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mikkeli c6f2f32fb3 feat: make VST3 an opt-in cargo feature

Cargo.toml declared Apache-2.0 while the default build linked vst3-sys,
whose bindings are GPLv3 — so the artifact a fresh clone produced could
not legally be distributed under the licence the repo claimed. A template
should not hand that trap to every project cloned from it.

NIH-plug already anticipates this: its `vst3` feature exists, in upstream's
own words, "mostly for GPL-compliance reasons". Taking `default-features =
false` and re-exporting `vst3` as a local opt-in makes the default build
CLAP-only and genuinely Apache-2.0 clean, while `--features vst3` remains
one flag away for anyone who accepts GPLv3.

Gating the feature rather than relicensing keeps the decision with whoever
uses the template. Reversing it is a one-line default plus removing two
cfg attributes, where relicensing to GPLv3 now would commit every
downstream plugin to that choice.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WHt4DykxXaQnyaJfyS8KCn

2026-08-29 10:24:33 +09:00

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NIH-plug Template

Minimal scaffold for new NIH-plug audio plugins (Rust + CLAP/VST3 + egui).

Based on patterns from musiikki/codename-206.

Quick Start

# Clone this repo as your starting point
git clone http://192.168.2.199:3005/musiikki/nih-plug-template my-plugin
cd my-plugin

# Edit: src/lib.rs, Cargo.toml, bundler.toml — replace placeholder values
# See musiikki/codename-206 for a real-world example of how to fill these in

Build

# Install Rust via rustup: https://rustup.rs
# No VST3 SDK needed — NIH-plug bundles its own bindings.

# Build + bundle the CLAP (default)
cargo xtask bundle nih_plug_template --release

# Add the VST3 as well — see the licensing note below before you do this
cargo xtask bundle nih_plug_template --release --features vst3

Output: target/bundled/<name>.clap (and <name>.vst3 with --features vst3), where <name> is the name set in bundler.toml — not the crate name. Out of the box that means target/bundled/Plugin Name.clap.

On Linux the egui editor needs the GUI development headers:

sudo apt install pkg-config libgl-dev libx11-dev libxcursor-dev libxcb1-dev \
    libxcb-icccm4-dev libxcb-dri2-0-dev libx11-xcb-dev libxkbcommon-dev libxkbcommon-x11-dev

Deploy

FL Studio

Build with --features vst3 first if you want the VST3 (see the licensing note below).

FL Studio scans C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 by default, ignores directory junctions (so a symlinked bundle is invisible to its scanner), and caches failed scans.

Copy the .vst3 bundle to a folder FL scans (e.g. C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3).
Copy the .clap bundle to a folder FL scans (e.g. C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP).
In FL Studio: Options → Manage plugins → tick "Rescan previously failed plugins" → Find installed plugins, then search for your plugin name (set in bundler.toml).

Linux

# CLAP
cp -r "target/bundled/Plugin Name.clap" ~/.clap/

# VST3 (only exists if you built with --features vst3)
cp -r "target/bundled/Plugin Name.vst3" ~/.vst3/

# Or globally:
# sudo cp -r "target/bundled/Plugin Name.clap" /usr/lib/clap/
# sudo cp -r "target/bundled/Plugin Name.vst3" /usr/lib/vst3/

Project Structure

Cargo.toml          # Package deps + the opt-in `vst3` feature — NIH-plug pinned to codename-206's rev
bundler.toml        # Bundle name for `cargo xtask bundle`
src/lib.rs          # Plugin skeleton — params, DSP, and egui editor, with one example gain param
xtask/              # Bundler xtask (cargo xtask bundle)
.cargo/config.toml  # xtask alias

License

Apache-2.0

VST3 Licensing Note

NIH-plug's VST3 bindings (vst3-sys) are GPLv3. Linking them makes the resulting binary GPLv3 regardless of what Cargo.toml declares, so VST3 is behind an opt-in vst3 feature and this template builds CLAP only by default. That keeps the default build consistent with the Apache-2.0 licence in Cargo.toml/LICENSE.

If you want to ship a VST3:

Build with --features vst3.
Relicense your plugin as GPLv3 (or obtain a commercial Steinberg licence) and update Cargo.toml, LICENSE, and the SPDX headers in src/.
Accept Steinberg's VST3 SDK licence.

CLAP has no such restriction.

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