SkillHub

vvvv-startup

v1.0.0

Covers launching vvvv gamma from the command line or programmatically -- normal startup, opening specific .vl patches, command-line arguments, package repositories, and key filesystem paths (install directory, user data, sketches, exports, packages). Use when starting vvvv, configuring launch argume...

Sourced from ClawHub, Authored by Tebjan Halm

Installation

Please help me install the skill `vvvv-startup` from SkillHub official store. npx skills add tebjan/vvvv-startup

Launching vvvv gamma

Filesystem Paths

Location Path
Install directory C:Program Filesvvvvvvvv_gamma_X.Y-win-x64
User data (AppData) %LOCALAPPDATA%vvvvgamma
Documents root %USERPROFILE%Documentsvvvvgamma
Sketches %USERPROFILE%DocumentsvvvvgammaSketches
Exports %USERPROFILE%DocumentsvvvvgammaExports
User packages %LOCALAPPDATA%vvvvgammanugets
Log file (when enabled) %USERPROFILE%Documentsvvvvgammavvvv.log

Preview builds use gamma-preview instead of gamma in the above paths.

Normal Launch

# Launch vvvv (opens with default empty patch)
"C:Program Filesvvvvvvvv_gamma_7.0-win-x64vvvv.exe"

# Open a specific patch
vvvv.exe MyProject.vl

# Open multiple files
vvvv.exe --open "FileA.vl;FileB.vl"

Package Repositories and Editable Packages

These two arguments work together and are the most important for development:

  • --package-repositories tells vvvv where to look for packages. Provide the parent folder of each package (the folder containing the package directory, not the package directory itself).
  • --editable-packages tells vvvv which packages from those repositories to load from source instead of pre-compiled cache (read-only). Glob patterns are supported.

You must use both together when working on a package from source:

# Given this folder structure:
#   D:Projects
#     VL.MyLib           <-- the package
#       VL.MyLib.vl
#     VL.MyOtherLib      <-- another package
#       VL.MyOtherLib.vl

# The parent folder "D:Projects" is the package repository
vvvv.exe --package-repositories "D:Projects" --editable-packages "VL.MyLib*" --debug

# Multiple repositories (semi-colon separated)
vvvv.exe --package-repositories "D:Projects;D:SharedLibs" --editable-packages "VL.MyLib*;VL.SharedUtils" --debug

# Open a specific help patch for testing
vvvv.exe --package-repositories "D:Projects" --editable-packages "VL.MyLib*" -o "D:ProjectsVL.MyLibhelpHowTo Use Feature.vl" --debug

Without --package-repositories, vvvv won't find your local package sources, and --editable-packages will have no effect.

Common Argument Combinations

# Development: debug symbols + allow multiple instances
vvvv.exe MyProject.vl --debug --allowmultiple

# Troubleshooting: skip cache, enable logging
vvvv.exe MyProject.vl --nocache --log

# Minimal startup: no extensions, no backend (fast launch for patch editing)
vvvv.exe --noextensions --disable-backend

# Paused on startup (runtime won't start until you press play)
vvvv.exe MyProject.vl --stoppedonstartup

# Skip splash screen
vvvv.exe --no-splash

For the complete argument reference, see cli-reference.md.

Detecting vvvv Installations

To find vvvv programmatically:

  1. Windows Registry: Enumerate HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall for subkeys starting with vvvv_gamma_. Read the InstallLocation value.
  2. Default path: Scan C:Program Filesvvvv for directories matching vvvv_gamma_*.
  3. Version parsing: Extract version from directory name format vvvv_gamma_MAJOR.MINOR[-PREVIEW-HASH-PLATFORM].
  4. Filtering: Exclude -beta, -alpha, -rc, -test, -dev, etc. variants if not explicitly requested.
  5. Selection: Sort by major DESC, minor DESC, preview number DESC. Pick the latest and ask the user if that or another one should be used.

The executable is at <install-dir>vvvv.exe.