Your First Project

So far you’ve been evaluating code line by line in VSCode. This is great for exploration and live coding, but when you want to save a piece, share it, or run it from the command line, you need a project.

Two Ways to Work

Note

Resonon supports two complementary workflows:

• VSCode (select-and-execute) — For live coding, experimentation, and iterative development. Evaluate individual lines or selections with Cmd+Enter. State accumulates between evaluations.
• resonon run — For running complete scripts from the command line. Executes src/main.non from start to finish. Use this for rendering, automation, or sharing reproducible pieces.

Both use the same language. Code that works in VSCode works with resonon run and vice versa.

Create a Project

Use resonon new to scaffold a project:

resonon new my_song

Output:

  Created resonon.toml
  Created src/
  Created src/main.non
  Created README.md
  Created LICENSE
  Initialized git repository

Project 'my_song' initialized.

This creates a my_song/ directory with everything you need.

Project Structure

my_song/
├── resonon.toml          # Project manifest
├── src/
│   └── main.non          # Entry point
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
└── .gitignore

resonon.toml

The manifest describes your project:

[package]
name = "my_song"
version = "0.1.0"
authors = ["Your Name <email>"]
resonon = "0.7.0"

[dependencies]
# example = { source = "gh:user/repo", version = "v1.0" }

Field	Description
name	Project name
version	Your project’s version
authors	List of authors
resonon	Minimum Resonon version required
[dependencies]	External packages (empty by default)

src/main.non

The entry point. The scaffolded template looks like this:

// Entry point — run with `resonon run`

project_title("my_song");
project_bpm(120);

fn greet(name) {
    PRINT f"Hello from {name}!";
}

greet("my_song");

project_title and project_bpm set metadata for the project. You’ll replace the template code with your own music.

Run the Project

From inside the project directory (or any subdirectory), run:

cd my_song
resonon run

Resonon finds resonon.toml by searching upward from the current directory, then executes src/main.non.

You can also run any .non file directly without a project:

resonon my_script.non

Adding Music

Replace the template in src/main.non with real music. Here’s a starting point using what you learned in the previous pages:

project_title("my_song");
project_bpm(120);

use "std/instruments" { Sampler, Kit };

// Drums
let drums = AudioTrack("drums");
drums.load_instrument(Sampler(Kit("cr78")));
drums << [bd _ sd _, ch ch ch ch];

// Bass (MIDI — route to your DAW or synth)
let bass = MidiTrack(2);
bass << [C2 _ C2 G2];

PLAY;

Opening in VSCode

You can also open the project in VSCode and use select-and-execute to develop interactively. Once you’re happy with the result, save your code in src/main.non so it’s reproducible with resonon run.

Project Variants

resonon new accepts flags for different project types:

Flag	Description
--lib	Library project (src/lib.non instead of src/main.non)
--kit	Sample kit project (adds a kits/ directory)
--native	Native Rust extension project (adds a native/ crate)

resonon new my_library --lib           # Importable library
resonon new my_drums --kit             # Sample kit with kits/ directory
resonon new my_plugin --native         # Rust extension with native/ crate

You can also scaffold in the current directory with resonon init:

mkdir my_project && cd my_project
resonon init my_project

Next Steps

Continue the quickstart or jump to the reference docs:

• Custom DSP — Write your own effects and synthesizers
• MIDI I/O — MIDI output, input, and learn mapping
• Pattern Basics — Deep dive into time division, pattern types, and looping
• Samplers — Drum kits, melodic samplers, and sample manipulation
• VSCode Extension — Full editor reference with shortcuts and features