Studios

Save and restore complete patchbay configurations

A studio is a complete snapshot of your Jack session: parameter configuration, node positions on the canvas, active connections, and CLI client commands. Reload in one click to restore your exact setup.

Close-up on the STUDIOS section at the bottom of the sidebar

Studios section in the sidebar

Concept

Every time you build a patchbay — connecting your DAW to your interface, routing effects, organising clients — you can save it as a named studio. JackMate will faithfully restore all connections at your next session.

Note

Studios do not save the internal state of Jack applications (loaded plugins, VST parameters…). They restore only the connections between ports and re-launch CLI clients.

Saving a studio

From the Patchbay

Click Save as Studio in the Patchbay toolbar. A window prompts you for a name.

From the sidebar

At the bottom of the sidebar, a Studios section is always visible. Enter a name in the text field and click Capture.

Important

Jack must be running to capture a studio. The “Capture” button is disabled if Jack is stopped.

Capture studio modal

Capture / Save studio state

What is saved

Element Saved
Port connections ✓
Node positions on canvas ✓
Collapsed / expanded nodes ✓
Jack configuration (sample rate, buffer…) ✓
CLI client launch commands ✓
Internal state of Jack clients ✗

Detailed studio info modal

Info modal on any saved studio

CLI clients

JackMate detects CLI Jack clients (jack_metro, a2jmidid, and similar) by scanning the process table. Their full launch command is saved in the studio JSON and automatically re-launched when the studio is loaded.

Loading a studio

From the sidebar

Click the ▶ button to the right of the studio name. JackMate:

  1. Compares the studio’s Jack command with the currently running Jack configuration
  2. If different (or if Jack was started externally): restarts Jack with the saved parameters
  3. Re-launches any saved CLI clients
  4. Restores available connections
  5. Restores node positions
  6. Shows a result summary

A progress modal is displayed during loading and closes automatically when the operation completes.

Smart Jack restart

JackMate performs a full comparison of the Jack command (all parameters, options, devices) before deciding to restart:

Situation Behaviour
Same Jack config already running No restart — connections restored immediately
Different config or external Jack Jack stopped, restarted with saved config
Jack stopped Jack started with saved config

A 1.5 s delay between stop and start ensures system resources are properly released.

Load result

Case Behaviour
All clients present All connections restored
Some clients absent Available connections restored, missing ones skipped
Jack stopped ▶ button disabled
Tip

If a client is absent at load time (application not running), launch the application then reload the studio — JackMate does not require a restart.

Modification indicator

Once a studio is loaded, the footer shows its name with a modification indicator (orange dot) if the current patchbay diverges from the loaded studio — connection added, removed, or node moved.

Deleting a studio

In the Studios sidebar section, hover over a studio to reveal the trash icon. Click to delete. Deletion is immediate.

Save files

Studios are stored as JSON in JackMate’s Application Support folder:

~/Library/Application Support/JackMate/studios/
  my-studio.json
  live-set.json

These files are human-readable and can be backed up manually or versioned with your project.

Back to top