Skip to content

Home

Jump to bottom
johncoco12 edited this page May 28, 2026 · 2 revisions

SlopSmith Plus — Wiki

Browse, play, and practice your Rocksmith 2014 CDLC collection — entirely in your browser, entirely in Docker.

SlopSmith Plus is a self-hosted web application that turns your CDLC library into an interactive note highway player. It runs as a single Docker Compose stack: no cloud accounts, no subscriptions, no internet required after setup.

What it does

Your DLC folder  →  Auto-scanned  →  Library browser  →  Note highway player
      (PSARC / Sloppak / Loose)          (search, filter, favourites)
                                                              |
                                               Real-time pitch detection
                                               A-B loop practice
                                               Per-profile scores & history
                                               VST plugin chain (via SlopAudio Connect)

Supported formats

Format Description
PSARC Official Rocksmith DLC and Custom CDLC (CustomsForge) — AES-CFB-128 decrypted in memory
Sloppak SlopSmith's open format — unencrypted ZIP or directory with a YAML manifest
Loose Unpacked folder containing XMLs or a manifest — convenient for manual editing
SNG Compiled Rocksmith binary — auto-converted to XML via the built-in RsCli tool

How the system fits together

                    Browser
                       |
              +---------+---------+
              |                   |
          Frontend            WebSocket
        (Vue 3 SPA)       (real-time events)
              |                   |
              +-------------------+
                       |
                Fastify Backend  :8085
                       |
          +------------+------------+
          |            |            |
     PostgreSQL      MinIO     SlopAudio
      :5432         :9000       Connect
   (metadata,    (covers,       (VST chain,
   sessions,      audio,    pitch detection)
   scores)        stems)

Five Docker services, all defined in docker-compose.yml. The browser talks only to the frontend on port 8006; the frontend proxies API and WebSocket traffic to the backend on port 8085.

Quick-start

git clone https://github.com/johncoco12/SlopSmith-Plus
cd SlopSmith-Plus
docker compose up -d

Open http://localhost:8006 in your browser. The library scans in the background — the UI is usable immediately.

Environment variables (set in docker-compose.yml or a .env file)

Variable Default Description
DLC_PATH Steam DLC path Host path to your DLC folder
LOG_LEVEL info trace / debug / info / warn / error
LOG_PRETTY true false for JSON logs (Loki, ELK, Promtail)
SAC_SERVER_NAME SlopSmith Name broadcast to SlopAudio Connect on the LAN
SAC_SERVER_IP auto Override when auto-detected IP is a VPN or Docker bridge
SAC_HTTP_PORT same as PORT Advertised port when a reverse proxy changes the external port

Features at a glance

Library

  • Grid view with album art, arrangement badges, tuning, and lyrics indicator
  • Artist / album tree with A–Z letter filter
  • Full-text search across artist, title, and album
  • Filter by format, arrangement type, stem availability, tuning, and lyrics
  • Sort by artist, title, recently added, tuning, or year
  • Per-profile favourites
  • In-place metadata editing (title, artist, album, cover art)
  • One-click retune to E Standard for Eb / D / C# / C songs

Player

  • 3D highway — depth-aware camera, per-string lane glow, Three.js rendering
  • Classic 2D highway — Canvas-based, suitable for lower-powered devices
  • Arrangement switcher (Lead / Rhythm / Bass) mid-playback
  • Speed control — 0.25× to 1.5× with pitch correction (rubberband)
  • Synced karaoke-style lyrics overlay (toggleable)
  • Dynamic anchor zoom — fret window adjusts ahead of approaching notes
  • Real-time pitch detection via YIN algorithm (compiled to WASM)
  • Score submission with best-score tracking per profile

Techniques rendered: bends (1/2 · full · 1½ · 2), slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, taps, palm mutes, vibrato, harmonics, pinch harmonics, accents, tremolo, unison bends

Practice tools

  • A-B Looping — mark any start and end point, replay instantly
  • Saved Loops — name and store multiple loops per song across sessions
  • Mastery Slider — gradually reveal harder notes on songs with phrase difficulty data

Profiles & access control

  • Multiple profiles on a single instance — isolated settings, scores, and loops per profile
  • PIN protection with recovery phrases and admin reset
  • Custom avatars
  • Permission groups (Admin, Upload, Edit Tracks, Delete Tracks, Manage Settings, …)

VST Plugin Chain (via SlopAudio Connect)

The companion app SlopAudio Connect connects to SlopSmith over your LAN, enabling features that require direct audio hardware access:

  • Route your instrument through a VST3 plugin chain (EQ, reverb, pitch shift, amp sims, …)
  • View and control the chain live from the SlopSmith UI — bypass, reorder, add, remove, adjust parameters
  • Low-latency pitch detection fed directly from your audio interface

Download: github.com/johncoco12/SlopAudio-Connect

Plugin System (experimental)

An extensible plugin architecture lets plugins add UI slots, backend routes, event hooks, and swappable service providers.

Bundled plugins

Plugin What it does
Themes 9 built-in colour themes — persisted server-side per profile
Leaderboard Per-song score tracking and leaderboard view
YIN Pitch Detector Real-time pitch detection via WASM — powers the note recognition system

The plugin API is experimental. Breaking changes are expected until it stabilises. Legacy Slopsmith (v1) plugins are not yet supported.

Scalability

  • Parallel metadata extraction — 4 files processed concurrently during scan
  • PostgreSQL-backed search with server-side pagination — tested beyond 80,000 songs
  • MinIO object storage separates binary assets from the database
  • Background scanning never blocks the UI

Wiki Contents

Getting started
Architecture Overview Tech stack, service ports, startup sequence, data-flow diagram, storage layout
Authentication & Profiles PIN auth, session tokens, WebSocket auth, lockout and recovery, permission groups

Core systems
Library System Scanning pipeline, format detection, metadata extraction, search parameters, favourites, editing, deletion
Player & Highway HighwayResponse shape, wire format for all chart types, renderers, pitch detection, mastery, A-B loops, scoring
SlopPak Format manifest.yaml reference, arrangement JSON field-by-field, lyrics format, stems, extensibility
Database Schema Every Prisma model — all fields, types, and relations
API Reference Every REST endpoint — method, auth requirement, request/response shape

Plugin system
Plugin System Overview Two-sided architecture, lifecycle state machine, backend vs frontend plugin concepts
Plugin Development Guide Manifest, backend module, Vue SFC, providers, permissions, dev tips
Hook & Slot Reference All backend hook events and frontend UI slot names
Plugin API Reference PluginContext, FrontendPluginContext, REST plugin endpoints, legacy global API
VST Plugin Chain SlopAudio Connect network protocol, CHAIN_STATE shape, control commands, PluginChainPanel, troubleshooting

Where to start

I want to set up the app → Architecture Overview then follow the Quick Start above.

I want to understand how songs are loaded and played → Library System → Player & Highway

I want to create my own song files → SlopPak Format

I want to build a plugin → Plugin System Overview → Plugin Development Guide

I want to integrate with the REST API → API Reference

I want to use VST plugins with my guitar → VST Plugin Chain

Clone this wiki locally