Agent

• Writes a sparse, catchy motif + call/response fills that stay out of the vocal pocket.

5. Arrangement Agent

• Builds the full song (2:30–3:10) from sections; adds drops, risers/impacts, and energy changes.

6. Mix / Polish Agent

• Gain stages + basic FX balance; exports master + stems; ensures drums/bass translate.

• Isolation reduces cross-contamination from prior tasks and tends to produce more genre-faithful creative decisions.

• The main agent coordinates handoffs (files + constraints) and handles packaging (exports, naming, docs/posting) + revisions.

When tasked to make a beat/song with claw-daw, agents should follow this workflow:

1. Pick a unique output prefix (MANDATORY)

• Use: YYYY-MM-DD_<genre>_<bpm>_v1
• If any out/<name>.* already exists, bump to _v2, _v3, …

2. Song Structure Research (MANDATORY for genre/era)

• Research structure + bar counts + tempo range
• Cite sources (or explicitly note when web access is unavailable)
• Save the blueprint into the working plan

3. Generate a solid v1 quickly (choose one path)

• From scratch (DEFAULT / full artistic freedom):
  • write tools/<name>.txt with patterns + clips
• Genre pack (ONLY if explicitly requested):
  • claw-daw pack <trap|house|boom_bap> --out <name> [--seed <n>] --attempts 6
• Stylepack (ONLY if explicitly requested):
  • Use when the user explicitly asks for “stylepack”, “scored iteration”, or out/<name>.report.json.
  • claw-daw stylepack <trap_2020s|boom_bap|house> --out <name> --soundfont <sf2> [--seed <n>] --attempts 6

Seed behavior for generators:

• Omit --seed on claw-daw prompt, claw-daw pack, or claw-daw stylepack to auto-pick a fresh seed for that run.
• Pass --seed <n> to replay the same generation deterministically.

4. Apply palette + groove macros (recommended quality lift)

• apply_palette <style> to set better GM programs + mixer defaults per role
• gen_drum_macros <track> <base_pattern> ... to create 4/8-bar variations + fills
• gen_bass_follow <track> <pattern> <length> roots=... to lock bass/808 to harmony
• arrange-spec <spec.yaml> ... to place sections + dropouts/fills deterministically

5. Render + export deliverables

• Always export: MP3 + MIDI + JSON
• If using stylepacks: ensure out/<name>.report.json is produced

6. Mix + QA (MANDATORY, streaming default)

• Prepare buses + mix spec: python3 tools/mix_prepare.py out/<name>.json --preset edm_streaming --mix-out tools/<name>.mix.json
• Optional section energy: python3 tools/section_gain.py out/<name>.json
• Validate mix spec: python3 tools/mix_spec_validate.py out/<name>.json tools/<name>.mix.json
• Preview gate: python3 tools/preview_gate.py out/<name>.json tools/<name>.mix.json <name> --preset edm_streaming
• Full export + metering: export_package <name> preset=clean mix=tools/<name>.mix.json stems=1 busses=1 meter=1
• Master gate: python3 tools/mix_gate.py out/<name>.meter.json --preset edm_streaming
• Stem gate: python3 tools/mix_gate_stems.py out/<name>_stems --bus-dir out/<name>_busses --preset edm_streaming --lufs-guidance
• Audio sanity QA: claw-daw doctor --audio out/<name>.mp3
• One-shot equivalent (repo CLI): claw-daw quality out/<name>.json --out <name> --preset edm_streaming --section-gain

7. Quality gates before sending

• Check: genre acceptance tests + avoid overwriting + listen to preview
• Reject the render if you hear or measure any of these unless the brief explicitly asks for texture:
  • broadband hiss / white-noise or pink-noise-like beds
  • clicks, pops, crackle, clipping, digital distortion
  • harsh transients, zipper noise, metallic aliasing/whine
  • DC offset, sub rumble, hanging notes, or unintended reverb/delay tails

---

One-shot features (agent-first)

When a user prompts an agent, the agent can use claw-daw for fast “one-shot” generation and revisions:

• Drum Kits v1 (role-based drums):
  • list_drum_kits
  • set_drum_kit <track_index> <trap_hard|house_clean|boombap_dusty|gm_basic>
  • add_note_pat ... <pitch|role> ... where role can be:
    • kick|snare|clap|rim|hh|oh|ph|tom_low|tom_mid|tom_high|crash|ride|perc|shaker
    • (hh/oh/ph are aliases for hat_closed/hat_open/hat_pedal)
• Native instrument plugins (offline render-only):
  • list_instruments
  • set_instrument <track_index> <instrument_id> preset=<name> seed=<n> <param>=<value>...
• Sample packs (WAV drum one-shots):
  • scan_sample_pack <path> id=<pack_id> include=*.wav
  • list_sample_packs
  • set_sample_pack <track_index> <pack_id|path> seed=<n> gain_db=<db>
  • convert_sample_pack_to_sf2 <pack_id|path> <out.sf2> tool=sfz2sf2

Drum rendering sanity checklist (prevents “crackling / not-drums” failures)

If drums sound like crackling/noise or “not drums”, it’s almost always one of these:

1. Unsupported drum roles

• Only use the supported roles above. Avoid ad-hoc roles like perc_low / perc_high.
• If you need more percussion, use perc, shaker, or tom_*.

2. Wrong render mode for drums (sampler vs GM drum channel)

• Default for reliable exports: render drums as plain GM drums on MIDI channel 10 (channel index 9).
• Sampler drums (set_sampler <drum_track> drums + set_drum_kit ...) are opt-in and may crackle on some setups.
• The renderer now defaults to a safe path (converts sampler drums → GM channel 10) unless you explicitly opt in to sampler drums.

3. Always do a 0–10s preview before exporting stems

• Render a short preview (export_preview_mp3) and listen specifically for: kick/snare clarity + hats not crackling.

Clean render policy (default unless explicitly requested)

Agents should assume the user wants a clean export unless they explicitly ask for lofi, hiss, vinyl, tape, dusty noise, crackle, grit, saturation-heavy textures, or other intentional artifacts.

• Default mastering/export path: preset=clean
• Default preview path: clean preview first, then add texture only if the brief calls for it
• Noise-heavy instruments and presets are opt-in. If you choose a texture preset, mention it in the changelog/notes
• Do not add reverb/delay tails to kick or bass
• Do not leave long tails, hanging notes, or clipped render boundaries in final deliverables

Clean export acceptance criteria

Before sending a beat/song, the agent should be able to say all of these are true:

• Preview gate passed
• Master gate passed
• Stem/bus gate passed
• claw-daw doctor --audio out/<name>.mp3 shows no serious mix sanity warnings
• No audible broadband hiss, white noise, pink-noise bed, crackle, clicks, pops, clipping, or digital breakup unless explicitly requested
• No obvious low-end rumble, DC offset, zipper noise, or metallic aliasing-like whine
• No hanging notes or unintended reverb/delay tails after the musical ending
• Kick, snare, hats, and bass all sound intentional and distinct in the first 10 seconds

Bass rendering sanity checklist (prevents “bass present in MIDI but inaudible” failures)

If bass notes exist but you can’t hear bass, check:

1. No drum_kit on melodic tracks

• drum_kit is for role-based drum mapping. Don’t set it on bass/keys/lead tracks.

2. Pick a bass patch that translates on small speakers

• Prefer GM synth bass patches (e.g. synth_bass_1) or layer some mid harmonics.

3. Keep bass FX minimal

• Avoid reverb on bass; keep it mostly mono/center.

4. Preview the low-end early

• Before stems/final export: listen to the first 10–20 seconds on small speakers/headphones.

• 808 presets + glide:

  • set_808 <track_index> <preset>
  • set_glide <track_index> <ticks|bar:beat>

• Genre Packs v1 (from-scratch, no templates):

  • script only: claw-daw pack <trap|house|boom_bap> --out <name> [--seed <n>] --attempts <n> --max-similarity <0..1>
  • gated render: claw-daw pack <trap|house|boom_bap> --out <name> [--seed <n>] --attempts <n> --max-similarity <0..1> --render --soundfont <sf2> --quality-preset edm_streaming --section-gain

• Novelty control for prompt→script iteration:

  • claw-daw prompt ... [--seed <n>] --iters N --max-similarity 0.85–0.95

• Stylepacks v1 (opt-in / explicit request): BeatSpec → compile → score → iterate → gated export → report

  • claw-daw stylepack <trap_2020s|boom_bap|house> --out <name> --soundfont <sf2> [--seed <n>] --attempts 6 --score-threshold 0.60
  • writes out/<name>.report.json

• Mix sanity gate (audio-level) is included in stylepacks scoring and will retry deterministically when it detects obvious issues.

• Sound engineering (MANDATORY for agents):

  • export_package <name> preset=clean mix=tools/<name>.mix.json stems=1 busses=1 meter=1
  • Presets + gates: tools/mix_presets.json, tools/mix_gate.py, tools/mix_gate_stems.py

• Metering (post-export QA):

  • meter_audio out/<name>.mp3 out/<name>.meter.json (LUFS integrated+short-term, true-peak, crest/DC offset, stereo correlation+balance, spectral tilt)

• Artifact QA (post-export QA):

  • claw-daw doctor --audio out/<name>.mp3 (adds mix sanity warnings for hiss, rumble, hot/clipped transients, and DC offset)

• Bus stems (quick deliverables):

  • export_busses out/busses_<name>

• Drum variations + fills macro:

  • gen_drum_macros <track> <base_pattern> out_prefix=drums seed=0 make=both|4|8

• Bass follower:

  • gen_bass_follow <track> <pattern> <length> roots=... seed=... gap_prob=... glide_prob=...

• Palette presets:

  • apply_palette <style> [mood=...] (uses track names to infer roles)

• Section-aware arrangement compiler:

  • claw-daw arrange-spec <spec.yaml> --in <project.json> --out <project_out.json>

• Acceptance tests (agent workflow): per-genre mini-gates in https://www.clawdaw.com/AGENT_PLAYBOOK.md

• Quality workflow command: claw-daw quality out/<name>.json --out <name> --preset edm_streaming --section-gain

Song Structure Research (required for genre/era requests)

When the user requests a beat/song in a specific genre and/or era (e.g., “2020s trap”, “90s boom-bap”, “2010s progressive house”), the agent must do this before writing the script:

1. Research typical song structure for that style using reputable internet sources.

   • Use web research when available.
   • If web access is not available, use an LLM/heuristics as a fallback and explicitly note the lack of sources.

2. Output a concise structure blueprint that includes:

   • sections (e.g., intro / verse / hook / bridge / outro)
   • bar counts per section
   • tempo/BPM range (and common half-time/double-time feel notes)
   • common arrangement cues (drops, pre-chorus builds, beat switch points, breakdowns)

3. Cite sources used:

   • If web research: include URLs.
   • If web access is unavailable: explicitly state that and provide a short rationale for why the structure is plausible.

4. Save the structure template into the working plan (the agent’s plan / scratchpad) so downstream steps (loop generation, arrangement, export) follow it.

Acceptance criteria:

• Structure includes sections, bar counts, and transitions.
• Output is genre-specific (not generic).
• Sources are recorded.

Agent Playbook (recommended)

If you’re building an agent that uses claw-daw, start here:

• https://www.clawdaw.com/AGENT_PLAYBOOK.md

Skill files

These are hosted for convenience:

• skill.md (this file): https://www.clawdaw.com/skill.md
• heartbeat.md: https://www.clawdaw.com/heartbeat.md
• skill.json: https://www.clawdaw.com/skill.json

Additional docs:

• Agent Playbook: https://www.clawdaw.com/AGENT_PLAYBOOK.md