Saving & sharing patches

Your patch is everything you build in the studio: the modules, their settings, and the cables between them. A patch can live in three places. The canvas, the work area where you build, keeps a copy in your browser and updates it as you work. Your cloud library holds named copies in your account. A file or a short line of text lets you send a patch to someone else. You do all of this from the File menu on the top bar. For the top bar itself, see The interface.

Autosave

The canvas saves to your browser after every edit. Close the tab while you work, and the next time you open the studio your patch returns as you left it, including the cables, the settings, and where you were zoomed and scrolled on the canvas. This automatic copy stays in one browser only. It does not move to another computer, and clearing your browser data deletes it. To keep a patch for the long term, save it to your library.

Saving to your library

  • Save. Press Ctrl+S, or choose File → Save, to write the patch to your account. The first save asks for a name. The default is a timestamp like patch 2026-07-17 14:32; rename it so the patch is easy to find later. After the first save, Ctrl+S writes over the same patch. A dot next to the title means you have changes that are not yet saved.
  • Save As. Choose File → Save As… to copy the current patch into a new one and leave the original unchanged. Use it before a big change, so you keep a working version and experiment on the copy.
  • The patch limit. The free plan stores three patches in your account. The Open dialog shows a meter of how many slots you have used. When you reach three, saving another patch opens a prompt to upgrade. Deleting a patch frees a slot. A Pro plan removes the limit.

Opening patches

Choose File → Open… to see your saved patches in a grid. Each card shows a thumbnail, the name, and how long ago you saved it. Click a card to open that patch and keep working. Click the ✕ on a card to delete that patch, which is permanent and frees a slot.

Choose File → Presets to see the built-in example patches instead. An example opens as a new, unsaved patch, so you can change it freely without affecting the original. If you are new to the studio, both dialogs are a good place to start. See Getting started.

What a saved patch includes

A saved patch keeps almost everything about your work: the modules and where you placed them, every setting you changed from its default, all the cables, any parameter windows you pinned open, the automation timeline, and where you were zoomed and scrolled on the canvas.

Samples are the one thing a patch does not store. In place of the audio, the patch saves a reference to each sample: its name and a fingerprint of its contents. When you open the patch, the studio matches each reference against your sample library. It matches first by identity, using the sample's UUID rather than its name, then by content. The same audio reconnects even if you renamed the file. If a sample has no match, its module shows a missing-sample slot and stays silent until you assign a sound.

Sharing a patch

vxsynth has no public gallery of patches. To share a patch, you send it directly to another person. The File → Export menu offers two formats.

  • Export .json saves a file named patch.studio.json. It is a small, readable text file. Use it to keep a patch on disk, attach it to an email, or store older versions.
  • Copy share string compresses the whole patch into a single line of text and copies it to your clipboard. The line starts with csp1. and is usually a few hundred bytes. Use it to paste a patch into a chat message.

To load a patch someone sent you, choose File → Import…. Import accepts a .studio.json file, or a .txt file that contains a share string. It opens the patch as a new, unsaved patch, so importing never overwrites one of your saved patches.

Export and Import are Pro features. On the free plan, both menu items show (pro) and are disabled. The Piano Roll has its own MIDI import and export, which are separate and free on any plan.

Tips

  • Use Save As… before you make big changes to the wiring. Your cloud patches keep no version history, so a saved copy is the only way to return to an earlier version in a later session.
  • To open a share string someone gave you, paste it into a plain .txt file and run File → Import…. Import reads both a share string and a .studio.json file.
  • When you share a patch that uses samples, send the audio files along with the .studio.json. The person you send it to adds the files to their library, and the patch reconnects to them by content.
  • The free plan gives you three patch slots. Save the patches worth keeping, and let autosave hold a quick sketch you do not need to save.