JackMate

JackMate

Start, configure, and patch your Jack Audio Server in a few clicks. A native macOS interface built for musicians and audio engineers.

Download Getting started Buy me a coffee

JackMate is a macOS app

This installer only runs on macOS. Download anyway?

JackMate is a macOS app

This app runs on Mac only — it can't be installed on iPhone or iPad. Come back from a Mac to download it!

Your download has started

JackMate is not yet notarized. macOS will block it on first launch. Here's how to open it anyway:

First, open the .dmg and drag JackMate to your Applications folder, as shown in the installer window. Then choose one of the methods below:

xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/JackMate.app

Open Terminal, paste this command, press Enter.

1. Try to open JackMate — macOS blocks it; click OK.
2. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down, click "Open Anyway".

"Right-click → Open" no longer works on macOS Sequoia and later.

JackMate is free and open source. Notarization requires a paid Apple Developer account ($99/year) — buying me a coffee helps make it happen.

What JackMate does

📷 Configuration view

Get started

Configure Jack
in seconds

Select audio interfaces, sample rate and buffer size. JackMate computes compatible sample rates in real time and generates the exact jackd command — no terminal required. Hog mode, channel selection, aggregate device support, and a live latency readout.

Explore Configuration

📷 Patchbay — active session

Connect

Patch visually,
like a pro

See every active Jack client and draw connections with the mouse — just like a hardware patch bay. Multi-select, group drag, Sugiyama auto-layout, and Connect All for bulk wiring in one click. Haptic feedback on ports and canvas edges.

Explore Patchbay

📷 Studios — sidebar list

Save & restore

Your sessions,
always ready

Save the complete state of your patchbay — connections, node positions, Jack config, and CLI client commands — as a named Studio. Load in one click. JackMate restarts Jack only when the configuration has changed, and relaunches every CLI client automatically.

Explore Studios

📷 Transport bar

Play & sync

Jack Transport,
front and centre

Play, pause, stop, and seek from the patchbay toolbar. Display position as BBT, timecode or frames — click to cycle. Set BPM and claim the Jack timebase master role to drive every connected DAW in perfect sync.

Explore Transport

📷 Menu bar popover

Always there

Jack in your
menu bar

JackMate lives in your menu bar. Start and stop Jack, load a studio, check the xrun count and current latency — even with the main window closed. A single icon, always within reach.

Explore Menu Bar

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Philosophy

JackMate doesn’t replace Jack — it tames it.

Jack is powerful but austere. Configuring jackd by hand, re-entering connections after every restart, monitoring xruns in a terminal… all of that disappears with JackMate.

The interface is intentionally dark, dense and precise — in the spirit of professional audio tools and modern development environments.

Screencast

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Requirements

	Minimum
macOS	15.0 Sequoia
Jack Audio Connection Kit	1.9.x (jackd)
Architecture	Apple Silicon or Intel
Languages	English · French · German · Italian · Spanish

Note

Jack must be installed separately. JackMate automatically searches for jackdmp or jackd in /usr/local/bin and common locations. If Jack is not found at launch, JackMate shows installation instructions (Homebrew or .pkg).