Tools

BeatBax provides the following tools — they all share the same song grammar and engine, but each is aimed at a different use case:

BeatBax Desktop

The recommended client for authoring songs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Download an installer, or see the Desktop guide.

A no-install browser client at app.beatbax.com for trying the language, playing examples, and sketching songs. See the web-lite guide.

A command-line client for scripted, utility and headless workflows. Install with npm install -g @beatbax/cli, or see the CLI guide.

Feature	Desktop	Web-lite	CLI
Installer	Native platform installers	None — app.beatbax.com	`npm install -g @beatbax/cli`
New Song Wizard	Yes	Yes	No
Play songs	Yes	Yes	Yes — with limitations
BeatBax Editor	Full (CodeLens, command palette)	Syntax, completions, diagnostics	No
MIDI step entry	Yes	No	N/A
Native file access	Yes (File → Open / Save, recents, associations)	No (Save downloads a `.bax` file)	Yes (filesystem paths)
Instrument Imports	Yes. `local:`, `github:`, `https://`	Yes. `github:` and `https://` only	Yes. `local:`, `github:`, `https://`
Sound Chip Plugins	Yes	Yes (Pre-configured)	Yes
Export Plugins	Yes	No	Yes
Song inspection	No	No	Yes (`inspect`)
Sample conversion	No	No	Yes (`wav2dmc`)
Settings	Full Settings modal	Theme and toolbar only	CLI flags
Channel Mixer	Yes	Yes	N/A
Pattern Grid	Yes (Experimental)	No	N/A
Song Visualizer	Yes	No	N/A
BeatBax Copilot	Yes	No	N/A