Instructions for getting started are unclear

[jagthedrummer]

On this page: https://melatonin.dev/manuals/pamplejuce/getting-started/setting-your-project-up/

I got to step 7 and ran cmake -B Builds -G Xcode, which ran without throwing any errors, but there's no indication of what to do next.

[jagthedrummer]

After poking around I noticed Builds/PamplejuceTest.xcodeproj so I opened that in XCode.

When I hit the "Run" button in XCode it fails with the error "Command PhaseScriptExecution failed with a nonzero exit code".

I can't seem to find any way to learn more about the error. Clicking or double-clicking it does nothing. Right clicking on the error gives me a menu option for "Reveal in Log" but when I choose that option it does nothing.

[jagthedrummer]

I found the "Show the Report navigator" button in XCode which got me to a place where I could see more about the error. Unfortunately it doesn't really mean much to me, probably because I'm new to Juce, Pamplejunce, and XCode all at the same time.

Is this a problem with my local system, or with the configuration of my project somehow? Any tips would be appreciated.

[jagthedrummer]

Made some progress by going to "Project Navigator" => "Build Phases" => "Benchmarks" => "CMake PostBuild Rules" and then checking the box labeled "For install builds only"

After doing that clicking the "Run" button shows me a "Build Succeeded" notification, and I can see some activity in a console window at the bottom, but I don't get the sample app as shown on the "Setting up your project" page in the docs.

It seems like maybe it's only attempting to run Benchmarks, and not build the whole project?

[sudara]

I use CLion and not Xcode, but it's a good point that the docs should be a bit more explicit about how to get going locally.

For general JUCE/Xcode development errors, I'd suggest searching on the JUCE forum or asking people in The Audio Programmer discord.

Learning JUCE + Xcode is a big task and Pamplejuce brings along the kitchen sink, so there's going to be a lot to learn here.

Your last screenshot built and ran the benchmarks. You'll want to google how to switch the "target" you are asking Xcode to build.

[jagthedrummer]

Thanks for the tip, @sudara! And double thanks for making Pamplejuce! This looks like it's going to be a great way to manage plugin development.

After figuring out how to switch targets I've had some success and some troubles. Just going to document what I've run into for each target here in case it would be helpful to someone else, or so that they can be documented if possible/appropriate.

target PamplejuceTest_All

This target runs to completion and shows one warning. It wasn't immediately obvious that this produced anything useful. After expanding and reading the output of the process I saw some messages like this:

-- Installing: /Users/jgreen/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Pamplejuce Demo.component/Contents/PkgInfo

So I opened a new session in LogicPro and added an audio track. I found that the plugin was available under "Audio Units" => "Pamplejuce Company" => "Pamplejuce Demo".

When I opened the plugin I get the sample window, and the "Inspect the UI" button does what it says.

target PamplejuceTest_AU

This target initially shows me a brief "Build Succeeded" message, but then an error dialog pops up complaining about An executable path doesn't exist and The local path is "(null)".

Here's the body of the error when I click "Show Details"

An executable path doesn't exist.
Domain: IDEDebugSessionErrorDomain
Code: 8
Failure Reason: The local path is “(null)”.

LLDB reports that it doesn't exist. Check that the executable remains on disk.
User Info: {
    DVTErrorCreationDateKey = "2025-09-10 15:45:18 +0000";
    DVTRadarComponentKey = 343469;
    IDERunOperationFailingWorker = DBGLLDBLauncher;
}
--

Event Metadata: com.apple.dt.IDERunOperationWorkerFinished : {
    "device_identifier" = "00006001-001C18903489801E";
    "device_model" = "MacBookPro18,2";
    "device_osBuild" = "15.6.1 (24G90)";
    "device_platform" = "com.apple.platform.macosx";
    "device_thinningType" = "MacBookPro18,2";
    "dvt_coredevice_version" = "397.28";
    "dvt_coresimulator_version" = "993.7";
    "dvt_mobiledevice_version" = "1784.140.4";
    "launchSession_schemeCommand" = Run;
    "launchSession_state" = 1;
    "launchSession_targetArch" = arm64;
    "operation_duration_ms" = 3;
    "operation_errorCode" = 8;
    "operation_errorDomain" = IDEDebugSessionErrorDomain;
    "operation_errorWorker" = DBGLLDBLauncher;
    "operation_name" = IDERunOperationWorkerGroup;
    "param_debugger_attachToExtensions" = 0;
    "param_debugger_attachToXPC" = 1;
    "param_debugger_type" = 3;
    "param_destination_isProxy" = 0;
    "param_destination_platform" = "com.apple.platform.macosx";
    "param_diag_113575882_enable" = 0;
    "param_diag_MainThreadChecker_stopOnIssue" = 0;
    "param_diag_MallocStackLogging_enableDuringAttach" = 0;
    "param_diag_MallocStackLogging_enableForXPC" = 1;
    "param_diag_allowLocationSimulation" = 1;
    "param_diag_checker_tpc_enable" = 1;
    "param_diag_gpu_frameCapture_enable" = 0;
    "param_diag_gpu_shaderValidation_enable" = 0;
    "param_diag_gpu_validation_enable" = 0;
    "param_diag_guardMalloc_enable" = 0;
    "param_diag_memoryGraphOnResourceException" = 0;
    "param_diag_mtc_enable" = 1;
    "param_diag_queueDebugging_enable" = 1;
    "param_diag_runtimeProfile_generate" = 0;
    "param_diag_sanitizer_asan_enable" = 0;
    "param_diag_sanitizer_tsan_enable" = 0;
    "param_diag_sanitizer_tsan_stopOnIssue" = 0;
    "param_diag_sanitizer_ubsan_enable" = 0;
    "param_diag_sanitizer_ubsan_stopOnIssue" = 0;
    "param_diag_showNonLocalizedStrings" = 0;
    "param_diag_viewDebugging_enabled" = 1;
    "param_diag_viewDebugging_insertDylibOnLaunch" = 1;
    "param_install_style" = 2;
    "param_launcher_UID" = 2;
    "param_launcher_allowDeviceSensorReplayData" = 0;
    "param_launcher_kind" = 0;
    "param_launcher_style" = 0;
    "param_launcher_substyle" = 0;
    "param_runnable_appExtensionHostRunMode" = 0;
    "param_structuredConsoleMode" = 1;
    "param_testing_launchedForTesting" = 0;
    "param_testing_suppressSimulatorApp" = 0;
    "param_testing_usingCLI" = 0;
    "sdk_canonicalName" = "macosx15.2";
    "sdk_osVersion" = "15.2";
    "sdk_variant" = macos;
}
--


System Information

macOS Version 15.6.1 (Build 24G90)
Xcode 16.2 (23507) (Build 16C5032a)
Timestamp: 2025-09-10T10:45:18-05:00

In the XCode report the "Build" step shows that it ran to completion, and the "Launch" step shows an error.

It looks like I need to configure "Debug AudioPluginHost" somehow.

I verified that this does produce a plugin by doing rm -r /Users/jgreen/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/*/Pamplejuce*, then running the target, watching for the Installing... messages, and then adding the plugin to a Logic session.

target PamplejuceTest_AUv3

This target does exactly the same thing as the PamplejuceTest_AU target. ("Build" works, "Launch" fails.)

target PamplejuceTest_Standalone

This target builds and launches successfully, opening the demo window as shown in the docs.

target PamplejuceTest_VST3

This target does exactly the same thing as the PamplejuceTest_AU target. ("Build" works, "Launch" fails.)

target Tests

This target runs successfully and in the Console part of the report I can see test output.

JUCE v8.0.8
Randomness seeded to: 3163612701
===============================================================================
All tests passed (2 assertions in 2 test cases)

General suggestions about docs

It might be helpful to have a brief section describing what each of these targets is used for and what they produce. It would be useful to know when to use Standalone vs All vs AU for instance.

A page describing the general development loop would be helpful for knowing what to expect. For instance, here are some questions I find myself asking that I didn't immediately see documented. (Apologies if I missed something.)

• Should I make changes from within the XCode proect, or do I need to make changes in the "upper" project directory and then run cmake -B Builds -G Xcode again, and then build via XCode?
• Is most "normal development" possible via the Standalone target, or are there limitations to that compared to running the plugin within a DAW? Maybe there are certain "categories" of features that are easy to work on via Standalone and others that require the DAW?
• Is there any sort of "hot reload" feature for any of the targets or do I need to quit and relaunch Standalone/DAW each time I make a change?

A "Getting started with Papmlejuce on XCode" page or section would be nice for helping people to get their bearings. That page/section could document the "For install builds only" and "Debug AudioPluginHost" issues that I ran into above (whatever the real fix for those ends up being, I'll report back) and it could show how to change targets:

I hope some of this is useful in smoothing off some rough edges. Thanks again for Pamplejuce!

[jagthedrummer]

BTW, if there's a repo for the docs site I'd be happy to open a PR for any of this.

[sudara]

I'd be happy to open a PR for any of this.

Appreciate the offer! I actually moved the docs away from source control and onto my own site as it makes presentation and editing easier for me (and there wasn't much community contribution).

I hear what you're saying re: getting started generally.

The easy answer (from me) would be "well, that's all just JUCE/C++ 101, nothing to do with Pamplejuce" — but I hear you! In fact, I sort of envy being in your starting position, it's very clear where docs are missing, etc!!

Re: targets, the All JUCE target is a helper to build all of the targets. That means all of the targets specified by FORMATS in the CMakeLists.txt. The Standalone is just a .app on macOS and a .exe on Windows.

Re: "Launch" — If you want Xcode to launch an app (like a DAW to debug a plugin in) you'll have to specify that. It would be kinda tough for Pamplejuce to dictate that as it doesn't know your system, which DAW you have installed, etc.

Re: Standalone vs. DAW — most people find it's easiest to build and test the standalone until they need to test out specific DAW behavior OR if need to test things like closing and reopening the plugin editor. There's also the AudioPluginHost that comes with JUCE. I used to use that a bunch.

Re: hot reload. You'll need to recompile after each change — welcome to C++! It's one of the reasons I built the inspector that's bundled with Pamplejuce, that at least lets you inspect and non-destructively futz with UI....

[mbparker]

I'm on step 7 of the setup instructions, and I just get ./version:1:1: error: expected unqualified-id 20 times and then it gives up trying to compile. I'm using CLion on macOS Tahoe.

UPDATE: I was able to get it to work, but only after deleting the VERSION file from the root dir and hard coding the version number where it was used. It's not clear to me if it's a problem with this repo or not.