Everyday Music

2026-09-19

Mode-Specific Tool for Music

Script Breakdown: `music-tools.sh` (Dedicated Music Mode Dispatcher)

This script manages application launching specifically for the Music operational mode in PlebMachine. Unlike the unified multi-mode template, this standalone variant directly defines audio-focused defaults (Audacity, LMMS, Mixxx) and handles execution based on the system state.

Key Functionality

Environment Initialization: Sets explicit display variables (DISPLAY, XAUTHORITY, and GDK_BACKEND=x11) to ensure GUI audio software launches correctly when triggered from hotkeys or background processes.
Mode & State Detection: Determines the operational mode string (music) from its filename and reads ~/.config/plebmachine/state.conf to check the current system state (AUTOMATIC vs. COGNITIVE).
State-Driven Audio Tool Execution:
- AUTOMATIC State: Instantly launches the default digital audio workstation (audacity) in the background (&) and exits.
- COGNITIVE State: Opens a GTK checklist dialog using zenity, presenting options for audio editing (Audacity), music production (LMMS), and DJ/mixing software (Mixxx).
Asynchronous App Spawning: Parses the pipe-separated selections, strips quotation padding, and launches chosen audio tools in the background without blocking terminal/GUI focus.

Dependencies

Core System Utilities

bash: Executable environment for variable expansions, conditional checks, and array splitting (read -ra).
grep, cut, tr, xargs: Parsers used to sanitise settings from state.conf.

Dialogue Provider

zenity: Renders the GTK checklist window in COGNITIVE mode.

Target Audio Applications

Depending on user selection in the dialogue menu, the host system requires the following music production binaries installed:

#!/bin/bash
export DISPLAY="${DISPLAY:-:0}"
export XAUTHORITY="${XAUTHORITY:-$HOME/.Xauthority}"
export GDK_BACKEND="${GDK_BACKEND:-x11}"

SCRIPT_NAME="$(basename "$0" .sh)"
MODE="${SCRIPT_NAME%-tools}"

STATE_FILE="$HOME/.config/plebmachine/state.conf"
if [ -f "$STATE_FILE" ]; then
    PM_STATE=$(grep -i "PM_STATE" "$STATE_FILE" | cut -d'=' -f2 | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]' | xargs)
else
    PM_STATE="COGNITIVE"
fi

# Music specific
DEFAULT_APP="audacity"
ZENITY_ITEMS='FALSE "Audacity" FALSE "LMMS" FALSE "MIXXX"'

if [ "$PM_STATE" = "AUTOMATIC" ]; then
    $DEFAULT_APP >/dev/null 2>&1 &
    exit 0
fi

CHOICE=$(zenity --list \
  --checklist \
  --title="PlebMachine Music Tools" \
  --text="Select music applications to launch:" \
  --column="Pick" \
  --column="App" \
  $ZENITY_ITEMS \
  --separator="|")

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    exit 0
fi

IFS="|" read -ra APPS <<< "$CHOICE"

for app in "${APPS[@]}"; do
  app="${app%\"}"
  app="${app#\"}"
  case "$app" in
    "Audacity")   audacity >/dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
    "LMMS")       lmms >/dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
    "MIXXX")      mixxx >/dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
    *)            echo "Unknown app: $app" ;;
  esac
done

Review — 2026-09-20

Review subject: Music Tools

Documentation review: Complete for the version currently preserved in this article.
Description: The article identifies the script’s role, execution flow, dependencies, and/or configuration where those details are available.
Code preservation: The code shown in this article has been retained as the reference copy; this review does not replace or rewrite the script itself.
PlebVox: None. Script/code articles in the PlebMachine Working Code Library are intentionally kept free of PlebVox markers.
Runtime verification: This repository review is not a substitute for running the script on the current PlebMachine test system. Runtime status should only be marked WORKING when the current installed copy has been tested successfully.
Maintenance note: If the installed PlebMachine implementation changes, this article should be reviewed and updated so the documented code, paths, dependencies, and behaviour remain aligned with the tested version.

Review date: 2026-09-20
Review scope: Documentation, code preservation, description quality, and PlebVox exclusion.