Visual Studio Code + CMake based cross-platform template for developing a REAPER Plug-in Extension

A template for REAPER Plug-in Extension development using Visual Studio Code and CMake with presets. Developed and tested on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Requirements

Windows

Install Visual Studio with at least these components:

• C++ CMake tools for Windows
• Windows 10/11 SDK

macOS

Install Homebrew (also installs Xcode Command Line Tools), then:

brew install cmake git gersemi

Linux

sudo apt install build-essential cmake gdb git ninja-build

Setup

1. Install Visual Studio Code and Git.

2. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/your-plugin.git
   cd your-plugin

3. Install the CMake Tools extension:

   code --install-extension ms-vscode.cmake-tools

4. Open the workspace: code .

5. CMake Tools will detect CMakePresets.json and prompt to select a configure preset - choose the one matching your platform and toolchain (e.g. Windows MSVC x64 Debug).

6. Dependencies (WDL, reaper-sdk) are fetched automatically by CMake on first configure.

Important files

CMakeLists.txt and cmake/*.cmake

• Project configuration

src/*.cpp and src/*.h

• Source code

First steps

• Build with CMake: Build or F7. The plugin is installed to your REAPER UserPlugins folder automatically after each build.
• Start REAPER - the action (MyUsername: MyPlugin) should be available in the Action List (?).
• Triggering the action should print hello, world to the REAPER console.
• Switch between Debug and Release by changing the active configure preset (CMake: Select Configure Preset from the Command Palette or the Status Bar).
• Debug with F5. On first launch, edit launch.json and set "program" to your REAPER executable path, e.g. "C:/Program Files/REAPER (x64)/reaper.exe".
• VSCode C++ docs, Microsoft C++ docs, and the REAPER Developer Forum are useful resources.

Features

• CMake presets: configure/build presets for Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Dependency fetching: WDL and reaper-sdk are fetched with FetchContent during configure
• Version and build metadata: prepare.cmake reads version from git tags and records commit/branch in config.h
• Install step for REAPER: build output is copied to REAPER UserPlugins after build
• Tests: unit tests use GoogleTest with CTest
• Benchmarks: Google Benchmark target with JSON output for CI artifact upload and performance tracking over time
• Packaging: CPack config for .exe (Windows), .pkg (macOS), and .deb (Linux) installers
• CI workflows: GitHub Actions build matrix, tests, and formatting checks (clang-format, gersemi)
• Release workflow: release.yml creates version tags with semantic-release and uploads draft release artifacts
• Formatting: .clang-format config and CI checks
• Static analysis: .clang-tidy config with CMake integration
• Git hook: .githooks/pre-commit runs clang-format and gersemi formatting checks before commits
• Dependency updates: Dependabot updates GitHub Actions dependencies
• Signing/notarization: macOS and Windows code signing and notarization with CPack packaging and GitHub Actions
• Reusable project template: REAPER-specific logic is isolated and can be removed for non-REAPER targets; in toplevel CMakeLists.txt change project name, replace source files in src/ with our own, remove include(cmake/reaper-plugin.cmake), swap to add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME}), and start working on your own project!