From the first idea to the stage: write and arrange songs, plan stage and gear, build setlists and organize gigs – in one app. Everything before the DAW, and everything after the rehearsal room.
The song editor inside Stagecraft is Tabwriter: a modern, keyboard-driven tab editor in the spirit of Guitar Pro 5 that opens and saves .gp5 files.
Runs as a web app (works offline, installable as a PWA) and as a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux (stagecraft-desktop).
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| Web | faulterrorfailure92.github.io/Tabwriter/app/ – landing page one level up. After renaming the repo to stagecraft the address becomes faulterrorfailure92.github.io/stagecraft/app/. Installable as an app from the browser (PWA). |
| Desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux) | Download from the stagecraft-desktop releases, or run it from source there with npm run setup once and then npm run dev. |
| Local development | npm run dev in this repo → localhost:1420 |
Tabwriter and the band features work without an account. Signing in is only needed to share a band.
The home screen follows the way a song actually goes (⌘1–5 jumps to a step, ⇧⌘L back to the overview):
- Band – members, roles, contacts
- Songs – write and arrange in Tabwriter, song profile and lifecycle, idea library
- Stage & tech – gear and signal chains, stage plan, inputs, cables, parts list
- Setlists – songs and breaks, total length, variants
- Gigs – schedule, lineup, contacts, rider, fee and settlement
- Keyboard entry like GP5: frets, note values, rests, dots, triplets and effects (hammer-on, slide, bend, palm mute, …). Drums are entered on lanes.
- Two voices per track (
Q), chord names (C, suggested from the notes) and lyrics (⇧L, syllable by syllable). - Fretboard (⌘J): click to enter notes, scale helper (major, minor, pentatonic, blues, modes), chord library with diagrams.
- MIDI input from a keyboard or MIDI guitar (web version in Chrome/Edge).
- Multiple tracks: guitar, bass, drums and synth (General MIDI); solo/mute, volume, pan, tunings.
- Playback: loop, metronome, count-in, speed control.
- Editing: selection, copy/cut/paste, undo/redo, transpose, automatic bar reflow.
- Structure: repeats, alternate endings, Segno/Coda/Fine, D.C./D.S., sections.
- Arrangement: parts as blocks on a timeline (⌘B, block icon). Linked copies follow each other, blocks can repeat, carry comments, mute tracks or take a track from another part. Drag to reorder.
- Versions (⌥⌘S): save the current state with a comment, compare, restore.
- Lead sheet & rehearsal mode (⇧⌘E): sections, chords and lyrics; tempo, part loop, large text, stage view.
- Band: members with photo and instruments, logo, contact, social media and streaming links, crew and helpers.
- Songs: album, BPM, key, tuning, lyrics, linked score file, recordings and links, ideas (riffs, voice memos, text), band-wide to-do board.
- Stage & tech: signal chain per member, stage plan in metres with 45° rotation, input list, cables, monitor mixes, parts and packing list, technical rider and stage plot (Markdown texts).
- Setlists: drag & drop, breaks, dividers, notes, columns (BPM, key, tuning, length), time target with a warning at ±20 %, new setlist from a template, print/PDF.
- Gigs: schedule, setlist, lineup, crew, contracts and receipts, photo links, presale tracking (incl. import of the old Excel workbook), fee and payout, tours with totals.
- Calendar: gigs, rehearsals and days members are not available;
.icsexport. - Accounts (optional): sign in with an e-mail code, move a band to the cloud, invite members and guests by link, roles admin / member / guest. Band data and files sync between devices and members (entry by entry, the later change wins; works offline and catches up later).
- Open: GP3/4/5, GP (7), GPX, MusicXML,
.tabw. - Save:
.tabw(song with arrangement and versions) or.gp5. - Export:
.gp5,.gp, MIDI, WAV, PDF/print, parts (one track per page + lead sheet, ⇧⌘P). - Reaper: ZIP with one MIDI file per track, click track (WAV), tempo map and section markers.
- Band file:
.stagecraft(members, songs, setlists, gigs, gear, ideas including voice memos). - Data stays local: library, autosave with recovery and band data live in the browser/app storage. Bands moved to the cloud are also stored in Supabase and synced.
Requirements: Node.js 22+. The desktop apps (macOS, Windows, Linux) live in stagecraft-desktop, which includes this repo as a submodule.
npm install
npm run dev # web app at http://localhost:1420
npm run build # web build into dist/
npm run build:pages # GitHub Pages: landing page in dist/, app in dist/app/
npm test # smoke tests (first time: npx playwright install chromium)| Key | Action |
|---|---|
0–9 |
Enter fret |
← → / ↑ ↓ |
Previous/next beat / string |
+ / − |
Longer / shorter note value |
Space |
Play / pause |
C / ⇧L / Q |
Chord / lyrics / switch voice |
⌘B |
Overview and arrangement |
⌘E / ⇧⌘E |
All tracks / lead sheet |
⌘J |
Fretboard |
⌘L / ⌘K |
Loop / metronome |
⌥⌘S |
Versions |
⇧⌘L / ⌘1–⌘5 |
Overview / workflow steps |
? |
All shortcuts |
On Windows and Linux, use Ctrl instead of ⌘.
Web (GitHub Pages): push to main. The workflow in .github/workflows/web.yml runs npm run build:pages: the landing page (landing/) goes to the site root, the app to /app/. One-time setup: in the repo, go to Settings → Pages → Source and choose GitHub Actions. Netlify and Cloudflare Pages work too (see netlify.toml and public/_headers).
Desktop releases: built in stagecraft-desktop.
Backend (Supabase): project in the EU (Ireland). URL and publishable key are in src/cloud/cloud.ts (public by design; access is enforced by row level security). The database schema lives in supabase/migrations/ and is applied in that order. One-time setup in the Supabase dashboard:
- Authentication → Emails → Magic Link: the template must contain
{{ .Token }}, so users get a 6-digit code instead of a link. - Before inviting people outside the Supabase team: set up a custom SMTP sender (the built-in one only mails team members and only a few messages per hour).
Legal: Impressum and privacy policy live in src/legal.ts (German, opened via #impressum / #datenschutz and from About). Fill in address and e-mail in LEGAL before going public. No cookie banner is needed: the app only stores what it needs to work and uses no tracking.
src/
main.ts UI, keyboard, inspector, home, dialogs, playback, lead sheet, fretboard panel
editor.ts cursor, input, voices, chords/lyrics, selection/clipboard, bar operations, undo
model.ts score/track creation, presets, drum lanes
arrangement.ts parts and blocks, linked copies, track references
overview.ts tracks × bars overview with arrangement row
leadsheet.ts lead sheet rendering
chords.ts chord detection, chord/lyric helpers
fretboard.ts fretboard, scales, chord shapes
versions.ts song versions and diff
reaper.ts, zip.ts Reaper export (MIDI, click, markers)
midiin.ts MIDI input (Web MIDI)
gp5writer.ts GP5 (v5.00) writer incl. chords, lyrics, two voices
midi.ts, wav.ts, print.ts exports and printing
library.ts recent files + autosave (IndexedDB)
band/ Stagecraft: model, band/songs/setlists/gigs UI, ideas, stage & tech, rider, calendar, tours, account UI
cloud/ Supabase: sign-in, bands, roles, invites (cloud.ts) and band data sync (sync.ts); loaded only when used
tauri.ts desktop bridge: native menu, file associations, updater (used when running inside stagecraft-desktop)
i18n*.ts German (keys) / English
landing/ landing page for GitHub Pages
tests/ smoke tests (Playwright)
public/ fonts, soundfont, icons, licenses
supabase/ database migrations (tables, roles, row level security)
- alphaTab: notation rendering, playback, and file import (MPL-2.0)
- Vite + TypeScript
- Bravura music font (SIL OFL) and the Sonivox GM soundfont (Apache 2.0)
Third-party license texts are in public/licenses/.
- Subscription and free licenses, custom domain and hosting on Cloudflare Pages
- MIDI input in the macOS app (native plugin)
- Larger optional soundfont
- Song folder as library (e.g. iCloud)
- DAW plugin (VST3/CLAP)
MIT © 2026 Benjamin Auer
Bundled third-party components keep their own licenses (see above).