Live-coded Music Anywhere

NKIDO is an open live-coding music system. Featuring a friendly syntax, comprehensive documentation and a portable runtime.

Try it in your browser View on GitHub

Runs in your browser, your favorite game engine, microcontrollers (e.g. a $10 ESP32) or anywhere else your imagination takes you.
C++ 20 • MIT licensed • AI friendly

Try it here.

Pick a demo, click to play, then edit the code while it sounds.

Live-coding patterns

Akkado + Strudel-style mini-notation for rapid musical exploration.

95+ DSP opcodes

Oscillators, filters, reverbs, granular, vocoder, Karplus-Strong, and more.

Samples & SoundFonts

Load WAVs from GitHub or HTTP, play SF2/SF3 soundfonts straight from code.

Hot-swap preserved

Change code while it plays, no glitches or dropped notes.

Runs everywhere

Native, web, and ESP32. One codebase, any platform.

VS Code extension

Syntax highlighting, autocomplete, live diagnostics, and hot-swap from your editor.

Godot game-audio addon

Embed Nkido in Godot 4 for adaptive game audio with parameter binding and inspector UI.

Lightweight runtime

Cedar is a standalone C++ library, easy to embed anywhere.

Runtime parameter controls

Define sliders, toggles, buttons, and dropdowns in code, rendered as interactive UI controls in the web app.

Customizable web UI

7 preset themes, custom theme editor, and CSS variable-based theming for personalized workflows.

Instant documentation lookup

Press F1 to search a pre-built keyword index with links to docs for builtins, mini-notation, and concepts.

MIT licensed

Permissive open source, embed in closed-source projects.

Where it runs

Web IDE

Native CLI

Godot addon

ESP32

What's in the box

Every instrument, effect, and tool — straight to its docs.

82 sub-features across 6 groups

Effects

Lowpass

Resonant low-pass with q control.

lp(in, 800)

Highpass

Resonant high-pass.

hp(in, 200)

Bandpass

Bandpass with peak control.

bp(in, 1000, 4)

Moog

Four-pole ladder, classic warmth.

moog(in, 400, 2)

Sallen-Key

12 dB SVF with morphing modes.

sallenkey(in, 600, 3)

ADSR

Attack, decay, sustain, release.

sine(440) * adsr(trigger(2), 0.01, 0.2)

AR

Compact attack/release.

sine(55) * ar(trigger(4), 0.001, 0.2)

Delay

Beat-synced feedback delay.

saw(220)  |> delay(@, 0.5, 0.4)

Delay (ms)

Time-domain delay with millisecond control.

saw(220)  |> delay_ms(@, 300, 0.4)

Tap Delay

Multi-tap with feedback processor.

saw(110)  |> tap_delay(@, 0.375, 0.7, (x) -> lp(x, 1500))

Freeverb

Schroeder-style room reverb.

saw(220) * ar(trigger(2))  |> freeverb(@, 0.5, 0.5)

Dattorro

Plate reverb, lush mid-decay.

saw(220) * ar(trigger(2))  |> dattorro(@, 0.8, 30)

FDN

Feedback delay network, deep tails.

saw(55) * ar(trigger(0.5))  |> fdn(@, 0.9, 0.4)

Chorus

Stereo chorus, lush detune.

saw(220)  |> chorus(@, 0.5, 0.5)

Flanger

Swept short delay with feedback.

saw(110)  |> flanger(@, 0.5, 0.7)

Phaser

All-pass cascade phaser.

saw(110)  |> phaser(@, 0.3, 0.8)

Comb

Comb filter modulation.

noise()  |> comb(@, 1/220, 0.95)

Saturate

Tape-style tanh saturation.

saw(110)  |> saturate(@, 3)

Softclip

Cubic soft clipper.

saw(220)  |> softclip(@, 0.7)

Bitcrush

8-bit lo-fi color.

saw(220)  |> bitcrush(@, 8, 0.5)

Fold

Wavefolder for harmonic chaos.

sine(110) * 2  |> fold(@, 0.5)

Tube

Asymmetric valve warmth.

saw(110)  |> tube(@, 5, 0.1)

Smooth

Anti-aliased smooth distortion.

saw(220)  |> smooth(@, 3)

Tape

Tape compression and saturation.

saw(110)  |> tape(@, 4, 0.4)

XFMR

Transformer-style coloration.

saw(55)  |> xfmr(@, 4, 8)

Excite

Harmonic exciter.

saw(220)  |> excite(@, 0.5, 3000)

Compressor

Feedforward compressor.

saw(110) * ar(trigger(2))  |> comp(@, -12, 4)

Limiter

Brick-wall ceiling.

saw(110) * 2  |> limiter(@, -0.1, 0.1)

Gate

Threshold-based noise gate.

noise() * ar(trigger(8), 0.001, 0.05)  |> gate(@, -20, 10)

Sequencing

Sequences

Bracketed step sequences.

n"c4 e4 g4 c5"  |> ((f) -> sine(f) * ar(trigger(4)))

Polyrhythms

Stacked patterns at different lengths.

n"c4 e4 g4, c3 g3 c3 g3"

Alternation

Round-robin and probabilistic choice.

n"<c4 e4 g4>"

Modifiers

Speed, repeat, and chance operators.

n"c4*4 e4"

Microtonal Notation

EDO tunings and per-note micro-step adjustments.

Triads

Major, minor, dim, aug, sus.

c"C Am F G"

Sevenths

Maj7, m7, dom7, dim7, mM7, m7b5.

c"Cmaj7 Am7 Dm7 G7"

Extended

9ths, 11ths, 13ths, adds.

c"Cmaj9 Am11 D13"

Voicings

Inversions and spread voicings.

.voicing("open")

Notes

Chord notes as a dynamic array.

e.notes.step(trigger(8))

Clock

Master tempo source.

saw(110)  |> delay(@, clock() / 4, 0.4)

LFO

Bipolar low-frequency oscillator.

sine(220 + lfo(5) * 10)

Trigger

Edge-triggered gate generator.

sine(55) * ar(trigger(1), 0.01, 0.2)

Euclidean

Euclidean rhythm generator.

sine(55) * ar(euclid(3, 8), 0.01, 0.15)

Pattern Transforms

early, late, swing, palindrome, ply.

n"c4 e4 g4 b4".early(0.25)

Pattern Generators

binary, run, iter, iterBack.

run(8)  |> mtof(@ + 60)  |> saw(@)

Timeline

Sample-accurate parameter automation.

osc("saw", 220) * timeline("__/''")

n"c4 e4 g4 b4"  |> poly(@, ({freq, vel}) -> sine(freq) * vel, 8)

saw(spread(5, [220, 220.7, 219.3, 221.4, 218.6]))

Tools

Arithmetic

Add, subtract, multiply, divide, power.

add(sine(220), sine(330)) * 0.5

Unary

abs, sqrt, log, exp, floor, ceil, sign.

neg(sine(220))

Binary

min, max, mod, pow.

min(sine(220), 0.5)

Ternary

clamp, wrap.

clamp(saw(110), -0.5, 0.5)

Trigonometry

sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, atan2.

sin(phasor(440) * 2 * 3.14159)

Hyperbolic

sinh, cosh, tanh.

saw(110) * 3  |> tanh(@)